TravelStream™ news feed for member dzasta on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dzasta en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:43:52 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/2/1250367116/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/2/1250367116/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/2/1250367116/tpod.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:43:52 -0500 The Silk Road

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia

15/8/09Yesterday I booked flights.The cheapest flights I could find on the net were over $3000, then, last week Air Asia offered dirt cheap prices to Asia but the tickets had to be booked on line and by today. I could not get my prefered dates and had to search the site for ages but finally found flights that suited me. I booked Perth to KL then to Shenzhen in southern China and return. Total cost was $235 then when I was booking I had to "buy a seat" (go figure) added another $10 per flight. The flights from KL to Shenzhen were $33 each way so I dont care if I dont use them. The difficult part will be getting from there to western China. At this stage I will be looking at train for 2 days to either Urumqi or Kashgar then through the Irkeshtam pass into Kyrgystan cos the Torugart pass will still be snowed in, then on through the "stans". Next job will be to organise itinery then do logistics and apply for all the visas.Ive got heaps of time to do this cos Im going 11th March 2010 return 1st May 2010, thats 7 1/2 weeks on the road so should give me enough time to do what I want to do.18/11/09Today I went to the Chinese Consulate in East Perth to apply for my visa. I expected to get chucked out cos I am over 3 months from my trip but I wanted to check I have everything I need to get the visa. I filled out the form and lined up, about 6th in line. The line moves pretty fast and they took my form and passport and said come back Monday for the visa.It was sooo easy, much easier than the bitch at the Indian Consul last year.Ive been putting feelers out for a trip to Tibet while Im there. It does not look good at this stage. To go to Tibet I can not do it independantly. You have to book with a tour company cos you need TTB permit and TAR permit and these are only issued via tour companies. I have 2 problems. First I am early in the season so not many travelers around to share the cost and have been quoted $3000US to $5000US for a tour of 12 to 14 days. Second problem is the date I want to go. I should be going somewhere between the 14 and 20 March and this is the aniversary of the uprising of 2008 and they might not issue the permits again like 2009 when they closed Lhasa for a couple of weeks.Plan A..... Lijiang...tour to Tibet...train to Xian....train to Urumqi...bus to Kashgar cross the border into Kyrgystan approx 1/4 do a lap of Kyrg then fly Bishkek to Tashkent and VOA at Tashkent airport then do a lap of Uzbekistan.Plan B .. Lijiang...Chengdu..Xian...Golmud...Urumqi... Kashgar  then as abovePlan C...China... then come down through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or something similar
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Puerto Maldonado, Peru

I was told to be at the office by 10am so arrived at 9.45. At 10.15 nothing happening so I asked what was going on and she said 1pm. I thought she meant at the lodge. I sat for a while then went for a walk. At 12 another tour came along so I asked the guide what was happening he said they were going to the market and I could come. I said why did I have to be here at 10¡ Didnt get and answer. Not a great start. We did a tour of the market and they pointed out the different foods we would be eating.We finally left the dock in a Peki peki at 1.30 and arrived at the lodge at 3pm. We had orientation in reception then straight in for lunch. During lunch they allocated rooms and split us into 2 groups for the activities. We were going to Monkey Island this arvo then dinner and Caiman spotting. The group I am in is a great bunch of people, Israel couple, few from Peru, 3 Norweigan guys )making a doco for uni) a french lady and american girl. The lodge is Huge. They can accomodate over 100 people and everyone does the same programe. You chose 3 day, 4 day or 5 day. It seems to work well and cos the same group we all got on well and it was heaps of fun. There are Macaws everywhere.Day 2 5am wake up, 5.30 breakfast and 6 into the boat to Cocha Perdida or Lost Lake. Dont worry its not really lost cos we found it, its just a name. We walked 2km in wellies through the mud ) I got $280 worth of Hitec walking boots and Im back in wellies again) then canoe a couple of km on the lake. The lake was very overgrown but had a chanel about 10ft wide. I was like a kid in a lollie shop. Look Chestnut fronted macaws, look blue and yellow macaws, look scarlet macaws and there s a falcon. It was great, our group saw heaps but the other group said they saw very little. Then we walked about another km to a 30mtr tower which we climbed to see over the canopy. At the tower was a 700mtr bridge, they use the term loosly cos it was just 2 rickety old planks really, to another billabong. The hot french lady, Marie, was struggling so I carried her back pack, like the gentleman I am. She doesnt speak english and I dont speak french or spanish so the conversation was pretty slow. I put one of my best moves on her but, G day Im John how do you like me so far* doesnt work in spanish. Buenos dias signorita si HHHjuan......it just doesnt work. After the bridge and back, we had a 5km hike back to the boat. This area has 3 world records..Most birds in a given area, Most Dragon flies in a given area and I cant remember the other one. The Dragon flies are amazing, from neon blue to neon red and everything in between. From huge to mini. Also the butterflies come in almost any colour you can think of and are even more spectacular. After lunch a few sat around talking and had such a great time I missed my nana nap.The afternoon was the botanic garden walk. Look at the plants and they tell what they are used for. Mostly in spanish. Spanish is a wordy language or we only got 10% of the translation. The tour was boreing as bat shit and that is 1 1/2 hr of my life I will never get back. Rachel and I had a few brewski s in the bar before dinner. She is good, she sat on a free drink long enough till it was my buy. While we were there one of the bar men started pouring home brew. It was ayahuasca and I tried some. It tasted like shit but it had a hell of a kick. Google it if you wanna know what it is. Dinner was served to us instead of buffet and then after we had a bon fire near reception. It is starting to get a little like school camp. I sat with 1/2 doz girls and we had a great time laughing and joking and checked out the Southern cross, which they call Cruz del Sur, here.Day 3 Late breaky today cos we are going Piranha fishing. Rachel and a few others are going home today so Nicole and I went down to the dock to see them off. I couldnt believe the amount of debris floating down the river. We took a peki peki up the Rio Gamitana for piranha fishing and on the way we saw a caiman so we stopped for about 10 min to look. They are small crocs and totally harmless to people. I can report there are NO piranha in the Gamitana river. There wasnt a fisherman in the boat so they just got in my way otherwise I would have caught one. We had a dozen lines out of the boat and drifted down the river and not a bite. The day had started in bright sunshine but it was starting to rain so we headed for home and lunch. After lunch we had another walk to Cocha Caiman. The guide took a couple of fish so we were guaranteed to see caiman. When we got to the lake we all sat on a stand they have built and the guide cut up the fish and left it on the bank for the caiman. Soon there were a few caiman and they came up and got the fish. The babies were fun cos they would grab a big piece and fight over it. After dinner Nicole and I necked a few king browns then went to bed cos I have early wake up again.Every lodge is the same, your last day is early wake up, breakfast then in the boat and back to town for flight.
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Lima, Peru

Well thats the end of my tour of the Plaza´s of southern Peru. Contrary to what I have read on many blogs and forums it is very safe. You cant walk for more than a couple of minutes without seeing a cop or security. All are heavily armed, even in the small towns.The bus network must be one of the best in the world. From the absolute heaps of rubbish that run up and down the main streets of Lima to the opulent tourist busses. The city busses run up and down the main streets, you get on and off when you like and they cost only a few cents. The tourist busses are like a plane. Some even have hostess and give out meals. There are hundreds of them to choose from at varying levels of service and comfort, priced accordingly.The hostels I stayed in were on the whole clean and , I thought, value for money. I stayed in single rooms with bath room in the 30-40 soles range. Of course, some were better than others. The only one I hated, and moved, was Bahia in Puerto Maldonado.Food was very average. Im not a foodie and generally eat quite cheap and usually on the street. For a country that claims to be the home of the potato and boasts over 4000 varieties they could be a bit more inovative. The only way I was served potato was boiled (and dry, with no sauce) or as chips. Occasionally they would serve a couple of varieties as chips. Every meal came with rice. It was like being in Asia. I had chicken and chips twice and both came with rice. The best meal I had was civeche in Arequipa, from a little old lady in a roadside stall. The worst was last night in a restaurant here in Lima and was also civeche. It was soo bad I couldnt eat it so payed and went outside to a roadside stall and bought better for half the price.Drinks are resonably priced if you dont go for high end. Beer is OK and comes in king browns. (620ml) Chicha was an experience. Being homemade, every one is a bit different. The ones I tasted ranged from sweet and chunky to sweet and smooth. Generally it is quite a sweet drink and mostly like flat ginger beer. Aguadiente is excellent. Hard to find but worth the effort. It is distilled spirit made from sugar cane and flavoured with aniseed. It is a bit rough to drink straight but with coke was my favourite drink. Pisco is rum. If you like rum you will like pisco. I dont and I didnt. Ayahuasca smells like swamp water, tastes like swamp water and has a hell of a kick.The traffic here is much the same as in Asia. Particularly in Lima, they treat the road rules as a suggestion. There is liberal use of the horn, usually to say "get out of the way". Generally the only problem I had was they drive on the wrong side of the road.Whistle blowers. very cop, security guard and council worker has a whistle. They blow them incesantly. No one takes any notice and it can be anoying. After some time you get to ignore the like the locals but at first it is strange.Ive had a great time here. I cant imagine coming back, too many other places to see, but Im certainly glad I came.Now that I know it is time to go I cant wait to get home.
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Lima, Peru

Im back in Lima, spit everywhere, pidgeons and more cops than you can poke a stick at. The difference between the cops here and in Puerto Maldonado, here they have a bus in P.M. they get around in a truck. I am staying in Hotel Espana again and Aprille it DOES have hot water, and a comfortable bed, it should for 20 bucks a night. I decided to get a new pair of pants to wear home. By the time I pay to have something washed Im half way to buying new. I walked the full length of the main street last night looking. Both sides. There were heaps of shops but nothing I wanted or didnt understand. After a couple of hours I got sick of looking and bought the next pair I saw that were half way what I wanted. I was carrying about 6kg in my backpack cos I had already bought the kids easter eggs so I went back to the hotel to drop it all off. Wouldnt you know it, a dodgy little shop in a dodgy little street 50mtr from my hotel I saw exactly what I had been looking for.I walked down to the plaza for dinner. It was busy as.This morning I decided to walk to Park de la Cultura. My map says it is about 4km but it is not to scale cos it only took an hour. The park is an island between two streets and has heaps of amazing old statues but it is all fenced off for some reason. It is just outside the main court house and I sat on the steps for a rest and the security told me to move on. It was only 8am and the place was in full swing. The doors open, men in suits coming and going. Jeez at home our courts dont look like doing anything before 10am.This morning I went for a mega walk. When we drove in from the airport yesterday I saw these huge markets. I thought we were on Ave Ariquipa, so I thought I would walk there to kill some time. I still have to buy the kids T shirts that they wont wear. About 2 hours into the walk I realised I was on the wrong road and the street we were on yesterday was something different. Ave Ariquipa is the road to Miraflores. I can definately confirm that. Google that for the distance. Its gotta be 30km round trip. I came back through San Isidro and Jesus Maria, still looking for the markets. I asked a few people for the Mercado.... Mercado grande..... Mercado muchos grande. No one seemed to know what I was talking about. Probably didnt get the accent right. Any way I think I will pay for that tomorrow with stiff legs.Ive been here for 5 weeks and I still cant get used to these idiots driving on the wrong side of the road. I stepped onto the road this morning and looked up to see a bus coming at me. I jumped back in a hurry. A couple of weeks ago I got hit by a taxi in Cusco cos I looked in the wrong direction. It was just enough to knock me off my feet and I landed on his bonet with no damage done.Im just hanging around now. I dont know what Im going to do tomorrow morning. I might finish this blog tomorrow.
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Puerto Maldonado, Peru

Im in Puerto Maldonado, its a port city on the Rio Madre de Dios which is a tributary of the Amazon, and it is everything a port city should be. Its dirty, smells like a sewer, theres bikes everywhere, dirt roads that turn to mud in the rain and night markets. This is the third world country I came to see. Its hot as hell and raining. You wish for rain to ease the humidity.I went for a walk and walked straight into a protest. I put my fist up and said Viva Revolution and kept walking. There are protests happening all over town. I dont know what they are protesting about cos I cant find anyone who speaks enough english. Whereever the protesters are there are truck loads of cops. They are all armed to the teeth with full riot gear including tear gas grenades. After dinner I walked into another demonstration, they are becoming anoying.It took ages to find a hotel yesterday. I walked for ages looking at dives, was even offered a dungeon, 4 walls no window and matress on the floor, for 15s. I declined. I got sick of looking so caught a cab back to the place I stayed last week. They were full so I had to start looking again. Eventually found a place that was OK. In the morning was a different story. At 4am the hotel noises started, people moving around etc. 5am the noise got louder and the smell was overpowering. It smelt like an open sewer right next to my room and I coped it everytime someone flushed. 6am the night shift guy went home. He parked his motorbike in the foyer overnight so when he left at 6am he started it in the foyer, reved it a few times and rode out. I got up to have a shower and there was no water, hot or cold. Ive had enough, time to look for a new hotel. I went to a really posh place that I turned down yesterday cos it was too expensive but it was full. In desperation I went back to the place I stayed last week and they had a room. I booked in and went straight back to get my gear. When I checked out I told them what I thought of the place.That sorted I had a mission today to see the sights. On the road in from the airport are a few places I wanted to see. First stop was El Jaguar Zoo. What a pathetic excuse for a zoo it is. I read it was bad but they have a tame Jaguar you can pat. The place is disgusting and if it was in any other country would be shut down. I didnt get to pat the jaguar cos he was locked up and the old bloke wouldnt let me. I walked further toward the airport to the reptile park. Well really it is a reptile shed with a few snakes and they wanted 15s to get in. I thought overpriced so kept walking toward the butterfly house. This place is very well known and even rates in Lonely planet: For this reason the price is up to $25 US. That is crazy. To see a few butterflies. I dont think so. Besides I could see a lot from the outside and they were the same ones I had seen in the jungle last week. So I started the 8km walk back to town and there was a bar, with chicha, so I thought I would have lunch. I went in and ordered a chicha and of course it was different to the others I have had. It was purplish and tasted a bit like rasbery, but still a bit chunky. The mother was helping her kid do homework and cos it was english she asked me the months. I ended up spending the afternoon teaching this 12 year old girl, Fatima, English. We went through the months, days, body parts and numbers. I realised afterwards I taught her to count with an Ausie accent. Then we went to things in the room or we could draw and she told me spanish I told her english. Mum kept up the chicha, I think she was happy to not have to do homework.The weather has turned nasty this arvo and it has pissed down a few times. I spose this is the rain forest after all.Theres not a lot to see around here so that is about it.Im flying up to Lima tomorrow, I think for a couple of days then off home.
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Puerto Maldonado, Peru

The bungalow at Eco is bigger and because single is more private. Tambo has had a newer face lift but not private because of no ceiling. I had a young couple next door who used to shower together and when they went to the toilet I knew exactly what they were doing.Eco has a cocktail bar and seems to have more atmosphere. Tambo has a limited bar with only basic drinks.The food is better at Tambo, not bad at Eco, just better at Tambo.Eco has one program of 3 days, 4 days or 5 days where Tambo has a confusing array of 4 or 5 tours with about 4 different levels of service. I have since been on Tambo website and dont know what program I did. If you go there you need to be sure of what you are booking.Eco I was put in a group and stayed in that group which was good cos it allowed me to conect with others in the group and made for a shared experience. At Tambo I was switched around between groups and seemed a like an intruder.In fairness, the weather was perfect at Eco so they got to finish all their programs and made for a better experience. At Tambo the one day I went on a programe it was rained out but there was no alternative and the little we did was not good. The way they handled changing me to another programe was poor to say the least.If you want to see macaws on a clay lick you have to go up the Tambopata, other lodges in the area also do this. At Eco you will see monkeys and caiman, they are almost tame and the guides feed them to ensure it.Both are very sanitised trips into the ´jungle´, really second grade forest. Eco is closer to the real thing than Tambo.Ecoamazonia 8/10Libertador 3/10Based on my time at both, I loved Eco and Tambo left a bad taste.
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Cusco, Peru

Im still here. I remember I got stuck in my least favourite city, Delhi and here I am in my least fovourite city, Cusco waiting for a flight tomorrow.So I decide to go for a walk this morning and I see all these people carrying bouquets. Not flowers but more like weeds. The closer I got to the Plaza the more I saw. Then I realised it is the start of Semana Santa. Its what they call Easter. It is huge here. It is a chance to prove how catholic you really are. If you have anything catholic, picture of the crusifix or even better a statue then bring that as well. There was another parade around the Plaza today. Every time I come to Cusco there is a parade. This time it was focused around the church and the Mayor was here to take the salute. There is nothing like a military perade and a few marching bands the say Easter. It works for me. As part of the ceremony they raised 2 flags, the Peru flag and NOT the gay rights flag but the Tahuantinsuyo flag. It represents the 4 quarters of the Incan empire.I had had enough of that so I walked over to another square. There were a few churches on the way and you should have seen them doing business out the front. They couldnt make the bouquets quick enough, they had kids weaving leaves. The budhists and hindus are good at making money from religion but these guys are not too bad either. Shame they only get two goes at it here but they sure were making hay while the sun was shining. I went into one of the churches and it was packed. There were people everywhere flash, flash, flash taking photos and video cameras. It was crazy.Ive just been for dinner. I walked up to San Isidro, another old part of the city and felt lIke steak. I found a place for alpaca steak. OMG I think it was the best steak I have ever had. It was the best. I will deffinately be having another one of them before I come home.Tomorrow Im of to the jungle at last.
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Tambopata National Reserve, Peru

I booked this in Cusco through a travel agent. I was quoted $430us and agreed to that and went to the bank to get the money. By the time I came back the price was $460, single supplement, so I agreed to that.A few days before I left I was told to confirm my flight. I did this at LAN office and was told to be at the airport 2 hours early. I was at the ariport at 6.30am and the boarding loung was packed. First flight to Quito went. Then another flight. at 8.00 I was the only person left sitting there. We were supposed to board at 8.30 and there were only 14 people there. Then I looked up and all the people for my flight were just arriving, so much for 2 hours ahead. The flight was less than 1/2 full so I got a window seat and for the first half of the flight could dee the amazing Andes and snow capped volcanoes. The second half was just clouds. The airport at Puerto Maldonado is dinky as. Like Penang in the early 70s for those who remember. It meant for a quick exit and my guide was there to pick me up. We headed straight for the office and the second RIP. At the office I was told I had to pay park entry fee of 30s. The lodge is in the reserve so everyone has to pay so why not included in the quoted price? Then we cruised around town for a while then Daniel told me we were waiting for another group cos I would be travelling to the lodge with them. After about an hour we met the other group at the office where they were paying there park entrance fee. When this was all fixed up we headed for the wharf and the trip up river to the lodge. The trip up river was OK but not a lot to see. A few monkeys and macaws, in pairs cos they mate for life (idiots). We were mostly through degraded forest and farmland. We had one stop on the way to sign in at the park office and the guides showed all the park passes. The whole trip took 4 hours in the boat so the chance to stretch your legs was welcome.When we arrived at Libertador Tambopata we were ushered up the stairs to the bar for a welcome drink. The bar and restaurant area are what you would expect for a jungle lodge, kinda rustic and all screens to keep out the nasties. We were also given a short induction on what is here and where everything is, and room allocation etc. The rooms are opulent. Two rooms to a bungalow, with private bath and seperate toilet and common sitting area out the front. The rooms have no windows and are fully screened, so you cant close out the noise, and have no ceiling so what ever the neighbours do you can hear it. They are quite spectacular. At 6.30 we had a slide show about the area and 7 was a night walk to see the bugs and insects around the place. There was a Tarantula is the roof of one of the bungalows, we saw Peru´s most deadly spider and the worlds biggest ant. After the walk we had dinner....anticucho!! During dinner daniel told me about the program for the next couple of days and no mention of macaws. When I asked he said I was on the wrong tour and would not be going to see them. I´m pissed off!!!!DAY 2 I slept on it and the answer was easy I just change to the other programe and if it costs a few bucks more I will pay the balance. I asked Daniel ´how much to see the macaws´ He went and asked the manager and came back ´$300us¨ WHAT THE F*&K. I have already paid $460us and they want $300 more that is extortion. That would be well over $1100 aus for 4 DAYS. It was pissing rain and we were supposed to be going for a walk to some lake but it was put off til 9 hopeing the rain would ease. This gave me a little more time to sort out my options. I needed a boat, but I am stuck here. I started asking the other staff where I could get a boat but all of a sudden no one spoke english. Daniel gave me two options, Pay the $300us or go to Puerto Maldonado and fight it out with the general manager, which would be a 7 hr round trip so a waste of another day. Then he was in my face saying we are going on a walk what do you want to do? I am stuck so todays excitement is a 7 mile walk through the jungle in wellies. The rain has made it muddy so we have to wear long pants, wellie boots and I have to carry a backpack with my lunch, I cant have it when I get back? I dont know why??? We went down river for abou 1/2 hr to a set of steps up the bank. Two guides in front carried machete´s and were slashing at the jungle for effect. After a while the slashing got a little less. Even the guide at the back had a slah every now and then to add to the effect. The path was very muddy and in places it was like a stream. The walk was more like a sprint!! there was no time to look at anything, we seemed to be on a tight schedule for some reason. Maybe the boys wanted to be back for Home and Away. About an hour in (cue dramatic music) Oh no the bridge is down. There was a rickety little bridge and one half was partly down, like most bridges you see in these places. We all negotiated it Ok and moved on. (cue dramatic music again) A short while later the water was too deep so we will have to find a way round it. Get out the machete´s again and start slashing. 5 minutes of this and they declared it was not looking promising. We took a vote to go on or return. The Poms I was with are doing the Inca trail next week so they didnt want to keep going and possibly injure feet so we turned back. I dont blame them either I would have done the same and in the pissing rain there would probably be nothing out at the lake anyway. The difference between a good tour company and a poor company is the contingencies. No one can do anything about the rain but a good tour company is prepared for anything and would have an alternative. We were told ´have lunch get dry and this afternoon we will walk around the lodge´. They had nothing. The lodge is set in degraded forest, if it was good forest they would not be allowed here.This afternoon I showed up for the walk and Daniel said the general manager was here. I said lets go I want to see him. Lets just say we had a free and frank exchange of ideas on extortion and I got to use my 2 best spanish words again. I told him there was no way I was going to let him extort $300us from me. I asked if he could contact the other lodges to see if they were going and maybe I could join them. He said he couldnt contact them. Let me hire a boat for 2 hours so I can go check myself. 2 hours means all day and that would be $100us. No one else would be going. Everything I came up with was NO! I told him I had spent $7000 and traveled half way round the world to see the macaws so I wasnt going to miss them. Eventually we negotiated the price to $179us, which I agreed to. Because it was late I would not be able to camp overnight as usual and would have to go at 3am tomorrow. I was not allowed to go to the biggest one but only the closest one at Chuncho cos that was 4 hours away and the biggest one was 7 hours. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around bored shitless. Had I known the true cost I would have gone to Manu. I dont know if it would have been better but that is what I would have done. Before I paid I asked if we could find out what the weather would be like. He said ´no one knows the weather only god.´ I said how about we try the weather service, they can have a good crack at it??? No again. So I paid.DAY 3 I couldnt sleep, I was so excited I kept nodding off and waking up thinking I would oversleep, so I got up at 12.30 and went to sit at the Bar area where they were to meet me in the morning. I had my drink bottle, camera and binoculares around my neck, I looked like a kid on xmas eve. At 3.30 Daniel and the boatman arrived but it was 4.10 when we left. It was pitch black, no moon, and we were flogging along the river in a wooden Peki peki with no lights to show where we were or to see where we were going. We made the trip in a world record 2 hours, (They wouldnt have said it was 4hr to jack up the price would they) and pulled in beside the other 2 boats. When I walked up onto the river bank there was 2 groups of .....no one. It must have been a last minute decision.We sat to watch and a few parrots were on the lick but the macaws were coming and going. The macaws fly in pairs cos they mate for life (idiots) so they are easy to spot and you can hear them from miles away. At one point we had about 40 macaws it the trees on the otherside of the river. They were not doing what they were supposed to do and the other groups got frustrated and left. At one point Daniel asked what I wanted to do and I said I want to hang out for longer. I paid a lot of money so he had to stay. At about I saw the macaws further down the river and they looked like they were going to start getting on the clay. There was close to 100 of them and this was what I had come to see. Not necesserily on the lick but lots fo macaws in the same place. It was the best thing I have seen since I have been here. This was number 1 on my to see list. I got photos and a video (if it loads up) but you have to remember they were all taken at maximum zoom. I was between 200 and 300 mtr from them and some were taken through my binoculars, some zoom and some through a telescope. I havnt seen any of my photos from here, only the thumnails on the computers as I send them. On the way back I had to sign out of the park, I had previously signed into the reserve. Because I had not signed into the park Daniel, my guide, got a writen warning from the ranger. We arrived back at the lodge at about 1pm and I spent the rest of the day bored shitless again.DAY 4 Breakfast at 8am then on the boat and back to town.To break it downDay 1 was spent getting thereDay 2 was walk in the jungle, abandoned due to weather, ´conference´with the general managerDay 3 the macaw clay lick...amazingDay 4 come back to town The total cost was $639us or about $1000aus. Good value? No way. Had I known the real cost I would have gone to Manu but as I said I spent a lot of money and came half way round the world to see macaws so I wasnt going to miss them since I was soo close. At the end of the day it was unfortunate I was on the wrong tour but it could have been easliy fixed without the extortion and blaming the travel agent. It was piss poor how Tambopata handled it.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/1/1238876280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/1/1238876280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dzasta/1/1238876280/tpod.html Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:38:55 -0400 Testing 1...2...2...2...2

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Cusco, Peru

Im back in Cusco, just hangin around waiting to go to the jungle in a few days.It was such a great morning this morning that I walked to the churck and left my jacket and windcheater. I thought I dont need them any more cos Im going to the tropical jungle.I caught a collectivo back to Urubamba with the porters from SAS who had just come off the Inka trail. You recon the smell wasnt something to behold. Change at Urubamba to bus for the rest of the trip to Cusco. Half hour in the colectivo and 2 1/2 hr in the bus and only cost 5 soles. Peru has the best bus system I have ever seen. From top of the range like a plane to local they are excellent. When I got to Cusco I thought I knew where I was going and in fact found my way to the hostel I stayed at last time. They are full so I am staying next door. Good thing I know these streets upside down.When we got to Cusco, and the higher altitude, it was freezing so you guessed it I had to buy another jacket. I can feel the altitude in my breathing, it is very laboured.This arvo I had a nana nap then went and looked around the old part of town and some of the squares I missed last time. Im loving looking at the great big doors and all the old balconies, just like Nepal. Tomorrow I am just hanging around again then off to the jungle. I have 4 days at Tambopata, then couple in Puerto Maldonado and then 4 days at Ecoamazonia. Probably wont be able to email from the lodges so you might not here from me for a few days.
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Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru

Im back in Ollant on the way back to Cusco. Im gonna stay here again tonight cos the room is cheap, there is heaps of cheap food here and the woman at the hostel is hot as. I´ve just been mooching around today and taking it easy after the last couple of days. Was is it Plaza again this morning watching the goings on. It is fun to watch. First the hard core and young girls going on the packaged adventure of there life the; Inca trail. While they are getting sorted a guy will appear with a clipboard. The porters will scramble to him looking for a job. He will make a big fella of himself, then another guy shows up with a clipboard and the scrum surrounds him. This goes on for over an hour everyday of the year. Then come the tourists, the rich people on packaged tours. All wearing the best top end adventure clothing and brand new hiking boots, for getting on and off the bus. Then comes the mountain bikers. Some of these guys are hard core but too sissy to go to Bolivia for the real mountain biking. The packaged tours keep coming all day depending where they have been and what order they are seeing the sights. Most will be late today and today is a busy day cos there is a big market at Pisac today, cos its Thursday.This arvo I walked to the Inca Bridge on the edge of town and then walked to the Inca quary. It is 3km out of town and they say all the stone for this place came from there. Isnt it funny; Im sitting in a 2000 year old building using the internet to tell my kids where I am.Gotta go to Cusco tomorrow cos I have to comfirm my flights to Puerto Maldonado and I will go and see Zozi to see if she can help me get some stuff Im looking for.
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