La Paz to Santiago, Chile.

I was really sad to see Bruce go, but excited to get to Chile. The last night all of us were together in La Paz, we went on a bit of a bender... Oops. It was an awesome night though, starting with a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Followed by drinks at a bar, followed by cocktails at Loki hostel, then a club, then another club, then back to the first club, then... You get my drift. It was a big night.

Bruce and Sarahs had an entire day of travelling the next day, while recovering. I didn´t envy them! Jeremy and I didn´t see much of La Paz that day, but did manage to get out to have a yummy steak at a recommended place. On our last day, we bought a couple of souvenirs to add to our growing collection, then made our way to the airport. We´ve managed to come across many different protests in our time here, and the latest in La Paz came complete with a lot of fireworks! I´m not going to miss that noise.

Anyway, we flew out of La Paz and into Santiago yesterday. What a relief to be at sea level again! The difference it makes in walking is not to be underestimated. We landed quite late, but it seems that Santiago is a late city. I wasn´t expecting to see much (left the hostel around midnight) but managed to find the bohemian part of the city. Santiago has a really student type feel to it, nothing I can explain. But it´s definitely somewhere that we want to visit again at some point. There were loads of bars in Bellavista that looked really cool, and there´s something about the place that feels strangely familiar. It´s supposed to be the most European of the cities in South America, as is Melbourne in Oz, so maybe that´s why I´m liking it. Even though this morning we managed to block the toilet (without even doing anything to it?!) and the shower exploded on me while I was in it. The shower head went flying, the hose flew about, the bathroom was swamped. Someone has fixed it now, so the bathroom is no longer a glorified changing room...!

Anyway, Jeremy and I have both been a little under the weather today so sadly we haven´t been out much yet. Tomorrow we have a 6 hour bus trip to Mendoza, a wine region in Argentina, so I´m hoping that we´re able to sort ourselves rather quickly!! Fingers crossed... I don´t feel too stressed about missing bits of this particular city, I know we´ll be back.

Wine and steak for the next couple of days. It´s a hard life!!

From La Paz to the Amazon

La Paz was at times a stunning city, the photo above is just the view from our room, almost at sunset. The hills were just nuts, you´re out of breath so quickly, just being at altitude. We didn´t venture as far as we could have, because of that. A shame, I know...

Anyway, from La Paz, we flew to Rurenabaque. A teeny town, a bit of a hub for people wanting to visit the Bolivian Amazon. The plane was a small prop plane, fitting just 19 people in the whole thing. Every bit of wind, we felt. There was no door to the cockpit. Sitting in Seat 1A meant I could see the pilots chatting to each other, wiping the window with a rag so they could - no overly comforting when you´re about to fly over the Andes (anyone seen the movie ´Alive´??!!). Anyway, we survived all 9 of us intact.

Our guide met us at the airport. Stepping on in La Paz it felt close to freezing, I had my jacket on, tights etc. Getting off the plane in Rurrenabaque, it was 9am and about 30c already. We were shown to our hotel, had a nap. Then explored the town and the cocktails they had to offer. I knew the next morning would be when the real adventure would start!

The first thing that struck me was our boats. Well, I think boats is kind of being nice. They were canoes. Or, perhaps death traps if you will. We spent 6 hours on the things, in very close quarters, and got wet every time the boat hit a small wave. As it isn´t wet season yet, the rivers were a little low, and trying to get up the river, we got caught on a tree, and felt like we were about to go under. Admittedly, there was probably less than a metre of water, so we probably wouldn´t have drowned, but I can tell you that I came close to shitting myself.

After 6 hours on the glorified dinghy, we arrived at Chalalan. A small, community run ecolodge deep in the jungle. Our guide, Norman showed us around and took us all to our rooms. The rooms were clean, the beds comfy, and the bathrooms came complete with friendly frogs. There were loads of insects, ranging from your average fly, to mosquitoes, to moths to stunning butterflies. If any of them came near me, I ran for my life.

The next couple of days we spent with Norman and his helper Raoul. We learnt about their community (50% of the money goes to the community, the rest is spent on our stay), and how Chalalan was a concept that was borne out of necessity. They needed an alternative to tree logging, and that was how it started.

Each day we went on walks. Highlights include seeing - tucans, McCaw parrots, frogs, countless spiders, odd looking ancient chicken things, and about 4 different types of monkeys. Very cool. And all the birds were in the distance, where I like them. Norman found my phobia of anything that moves very amusing. And Geoff earned the name ´Señor Baños´, so appropriate that even the guides started calling him that.

I completed one night walk. And two night canoe rides. That was all I had in me. I jumped at everything, which wasn´t the best idea in a canoe. We also all survived a ´Cultural Night´ which was interesting. Well, it was interesting the first time. There´s only so many versions of one song I can listen to on the panpipes.

Anyway, I survived the Amazon! Very glad I made it out in one piece. I enjoyed my time there, but I really don´t think I´d do it again. The jungle really isn´t the place for me, but I´m glad taht I´ve done it!

Cusco to La Paz.

The last two weeks have been a very busy time! Finally made it out of Peru to get to La Paz. We got stuck a couple of days in Puno (pretty much a crap hole that you don´t want to stay in, on Lake Titicaca). There were riots, or protests and the buses weren´t crossing the border into Bolivia. So because of that, we missed a visit to Copacabana, a small town on the lake. Ah well, until that point we had been doing pretty well all things considered really! While in Puno we took a day trip on a boat out to a couple of islands. The ´reed´islands are islands literally built on reeds. They float, people live on them, and they build everything out of reeds. Quite amazing really, and it felt really odd walking around the little islands!

Isla Tequile was the other island we visited. It took about 3 hours on the boat to get there, and was just a small (maybe 2km width?) island in the middle of the lake. We stopped there for lunch, had a wander around and then headed back to Puno.

We started the long journey from Puno to La Paz early in the morning. The first bus was luxe, the second bus from the boarder crossing, not so much... But we made it. The scenery was crazy. For most of the trip we were so high, it looked like the clouds were hanging 100m up in the sky. The landscape was desert and snow capped mountains dotted with tiny little farms and ramshackle houses, all along the ´alto plano´.

La Paz isn´t what you would call a pretty city. The 7 of us made it there in one breathless piece, one day earlier than we had planned (thanks to missing Copacabana). So what does one do in La Paz on a Sunday? Cholita wrestling. What an idea. We thought we were going to see dwarf wrestling, so you can imagine that we were a little disappointed when all we saw were men vs. men, and men vs. women. But it was NUTS. And just hilarious to watch. It was so dodgily staged that all you coule do was giggle. Had a ball!

The next day Rick and Monica arrived, so finally all 9 of us were in one place! While in La Paz we ate really well, found some lovely restuarants, had quite a few drinks. And the 3 boys tried to eat ´the hottest vindaloo challenge´ to win a free t'shirt. I´m going to have to post some photos later, because I was crying so hard at Jeremy, Rick and Geoff´s little faces as they tried the challenge. Only Rick was successful in finishing!

Anyway, off to the Amazon next...

Day Four - Machu Picchu.

The big day finally arrived. We were woken up at 3.40am for breakfast and then to join the queue at the final checkpoint for the trek. It wasn't too cold surprisingly, and from 4.30 we waited in the queue for an hour for it to open. Our group was the third group (of approx 20) to get through the final checkpoint. Once through, it was on.

A quick pace was set by the front groups, the walk to the Sun Gate is approximately one and a half hours. Our group kept up the cracking pace, with Jeremy and I not too far off it. My joints, muscles and generally body just ached all over this morning. Every step down/up was painful but was offset by my newfound fitness level. The only problem with releasing the entire Trekkers within minutes of each other, is that you get people literally running for the gate. People not even saying 'excuse me' to get past, running to get to the gate before sunrise. The American crew (the same ones singing '99 bottles of rum' down the mountain yesterday) also pushed past. And as we climbed the infamous 'monkey steps' we were overtaken by a twat of a German guy who almost pushed us out the way to clamber past. Jeremy actually even called him a cock to his face ;) At the top of the 'monkey steps' we even saw one of the American girls vomming over the side of the mountain - having pushed herself too far when running to the gate. Still regretting not getting a photo of that...

The 90 minute walk took us 60 minutes. Very impressed with my own pace! The Sun Gate was a complete let down though, it was completely shrouded in cloud. So we moved on almost immediately to get to Machu Picchu. It started pouring along the walk. Our first glimpse was through thick cloud, heavy rain and foggy glasses. Disappointing to say the least! But sure enough, after about an hour the fog/cloud started to lift and we could take in the site as a whole for the first time. Amazing. I took a load of photos, but I was so exhausted I just wanted to head to Aguas Calientes for lunch and a rest. By 9am the site was full of tourists everywhere. I felt like i had a distinct right to be there, having taken a 4 day trek to get there, compared to the wankers who took transport (pardon my French!). We then took a 2.5 hour tour with William which was really interesting (but I think we all felt a bit bad that we were all too shattered to enjoy it as much as we wanted to) then we headed for the bus as soon as we could.

We spent the rest of the day in Aguas Calientes. A small town, not a lot to see really. And we were all completely knackered. Very happy with that we've achieved, but really feeling the physical and mental exhaustion. A completely amazing experience for us all...

So after seeing all the horrid bus tourists at the site today, I can honestly say that what William said on the first day really struck me as true - It doesn't matter where you go in life, it's all about the journey and how you get there.

I made it!!!

Day Three - The long day...

Another early start for us today. A 5.30 'room service' cup of tea meant that we could be on the move for 7am as a group. The toilets were disgusting, as most squat toilets seem to be. And using squat toilets is not a lot of fun when your muscles feel like they're about to cave in!

We had a 2 hour climb as a start. I struggled. It was only after the first Inca stop that I managed to find my pace. It was a steep and long climb to the pass. Every time I thought we'd gotten close to the summit, we'd turn a corner and lo and behold, there was more of the trail to climb. We went hard and fast. Pick a point and power to it. It really worked, and we weren't the last ones to the peak.

After a quick peak stop we had to climb down the other side towards lunch. It started peeing down. The rain was more sleet as we were still at altitude, and only started to warm up slightly as we descended. It took a long time to descend - the steep steps were incredibly difficult, and coupled with my oversized poncho and foggy glasses, it was slow going. The rocks were slippery, my shoes were wet, my hands were stinging from the sleet - I was at breaking point.

The rain let up after about a half hour, and we finally reached a toilet stop. It was good to have a bit of a break and I desperately needed food. I felt a lot better after some crackers. The walk from that campsite to our lunch break was actually mostly enjoyable. Jeremy, Sarah and myself took it at a reasonable pace and made good time. Lunch was lovely (as usual) and for once I ate most of it. We also met all of the porters afterwards. It was lovely to hear their names and where they were from, and some of them were so shy and nervous it was actually really sweet. Seeing them run past you carrying 25kgs on their backs while you struggle is just amazing...
After lunch we headed for what's called the 'Gringo Killer'. Depending on who counts, there's anywhere between 3-4000 steps, taking around 2.5 hours. This was my absolute least favourite part of the entire trek. It was long, unrelenting and so hard on my body. So many times I wanted to give up, sit down and just refuse to move. But I didn't have a choice. Walking 1km straight down in steps was possibly the most draining thing I've ever done, and I don't want to do it again. Ever. It was difficult to get a stride as none of the steps were the same. Most of it was wet from the rain in the morning, and a lot of it was so steep that you'd almost get vertigo if you looked down them. The name was well deserved, but I managed to stay on my feet the whole time. We completed the walk in about 3 hours, finally making it to the campsite for around 5.30pm. It was over a 10 hour day and I've never felt so exhausted, both mentally and physically. But tomorrow is the big day, so I'm keeping everything crossed for nice weather, and moderate temperatures. I know it's going go be worth it and that I'm going to feel so satisfied that I've completed the trail (with pretty much no training I might add!! Oops) but for now all I can think about is the fact that every single part of me aches. I'm mentally drained. I stink and need a shower and I have blisters on my feet from my wet shoes...

It better not rain tomorrow!! I'm going to be up at 3.40am William tells me. Hmm.

Day Two - The most definitely hard day.

Everyone told us that day two is the difficult day, and they weren't kidding. A 5.30am start meant we were walking at 7, and the hardest 12kms of my life.
Breakfast was amazing, lots of fruit, pancakes and coca tea meant we were ready to begin.

The day was broken up to effectively 4 parts. The first part was done as a group. A difficult climb, lasting about an hour and a half, with absolutely no flat bits or downhill walking. By the time we made it to the rest of the group I was shattered. We had a brief stop, a 'how to chew coca leaves' lesson and then we were off again.
The second part of the day was probably the hardest. A winding track and never ending steps meant that we had no idea when the end was in sight. It took a lot of effort to not lose the will to go on, and I really struggled to push myself on. We kept the same pace as some other people and finally made it to the second stop of the day - the second breakfast. Consisting of cheese breadrolls and popcorn, but I wasn't feeling very hungry. I was too tired and scared of what was coming up next.
We set off for the third section of the day - a climb up to the highest point of the trek, at 4200m. The path was a lot nicer and involved fewer steps than the second section so I didn't find it as hard. And we could see the pass, in the distance, so we knew where we were aiming for. I struggled. I really struggled. Each single step was uphill, and not in the metaphorical sense. It took us about 2 hours to reach the pass, climbing the final 500m for the day. I finally found my pace in this section and managed to make reasonable time. I put my headphones on, looked down, and took tiny steps up. It seemed to work. Jeremy and I were finally walking at the same pace and reached the summit together. Sarahs weren't too far behind - maybe 10 minutes? We hung around the lookout for maybe half an hour and started on the 4th section of the day.

It was completely downhill. Not one step up, and barely any flat. The path was almost completely all rocks, which made it slow going. And it was super long. It seemed that the campsite that we could see in the distance just wouldn't get any closer... Again, I found a good pace for some reason and just wanted to get to camp so I powered on. Even managed to outpace Jeremy ;)

At 3.58 we reached the campsite. And only an hour behind the next group, which I'm really pleased with.

Reaching the summit was satisfying. Finding a good pace was amazing. Making it to camp not top far behind was a really good feeling too. But it was perhaps the most challenging thing I've ever done. I've never felt so defeated as that second section. I've never been so sweaty. I've never been so tired at the end of a day. Seeing Jeremy really emotional sort of hit it all home for me, that we've achieved something big today. And knowing that we have most of the same tomorrow is more than a little daunting right now. I've been good and not complained much, I'm just worried what tomorrow will bring. Apart from another 5.30am wake up!!

It is nice to know that now we're more than half way through. That is a little comforting... So, I'm going to bed before 9 so I get some sleep. That's an indication of my tiredness I think!

Until tomorrow!

Day One - The 'easy' day.

Beautiful weather, sunny with a breeze, is about the best you could wish for in the introduction to the mountains. We walked/trekked 12 kilometres today, and I'm feeling it now. I'm writing on my iPhone as I lie in my tent after dinner :)
The food has been amazing - tasty, simple and a couple of different courses for each meal.

The walk was both surprisingly easy in parts, bur killer in others. The flat-ish parts were lovely and I was able to keep a good pace which was good. And I'm definitely glad we chose to get the walking poles. The uphill parts felt extremely steep in bits, and feels like a taster for tomorrow, which I'm dreading.
I've sweated a lot, got a little bit burnt, but overall I'd say today was mostly a success!

It was only after lunch that I had some really bad stomach cramps that I started to lag in energy and feel really rough. After walking for over an hour with them I finally found a toilet at our campsite and practically ran to it. Afterwards I had a nap (our tents were set up by the porters before we arrived) and felt a load better.
On a funny note, during dinner we were talking about what to expect for dessert and out of a thousand different things I pulled 'flambé' out from thin air. Then we met the chef. Who was dishing us out flambè. I must be psychic ;) I think it's the altitude!!

Will fill you in with how I go tomorrow. A climb of over 1200m in 10kms. I'm almost sick at the thought...

I have learned to tango. Well, almost. Our hostel had a free lesson which we all took last night, was a load of laughs. Between Jeremy and I we have 4 left feet, and trying to be sensual and ladylike in giant clodhopper functional hiking shoes, it was a challenge. But I think I made it work! After about an hour if lessons and the two Sarahs finding dancing partners, we'd managed to work up an appetite. On the menu? Not steak. I managed to find the BEST chicken parmigiana outside of Melbourne - who'd have thought? Washed down with more Argentinian Malbec, of course.

Needless to say, after dinner we made it back to the hostel for the end of Happy Hour. Not the greatest decision, but definitely a fun one! Many, many Long Island Iced Teas were had, resulting in drunken dancing and many sore heads this morning.

Headed to Racoleta Cemetery today to have a gander at all the old graves, most notably Eva Perõn's resting place. Was eerily beautiful, and well worth the visit. Also meant that we got in a decent walk, in training for Peru next week (still slightly pooing myself at the thought of it. I'm hoping humour will get me through!!).

Thoughts so far?

- I have never eaten so much meat. The average standard of food here is actually pretty decent.
- We have been super lucky so far to not have come across fake banknotes. Apparently quite common, so we're all wary of it now!
- The average age of backpackers here seems a little older. A very good thing I think!
- Travelling in a larger group has been handy. It's meant we don't really get hassled all the time, and has made things seem safer in terms of being targeted by scams...

Tonight we're doing another tango lesson! Will turn profesh by the end of the trip. And another steak meal. With an 'open' wine bar. Will need to drink a lot to ensure we get our value out of it ;)

Coming to you from Buenos Aires!! Leaving London was stressful in the end... But we made it to Argentina finally without any issues.

Plane trip was lovely and uneventful. Just what you want for a 14 hour flight really! After a couple of drinks in the lounge before e flight, we were ready to board. After watching Water for Elephants I took my usual 2 bottles of wine and 2 Phenergan antihistamines which gave me a blissful 10 hours sleep! Success! Arrived feeling mostly fresh, and waded our way through customs. Apparently you're not allowed to bring in anything worth more that $300USD into the country. In total. So after a slight panic attack we decided it wasn't worth worrying too much as they weren't really even bothered to check the xray machines anyway!

The rest of the crew arrived about 3 hours after us. It's been lovely to catch up, we've sampled many local beers, had steak for 2 out of 4 meals so far, and tasted the majority of the wine list at the restaurant last night...

Today the group of us I'd a tour organised through the hostel through the La Boca area of Buenos Aires. Saw the local futbal stadium where Maradona played (and Teves too I believe). Took many photos of the houses in the area, all colourfully painted and ramshackle in style. Apparently not somewhere you would travel to at night, but was great to see it as a group. Now, I'm just relaxing in the hostel bar with another beer, making plans for later. Will most likely involve beer, red wine and more steak... And I'm ok with that :)

Been having weird dreams. I'm thinking it's possibly because of the stress from the last couple of weeks, and that it's all finally sorted! Nothing to interest you sadly, but long and weird all the same.

People here are friendly - first thoughts of the city is that it's quite like Lisbon or Barcelona. Still not feeling like it's another whole continent! I'm expecting that to change ;)

Steak is plentiful, as is wine. And I've never seen so many people doing tango.