The 2nd day in Bocas del Toro i managed to keep a meal in my system for more than 15 minutes for the first timer in a week. I guess this was very much thanks to the colorful pills that Ane and Odd had gotten for me at the pharmacy. Still, i had no energy whatsoever. I had lost a few pounds, and my body had clearly not been able to hold on to any kind of nutrition for the past days. I had planned a visit to the doctors on the following day if it didnt pick up. After a nice cereal breakfast accompanied by the always exciting Digestive crackers and som vitamins, i started to feel a lot better. I had already decided that this was gonna be the first day i actually did something since the week before.
On this day (October 4th), we rented a private boat with a driver who drove us around among the surrounding islands. During the next 4 hours, we went to see dolphins, the kids (Odd & Ane) went snorkling, and we paid a visit to the red frog beach (on the isla Bastimentos) which got its name from the red frogs with the blue dots. The beach was a little dirty, but warm and doable. When we got back to isla Colón, we headed straight for a much needed 30 minute massage. After a couple of hours of resting we went to the local sushi place where i had a very decent lobster maki roll. I didnt react to it, and i was more or less officially recovered!
The next day we went back to isla Bastimentos to stay there for a couple of days. The rest of the day was spent under the roof in the main area where we played cards, got to know the pool table and had dinner before sleep. Fortunately the rooms had a/c which made it easier dealing with the outside temperature of 30 degrees.
The day after, we just chilled out on a beach that we had entirely to ourselves. It was nice doing absolutely nothing for a change(?). Anyway the water temperature was about 25 C, so even i enjoyed the ocean for a bit. For some reason, though, my sunscreen didnt seem to be waterproof. Not until later that night did i realize that i´d caught the most severe sunburn in history. So i went to bed with my moisturizer, and the much anticipated canopy/zipline tour that we had planned for the next day was obviously postponed again.
October 8th
After two days of some hardcore relaxing, it was time to catch the bus to Boquete northwest in Panama. After two boat rides and a short cab ride, we were on the bus who was going to take us back to an altitude (1200 ms). We arrived in Boquete fairly late to a peculiar hostel with humid rooms and a strange hostess who couldnt stop laughing about our poor spanish skills. We had planned to stay there for the next couple of days, but on the next day we moved to a dryer and more relaxing hostel.
Upon our visit to the tourist office at about noon, we learned that we couldnt go to the Baru volcano (3475 ms) because the steep hills were to slippery during the rainy season (a season that apparanetly lasts for 10 months or so..). And because it rained more or less all the time except in the morning, we had missed out on the best conditions for the canopy tour and the coffee farm tour that we wanted to do. Instead, we booked these tours for the next day, and spent the rest of the afternoon planning the rest of our trip. In the evening, we went to what (according to reviews) seems to be one of the finest restaurants in Panama, and even in Central America. After a very good meal and a decent Pinot, we went back to the hostel to get some sleep before our 7 am wakeup.
The following day, we started our drive towards the mountains at 8. We started our canopy/zipline tour at 2000 ms. The lines took us over one of the rivers no less than 12 times, the longest one being 420 meters. What a kick (for me at least), and what a view!
Next event on the program after lunch: coffee plant tour. At 2 pm, our guide took us to Don Alfredos plant, which is indeed one of a kind. Not necessarily because it has won a great number of prizes for its coffee in spite of it being pretty small (5 hectars) - but more because all of the machines in the "factory" were homemade; everything from the bean sorter to the roaster. Interesting!
In the evening we had planned to go to the french creperie just up the street, but since it was closed on mondays - why not go to Panamonte once again. This time: a medium rare steak and a chilean Merlot. Nadia from the canopy tour group also joined us. And this time, we all shared a chocolate cake, but still somehow managed to overeat. And once again we were scheduled for an early wake-up, as the only bus to San Jose would leave from David at 8:30 am, the next morning.
The next day, we left the hostel at 7:15 and arrived at the bus terminal in David at about 8, which would leave us plentz of time purchasing tickets and some snacks for the ride, but we were only just about done at the scheduled departure time. Of course the bus was 15 mins late, but BOY am i tired of playing hide and seek with the good deal ticket offices at bus terminals. On the bus we met Hailey - an american girl who had been travelling and volunteering in central america for several months, and therefore knew spanish pretty well. Pretty relaxing to travel with people who know the language, so the only thing you need to worry about during border crossings is not looking suspicious and showing your passport a few times.
Upon arrival in San Jose at 5:30-ish, we headed to hostel Panenga, stayed there for one night, had a very relaxed morning, and then i got myself a haircut before we went to the avis car rental station, at which we picked up our nice Mitsubishi jeep. This was the car who would take us to some of the sweetspots along the pacific coast. First we went to the backpackers hostel in Quepos where we stayed for one night. The next day we went to the Manuel Antonio national park which was just a five minute drive away. As we stepped out of the car we were of course offered a professional guide who promised that if we chose to go with him, we would see 99% of the fauna. We were also gonna end up on the best beach and there was a 100% monkey guarantee. Right..like we were gonna see 300 species of animals through a 2 hour walk. During our walk we saw a lot of monkeys, amphibians and a very nice beach - all this without a guide. The walk was pretty sweaty, and the mosquito repellent was used pretty frequently. The water was out, the energy was out, so we decided to take the car for a ride along the coast just to look around.
So, as we write october 14th, were on our way to what seems to be a coastal paradise. And Jaco has a lot to offer, considering how small it is. During our two-night visit it was raining for the most part, but for the first time in these two weeks we finally fulfilled our mission to have a night out after many days of food poisoning, colds, mosquito bites and more.
The next night was our last one together before Odd were to leave us. We marked this occation by going to the local seafood restaurant. niceity!
Ok. now im pretty tired of not being a jour with this travel blog, so im gonna try to get to the point, which is the date of today - october 16th: So, it was time to split up. Odd took us by car to Puntarenas where we had planned to go by bus to Monteverde. This little town is close to a very nice piece of rainforest, but more importantly; its very close to the famous Arenal volcano. But apparently (and should i say: as usual) a bridge had collapsed into the river on the way there, so al the buses were cancelled. A guy came up to us and said that the only ride we could catch to Monteverde was a direct bus from San Jose, which seemed strange because we where told that all these direct buses were cancelled. But the guy knew a special road, and luckily also a guy who could take us to one of the towns where this only direct bus to Monteverde would stop! Cool offer, but no thanks. The only ride out from this shithole was the 3 pm bus to San Jose. So we figured we'd go there, and then to La Fortuna, which is regarded one of the top sights in Costa Rica, and also close to the Arenal volcano - only on the other side of the mountain. Its a 4 1/2 hour ride, and were gonna try and catch the earlybird ride at 8:40. The hostel were in is the same we stayed at a few days ago; Backpackers Panenga, San Jose. And one more little nugget to complete this day; Odds flight to Panama City was cancelled, and he was rescheduled to the 11 pm. So he came here, and we had a last game of cards before parting ways again.
Ok, im gonna end this for now. The post you just read might contain some boring parts, and even a fare share of spelling errors, but i really dont care. Have a good october 17th. Good night, and good luck.
søndag 16. oktober 2011
tirsdag 4. oktober 2011
9th post.
Yes, i had some lovely days in Quito. But although the capital of Ecuador isn´t the largest city, but because of its location in a valley between fairly high mountains it certainly seems so. That´s why i didn´t get to do by far all the activities available, but we did go to one of these surrounding mountains, "Teleférico". This we did by cable car, taking us from the general city altitude of 2800 ms to 4200 ms. Great view!
Some of the other things we did included sitting in the nice roof terrace of the incredible Secret Garden hostel, go to watch champions league games and also experiencing the night life. We´d heard that warnings about not walking around in the wrong areas at wrong times were to be taken more seriously here than elsewhere, but we were still pretty safe sticking together as a group. I should also maybe mention that we went to eat at mcdonalds on wednesday (9/28). After getting home, my stomach started feeling sort of funny. This feeling soon turned into bottomless ache, forcing me to spend the rest of the evening in traffic between bed and the toilet. In addition to the 5 hours i slept this afternoon, i also slept through the whole night, but still felt very funny in the morning, at which point i decided to stay in the whole day. The next decent meal i had was a very nice veggie dish with different legumes, mushrooms and cheese, but i could only eat half of it. The day after was more or less the same story. But i just had to get out of bed, so i spent the evening on the roof terrace. When the night came, my fever had went away, which was a good thing for my flight the next day. Didn´t feel much better then, but my flight wasn´t until 4 pm, so i figured i´d be ok.
I did although go to the airport at 12, because my travel partner Ane, who i was going to meet at the final destination of my flight, Panama City, told me that the check-in guy had told her that in order to fly into Panama, you need to present proof that you are also flying out of Panama to the immigration officials. This was of course a problem, because we intended to cross the border to Costa Rica by bus. After discussing the clumsy nature of this rule with the check-in guy, she eventually managed to make him give her a fake plane ticket. But in case of any trouble, i was there early. The check-in guy at Quito airport did although not know anything about this rule, so it was now all up to the officials in Cali, Colombia - the destination through which my flight was connecting.
The flight arrived 15 minutes early to Cali, giving me 1,5 hours to pick up my luggage, check in and get to my new gate. One could only hope for a quick immigration session. But no. Leaving the gate, i was soon confronted with one long line for final arrivals and one for connecting arrivals. This differed from what one of the "lane managers" told me, who only nodded when i asked if i had to get into the long one if i had a connecting flight. 20 minutes later, i learned that this girl didnt speak a word of english, which meant that she had answered my question firmly without having any clue what i was talking about (much like me talking spanish in bus terminals, but whatever). Some nice colombians told me to get into the other line, and after having stood there for 20 mins, i was still only half way through it. it was now 45 minutes to departure time of my next flight when a nice lady picked up on my "light" anxiousness, and let me sneak into the express line. After a little while she told me that my luggage had already been checked into the next plane, but there were still quite a number of obstacles i had to pass. After doing the immigration into Colombia, i ran down to the arrivals area where another nice girl was waiting with my boarding pass. She guided me back into departures and to the desk of copa airlines. The lady behind the counter asked me if i had a plane ticket out of Panama. Heere we goo.. But it turned out that my plane ticket from San Jose to Havana would do. Wow. After another lady had searched my hand luggage, and i had showed my passport for the 4th time, i was ready to board the plane, 10 mins before take-off. Certainly makes me want to put Colombia on my travel map!
Arriving in Panama City at 8 pm, i knew that i could get a shared cab for $11 to the reception of Trump Hotel where my travel partners were located, so that i did. After meeting with Ane and her friend Odd Einar who had come in from New York to travel with us for two weeks, we went to our first hostel. The room had A/C, thank god, because the outside temperature was about 30 degrees. At night. And the humidity, my gawd, the humidity! So this is what the last two months has in store for me? Bring it on! I was still not feeling well, though, but the excitement to meet these two good people, and not least being able to speak norwegian again, somewhat made me forget about the whole thing.
On the next day, we decided to get the late evening night bus to Bocas del Toro, a group of Islands in the northwest of Panama, not far away from the border of Costa Rica. So, after getting the ticket, and getting rid of our luggage at the storage room in the bus terminal, we hit the Panama Canal at what was called the "Miraflores Locks", which was quite a mansion. Seeing the descent and elevation of the water with the giant ships in it was a cool sight while having a marvellous buffet. Finishing of with a little museum tour, we went to the old town, so Ane could get her shots at a bunch of great motives. Very nice area! After this, we took another taxi back to the bus terminal, to go shopping for food and water for the bus ride at the super market, and of course to charge our phones in case of wi-fi on the bus. (Kidding, just to have that music..).
After about 9,5 hours on the bus, we were woken up by a very enthusiastic bocas del toro-guy who brought us straight in the back of a taxi pick-up, in the rain, with our luggage. What a kodak moment. After this, a boat waited to take us to the main island of Bocas del toro. After about 45 minutes, we entered Keike hostel at 7 am. After a short breakfast, we all went to bed and slept till noon. My stomach was again very bad, so the others went to the pharmacy to get some colorful pills for me. My body was also at this point in very much lack of nutrition, so today i purchased some vitamins as well. And with yesterdays wonderful dinner of pasta, chicken and legumes, i was for the first time able to hold a meal in my system for more than 10 minutes since thursday..whoohoo(!)
Today, i took it quite easy, while the others went to check out the diving facilities of , which were apparently ok. I still feel very lazy, and the stomach ache varies greatly through the day. Might hit the doctor tomorrow to get rid of this shit (literally) once and for all.
For now; so long!
Some of the other things we did included sitting in the nice roof terrace of the incredible Secret Garden hostel, go to watch champions league games and also experiencing the night life. We´d heard that warnings about not walking around in the wrong areas at wrong times were to be taken more seriously here than elsewhere, but we were still pretty safe sticking together as a group. I should also maybe mention that we went to eat at mcdonalds on wednesday (9/28). After getting home, my stomach started feeling sort of funny. This feeling soon turned into bottomless ache, forcing me to spend the rest of the evening in traffic between bed and the toilet. In addition to the 5 hours i slept this afternoon, i also slept through the whole night, but still felt very funny in the morning, at which point i decided to stay in the whole day. The next decent meal i had was a very nice veggie dish with different legumes, mushrooms and cheese, but i could only eat half of it. The day after was more or less the same story. But i just had to get out of bed, so i spent the evening on the roof terrace. When the night came, my fever had went away, which was a good thing for my flight the next day. Didn´t feel much better then, but my flight wasn´t until 4 pm, so i figured i´d be ok.
I did although go to the airport at 12, because my travel partner Ane, who i was going to meet at the final destination of my flight, Panama City, told me that the check-in guy had told her that in order to fly into Panama, you need to present proof that you are also flying out of Panama to the immigration officials. This was of course a problem, because we intended to cross the border to Costa Rica by bus. After discussing the clumsy nature of this rule with the check-in guy, she eventually managed to make him give her a fake plane ticket. But in case of any trouble, i was there early. The check-in guy at Quito airport did although not know anything about this rule, so it was now all up to the officials in Cali, Colombia - the destination through which my flight was connecting.
The flight arrived 15 minutes early to Cali, giving me 1,5 hours to pick up my luggage, check in and get to my new gate. One could only hope for a quick immigration session. But no. Leaving the gate, i was soon confronted with one long line for final arrivals and one for connecting arrivals. This differed from what one of the "lane managers" told me, who only nodded when i asked if i had to get into the long one if i had a connecting flight. 20 minutes later, i learned that this girl didnt speak a word of english, which meant that she had answered my question firmly without having any clue what i was talking about (much like me talking spanish in bus terminals, but whatever). Some nice colombians told me to get into the other line, and after having stood there for 20 mins, i was still only half way through it. it was now 45 minutes to departure time of my next flight when a nice lady picked up on my "light" anxiousness, and let me sneak into the express line. After a little while she told me that my luggage had already been checked into the next plane, but there were still quite a number of obstacles i had to pass. After doing the immigration into Colombia, i ran down to the arrivals area where another nice girl was waiting with my boarding pass. She guided me back into departures and to the desk of copa airlines. The lady behind the counter asked me if i had a plane ticket out of Panama. Heere we goo.. But it turned out that my plane ticket from San Jose to Havana would do. Wow. After another lady had searched my hand luggage, and i had showed my passport for the 4th time, i was ready to board the plane, 10 mins before take-off. Certainly makes me want to put Colombia on my travel map!
Arriving in Panama City at 8 pm, i knew that i could get a shared cab for $11 to the reception of Trump Hotel where my travel partners were located, so that i did. After meeting with Ane and her friend Odd Einar who had come in from New York to travel with us for two weeks, we went to our first hostel. The room had A/C, thank god, because the outside temperature was about 30 degrees. At night. And the humidity, my gawd, the humidity! So this is what the last two months has in store for me? Bring it on! I was still not feeling well, though, but the excitement to meet these two good people, and not least being able to speak norwegian again, somewhat made me forget about the whole thing.
On the next day, we decided to get the late evening night bus to Bocas del Toro, a group of Islands in the northwest of Panama, not far away from the border of Costa Rica. So, after getting the ticket, and getting rid of our luggage at the storage room in the bus terminal, we hit the Panama Canal at what was called the "Miraflores Locks", which was quite a mansion. Seeing the descent and elevation of the water with the giant ships in it was a cool sight while having a marvellous buffet. Finishing of with a little museum tour, we went to the old town, so Ane could get her shots at a bunch of great motives. Very nice area! After this, we took another taxi back to the bus terminal, to go shopping for food and water for the bus ride at the super market, and of course to charge our phones in case of wi-fi on the bus. (Kidding, just to have that music..).
After about 9,5 hours on the bus, we were woken up by a very enthusiastic bocas del toro-guy who brought us straight in the back of a taxi pick-up, in the rain, with our luggage. What a kodak moment. After this, a boat waited to take us to the main island of Bocas del toro. After about 45 minutes, we entered Keike hostel at 7 am. After a short breakfast, we all went to bed and slept till noon. My stomach was again very bad, so the others went to the pharmacy to get some colorful pills for me. My body was also at this point in very much lack of nutrition, so today i purchased some vitamins as well. And with yesterdays wonderful dinner of pasta, chicken and legumes, i was for the first time able to hold a meal in my system for more than 10 minutes since thursday..whoohoo(!)
Today, i took it quite easy, while the others went to check out the diving facilities of , which were apparently ok. I still feel very lazy, and the stomach ache varies greatly through the day. Might hit the doctor tomorrow to get rid of this shit (literally) once and for all.
For now; so long!
tirsdag 27. september 2011
8th post.
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So. After 127 hours and somewhere between 5000 and 6000 km in various buses i´m finally in the capital of Ecuador (and maybe even also of the Equator). I was actually planning on going to Banos from Guayaquil for some horseriding(!) or whatever, but i decided i justed wanted to get the last leg over with. For those who know me; i dont have to tell you what a big relief it is to be back in the dry and somewhat chillier altitude of 2800 m above sealevel, as opposed to the 30 degree way-to-humid city of Guayaquil. It was a beutiful city, and actually one of my favorites so far in terms of architecture and sights (i have a few pics on fb).
Since this is the first of quite a few days in Quito, todays plans (at this time) include noe more than Champions League and beer. Im getting more and more accustomed to the not-planning thing for each passing day, which i think is a good thing to have achieved when i meet with Ane, my travel partner. I dont think the word ´planning´ is in her vocabulary, which is a great quality. Really looking forward to meet up with her in Panama City on saturday, and later on with some friends of her. And of course i cant wait till the day we stand on Havana airport with norwegian flags all over (as if) to welcome Aashild who will take part in the last part of our trip. yeah!
søndag 25. september 2011
7th post.
Shortly before midnight i arrived at Iguanazu hostal in the upper part of Guayaquil, Ecuador. A rare beauty with an outstanding view, good breakfast and a swimmin pool (not that i will be using it).
The busride here was as usual two hours longer than expected, which brings the total number of bus hours to a resounding 92. And the reason was the same as ever; the driver would make stops just about wherever there would be people along the road wanting to hit the city. Somehow, i managed to get some sleep. It lasted for about 20 mins, when the bus driver decided to crash into a road block. Maybe the burning trees along the road had caught is attention. Anyway - in the end, there was nothing more dramatic to this than a partly shattered front window. I was although baffled by the fact that there actually exists more "accident-curious" people than the norwegians. The bus was completely empty in literally no time; everyone wanted to have a look and their say about the ´chófur estupidó´.
Well, now im here in 30 degrees with a brilliant view. Its hard to tell, though, whether the weather is cloudy, or if its just pollution. Im thinking a mix.
laterz.
The busride here was as usual two hours longer than expected, which brings the total number of bus hours to a resounding 92. And the reason was the same as ever; the driver would make stops just about wherever there would be people along the road wanting to hit the city. Somehow, i managed to get some sleep. It lasted for about 20 mins, when the bus driver decided to crash into a road block. Maybe the burning trees along the road had caught is attention. Anyway - in the end, there was nothing more dramatic to this than a partly shattered front window. I was although baffled by the fact that there actually exists more "accident-curious" people than the norwegians. The bus was completely empty in literally no time; everyone wanted to have a look and their say about the ´chófur estupidó´.
Well, now im here in 30 degrees with a brilliant view. Its hard to tell, though, whether the weather is cloudy, or if its just pollution. Im thinking a mix.
laterz.
fredag 23. september 2011
6th post! The inka trail, and a couple of more things.
my, did there run many gallons of water through the amazon since the last time i gave you an update. Wi-fi reception seems to be fairly poor above 3000 m. for some reason. So here goes my update for the past 9 days. (I am btw writing this at an internet café, and that countdown clock is freaking me out, so for those who care about more details; you will have to ask for them later.)
September 14th
After one more night at Loki, i was set for hotel prisma and my first meeting with the group. Mr. cool guide Edwin held his first briefing at 5 this afternoon, which contained all the information we needed about the trail, and some more. From the options of renting walking sticks and/or an extra inflatable mattress, i chose to go only for the mattress, as i´ve never understood the point of the sticks. After packing no more than 6 (3,5) kgs into my duffle bag, i went bak to the Loki hostel to see if i could find my camera which apparently went missing somewhere between the ho(s)tels. Was it there? No. It was definately gone/stolen. Now, you guys are left with the low-quality pics from my phone. Too bad.
After one last game of pool and a set of good-byes, i went back to prisma for some sleep. The next days tour to the sacred valley required a 6:30 get-up the next morning, which turned out to be a comfortable sleep-in compared to the forthcoming days.
September 15th
We left Prisma with the most of our luggage and very few hours of sleep to hit the sacred valley. But first and foremost; the market, at which we met the alpacas, the lamas, and the locals who knew how to color their wool naturally and make blankets out of them. Some of us also learned that the effect of showing off their iphones or giving out their candy to the local kids, is not very different from the one you achieve by feeding the pigeons in the park.
After the short tour of this market, i purchased my first bag of coca leaves. They would turn out to have a magnificent (placebo) effect! Well, the lama convention was over. Off to the sacred valley.
Edwins speeches at the first of (very) many inka archeological sites were as always informative. The main plot included terraces with various purposes and the formation of people in the mountains and steps. A lot of steps. You could easily tell that he´d been doing this for five years. The day was concluded at the "pre-inkan" restaurant "the blue puppy", and i had already started to learn some of the names, which had to mean this was a good group.
September 16th - Day 1 of the trek
After waking up at 6, a bus took us to the starting point of the trek. The duffle bags were handed over to our porters, who were going to carry 25 kgs each over 40 kms (as opposed to earlier times, when the same number would be up to 50 kgs.)
After the 1st (out of 4) checkpoint stamp in our passport, we began to walk this popular trail which would take us to the first campsite after about 11 kms. The weather was real good before lunch. During our lunch, however, we were left hoping that the raingods would give in. But nothing could save us from the Grand Poncho premiere, which luckily didn´t last for long. At 4 pm, we arrived at the campsite. 6 red tents were lined up on the upper part, and our dining tent at the lower. That pretty much concludes the day 1 story. We were all trying to prepare for the wrath of day two. The whole in the ground they called toilet with a doghouse built around it was certainly a major motivation factor.
September 17th - day 2 (12 km)
A 5 am wake-up, followed by a ruthless start to day 2; the 1200 meter climb from 3300 m. to 4500 taking us up through the so-called dead-womans pass, started immediately with some killer steps. And the end of this elevation was totally gut-wrenching; once you could spot the end, it wasn´t the end after all, which happened twice before finally reaching the highest point of the inka trail at 4515 meters. After this, we started the 600 meter descent to the 2nd campsite. I was dead. A totally exhausting day. The rest was all about eating, having tea, eating some more, and compose a song to be sang for our porters the next day. Fortunately, our tent was soundproof..
September 18th - day 3 (17 km)
The longest day in terms of distance also started at 5 with the usual coca tea wake-up at 5. At 6:30 we started with a 300 m. elevation, upon which Edwin gave a speech about the dead womans pass, and how we could see her formation in the mountains across the valley. From there, the day 3 was all about our own speeches about "the tree of love" and "the cave of fertility" (don´t ask). And after lunch, for some reason, some of us came to notice a tall, german guy (from this point on only referred to as action man) with shorts, knee-socks, an orange poncho and of course, to tie the image off; the orange raincover for his backpack. While the other, exhausted members of his group were having their snickers bars and gatorades, he was busy running around on the surrounding cliffs, posing for whoever would wanna take a picture.
So, down we went after some laughs of this guy, to complete the day three. Some of us went ahead of the others, knowing that we after a while would reach a "fork" giving us two options; to take the long way and see the nice view in case of good weather, or the short way in case of something else. At this point, we had become fairly accustomed to the fact that the porters could run down the steepest descents without blinking. But after about a ten-minute walk, there was also another guy who wanted to take the running challenge. Who else than ACTION MAN! The discovery of this guy instantly became obsession.
Shortly before arrival at the 3rd and last campsite, we met action man, who replied our appreciation with a humble "i know", before posing with us for a decent photo.
The 3rd campsite was not at all as cold as the 2nd one. the jumper got a well-deserved break from my not so flower-smelling body. This was also the last day with our very nice and helpful porters, and it was time to sing our beautiful piece of art made to the tune of Bon Jovis "Living on a prayer". The performance was well-received, and you could certainly not put a finger on Daniels air-guitar solo.
September 19th - day 4
It was action time. My bell rang at 0350, ten minutes before the wake-up, without coca-tea this time. There was no time for anything but a quick session of agua caliente and breakfast. During the breakfast, we were all of course curious about whether the rain would stop before we started to walk towards the sun gate and Machu Picchu. "Probably not", was all Edwin could say. It actually stopped, however, during our waiting for the last checkpoint. The control guy had overslept, so we were actually quite dry when upon arrival to the sun gate two hours later. But the fog had struck the whole area like a big wet sponge, and our only comfort was that it still remained 5 hours till we had to leave the area. At the end of our guided tour through the city, most of the clouds had left the building with the fog, and our free-time walk to the inka bridge was almost sunny.
Well, there was no battery left in our cameras, so there was nothing else for us to do but to get our last checpoint stamp and catch a most-needed beer or three at the machu picchu bar. On our way home to Cusco we went for lunch at restaurant "Patchamama" (where else).
The last night with the gang was legendary and included a 3-course dinner and a visit to the irish bar, followed by a whole night of dancing (on the bar desk).
Since this, ive had two very nice busrides with a very nice 24-hour visit to Lima in the middle of them. This city certainly proved every bad rumour wrong. The 16th century Franciscan monastry and Dunkin Donuts were some of the highlights. Right now, i am finishing of my daylong visit to Piura; a little but very charming town in the far northwest of Peru. In about an hour, my bus will leave for Guayaquil, Ecuador. Noone knows what will happen next:)
September 14th
After one more night at Loki, i was set for hotel prisma and my first meeting with the group. Mr. cool guide Edwin held his first briefing at 5 this afternoon, which contained all the information we needed about the trail, and some more. From the options of renting walking sticks and/or an extra inflatable mattress, i chose to go only for the mattress, as i´ve never understood the point of the sticks. After packing no more than 6 (3,5) kgs into my duffle bag, i went bak to the Loki hostel to see if i could find my camera which apparently went missing somewhere between the ho(s)tels. Was it there? No. It was definately gone/stolen. Now, you guys are left with the low-quality pics from my phone. Too bad.
After one last game of pool and a set of good-byes, i went back to prisma for some sleep. The next days tour to the sacred valley required a 6:30 get-up the next morning, which turned out to be a comfortable sleep-in compared to the forthcoming days.
September 15th
We left Prisma with the most of our luggage and very few hours of sleep to hit the sacred valley. But first and foremost; the market, at which we met the alpacas, the lamas, and the locals who knew how to color their wool naturally and make blankets out of them. Some of us also learned that the effect of showing off their iphones or giving out their candy to the local kids, is not very different from the one you achieve by feeding the pigeons in the park.
After the short tour of this market, i purchased my first bag of coca leaves. They would turn out to have a magnificent (placebo) effect! Well, the lama convention was over. Off to the sacred valley.
Edwins speeches at the first of (very) many inka archeological sites were as always informative. The main plot included terraces with various purposes and the formation of people in the mountains and steps. A lot of steps. You could easily tell that he´d been doing this for five years. The day was concluded at the "pre-inkan" restaurant "the blue puppy", and i had already started to learn some of the names, which had to mean this was a good group.
September 16th - Day 1 of the trek
After waking up at 6, a bus took us to the starting point of the trek. The duffle bags were handed over to our porters, who were going to carry 25 kgs each over 40 kms (as opposed to earlier times, when the same number would be up to 50 kgs.)
After the 1st (out of 4) checkpoint stamp in our passport, we began to walk this popular trail which would take us to the first campsite after about 11 kms. The weather was real good before lunch. During our lunch, however, we were left hoping that the raingods would give in. But nothing could save us from the Grand Poncho premiere, which luckily didn´t last for long. At 4 pm, we arrived at the campsite. 6 red tents were lined up on the upper part, and our dining tent at the lower. That pretty much concludes the day 1 story. We were all trying to prepare for the wrath of day two. The whole in the ground they called toilet with a doghouse built around it was certainly a major motivation factor.
September 17th - day 2 (12 km)
A 5 am wake-up, followed by a ruthless start to day 2; the 1200 meter climb from 3300 m. to 4500 taking us up through the so-called dead-womans pass, started immediately with some killer steps. And the end of this elevation was totally gut-wrenching; once you could spot the end, it wasn´t the end after all, which happened twice before finally reaching the highest point of the inka trail at 4515 meters. After this, we started the 600 meter descent to the 2nd campsite. I was dead. A totally exhausting day. The rest was all about eating, having tea, eating some more, and compose a song to be sang for our porters the next day. Fortunately, our tent was soundproof..
September 18th - day 3 (17 km)
The longest day in terms of distance also started at 5 with the usual coca tea wake-up at 5. At 6:30 we started with a 300 m. elevation, upon which Edwin gave a speech about the dead womans pass, and how we could see her formation in the mountains across the valley. From there, the day 3 was all about our own speeches about "the tree of love" and "the cave of fertility" (don´t ask). And after lunch, for some reason, some of us came to notice a tall, german guy (from this point on only referred to as action man) with shorts, knee-socks, an orange poncho and of course, to tie the image off; the orange raincover for his backpack. While the other, exhausted members of his group were having their snickers bars and gatorades, he was busy running around on the surrounding cliffs, posing for whoever would wanna take a picture.
So, down we went after some laughs of this guy, to complete the day three. Some of us went ahead of the others, knowing that we after a while would reach a "fork" giving us two options; to take the long way and see the nice view in case of good weather, or the short way in case of something else. At this point, we had become fairly accustomed to the fact that the porters could run down the steepest descents without blinking. But after about a ten-minute walk, there was also another guy who wanted to take the running challenge. Who else than ACTION MAN! The discovery of this guy instantly became obsession.
Shortly before arrival at the 3rd and last campsite, we met action man, who replied our appreciation with a humble "i know", before posing with us for a decent photo.
The 3rd campsite was not at all as cold as the 2nd one. the jumper got a well-deserved break from my not so flower-smelling body. This was also the last day with our very nice and helpful porters, and it was time to sing our beautiful piece of art made to the tune of Bon Jovis "Living on a prayer". The performance was well-received, and you could certainly not put a finger on Daniels air-guitar solo.
September 19th - day 4
It was action time. My bell rang at 0350, ten minutes before the wake-up, without coca-tea this time. There was no time for anything but a quick session of agua caliente and breakfast. During the breakfast, we were all of course curious about whether the rain would stop before we started to walk towards the sun gate and Machu Picchu. "Probably not", was all Edwin could say. It actually stopped, however, during our waiting for the last checkpoint. The control guy had overslept, so we were actually quite dry when upon arrival to the sun gate two hours later. But the fog had struck the whole area like a big wet sponge, and our only comfort was that it still remained 5 hours till we had to leave the area. At the end of our guided tour through the city, most of the clouds had left the building with the fog, and our free-time walk to the inka bridge was almost sunny.
Well, there was no battery left in our cameras, so there was nothing else for us to do but to get our last checpoint stamp and catch a most-needed beer or three at the machu picchu bar. On our way home to Cusco we went for lunch at restaurant "Patchamama" (where else).
The last night with the gang was legendary and included a 3-course dinner and a visit to the irish bar, followed by a whole night of dancing (on the bar desk).
Since this, ive had two very nice busrides with a very nice 24-hour visit to Lima in the middle of them. This city certainly proved every bad rumour wrong. The 16th century Franciscan monastry and Dunkin Donuts were some of the highlights. Right now, i am finishing of my daylong visit to Piura; a little but very charming town in the far northwest of Peru. In about an hour, my bus will leave for Guayaquil, Ecuador. Noone knows what will happen next:)
tirsdag 13. september 2011
5th post.
So, after doing my tourist duties in La Paz, i purchased my ticket to Cuzco next day. Apparenetly, the only way to get there, was to change in Copacabana and then again in Puno. Leaving at 8 am the next day, we arrived in Copacabana at 10:30.The changeover for the next bus was about an hour and a half, so i and my new bus friend Magdalena wandered the streets of this very charming little town. On our way to Puno, we had to cross the amazing lake Titicaca. The list of the things i don´t have time to see just keeps getting longer..
A while after crossing the Peruvian border, we arrived in Puno. There was a very quick stopover, and after only 20 minutes we were on our wheels to Cuzco. The arrival time remained uncertain. The girl from which i bought the ticket, said it would be around 10:30 pm the same day. Magdalena was sure that i wouldnt be there till early the next day, while the buss driver changed from "11-ish" to "12-ish" to "1-ish" during the trip. After my last experience, i was dressed for everything. The ride was really bumpy and the seats were tiny. but at least the buss was half full, so it was possible to stretch your legs. That was until about 7, when we stopped at a terminal in the middle of nowhere to pick up half of the Bolivian population. They all had 10 bags each (no exaggeration), which - of course - all had to be brought on board. Along with the two sleeping grannys on the floor, these bags literally made it impossible to go out for a stretch whenever we would have to stop because of engine problems (no surprise, really). At about 8:30, the engine had had enough. The bus driver announced that we had to wait for another bus, and that it would take about two hours. Yay! Im gonna spare you the happenings of the next couple of hours.
The most important thing, was that we were back on the road at app. 11:15 pm. The actual arrival time in Cuzco was 4:30 this morning. Three other guys that i met on the bus, insisted on getting a beer and hang out until 7, so that we could save one night of accomodation. Not a bad plan, actually. I could then sleep till about noon. Instead, we went straight for breakfast, and now i´m just gonna take a very relaxed day until the fun begins tomorrow:)
peace.
A while after crossing the Peruvian border, we arrived in Puno. There was a very quick stopover, and after only 20 minutes we were on our wheels to Cuzco. The arrival time remained uncertain. The girl from which i bought the ticket, said it would be around 10:30 pm the same day. Magdalena was sure that i wouldnt be there till early the next day, while the buss driver changed from "11-ish" to "12-ish" to "1-ish" during the trip. After my last experience, i was dressed for everything. The ride was really bumpy and the seats were tiny. but at least the buss was half full, so it was possible to stretch your legs. That was until about 7, when we stopped at a terminal in the middle of nowhere to pick up half of the Bolivian population. They all had 10 bags each (no exaggeration), which - of course - all had to be brought on board. Along with the two sleeping grannys on the floor, these bags literally made it impossible to go out for a stretch whenever we would have to stop because of engine problems (no surprise, really). At about 8:30, the engine had had enough. The bus driver announced that we had to wait for another bus, and that it would take about two hours. Yay! Im gonna spare you the happenings of the next couple of hours.
The most important thing, was that we were back on the road at app. 11:15 pm. The actual arrival time in Cuzco was 4:30 this morning. Three other guys that i met on the bus, insisted on getting a beer and hang out until 7, so that we could save one night of accomodation. Not a bad plan, actually. I could then sleep till about noon. Instead, we went straight for breakfast, and now i´m just gonna take a very relaxed day until the fun begins tomorrow:)
peace.
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