I depart Tarapoto today....

But not with such happiness after Viva!Air charged me 72 soles to print my boarding pass at the airport!! That's almost as much as I paid for the whole fare and it only took them 30 seconds. Then they also tried to slug me for my backpack which they wanted to put in the hold (I've always carried it on board with me and pointed that out but they insisted it was over-sized until I proved it wasn't by forcing it into the steel cage they use to gauge the dimensions. It's still a cheap flight but it rankled a bit with me to have to pay for a boarding pass. I hope I don't have to go through the same insane procedure at Lima when I check in for Santiago in two days. I'll be checking before I get to the airport in case I have to get my ticket printed in advance somewhere.
Friday, 29th June 2018 in Sydney.
Well, as you can imagine, I've hardly had time to add to the post I started in Tarapoto at the airport and here I am in Sydney already!! Thankfully Sky Airlines were kinder than Viva!Air and didn't charge me any extra for printing my boarding pass or for luggage - for a budget airline I thought they were at least as good as a full service carrier. You pay for extras such as food and drinks on board but not at unreasonable prices and the club sandwiches were nice and fresh. Arrived into Santiago in the afternoon and checked into my Airbnb close to the airport and struck up a conversation with a young woman from Argentina who was returning from her 1 month holiday in Europe and also just overnighting close to the airport as she had a 6am flight the next day. She wanted to do some shopping and the hostess recommended a shopping mall not far from the Airbnb so we shared a taxi to there and arranged to meet up for something to eat in two hours time. The mall was huge and modern - bigger than any I've seen in NZ and on a par with Miranda Fair in Sydney - the Supermarket section was the biggest I've ever seen and even sold a wide range of tyres!! Imagine putting a few of those in your shopping trolley with your groceries!! I wanted to buy a neck pillow and slippers for the long flight back to Sydney but the only neck pillow I could find had children's motifs on it so I gave that a pass!! I did get the slip on slippers, though. 
The thirteen hour flight the next day to Sydney wasn't too bad - the noise cancelling headphones and a heap of new albums I downloaded on Spotify along with a sleeping pill made the trip a pleasure. I probably slept or dozed for at least six hours but the passenger in the seat behind me was a pain, playing the drums on my seat back a couple of times while he listened to his own music. I warned him once and he desisted for an hour but the second time he started up I threatened to have him removed to another seat in the plane if he kept it up. For a man in his mid twenties I was surprised he could be so inconsiderate (but you get the odd imbecile like that on some flights!!).
Today is a beautiful sunny day in Sydney after rain yesterday and I remembered why I loved the climate here so much - even in winter it's a joy to be here!!
Ruth and Cam's Au pair arrives from the USA on Monday, so I'm looking for a car with auto transmission today as they struggle with Ruth's Mazda which is manual shift - she prefers the manual shift but the Au pairs struggle with having to change gears AND drive on the "wrong" side of the road while they're here. I'm pushing for a low mileage Peugeot as they have the best ANCAP safety ratings!! No more to post at this stage so I'll publish this now and MAY get one more in before NZ.

I'm pleased to say I managed to  avoid something like this!!

Blue Lagoon my @#$%!!

Clearly Peruvians are colour blind - I went to El Sauce today which is on the edge of a lake called Laguna Azul (Azure Lagoon). Well, maybe it was a few hundred years ago, but today it is just a murky, olive coloured, polluted cesspool. I'm glad I didn't plan to stay there overnight and didn't pay for a tour to get there. A tourist from Colorado I met in Gacto described it as a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. Neither is correct. The hills are not very high and deforested in parts for agriculture and the lake is no more than a large pond by Canadian standards. There was a modest hotel on the edge of the lake where I took refuge for the day as it had a nice swimming pool with sun loungers around it. The water was warm enough for swimming and I enjoyed a relaxing day there. A bar service to the pool would have been a welcome addition but they just don't get that here (unlike in Asia where the tourists can order a cool drink from one of the many waiters circulating around the pool). The road to and from is horrendous - no more than a goat track for much of the way. The smoothest part was crossing the river on a large barge which carried the bus and trucks as well. So I'm back in the Hotel San Antonio with hot water in the shower for another night. It's close to the Plaza and there's a noisy party happening there tonight, which may have something to do with the winter solstice. I may wander up there for a look later and if it goes on too long it will be another night with an earplug in.

If this colour is blue I must be colour blind!

Loading the barge to cross the muddy river, a tributary of the Amazon.

Tarapoto itself has nothing much to recommend it....

Tarapoto is more of a base for exploring the surrounding regions, like El Sauce, etc. It's very humid here and I don't feel much like doing any strenuous exercise - even walking into the town centre is enough to make you want a shower, but there is only a cold shower here at this Airbnb (Casa de Hiro) which is really a hostel, not a private residence. There's evidence that previous guests in this room have been using illicit drugs here (knives with the tell-tale signs of having been used for "spotting"). You can't tell from the descriptions on Airbnb if the host is running a hostel or a private home. I've asked Airbnb to look at adding to the amenities section of the host's profiles whether there's hot water in the shower or not. I have had to ask that of each individual place I've considered booking which is time consuming - be much easier if that was published information. Westerners simply assume that there will be. My room here is good - spacious and clean with a private kitchen and bathroom attached (but not enough cutlery - I had to ask for a spoon, knife and fork so I could have my Granola for breakfast and a hot dog for lunch).
One thing I noticed coming here from Chachapoyas is there seems to be very different traffic laws - in Chachapoyas there are no noisy Tuktuks or old taxis (or old tourist mini-buses). Here there are thousands of the tuktuks and motorbikes and no-one wears a crash helmet. I hate to think how many head injuries are suffered, especially when I see young children without crash helmets traveling as passengers with their mothers on the motorbikes.
Tomorrow I'll catch a colectivo (shared taxi) from here to El Sauce and stay there for at least one night - I may even book into a hotel with hot water in the shower!
Wednesday 20 June: I'm stuck in Tarapoto - at least for a few hours. I took a tuktuk to the base where the colectivos depart for El Sauce only to find a notice there advising that the road is closed today! ONLY today!! The sad thing is, I could have gone yesterday if I'd known. I only stayed the second night in Tarapoto because I'd already prepaid it - I'd have been happy to lose that cost in order to get to El Sauce. So, I'm in a cafe drinking coffee and wondering what my next move should be - I don't particularly want to spend another day here. I may be able to get a ride to some other close by destination for the day and overnight there and get to El Sauce tomorrow.
Nothing else to post in the blog today - nothing of interest has happened here. There may be more tomorrow, I hope.

That's it! I'm through with trekking in Peru....

Just too old for this kind of punishment! The tour operator failed to tell me that the tour to Gocta involved a two and a half hour strenuous trek through the jungle up hill and down dale in order to reach the falls and then the same back to the tour bus, of course. Otherwise I might not have gone (he probably figured that but wanted to make a sale). However, I'd have to say they are spectacular falls - you can see both the upper and lower falls from a distance but only the lower falls as you get closer. A total drop of 770 metres, the longest being the lower falls drop of 540 metres - that's a long way! Compare that to our Sutherland falls, which are also spectacular, which has three drops totaling 581 metres the longest being a mere 248 metres! The trek was so strenuous that I actually threw up on the side of the track about half way back to the bus - first time I've ever done that on a trek. I'd felt faint a couple of times and was worried I'd topple off the track and down the steep banks into the ravine below if I did faint. It could've taken days to find me if that had happened, the jungle is so dense. It will be even more dense in Tarapoto. I could have hired a horse for 40 soles for the trek but decided against that option. Several people did hire horses, donkeys, burrows and asses but I discovered that they only took you half way there and you still had to walk some steep inclines and valleys to get to the falls. I was surprised how much faster the horses were and the handlers walking alongside must be incredibly fit to be able to keep up with them, some of which were rather reluctant participants on the steep uphill grades and needed some "encouragement" from the handlers to keep them moving.
I've booked a flight from Tarapoto back to Lima to join my onward flight to Santiago - one a half hour flight for NZD$39.00 (and that includes the agent's booking fee). You'd have to wonder how the airline makes money at that price - maybe they don't pay the pilots? The flight will save me about 40 hours travel on buses and several days of accommodation and meals plus the added bonus of giving me more time in the Tarapoto region - I may even be able to fit in a short river trip on one of the tributaries of the Amazon. The longer trips get boring, so I'm told, because all you see is the river and the jungle clad riverbanks on either side for days on end. No wildlife. I've only booked my first two nights in Tarapoto to allow me the flexibility to do an overnight tour to other places close by if I feel so inclined.
This morning I found the central market which every Peruvian town has where local vendors sell their produce. Much cheaper than the mini market I'd been buying at, but maybe not as hygienic. At least they have butchers there with real meat - chicken, pork, lamb and beef. I've been hanging out for a beef steak for a few days and the butcher cut me off a steak that definitely isn't wagyu as there isn't an ounce of fat on or in it - it looks like lean rump and may be tough but at least it's red meat. A few eggs, fried onions and tomatoes and fried bread (there's no toaster here) and I'll have the makings of a Kiwi breakfast. I'm having a rest day today after yesterday's marathon effort - I tried to get a full body massage last night to ease my aching muscles but without success (seems to be very few places here in Chachapoya that offer massages, unlike Trujillo where they're on every street). Maybe I'll have more success later today.

A pretty butterfly that sat still just long enough for me to get a photo on the way to Gocta Falls.

Did I say coach?? No way! A small bus with no loo!!

My last day in Cajamarca I rested as much as I could on my rock hard bed at the Airbnb, preparing in the knowledge that I'd likely get no sleep on the "coach". I did wander into town around lunch time for a bite to eat - the sidewalk vendors cooking meat pieces on skewers over charcoal fires always tempt me, but the meat in Cajamarca was slices of tough and inedible ox heart not cooked long enough to be hot with a cold piece of boiled potato stuck on the end (for decoration??). The local dogs were happy for me, though. I always ask "caliente??" before I buy and always get the same answer "si!!" but invariably it's "frio". At the next vendor, small pieces of something that looked enticing being stir fried on a hot plate made me part with another two soles ($1.00) and more dogs got a snack - this time it turned out to be tripe!! Now, I have nothing against tripe. But it needs to be boiled for days with onions and served in a white sauce to be edible!
Back at the Airbnb nature, like time, waits not upon men, and sooner or later she calls you again. A note on the cistern says "don't put the paper in the toilet - put it in the bin next to the toilet". No way!! If the toilet can manage to cope with my "number twos" it can damn well cope with a few sheets of soluble toilet tissues!! Lol!!
Never believe the pictures in the brochures! I must be naive! I should have learned by now! The "coach" for the 12 hour trip was in fact an old 30 seater bus - I guess 12 hours of travel for $23.00 is pretty cheap, but I'd have willingly paid three times that for the comfort of a Cruz del Sur luxury coach with comfortable reclining seats like I've had over previous routes. But a full size coach could never negotiate the road with its tight corners. The seats on the bus reclined but were still uncomfortable but at least I had two to myself for most of the journey, so I could stretch out a bit and shift positions to ease the discomfort. You also get an inkling of the torment you're about to endure en route when the conductor hands out sick bags before you depart! The road was the roughest, potholed, unsealed road I think I've ever traveled on. This torment is exacerbated by the Peruvians love of speed humps - they hardly ever allow the bus to get up to speed before it has to slow down for the next one. They're everywhere. I doubt they actually prevent any accidents but they sure must add to the fuel bill of the motorists and coach operators.
The bus I traveled on was under-powered for the terrain it had to conquer - maybe it was only 200H.P. - so the trip was often reduced to a slow crawl up the mountainsides. Thankfully it stopped about every three hours so passengers could relieve themselves on the side of the road (it was dark, remember, and maybe that's why the service only operates at night??). Around 9pm it stopped at a cafe where a meal of boiled rice and pumpkin stew was served with a cube of boiled beef brisket which was dry and unpalatable - included in the fare. The locals probably pay about four soles (less than $2.00) for the same meal. At around 5:30am the bus pulled into Chachapoyas and I headed straight for my hostel and bed for three hours sleep. I was ever so thankful I packed earplugs - the hostel rooster was crowing in full voice as I turned in.
Feeling rested by 9am I wandered next door to a nice clean (empty) cafe advertising various breakfast options - the menu had photos and I ordered the English breakfast of ham and eggs with bread rolls and coffee, specifying two eggs as only one showed in the photo. It was okay - the eggs were fried and I expected the ham or bacon would be as well. No, just a square slice of cold supermarket pre-sliced packet fake ham. I could make a mint in Peru teaching the cafe owners how to put together the kind of  cooked breakfast gringos want - two fried or poached eggs, fried or grilled (real) bacon, fried tomatoes, fried potato chips, a grilled breakfast sausage or two and hot toast with butter and marmalade or jam, washed down with a large cup of real coffee. And salt and pepper on the table (you always have to ask for those or bring your own, as I do). They could up the price from 6 soles to 15 or 20 soles and have a queue lining up at the door. I bought Granola and milk for tomorrow and the next day and will try to get "Ensalada de Fruta" in a paper cup from the cafe next door to add to it.
I booked a full day tour to Gocta falls for tomorrow - fifty soles - it's on the road to Tarapoto where I'm going on 17th but the bus doesn't stop there so I have to do it as a separate trip (in any case the bus to Tarapoto is at night). It's a six kilometre trek from where the bus stops to the lower falls or ten kilometres to the upper falls - I'll see how I feel when I get there as to whether I do both. Nothing more to add today.

I love these Peruvian showers - they give me a real buzz! 50 hertz of 230 volts power to be precise!

The longest leg of my six sector trip, Cajamarca to Chachapoyas - 12 hrs!

I'm not looking forward to the next leg of my trip - 5pm tonight until 5am tomorrow! Almost twice as long as most coach sectors I do and as long as Santiago to Sydney by air! Thankfully my accommodation will have a night receptionist on duty who can let me in at 5am. I booked the stopovers using a tourist map of Peru which I bought in Puno but it doesn't accurately represent the distances between towns. If I'd had an accurate road map I'd have maybe gone as far as Celedin the first day instead of only Cajamarca. Though Cajamarca to Chachpoyas doesn't look that far on the tourist map it's obviously a very slow trip across the Andes due to the number of switchbacks necessary to gain the altitude needed to get across these huge mountains. 1 kilometre (1,000 metres) in altitude means about 40 kilometres of road travel, often on unsealed narrow roads with huge drop-offs into ravines. It may be safer traveling at night because the coach can see oncoming traffic (if they have lights). The alternative route, over the "Death Road", is littered with buses that have gone over the edge, according to the people I've talked to who've done it. It will only be light for the first hour of my trip tonight so I might not get any photos.
I had a good breakfast again this morning at a place called "Ronald's", which is quite a way from here ($1 in a mototaxi), but they do a large bowl of mixed fresh tropical fruit salad with cereal and yoghurt. I asked for less fruit and more yoghurt this morning but still didn't get the proportions I was hoping for - only slightly less fruit and slightly more cereal, but it was still good and even with a large cup of coffee less than $4.00. I'll probably not eat again today - the coaches have toilets on board but they ask you not to use them for "number twos". I did have to one time, but I try to comply with their request. I only hope the coach stops somewhere en route for a half hour break so I can get a coffee and a snack (and use the restaurant loo if it's clean enough). You sometimes have to bucket water out of a 44 gallon drum outside the cubicle to flush them and they always cost, usually only half a sol (.25 cents).
I took a few photos of the washerwomen at the well across the road from this Airbnb doing my washing this morning - they do an excellent job, scrubbing the collars of my shirts so hard I was worried they'd disintegrate and rinsing the suds off thoroughly before wringing them out by hand (never as dry as a spin cycle, of course). I decided I'd risk it in the hope I'd at least get the shirts dry before 4pm today on the line at the Airbnb. It's overcast with no breeze so it may not happen, but at least it's clean and will only be damp. The internet connection here is so slow I won't even attempt to upload them to this posting today - hopefully it'll be a fast connection in the next place.

The street where I was staying - more like a dry river than a street.

The washerwoman doing my laundry opposite the house I stayed in.

Every day, hundreds of buckets of water by hand from the well to the tubs to do the laundry.

I've just been transported back 300 years in time, I think!!

The first sector of my 6 sector journey to and from Tarapoto is over - a 6 and a half hour overnight coach trip departing Trujillo at 10pm last night and arriving into Cajamarca at 4:30am this morning. Way to early to impose on my host here but thankfully the coach company leave the coach open so passengers can rest on board until a civilised hour, 6:30am in my case. There's usually one annoying passenger, of course, and today it was a man who decided that he'd play a game on his phone to pass the time (despite a mother trying to settle her baby to sleep) and the pinging every few seconds eventually drove me off the bus and into the dark and uncomfortable bus station.
At 6:30am I knew my host would be up getting her older child ready for school so caught a three wheeled mototaxi to the address - she did warn me that it was the worst street in the town and it was unbelievable. More like a dry river bed and I doubt the mototaxi could have driven any further up the hill than it did. Thankfully the host had given me explicit directions for the driver and he stopped at the well opposite where the house is and where even at 6:30am women were busy washing clothes by hand in primitive tubs of cold water. I feel as through I've been transported back 300 years here - the town smells like a sewer, which isn't surprising given that the drains are either open or only covered with slabs of concrete which don't keep the smell contained. It looks a bit like some of the old paintings of London town before sanitation was introduced and roads were cobbled - dirty and smelly.
The Airbnb here is very basic - more than just rustic! The room is clean, though, but the roof looks like it may leak if it rains as the ceiling is lined with plastic sheeting. And I did manage to have a hot shower this morning (under one of those same "electrocute yourself" shower fittings that are so common in South America). The host, Susan, is of Dutch stock but I haven't found out yet what she's doing here in such a third world situation. She seems so out of place here with her high school aged son and another 11 year old with Down Syndrome (both of mixed parentage). I couldn't find a laundry in town that could do my laundry before I depart at 5pm tomorrow night (and Susan says her washing machine is broken and she does hers by hand) so I'll take it with me to my next stop where I'll be for three days. I didn't quite trust the women across the road to do it there in case I never saw it again (with my Spanish language skills they may have thought I was donating it to them!).
There is a nice clean restaurant only five minutes away where I had a lovely lunch of Tallarin Chifa, which I think translates to Chinese noodles - it had plenty of nice fresh vegetables and white meat mixed in with it and was very tasty - $3.50. I may eat there again tonight - a hamburger maybe. They always offer soup as a starter but I always pass as I can't finish the main course otherwise. On occasions the soup still arrives but I usually just send it back or they might charge an extra $4.00 for it. They don't necessarily serve bread rolls with the soup either and even if you ask for them they usually say they don't have any, even when the bakery is right next door!
Not much else to report today - I'll see if I can find a photo or two to add. (Tried, not possible due slow internet connection, sorry).

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Well, after previously reporting that I might spend the rest of my time here in Huanchaco I've been talked into going to Tarapoto in the centre of Peru, over the Andes! It's not quite the Amazon jungle I was hoping to be able to fit into my trip but it's as close as I'm going to get with the small amount of time I have left. Barney, the Aussie guy who lives at the Airbnb where I'm staying talked me into it, saying it's on the edge of the Amazon rainforest but more accurately it's "cloud forest". The rain forest proper begins further East of Tarapoto. Should be interesting, nonetheless. Getting there is a mission - three coach trips each way so I don't have to spend 18 hours at a stretch on a coach from here to there over what is known here as The Death Road! My route is safer via Cajamarca and Chachapoyas but a lot longer. From the stories I've heard about travelers going via the Death Road who've refused to return via the same route or girls who cried en route because the wheels of the van were hanging over the edge of the road in mid air while the driver did a three point turn to get around some of the corners I decided that the safer route was the best option (I do need to get back to NZ in one piece if I can). So, the first day (night) is Monday 11th from here to Cajamarca where I'll overnight - coach departs here 10pm and arrives there 6am. Then another overnight coach from Cajamarca to Chachapoyas where I'll stay for 3 nights - there's plenty to see in and around that city, so I'm told. Then on to Tarapoto, my destination, on another overnight coach (it's not always possible to get a coach traveling during the day on these isolated routes so I'll no doubt miss some spectacular scenery). I can only spend 2 nights in Tarapoto before I start the marathon journey back to Lima for my flight to Santiago and home. I  think one of the overnight coach sectors on the way to Tarapoto is done during the day on the return trip, so that will be nice. I expect to stay back here in Huanchaco for 2 nights en route to Lima for a rest stop.
This morning I awoke at 8am to what sounded like the Rio Street Carnival right outside the Airbnb - too noisy for a Sunday morning!! Bass sounds amplified through loudspeakers in the park across the road. I could understand it if Peru had just won the Football World Cup but apparently this happens every Sunday morning!! I felt sorry for anyone suffering from a hangover (and there would have been quite a few of them after the clubs here closed last night).
Yesterday (Saturday) I did a full day tour which included the pre Inca ruins at Chan Chan and the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon and associated archaeological museums. Some amazing stuff to see and artifacts in the museum as well as the gory history of human sacrifices made to appease the Gods - aren't religious rituals passed down from generation to generation and accepted as normal by the people interesting. The sacrificial victims even considered it acceptable to be the ones chosen to be killed in order to ensure a bountiful harvest for the rest of the population. Thank goodness we've moved on from those times! They had some good policies though - if you were lazy and didn't contribute to society you were physically punished, and harshly. You had to pull your weight or you were considered a burden to the rest of the population who worked hard to feed and clothe everyone.
Enough for today - maybe a little more tomorrow.

The well preserved frescos at The Temple of the Sun, near Huanchaco. The population buried them every few years with mud brick walls as they continued to build the Temple bigger and bigger over decades c.800 A.D.

Reliefs carved into the city walls of the city of Chan Chan which has been slowly unearthed by archaeologists over the past few decades.  They represent animals and birds hunted for food and clothing at the time of  occupation. 

At last, a good Airbnb in Huanchaco!

Yep! I may stay here for the rest of my time in Peru! Right on the beach, a Kiwi owner - Karlene - (who has moved back to NZ but still owns this place) and at least three semi permanent guests who all speak English - Barney from Aus, Emily from Ireland and her amigo Nico who's local but also speaks English. So when I went out to lunch I also met Brad from Vancouver who I've invited around tonight to share a few coldies with us in the courtyard - he's traveling on his own looking for a place to buy, maybe in Equador, where he can retire on his Canadian pension and live well. He's been living in Cambodia for the past few years where he had a restaurant business with a partner. He tells me that since the Chinese have moved into Cambodia in a big way building Casinos and taking over businesses there the place has gone to the pack. This Airbnb is big with a large lounge and spacious kitchen and my room is clean and comfortable with a double bed and plenty of storage space - hot water in the shower as well as good WiFi - what more could you ask for! There are a lot of surfers here from around the world as the surf break is consistent and worth hanging around for. I see youngsters in wet suits everywhere carrying their surf boards and dripping wet. Food and wine is cheap here, too - my lunch was a big hamburger with chips for $4.50 and Brad has pointed me towards a place that does a large Lasagna for $6.00. I also bought a litre of Cab Sav which he recommended as good for $6.50. I need to be careful I don't become dependent on alcohol while I'm here! 
After my siesta I arose about 5pm to go for a walk and watch the brilliant red sun set behind the palm trees directly across the road from my Airbnb as the surf rolled in. Magic. I though I might find a supermarket to buy some muesli or granola but apparently there isn't one in Huanchaco. Emily suggested I'd be able to get some at the produce market and either she or Barney will take me there. While she was attending to her two hairdressing clients in the dining room here we talked about places to visit and she suggested I do a trip to Huamachuco for a few days or further afield to Tarapoto. I'll do some research and see if I have time to fit either or both places into my itinerary, conscious of the limited time I have left here in Peru.

The pier at Huanchaco is a lovely place for a stroll in the evening, as is the beachfront.

Emily and Nico own a successful and busy watering hole (Mandala) a few doors from the Airbnb and does hairdressing as well (she was previously a hairdresser in Ireland).

The frustrations of travel in Peru...

Well, I’d have to say, Huaraz might be right up there as the rip off capital of Peru. A mecca for climbers and tourists, the population here, almost without exception, seem to be intent on extracting as much extra money from the gringos as they can. There’s the odd exception, of course, but it pays to know the going price of taxis, food and drinks. If you catch a taxi and ask at the end of the journey what you owe it’s likely to be twice what a local would pay for the same trip. Restaurants without a priced menu, the same. In one they handed me a menu that looked like it had rarely been used (usually they’re so worn and tattered from thousands of handlings by the locals you can hardly read them). I was immediately suspicious of the pricing and suspect it is the menu they only hand to gringos, with inflated prices on it. Hence, not worn and tattered like the rest.
After getting on the Linea coach at Huaraz I noticed that the windows all had a sun filter on them made of a material similar to that used on microwave oven doors - which meant you couldn't see out of them easily and photography was out of the question. This in what was probably the most scenic route in Peru, from Huaraz to Trujillo, through fabulous mountain scenery. How frustrating. So it was eyes closed most of the way. On arrival in Trujillo I discovered that Google Maps wouldn't load on my phone so I took a taxi from the coach terminal to my hostel. I'm guessing my phone has run out of data and needs a recharge. The taxi was another wreck and broke down only a few streets away from the coach terminal. The driver tried in vain to get it restarted and explained that his car had been stolen a few weeks ago and he'd rented this one only at midday and that it had been giving trouble since he picked it up. He phoned the owner who said he'd come and look at it and we waited on the side of the road for 20 minutes. Eventually a man did arrive and lifted the bonnet and hot wired the ignition to get it going (maybe he'd stolen this one himself!!). We resumed our journey which turned out to be a lot further than what had been indicated on Google Maps the day before. I had planned to walk the 7 minutes to the hostel but the taxi driver explained that the Linea Coach Depot Google Maps had found was only a ticketing office in the central city close to my hostel, and not the coach terminal. The frustration didn't end there - when I arrived at the hostel it was locked up and no one to let me in. I rang the bell several times but got no answer and finally gave up and checked into a hostel across the road where I got a single room with a private bathroom for less money. I hope to get a refund from the hostel I booked but I'm not holding my breath. I feel like I've seen enough of Peru and if I hadn't booked a non refundable flight from Lima to Santiago I'd probably terminate my travel here and fly home. I hope the next few days goes better for me.
It's now Thursday morning here and I'll check out of this Hostel and check into another Airbnb in Huanchaco which is a beach suburb not far from Trujillo. It looks like a nice area and I'll book any tours I want to do from there. I got a good night's sleep here, at least. This morning I went out for coffee and took my cereal hoping to get a bowl and some milk so I could eat it. I should have learned by now not to ever order coffee and milk at the same time - always order the coffee first and when you get the cup of boiling water and the liquid coffee concentrate to add to it THEN order a little milk to go with it. Otherwise you'll get a cup of boiling milk and the liquid coffee to add to it. YUK! Made that mistake again this morning and when the bowl and milk for my cereal hadn't arrived 10 minutes later I departed to look for somewhere else to have breakfast. The next place wouldn't help despite my generous offer to "rent" a bowl and spoon (I had the cereal and dried milk powder - just needed water) but the next place was even funnier - a stand up counter on the busy street which came up with a large cake mixing bowl! I asked if they had something smaller and eventually settled for the large glass jar  they offered! At least I got my cereal (better than the pastry option alternatives). All for now - I'll post again when there's something to post about (usually something every day).

Trust me, I'm not staying here!

Breakfast this morning was interesting - I've never had to eat my cereal out of a jar before!

As I suspected, the night was a nightmare - a noisy disco club somewhere close pumping out "music" all night, the incessant tooting of taxis passing the hostel (this is one of the worst habits of taxi drivers in Peru vying for your attention) and of course loud voices in the street just below my room. I could have put an earplug in but was worried I wouldn't hear my alarm in the morning. Thankfully. I booked a first class seat on the coach line with a seat that fully reclines, so I may get some sleep on my way to Trujillo. There's no hot water in the room, despite an assurance from the front desk that there would be. And I can't charge up my devices because the plug won't stay in the outlet (if I had sticky tape I could tape it in, but I don't). So, all in all, I should have spent the extra night at the Airbnb and caught a taxi to the coach terminal from there. I thought Trip Advisor was a web site where I could leave an opinion about where or where not to stay to help other travelers make an informed decision, but just discovered it is a booking site, not a feedback site. So, on I go - this may be the only chance I get to post a blog today since I don't arrive into Trujillo until around 6pm. More tomorrow.

There hasn't been much to blog about the past few days but on Sunday I wandered into town to get some exercise and was greeted with an amazing floral display in the Plaza which stretched right around the square, about 150 metres each side. I don't know if this happens every Sunday or if it was a significant religious event being celebrated. It was certainly drawing a lot of attention from the tourists.
I moved from the Airbnb into a hostel in town (Hostel Tany) close to the coach terminal which is only $2 a night more than I was paying at the Airbnb. It's clean and appears to have hot water in the shower. The first room they gave me on the fourth floor was a small single room and okay except for the fact that there was only a very weak WiFi signal which kept dropping out so I asked for a room on a lower floor closer to the modem. The old Señora, who seems to be the owner, didn't look happy about me changing rooms because I'm now in a more expensive ($30/night) large room with a double bed and lots more space. Noisier though, as it's right on the street. For the first time in a while I'll have to use an earplug and Zopiclone to get to sleep. I just hope I hear my alarm in the morning so I don't miss my coach to Trujillo. I think I'm the only person staying here - I was hoping there might be a few English speaking guests here so I could have a conversation - maybe the hostel in Trujillo will have. It's quite hard work trying to converse with someone who only speaks and comprehends Spanish. Although I've picked up quite a few words and some phrases in Spanish, I still can't hold a conversation in that language.

Incredible floral display in the Plaza de Armas on Sunday.

Most of these displays are done just with flower petals and stretch the whole way around the Plaza.

My day tour from Huaraz on Saturday 2nd June, 2018.

I’m having a rest day today. Sunday?? Day of rest?? After a long 10 hour day on a tour (with Mony Tours) from here to various of places of interest in the region in a bus that’s past it’s use by date. If I’d known how bad the bus was going to be I’d have booked with another tour operator. The tour itself was interesting, though, and worth the 60 soles I paid (overpaid??). I think I saw the same tour for 45 soles with a different tour operator (probably on a better bus). The Mony Tours bus I was on had little or no suspension, rattled the whole trip, had no air conditioning and was hot and stuffy, only a Spanish speaking guide and my seat had no leg room so I had bruised knees at the end. To cap it off, my aisle seat was next to a passenger who pulled the curtains and slept for much of the journey, so I couldn’t enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery! The first stop was at the town of Yungay, where we toured the remains of the town destroyed in the devastating Sunday afternoon, 31 May 1970 landslide/avalanche triggered by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake just off the coast of Peru, almost wiping out the entire population of the town; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Ancash_earthquake - looking at the area destroyed by the avalanche it’s hard to believe it could have travelled so far from the towering mountains surrounding the area and it’s understandable that the residents would have felt quite safe there, so far from the mountains. It is considered to be the world’s deadliest avalanche.

From Yungay the tour bus climbed high into the Andes in the Corderillas Blanca area on unsealed narrow roads to a place where it appears another landslide blocked a valley high in the mountains creating a small picturesque lake (Laguna De Llanganuco) of turquoise water at an altitude of 3850 metres. I suffered the same breathlessness there as I did in Cusco. The surrounding snow-covered mountains are nothing short of spectacular, some rising to almost 7,000 metres, and so steep some resembled the Matterhorn in Switzerland! I took lots of photos there. This was the highlight of the day. Native Peruvian women were serving Coca Tea and traditional Peruvian food such as Cuy (Guinea Pig) with beans and corn – I just had some tasty deep fried, sweet, corn bread cooked in a small stone room so dark you could hardly see what the women were doing, knowing we were stopping for dinner on our way back to Huaraz and only an hour or so from this stop. I had the fish and chips there – the fish was trout, butterflied and boned out, coated with seasoned cornflour and deep fried – very nice, actually, and only $9.00.

The last stop, half an hour from Huaraz, was at a shop selling pottery and ceramics – of no interest to me as I have no room for souvenirs in my backpack but a popular stop for some of the other tourists on the bus, all of whom were of Spanish ethnicity (I was the only Gringo on the tour). Got back into Huaraz around 8pm and walked back to my Airbnb from the tour depot to get some exercise.

Mañana I may do one more tour from here before heading to Trujillo, further North but on the coast, on Tuesday, 5^th, where I’ll spend maybe 4 or 5 days exploring that area.

My sweet corn bread snack cooked in a room so dark you could hardly see, about to be served - $1.00.

The remains of an upturned partly buried building in Yungay after the 1970 landslide.

So glad I did the walking tour of Barranco district yesterday – I found the starting point at last and our small group caught a local bus from Miraflores to the district (.50 cents) where we met another bigger group and split up into two for the English and Spanish speaking guides. It’s an interesting district with lots of character – large colourful murals painted on walls, Spanish colonial buildings, artisan stuff for sale.

The Bohemian district of Barranco, Lima.

This morning dawned grey with a heavy sea fog enveloping the city, not uncommon at this time of year. It took ages to get out of the city because of the gridlock traffic and the fog. We hugged the coastline for hours, often in the fog and traveling at 50 kph until about 3pm when we turned inland towards Huaraz, another 3 hours on, through desert and mountains. Prior to that there was a lot of agriculture along the coastal strip – the usual crops I’ve seen elsewhere but also what I think was asparagus in huge acreages in the sandy soil, which I know is the kind of soil it likes. Being a crop that needs to stay in the ground year after year in order to produce, the vast expanses of sandy soil along the coast are perfect for it. The meal service on board offered hot options off the menu of about 10 options – I booked the meat option which was spaghetti with a basil pesto and meat, a cold root vegetable salad and sweet cake for desert. About the same as you’d expect to get on any airline in economy class. You choose your preferred meal option when you book your ticket. The cleverly designed meal trays, which tuck away when not in use, have the ability to compensate for the sway of the coach on winding roads so drinks are less likely to spill. As we began the climb from the coast to Huaraz there were mosaics of different coloured spices and vegetables spread out on the ground drying around villages, which brighten up the otherwise grey/brown of the desert sand. I managed to capture one or two shots as we sped by but would’ve liked to have been able to include all the different colours, especially the bright orange peppers. 

Red jalapeno peppers drying in the sun.

The climb up to this altitude of around 4,000 metres involved untold numbers of switchbacks in order to be able to manage the steep mountainsides. The bus eventually arrived here about an hour late and well after dark. Eifilien, the hostess, introduced me to the facilities in the house and it looks good – she assures me there’s plenty of hot water in the shower. The bedroom’s large with a double bed and everything’s spotless. She lives next door. Two other guests, a young couple from Korea, are in the other bedroom and they speak excellent English, so we’ve already discussed what there is to do and see around here. They’re doing a five hour hike around Lake 69 tomorrow but I think I’ll just have a rest day. There’s a street vendor very close by where I was able to get a hot meal after I got here – the usual, a generous serving of chicken schnitzel and chips with lettuce salad - $2.50. I’ll look for something healthier tomorrow. There’s a good kitchen here I can use so maybe I’ll look for some leafy dark green veg like silverbeet. And a decent beef steak, which seems to be a rarity in Peru (a lot of the butchers in the markets have all kinds of meat on display but often it’s not identified and seldom ever has the price per kilo on it, so I just pass it by). Supermarkets, on the other hand, have it displayed and priced just as it would be in NZ. If you order a steak meal here, you’ll almost always get a piece of not very tender uncoated beef schnitzel. Not sure why – maybe it’s because the meal would cost too much for the locals otherwise. So, 9 hours on the bus and It’s time I turned in for the night. Catch up tomorrow. Ciao.

Fourth .(?) and last day in Lima - Huaraz tomorrow night

(I'm missing my Fish and Chips, here). Lots of fast food places but I haven't seen a Fish and Chip shop anywhere in Miraflores. You get used to being approached by beggars here, especially outside the American food franchises like Maccas (the beggars know that those places are a mecca for Americans with money). I went there for a coffee at McCafe this morning and was approached by another unkempt man asking for money - I just ignored him as though I was deaf and eventually he gave up and moved on. I had planned to meet Greta for lunch but she texted to say she was sick with the flu so we just met outside the hostel where she's working for a chat - I just hope she didn't pass the bug on to me. I've kept well so far and don't want to suffer any illnesses while I'm here. I try to include a variety of fruit and veg in my diet but dark green leafy veg like spinach is impossible for me to prepare and I don't see it on any menus anywhere, either. I had Mexican last night, a tortilla stuffed with meat and beans and guacamole with sides of hot spicy salsa and jalapeno sauces. $7.00. As usual I saved one of my breakfast rolls this morning for lunch and bought a tomato and some ham to make a nice snack. For some reason I forgot I had Granola and milk I could have had for breakfast until after I'd eaten the cooked one they serve here. 
I found the meeting place for the walking tour of the Bohemian sector near Kennedy Park this morning so I'll do that tour this afternoon - it's a free tour but the guides expect a tip, which is understandable (around 20 soles - $10).
When I went to bed last night after the soccer at around 10:30pm there were only two of us in the 8 bed dorm room - Sergio from Mexico and myself. We chatted for a while about our respective travel experiences before we turned in. By morning there were five of us in the dorm - three lovely young ladies from London had checked in overnight sometime - two of them fly out to Indonesia later today. Can't recall what the third one's doing. Young people love to travel.

Not much other news from this side of the world - Peru is celebrating the win over Scotland in the World Cup soccer qualifier last night. I suspect there might have been more Scotch than Pisco consumed here in Lima  last night if the result had gone the other way! 

I can think of at least two people I know who'd just love to be let loose in this department store!

The beautiful ornate Catholic Cathedral in central Lima. 

Tuesday 29 May, 2018, Lima

Today's been a bit of a non-event, really. I wanted to do the walking tour of the Bohemian sector leaving from a park close to here at 3:30pm but couldn't see the tour guide or anyone else that looked like they might be doing the same tour so just walked back to the hostel via the laundry that was supposed to have my clothes washed, dried and packed by 4pm (but I still had to wait 10 minutes after getting there at 4:30pm). While I was in Kennedy Park waiting to meet up with the walking group I was approached by a woman about 50 years old who claimed she'd been robbed on her way to the airport by the taxi driver two days earlier and needed money to get to the South African embassy in Quito, Equador. I found her story a bit hard to believe and after a few questions to which she had answers I declined to help. I couldn't believe that if it was genuine she couldn't get help by phoning the embassy with her story - I'm sure they'd be able to do something for one of their citizens. I was then approached by a young mother with a baby wanting money for something but I couldn't interpret what - she led me to a pharmacy where she spoke to the counter staff in Spanish who then asked me for 87 soles. As no-one in the pharmacy could speak English I wasn't able to find out what the 87 soles was for so again I had to decline. It's hard to know if  the beggars are genuine or scammers but 87 soles is about NZD40.00. I was beginning to wish I'd stayed at the hostel for the afternoon.
Tonight is a big night here in Lima and the hostel has set up a big screen to watch the game between Scotland and Peru. I may watch it. I found the Cruz del Sur coach terminal in a neighbouring suburb this morning and booked my trip to Huaraz for Thursday morning. departing 9:30am. The girl doing the booking pulled all the available services up on the screen and I indicated the 9:30am service but noticed she booked me on the 9:30pm service - not sure if it was deliberate or a mistake but I've struck a lot of that kind of thing here in Peru - you ask for a meat filled empanada and they try to switch it to a cheese filled one - no doubt because the cheese filled ones are cheaper.
Nothing else to blog about today - there may be more tomorrow, I hope.

Second day in Lima

I've extended my stay again to checkout on Thursday now - so much to see and do. The walking tour of the central city was wonderful - 20 soles (a donation as it's a free tour) for three hours. Beautiful Spanish colonial architecture, wonderful gardens and fountains, hundred of tourists. The changing of the guard was an absolute spectacle - in front of the Presidential palace that reminded me of Buckingham Palace. I want to go back tomorrow to see it again - the military band played wonderful music during the ceremony which the guards marched to. Admittedly the music was an eclectic mix - Star Wars, Rocky and some more conservative scores, but it was good. The tour guide took us (6 of us) on the high speed bus service I referred to in my previous blog - Auckland needs to look at a similar system! The buses move thousands of commuters through the city on a system as efficient as any subway system for only 2.5 soles per trip (about NZD1.00). Buses arrive at the "stations" every few minutes. Tomorrow I plan to do another walking tour of the Bohemian sector in the afternoon - a suburb close to Miraflores, where I'm staying. The city has a population of around 10 million divided into 43 sectors, Miraflores being just one. The central city Catholic cathedral is magnificent - the artwork inside quite stunning. Some wealthy benefactors were obviously very keen to get into heaven! There's a big soccer match on here tomorrow - Peru v. Scotland - world cup qualifier. So there's a lot of kilted tourists in the city! Sport brings huge returns to the hosting cities. I'll watch it on TV at the hostel.
I had some laundry to do this afternoon - typically, the prices vary depending on your ethnicity - 50 soles for about 2 kilos (they weigh it) at one place and only 10 soles at another on the same street. They do a good job - washed, dried, pressed. folded and returned in a nice packet. 10 soles is dear enough, I was only paying 5.5 soles in Cusco.
I bought some fake cheese slices and fake ham in a big supermarket not far from here this afternoon to put into the bread rolls I'd saved from breakfast - last night the pizza punished me all night, even after the antacid tablets. I have Granola of my own for breakfast here but save the bread rolls, fruit and anything else they serve for breakfast for a later snack. I hate waste. They don't mind giving me a bowl for my Granola.  Not much else to post today - may be more tomorrow. Ciao.

First day in Lima....

Sunday, 9am in Lima: Wow! What a huge city! Arrived here this morning at 12:15am from Arequipa and had problems connecting with my Uber driver - we couldn't find each other, not surprisingly considering the size of the airport. To make things easy for the drivers I always walk away from the airport to a less congested area such as a public road before requesting a ride, but last night the app kept placing me at the terminal building for some reason, so that's where the driver would have been looking for me. When I arrived at the airport a taxi company with a booth there quoted 60 soles for the trip to my hostel, which I declined, knowing Uber would be half that. But after failing to make the connection with my Uber driver I ended up negotiating a fare of 35 soles for the trip in a taxi. After half an hour of fast driving in the cab to my hostel - https://www.poolparadiselima.com/ - I was feeling guilty about driving the price down to 35 soles and paid 40 soles, what he'd asked for.
The hostel is better than any other places I've stayed in Peru - the shower is actually hot with good flow. That's worth 10 soles on its own - the breakfast is included in the rate of 40 soles per night (worth about another 10 soles) and there's a lovely outdoor al fresco dining area, pool, bar and some kind of entertainment every night (movie night tonight). I've extended my stay here until Wednesday and may add more nights yet. I'm the oldest person here by far, of course - but lots of interesting young people from all over the world staying here to talk to, which makes it enjoyable. It's an overcast day here this morning (Sunday) but mild - maybe 17 degrees? I'm noticing the fact that I'm back at sea level and able to breathe easily after the effort to get enough oxygen in Cusco - everything was an effort there, even just strolling.
Later, 12:30pm - I saw a notice in the foyer advertising a free walking tour, but not on Sundays, so I did my own and what a contrast to the rest of the cities in Peru this one is (at least in the suburb of Miraflores, where I'm staying for the next few days or longer). Affluent, sophisticated, beautiful parks and gardens with fountains, nice homes with manicured lawns and gardens and upmarket European cars in the drive, tree lined streets. Feels very safe here. I walked along a tree lined boulevard into the CBD where all the international franchises are represented ( including of course, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Dominos, Dunkin' Donuts, the big banks, auto makers, fashion houses and so on). The central square was full of people enjoying their Sunday morning (and lots of tarot card readers). I bought a soft freeze cone at Pop Eye's, a franchise I've not seen before anywhere. The 3D cinemas didn't look like they were showing any English language movies, just releases of the current ones but in Spanish language. And most noticeable - no dogs running wild on the streets tearing rubbish bags open in search of scraps like every other city I've been in so far.
It's very relaxing here sitting around the pool area writing this and I could see myself staying here for some time at this price. Nice Latin American music playing in the background adds to the ambiance. Other guests doing much the same as myself, on their tablets or mobiles and just chilling in the sun, some smoking that same strange smelling herb I encountered in Vicuña. :)
Evening, 7pm: After an afternoon of lying back on a lounger in the sun next to the pool listening to the Bee Gees through my headphones and enjoying a coldie I saw another guest with a great looking pizza and asked her if she got it here. No, from Dominos, which is dangerously close, I discovered. I walked there in five minutes and ordered the best pizza ever - pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, double cheese - and they know how to make a good pizza (tomato paste on the base). I've researched Huaraz and think I'll go there mid week - there's a nice looking Airbnb there and I have a voucher to use from my bad experience in Arequipa. It looks like a nice place - 8 hours by bus from here. Maybe spend 3 or 4 days there then decide where next. I'll do the Lima city tour by bus tomorrow just to get the lay of the land. There's a high speed bus service on dedicated lanes close to here which I want to investigate as well - it looks like a light rail rapid transport system, but on buses. Stations along a set route to get on and off, just like a subway system.
Time to go - the movie's about to start in a few minutes. A comedy, in English, I think. Ciao.

This is why I needed a translator - a tour guide in Machpicchu.

8am; I forgot the fifth thing you’re unlikely to find in a Peruvian bathroom – soap. Of any description. I carry a small tube of shaving soap with me as well as the toilet paper, so I can at least wash my hands after going.

I never got the full body massage I needed to soothe my aching muscles yesterday – I had to wait for my laundry to come back to the hostel at 7pm and by then all the massage establishments were closed. What I did achieve though was making a phone call – I popped in to Claro (the provider) to ask why I couldn’t make calls or send texts. Every time I tried I got a message in Spanish I couldn’t understand. I added 20 soles to my account and tried again and got the same message. A consultant at Claro interpreted the message for me – I needed to add their prefix of six numbers to the number I was calling in order for it to go through. At last I have a phone that I can use if I need to – the number is +51 9538 74299 in case anyone needs it (only while I’m in Peru).

Today I hope to fly to Lima. I say “hope to” because when I booked the ticket online on a third-party web site the transaction went through and I got the eTicket by email but then got an email from the issuer (eBoliteris – like Webjet) telling me that only the airfare cost had been debited and their booking fee had rejected. I asked them to cancel the ticket and refund me but they wouldn’t (I’d found an even cheaper fare on Latam’s – the airline’s – web site). So, I’ll turn up at the airport and see what happens – I have the Latam eTicket and it looks Kosher. I’ll update you later today.

Later: 11:27am – I had breakfast in Cusco, the place that cooks my porridge wasn’t open at 9am so I went elsewhere – a place that had a sign outside with a picture of an American Breakfast (two fried eggs, bacon, tomatoes, toast, jam, butter and coffee). Never assume in Peru that what is advertised is what you’ll get – the toast was hard and stone cold, the tomatoes raw sliced, the bacon and eggs were scrambled eggs with ham pieces mixed in and the coffee was made with milk instead of water. And naturally no pepper. Yuk. I left them a note to help them in future as to what “Americans” expect. I’m at Cusco airport and have checked in for my flight to Lima, no issues. I tried to change the ticket to a non-stop service but had no luck. So, via Arequipa I go with a long stopover there (2:15pm until 10:40pm). Cusco airport is a disaster! Thousands of passengers with their luggage in a terminal serving about six airlines, which is far too small for the job – unbelievable chaos! For some reason the planners just don’t understand that you need SPACE in the check-in area in order to operate smoothly. And this isn’t even high season, which is June and July. I shouldn’t have any problem filling in my day in Arequipa as I didn’t explore the Plaza de Armas area while I was there. I saw it in passing and it looked interesting so I’ll likely catch a cab there for a better look.

Even later: 8pm – I went into the city using Uber – taxi is about 25 soles, Uber 12 soles. Not much to see, just strolled around the Plaza de Armas and enjoyed the afternoon sun. I did get the massage I wanted in the end, though, NZD12 for half an hour – it was painful on my leg muscles though! The flight from Cusco was on an A320-200 with 174 seats – by the look of the queue to board I thought it must be an A380! I was in row 29, of course – cheapest seats. The flight was full, and most passengers had huge amounts of hand luggage (all not weighed). By my estimates the passenger load with hand luggage was around 17,400 kgs. I wondered what the maximum ramp weight was for this aircraft to take off safely assuming the hold was full of freight and baggage as well, especially in such thin air. Ruth probably knows – it would depend on how much fuel was on board as well, of course. Even later, in Arequipa: While I waited for my boarding call at 10pm I tried to connect to WiFi – difficult, but at last the coffee shop I’m in has got their router rebooted and I manage. I’ve booked at the Pool Paradise Hostel in Lima on the recommendation of Greta, who is working at another hostel in Lima – it sounds good, with a pool and breakfast included for only 43 soles per night. I booked two nights but may stay longer unless I continue touring North to Huarez and other places. They also claim to have hot showers, but I’ll believe that when I see it – they all claim that but seldom deliver. My flight is about to board so I’ll leave my post here. More tomorrow, Ciao.

Llamas graze contentedly on a wall in Machupicchu.

Machupicchu - a small part of it.

Friday, 25 May 2018, back in Cusco.

Unsealed roads with no guard rails don't deter these high speed gravel gauchos!

Passenger trains pass several times as I walk to Aguas Caliente. 

Swiss Alps, Canada, New Zealand or Peru? The Andes are as good as any!

No time to post a blog yesterday – up at 4:30am in Agua Caliente to catch the earliest bus to Machupicchu around 5:30am and didn’t get back to my hostel in Cusco until 10pm, exhausted and ready for sleep. But today I’m having a rest day to catch up with emails and write my blog. This morning I took my own quick oats to a café I often use here and asked them to make me up some porridge (they didn’t know what porridge is – breakfast here is often a plate of French fries with various other additions of vegetables or meats). I’ve yet to find a café that serves cereal for breakfast in Peru, but no doubt hotels and some hostels offer it as an alternative to a cooked breakfast (this one has no dining room).

So, my tour to the fabulous Machupicchu. The minibus picked me up Wednesday morning at my hostel at 7:15am and went around town picking up the others on the tour before setting off for the town of Aguas Caliente, which is the town that services Machupicchu. It’s a lot further from Cusco than I thought – a six hour minibus trip, then I opted for the walk from the drop off point at Hydro Electrica to Aguas Caliente along the railway line – the travel agent told me it was a two hour walk and as it was along the railway line it was easy. Okay, but he didn’t mention that to get to the railway line you have to climb a very steep bank for some distance and that the walk is actually closer to three hours. Never mind, the scenery was worth it – wonderful jungle either side of the line which runs alongside a large, fast flowing mountain river not unlike some that flow on the West Coast of New Zealand. From a distance the mountains look to be covered in similar bush, as well, but as you get closer you notice that the plants are tropical with bright flowers and banana palms growing wild everywhere, some with bunches of unripened bananas hanging on them. There are several vendors along the line selling fruit, meals, drinks and ice-creams (bananas, four for NZD .50 cents) and the prices are reasonable for the other stuff on offer as well. The mountains either side of the track are simply stunning – towering above the river and so steep. Several trains passed us as we walked the track and we had to cross several rivers walking on the sleepers – one misplaced foot and a broken leg would be inevitable! Despite the warnings to use the deviations around the tunnels most of the walkers (including myself) opted to risk being half way through when the next train arrived in order to avoid the extra exertion required to circumnavigate them. I only saw one group ahead of me who were in a tunnel when a train approached from behind them and they had to make a hurried exit to get out. I just followed that train through knowing I’d be safe for at least half an hour. The trek is about 12 kilometres and about 1 kilometre from my destination as it was getting dark I missed my footing on the loose ballast alongside the track and fell heavily on my face and “manbag” and just managed to stop myself from sliding down a steep bank into the river, fifty feet below. Nothing was broken (just a bruised left cheek bone) so I picked myself up and continued on into town and to my Hostel, Eco Mapi (which I can’t recommend since the travel agent assured me it had hot showers – yes, hot for 30 seconds then cold after that). I checked with other guests staying there and they found the same problem. There’s four things you can’t assume you’ll find in a Peruvian bathroom – toilet paper, towels, a hot shower and hot and cold water over the basin. You often have to ask for toilet paper and a towel at reception when you check in. And you always need to carry a roll of toilet paper with you when you’re out in case you need to use a public “Baño” – you might pay half a sol and get access plus eight sections of paper, but that’s not always quite enough! Most, but not all, have toilet seats – otherwise it’s just the bowl. Primitive. Anyway, lunch on the way up to Hydro Electrica was included in the tour package, as was dinner that night and breakfast (if you could call it that – a banana, tetra pack juice, four cookies and a small bottle of water) the next morning. The hostel printed the bus ticket up to Machupicchu and the entrance ticket (which I notice was 160 Soles – almost half of the tour cost). I thought I’d walk back down to Aguas Caliente from Machupicchu but it’s a lot further than I thought so I bought a bus ticket back down as soon as I got to the top. At 8,000 visitors per day (4,000 in the morning and 4,000 in the afternoon), this has to be Peru’s golden goose – that’s well over half a million NZD per day, just to enter. The bus up and down is another USD12.00 each way. No wonder when you enter Aguas Caliente you feel like you’ve suddenly been transported to another world – swish Western-style hotels, bars, clubs, shops, restaurants, etc. It’s hard to believe you’re actually in Peru. Prices are high there, of course. NZD3.50 for a pint of beer in Chile – NZD8.00 there. Considering the number of tourists who travel to Aguas Caliente by road, though, you’d think they’d invest in sealing them – they’re shocking. Unsealed, rough, potholes everywhere, narrow, fords to cross all the way – extremely hard on the vehicles that have to use them and even harder on the tourists who have to travel on them. The seat in the Renault minibus I traveled up there in was so worn out I had to use my puffer jacket as a cushion (and even it was hardly adequate). The Mercedes minibus on the way back had a more comfortable seat but cramped leg room and no space for backpacks and since it was full for part of the journey mine sat in the aisle with my heavy “manbag” on my lap. The driver on the way up must have done the trip thousands of times as he sped the whole way on the gravel roads, blowing the horn at every blind bend on the narrow stretches to warn oncoming traffic he was approaching, but not slowing down one bit. Several times he had to reverse up to let other traffic pass and had no qualms about overtaking slower moving minibuses despite the narrow, unsealed road carved into cliffs above thousand-foot drops into ravines. The bus was so close to the edge at times that I couldn’t see the edge of the road from my window seat – only the thousand feet of empty space to the river below. There are no guard rails. Half way there we had to stop to let a young woman get out and vomit – she retched again and again and must have felt wretched and moved into the front seat of the bus but didn’t look like she was enjoying the ride. The driver on the way back drove a lot slower and I had less confidence in his ability after we stopped en route for a coffee and he reversed into the toilet block when we were leaving. He was also stopped by the police in a small village en route and some lengthy discussions were held while they took his licence – I presume another minibus driver had complained to police about his driving and they were sorting it out. In the end it looked like a “fine” was paid in cash and his licence was returned and we continued on our way. At that stage we had about 3 or 4 empty seats and he stopped at a pharmacy and made a phone call and in the next village we picked up enough extra locals to fill the empty seats – again, I surmise that the phone call was to solicit extra cash passengers to cover the cost of the “fine”. This is Peru!! As we travelled alongside the river I could see white-water rafters paddling their way downstream and through the numerous grade four (?) rapids. There’s an incentive not to fall out of the rafts – every village pours it’s effluent into the river. Mountain biking is a popular sport here and some tour operators specialise in promoting it. They load either your own or a rental bike onto the top of their minibus and take you to the top of a very high mountain where the road might or might not be sealed and you can enjoy a very long, exhilarating, high speed ride back to the bottom. Some of the roads would be around 20 or 30 kilometres of downhill switchbacks. The sealed roads would be a motorcyclist’s dream – winding, long uphill and downhill sections, hairpin bends, apparently no police, certainly no speed cameras.

After arriving back in Cusco at 9:30pm I expected the bus to drop me back at my hostel, but no, everybody out at the Plaza de Armas and taxis waiting to take you to your accommodation at your cost. I can’t remember the name of the hostel I’m staying at but know it’s close to a significant statue on a main road and the driver recognises my description but still wants the name of the hostel – in the end I give up in frustration and walk. I know which direction it is from where I am and soon find the railway line that runs past it and follow that. I stopped at a pizza parlour for a pizza, but like hamburgers here, they really need lessons – the base has no tomato paste on it, which is a prerequisite in my books. Just a thin pastry base, cheese and ham pieces. It tasted good though and came with half a dozen toasted garlic bread sticks and two spicy dips – not too bad for NZD7.00. Pizzas here are very expensive considering the ingredients are so cheap here – I think because they are a staple of the North American tourists who frequent the city in the high season in big numbers. Enough for today – after all that trekking yesterday and the day before I just might need a full body massage to loosen up my aching back and legs. At NZD40.00 for an hour it sounds like a good idea! Ciao.

You can see the numerous switchbacks in this photo taken en route to Hydro Electrica.