Around the world in 367 days

It would be hard to come all the way to Southern Peru and skip Machu Picchu - so we didn't.

Yes it's very touristy and yes they take every opportunity to fleece you out of as much money as possible (10 times the normal price if you want to buy a bottle of water at the site!) but the scale and location of the site really is incredible. It's the first site that has really come close to matching our visit to the Angkor temples in Cambodia.

We arrived at the site really early so it was pretty misty to start with but an invigorating climb up Huayna Picchu helped clear the cobwebs while the mist also cleared. The train ride both ways would have been pretty impressive had it not been for travelling backwards both times or having to listen to inane drivel both times from the guys sat opposite!!!

Afterwards we returned to Cusco for a couple of days which is a nice little town if a little touristy being the gateway to Machu Picchu. We then headed down to Puno where we today spent some time on Lake Titikaka (photos to be posted soon) visiting the floating reed villages and other islands still inhabited by indigenous peoples.

Tomorrow we jump back on the bus and head down into Bolivia. First stop, and hopefully a chilled one, is at Copacabana, still on Lake Titikaka.

Posted by Alexander at 21:00 | Permalink | Comments

I've enjoyed almost every minute of the last 10 months I have spent travelling and I would say it is one of the most important and best things I have done to date. So I wanted something as a reminder of my year away.
...
Reading between the lines, I wanted something representative of our travels and in particular of the pre-Colombian cultures we had come across in our time in Central and South America. A symbol respresentative of what my sign would have been in these cultures; that of the sun quadrant.

Posted by Alexander at 00:00 | Permalink | Comments

Not a cat or a dog; 10 kilograms!

Answers to the name of Fatty McHinton. He went missing somewhere between South East Asia and South America in late 2007 or early 2008.

Chameleon in appearance, some may see him as a Domino's Pizza (or two), others as a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (or ten) while others still will see a guy sat at a desk making regular trips to the vending machine for chocolate and mini cheddars!

If found, DO NOT RETURN!! I still have his brothers: Love-Handle and Beer-Belly McHinton that are proving harder to lose!!!

Posted by Alexander at 00:00 | Permalink | Comments

We spent the last couple of days trekking around the Colca Canyon in Southern Peru and I can tell you - that is one big crack... attaining a maximum depth of 3,269 metres!!

I told you I cannot lie!!!

Comparatively speaking, with a maximum depth of just over 1600 metres, figuratively speaking, you can shove the Grand Canyon up your proverbial Colca Canyon - twice!!

We had a great time climbing down, through and back up the canyon. The views were incredible and we also got to spend a little time watching the condors soar through the canyon skies.

As always, more pictures are in the galleries...

Posted by Alexander at 00:00 | Permalink | Comments

They also make a tasty snack...



... well I could hardly come all the way to the Andes and not try the local delicasy: cuy!! Never having had a Guniea Pig as a pet as a child I didn't need to question my morals though needless to say Deborah didn't join me!! In fact we had to construct a barrier so she wouldn't have to look at it.

It wasn't really high on the meat stakes but it tasted OK. I didn't have a full one and if I'm only going to do this once (more than likely) I'm happy to have got the head end. However, if I did have it again I'd definitely ask for the bottom half; the girl next to us had also ordered the same but as a local the got the meatier end. I turned to Deborah and I said:

"Oh my god, Deborah, luck at her butt! It is so big"

... before breaking into song...

"I like Cuy butt and I cannot lie
You other chefs can't deny
That when a waitress walks in with an itty bitty plate
and beer to stuff in your face
You get sprung
Wanna sit up front
Cuz you notice that butt was stuffed
Deep in sage and onion
I'm hooked and I can't stop salivating
Oh, baby I wanna sit with ya
And take your dinner
My homefries tried to warn me
But with that butt you got
Me so Hungry!

Fellas (yeah), fellas (yeah)
Has your waitress got the butt (hell no)
Well order it (order it) order it (order it) order that
healthy butt!

Baby Got Back"

Then I got my coat...

Posted by Alexander at 15:48 | Permalink | Comments

Of all the lagunas we have visited over the last nine months, and there have been a lot, I would defintely say that Laguna 69 in the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz is definitely my favourite!!

We have just come back from a few days trekking through the Cordillera Blanca, part of Andes here in Huaraz, Peru and had a great time. We didn't make it up to any of the peaks (with more than 20 of them being over 6,000 metres high) though we did make it up to the Pisco basecamp one day and ended up here at Laguna 69 on our final day. The laguna itself is at over 4,600 metres so we were able to scramble up the beginning of the glacier. The colours in the photos are not lying, they really were that vivid.

Camping out in a tent in the Andes was fun though at that altitude it did get pretty cold. By the morning Deborah had 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 jumpers, 2 hats, a jacket, a t-shirt, a pair of gloves, a sleep sheet and 2 sleeping bags... and she was still cold!!!!

Posted by Alexander at 17:59 | Permalink | Comments