Sitting on top of the world...

So yes I have been slack. But let's face it only about 3 people read this other than me so I wonder why I bother. Oh yeah 'cos my diary is almost as behind as the blog!

Go to see some ancient ruins...
Well the third day in Cusco I spent doing a tour of the Sacred Valley with previously mentioned Irish girls. We were the only English speakers on the tour which ment the tour guide would give us the little spiel then let us wander off by ourselves which was nifty and ment that we didn't have to keep up with the group. The first site we saw was the old Inka ruins of Pisaq. A bit of a hike around a mountain on a path that was more single file than double, with a rather spectacular drop into farmland.

The second site was the village of Ollantaytambo which is still inhabited. Most of the ruins are some spectacular terraces- which ment more steps, but there was also aquaducts that are still in use, a rock that looks like the face of Inka (and rather niftily is the point where sunrise occurs during the summer solstice) and a rock that looks like a condor. And there were some fairly adgile goats as well.

The third site was Chinchero which used to be a Inka palace. Until the Spanish came and turned it into a church. You can still see all the old foundation work underneath the Spanish arches and the paintings in the church.

A very full day, and there were many markets, hmm markets. Speaking of which I am a market junkie and have many blankets of bright colours.

City in the clouds...
You can do a day trip to Machu Picchu from Cusco. It involves catching a train at an ungodly hour then a bus to the bottom of the ruins, then climbing, enjoying the view and then doing everything in reverse. It would have been alot nicer had I not got 4 hours sleep and went drinking the night before.

The train ride is plesant enough winding through rural Peruvian countryside with corn, cows, rushing rivers and gum trees. The number of gum trees here are impressive. Apparently in the 1860s the government ordered that gum trees be planted to reforest areas where native trees had been removed. It still freaks me out a little.

Anyhow on Monday I went out to Machu Picchu and despite the weather being less than brillant the mountains were still pretty and covered in whispy clouds. It's a mean engineering feat, granite rocks forming a city on the top of a mountain. And rather pretty to look at. Oh and there are steps.

What is it with the Inka's and steps? And building things on the top of bloody great big mountains? In this altitude? Crazy!

I spent a few hours wandering around the site before spending an hour in the village of Machu Picchu and getting back on the train. Had a lively conversation with two New Yorkers and a Canadian before getting off a stop early and catching the bus back to Cusco where I met up with drinking buddy from the night before and had dinner.

Also sussed out some of the ruins closer to the city and went to the Inka Museum.

The wheels on the bus...
Well after over a week, I braved a bus trip to Puno yesterday. I signed up for a tour bus that stops of at different sites along the way. The Andean Sixtina's Chapel was our first stop, which at the time was being restored. It had a rather impressive altar covered in gold, which interestingly had a mixture of Christian and Inka symbolism in it. Went on to the Raqchi site which is an ancient temple made of volcanic rock and mud bricks as well as an accompanying village. Our last stop was another museum focusing around pre-Inka culture in the region.

Floating about...
Went out on Lake Titicaca today. Spent the morning on Uros, the floating islands. The Uros people are the oldest tribe in the region and they live on floating islands made of reeds. Basically every three months or so another layer of reeds is layer and the ground of the island to make up for the bits that rot from the bottom. Most of the houses are built from reeds and they have boats made from them too. And you can eat them, but they didn't taste too great. Reeds, is there anything they can't do?

It took another 2 hours by boat to get to the island of Taquile. We did a hike to the top of the island which was pretty hard going I must say, felt like my heart was going to explode, but it was well worth it, the sun had come out by that stage and the views of Lake Titicaca were magnificant. There are only a couple of places on this Earth that I have been to where the water is that clear (you can see several meters below the surface) and the air makes the lake seem a gorgeous blue. The view was simply amazing and the island has some beautiful flowers.

100's of languages...
Today I had conversations in English, Spanish, Portugese and Auslan/British Sign Language. It's funny, my brain goes "well we aren't using English so it must be one of those other things we know". It resulted in me speaking Spanish whilst I was signing, which didn't help with the lip reading a single bit. And I found out they have changed the sign for Australia, from a fist then palm against the side of the head (to represent the digger hat) to something than now makes me look like I am imitating a kangaroo. The Europeans laughed. I still think it is better than the sign for France, which looks like you are tweaking a curly moustache.

Cream...
Puno is in party spirit tonight. I went to a concert in the Plaza de Armas which turned into a street party and then was supposed to continue to a proper concert venue. It involved different bands and dancers performing in one spot, then moving and continuing onwards to a different place. It's traditional Peruvian dancing from the region, lots of costumes and twirling of hankerchiefs. And marching bands with a double bass (which was impressive to watch people lug down the street). Oh and shaving cream fights. They have high pressured shaving cream in cans that shoot 2-3meters and *noone* is safe. More to the point the first group of dancers sprayed the croud and I witnessed and was caught in several fights in the several hundred meters from the square to dinner and dinner to this net cafe.

We don't need no education...
Peru must have the best geography teachers in the world. Many of the kids who try to sell you stuff, be it a friendship band, a shoe shine, food or finger puppets also ask you where you are from. On telling them the country you will be told the capital, the flag, the national anthem, the colours of the flag, the head of state and other important features from the country (ie kangaroos!) Next time i am going to say I'm from Turbekistan!

There'll be days like this...

So I'm in Cusco, which has an altitude that is rather uncomfortable. These past few days haven't been the best on the trip. But parts of them were somewhat amusing.

Nazca was great. I got a flight to Lima from Iquitos then bused it the following day down to Nazca. The Peruvian lanscape is somewhat surreal, desert like and barren, nothing like what I expected. Was six hours to Nazca, followed by a nice dinner with some people from the bus. The following morning I went out to the airport for the flight over the lines.

The lines are really interesting, though the flight was in the tiniest plane I have ever been in (a cute little four seater) and the flight takes about half an hour with the pilot pointing out the different lines and shapes as we went over them. The flight is a bit rough as they tlit the plane left and right so everyone can get a good look at the different patterns. The landscape is primarily platue but with a few hills rising out of the lanscape. And barren until you get to the irrigated farming areas which look so out of place.

Spent the afternoon wandering around with one of the people I had dinner with the night before, then caught the bus to Cusco.

Worst. Bustrip. Ever. Many of you know I do suffer from nausea on buses, particularly buses which are crowded, poorly ventilated and go on dodgey windy roads. Well, the road to Cusco is windy and mountainous. Got on the bus, to find it nearly full which wasn't too bad, I crawled into my seat and managed to doze for a bit.

I was woken at about 1230am with everyone getting off the bus and the attendant speaking loudly and quickly in Spanish. I managed to ask a nice Canadian couple what was happening and discovered that the bus had broken down and we all had to pile onto another bus.

Which would have been fine, had the bus had enough room for all of us. I got on realised that there was no bathroom on the bus, nor were there enough seats. I then got back onto the broken bus which is where all the gringo's (the Canadian couple, two Irish girls and about half a dozen Japanese people) were and decided that staying with the people who I could talk to in time of crisis (plus had bathroom access, given I wasn't feeling all that well) was probably a wise move. We then freewheeled back down the mountain and then waited until they called another bus.

Buses in the early hours of the morning are *freezing* when they are not turned on, particluarly when they are up a mountain. So I tried (being the operative word) to sleep on the bus, feeling more and more ill and cold. The next bus arrived at around 3am, we then swapped buses and were on our way, but not until I had lost most of my afternoon snack. Oh and the second bus didn't have enough seats either, so a bunch of people sat in the front of the bus near the driver, the attendants sat literally on top of luggage and on each other up the back. And Peruvian buses, unlike Brazillian buses, don't stop for food and bathroom breaks, you get given sandwiches, which of course, I cannot eat. So essentially I didn't eat for about 24hours, which given my stomach was probably a wise move.

So about 4 and a half hours late we got to Cuzco. Myself and the Irish girls decided to share a cab to a hostel. It was okay, the bed was warm and they had hot water (bliss!). We stumbled to find dinner then got to bed at the ripe old hour of 7pm. Because you know we like to party hard.

We all woke up at 2am, and then for the next hour my upper back decided that unless I stood up that it would give me the most intense horrible pain I have ever experienced. I am not exagerating, having my wisdom teeth pulled was much more enjoyable. Yay for panadine forte!

Got up and went for breakfast, I had Mate de Cocoa (Cocoa leaf tea) which is supposed to help with Altitude sickness which I seem to have. This means at the moment I am nauseous- which intally was put down to the evil bus, but given I didn't keep breakfast down, I think has got to do with being up high. I am slightly dehydrated. I am hungry- though there seems little point to eating and I can't take my vitamins because I'm still on the anti malerials. I'm tired- even after a 3 hour kip this arvo and breathing is difficult. Okay so the breathing thing isn't a new thing for me but it's still annoying. It's like having a bad asthma patch plus an nasty virus all at once.

Part of me is "screw Macchu Picchu, get me back to sea level" but hopefully everything should settle over the next couple of days. Anyone wishing to donate to the "lets buy moonbug flights for the rest of the trip so she doesn't have to take the bus" fund would be highly appreciated :P

We found another hostel this morning as well, which is newer and alot nicer than the one we stayed in last night and in a better location close to the main square. Oh and I got my bag slashed too. They didn't take anything however I've decided that my nice bag from Argentina is not rectifiable and will be left behind.

I've found a disadvantage to my Veganwares Microfibre boots, every single shoe shine boy asks if they can polish them. No you can't, leather polish will screw up my nice cow free shoes thank you very much. I wonder how you can say "No, my shoes aren't leather" in Spanish?

Oh and after some googling Nevryn came up with the english name for the family of lisa fish. It's the mullet.

On the upside blogger has decided to work again- yay!

blah!

Blogger ate my other posts. And it won't let me rectify them.

In Cuzco, it is cold, the bus broke down in the middle of last night, my lungs have to work harder than normal for me.

Peruvian landscape is funky and slightly surreal.

The Nazca Lines kicked arse. There are many pics.

Sleepy time soon. Will write more when I am confident the posts won't be eaten.

In the Jungle...

I spent the last six days in a jungle lodge 140km upstream (3 hours by speed boat) from Iquitos on the Yanayacu River, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. Quite simply these were some of the most amazing days I've had in my life. I've been interested in rainforest conservation since I was, oh I don't know, 10 years old? However, all the articles I've read, the pictures I've seen and the documentaries I've watched simply don't compare to being there.

Anyhow here is a brief diary style description of my trip:

Day 1
I walked the few blocks down to the lodge office from the hostel this morning. I had to walk an extra two blocks to avoid the main square where the weekly flag raising cerimony takes place. Marcus, the guy from the office, was saying that the government still saw Iquitos as a war zone from the war with Ecuador and the weekly pompous cerimony was to warn any stray Ecudorians that Peru was ready to fight them.

It took three hours by speed boat to get to the lodge, so we got there about lunch time. The lodge is a series of rooms on stilts, bungalow style connected by walkways. The rooms are all mosquito netted, though looking at the number of midges around the kerosene lamps I am writing by this evening I am not sure how effective they are. It's rather pretty at night with the way it is lit up, little burners on the walkway give it a Ewok Village type look.

After settling in and having lunch we (myself, Carlos the guide and a couple from Lima, who are the only other guests here for the moment) went for a walk through the rainforest to a village up the river and watched a soccer game. It rained so the ground was really muddy, the sort of step in it and sink in over your ankles muddy, but the walk was great! Heaps of different plants and everything is so lush, green and alive. And there were bugs, like centipedes, spiders and different types
of ants.

Also got to swing on a vine and look at some really huge trees. Most interesting plant was one that has fruit that is spikey on the outside like a rumbutan, but has red berries on the inside used for face painting and food colouring.

We took a boat back from the village and had dinner. After dinner we went out on the boat again and caught a cayman (white nosed alligator). This involved Carlos leaning out of the boat reaching into the water and grabbing him. He was about 7 months old and we took some pics before putting him back in the river. We also went out and looked for bugs. Saw some pink toed tarantulas and a scorpion that were nifty.

There's a great Sesame Street song with Kermit the Frog singing about why his pond is so great and quiet and he mentions different noises of the pond at night. It ends with him going "This is the loudest quiet I’ve ever listened to!" Anyhow I thought of this whilst trying to get to sleep where the number of insects, owls and other night critters did not give one "peace and quiet". They were fabulous though.

Day 2
We woke early this morning and went back out on the boat to look for different types of birds. There was a slight mist on the water and it was all very pretty in the morning light. Lots of different birds, vultures, herrons, hawks and many kingfishers to name the ones I can remember. Came back for breakfast, the back on the boat downstream to the Amazon. We watched the birds and insects, including dragonflies, butterflies and these rather nifty bugs that scooted across the water
surface. Also got to see some prianhas and other fish. On our way back up the river we stopped by a farm where they grew bananas and peanuts and a few other things. Most of the farming is subsistance with a little bit of excess being traded with other people on the river. The farmer happened to catch a yellow anaconda who was trying to roll a pig when we were there. It was rather impressive, over 4 metres long. Farmers who catch snakes like this generally keep them for a few days and then let them go back in the jungle. We also saw some monkeys from the boat who were neat.

Day 3
Had a bit of a lie in today (no early boat trip in other words) and headed into the forest at about 8am for a walk. Managed to spot some squirrel monkeys. Then we went out on the river and mangaed to see some marmosets and found a sloth who was rather happy to be sitting at the top of the tree and wasn't all that interested when Carlos tried to get him to move. There were heaps of birds as well. We went back to the lodge not long after that and had lunch and then the couple from Lima
left, so I'm the only tourist here now. Had a relaxing afternoon in the hammock before all of us (the cook, the guide, the tourist and the manager) went out to get some catfish from the people in the next house over. Alot of people keep prehistoric catfish in nets in the river, they are a hardy fish and can live for hours out of water and in shallow water also. I also watched the sunset from the river. After dinner we went spotlighting on the boat again, but didn't catch anyone. Oh and the
night sky was somewhat clearer tonight- the stars are gorgeous without the light pollution.

Day 4
Myself and Carlos went out early this morning in the tiny canoe. Part of my spent the entire time hopping we wouldn't capsise! It was really good though we got to see lots more birds and some monkeys too. It rained for most of the later part of the morning so we stayed in. I must say it was kinda nice curled up by myself listening to the rain on the thatched roof. Oh and we now have running water (still from the river though). Two guys from the Neatherlands came today and we went out the the swampy area of the forest where we saw the sloth yesterday this afternoon. Saw
some more birds and got some pictures of the lake too. The next house over had an anaconda that Carlos showed us, only a little one though. Because of the rain this morning it's not too hot, interestingly we saw some of the river plants floating upriver which means the Amazon has had a downpour which is pretty nifty. On our walk we also found two pink eggs, about the size of a chickens egg that Carlos said was from a local bird that was about the size of a hen.

Day 5
So it's my last full day here in the jungle, we went out early again this morning and saw some birds, though not too many as we were in the motorboat rather than the canoe. After breakfast we went out to the lake that we couldn't get to before because it has rained a fair bit and the water level has risen we could get through. I was rather pleased to see a pair of toucans (given I had asked about them the previous afternoon) though they were too quick for me and flew off by the time I got my camera out. We also saw a dolphin in the lake which was pretty neat too.
I no longer even try to film dolphins they are just too fast. Took heaps of photos today- over and entire roll. Not sure how some of them will turn out. Also saw some squirrel monkeys. After lunch and a rest we went for another walk in the jungle which was good, saw some marmosets. On our way back form the lake we stopped in at the village where we saw the soccer match a few days ago. We got to visit the shaman (medicine man) who gave us a drink of herbs mixed with what tasted like rum. It is
supposed to help with coughs, colds and promote general well being. He also showed us a skull from a big alligator that he caught a few years ago which was rather impressive. We also ate some fruit today which has a pulpy inside but is about the
size of a orange. The texture is rather gummy and it was sticky but sweet. Difficult to explain the flavour though. Also chewed on a swall flower thqat turned out to be a natural anesthetic. Tasted gross but left my mouth feeling tingly and numb.

Day 6
It hasn't stopped raining all morning! This is my last day (well half day) here at the jungle lodge and I haven't been able to go out because of the weather. I'm currently in the hammock room looking out at the river and the rain. It is impressive the amount that the river has risen over the past few hours and it appears from the way the water plants and floating (up rather than down stream) that the Amazon is filling up again. On the other side of where I am is the garden here which has mostly flowering plants in particular red hybiscus. There are a few
butterflies out too. Which is something I didn't expect in the rain. Also saw a humming bird flittering about. The hummingbirds here are different to the ones in Olinda, they are a dark colour whilst the Brazillian ones are a metalic bright green. Took the boat back to Iquitos later in the afternoon. It's weird to be around things like running water and electricty again. The trip was great :)

Hehe, so there we go, oh and a list of the animals I had the priviledge
of seeing:
marmosets, squirrel monkeys, a white nosed aligator, pink toed tarantulas, scorpions, red belly prianha, crabs, prehistoric catfish, toucans, pygmy kingfishers, greater kingfishers, black headed vultures, red headed vultures, dark hummingbirds, pink river dolphins, a three toed sloth, brown collar hawk, prehistoric centipides, giant mosquitos, regular mosquitoes, yellow anacondas, a green frog, common great egret, river gulls, yellow headed carcacara hawk, white necked herron. Also several types of bats, flycatchers, butterflies, dragonflies, ants, birds and bugs I didn't get the names of.

There are over 90 photos. And they still didn't catch alot of the more interesting creatures due to speed and lighting (such as the monkeys, dolphins and the toucans). Yes, Adam I will show them to you.

I would also have to thank TGVITS who ensured that when I asked about a creature we usually saw them the next day. Carlos thought this was rather amusing.
M: "Carlos, are there sloths around here?"
C: "Yes, but they are difficult to spot"
*later*
C: "There's the sloth you were asking about"

Oh and it seems that there is also a local fish that has the same name as me, which was something one small boy found hillarious. But the if I met someone called Trout or Snapper I'm sure I'd have a giggle too.

Regards to the fish, hey?

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

SquareBear drew this comic of Captain Vegetable and I just had to share it with you all.

Oh and for Sesame Street context, look here.

Update on rainforest adventures, soon. I promise.

Can't think of a title, but this one is about Buenos Aires and Iquitos.

Currently I'm in Iquitos the biggest city in the world without a road link. It's about an hour and half flight from Lima in the Peruvian Amazon Basin, I got in yesterday evening after a day's travel from Buenos Aires.

So my last few days in Buenos Aires were blessed with sunshine after a couple of days of heavy rain. I spent a day out in the La Boca area, went back to the sunday market, saw heaps of street performers, had lots of time in parks and just wandering the city and took some spanish lessons.

La Boca is a port area that originally had buildings made from shipping iron and decoratively painted with ship paint. The result is zaney, brightly coloured buildings which have continued to be painted in this style. It naturally attracts a fair few tourists so there are heaps of cafes and souvener shops. At the same time lots of local artists also have stalls showing their paintings and handiwork. It's quiet funky. Interesting to note how different it is from the surrounding area in terms of renovation and development.

The street performers in Buenos Aires are really rather brilliant. Tango dancers, puppeters, buskers, jugglers and living statues all make an appearance in the pedestrian malls and around the market areas. My personal favourite were the guy and the girl who were living statues who dressed as business people walking into the wind. Their costumes included wired up trenchcoats and ties made to look like the wind had caught them. Very nifty.

Took spanish lessons during my stay, and now I'm, well... not toally hopeless! But saying that my teacher was great (very patient) and I know enough to get by.

Caught my flight yesterday morning from BA to Lima then spent a few hours in Lima airport then flew up here to Iquitos. The view of the sun setting through the clouds over the Amazon and the rainforest from the plane was rather spectacular. I feel I am back in South East Asia. It's equatorial (only 4 degrees south of the Equator), hot, there are tuk-tuks, everyone is laid back and I stick out like, well a tourist!

Given Carnaval has started (Ash Wednesday being next week and all) I was witness to many waterfights today. Brazillians have street parties and dancing, Peruvians have waterfights. Which is not a bad idea given the heat. It's rather amusing to be walking around town and see fully grown men peeking around a corner with a water balloon. Got hit by a water pistol whilst riding in a tuk-tuk which was rather funny.

I forgot how big macaws were until I walked past one at head height on my way out tonight. There was also a tiny kitten at the hostel as well which was about a third of the size of the macaw. Which gave me all sorts of amusing birds chasing cats images.

Spending the next 6 days at a jungle lodge up the Amazon, don't worry there will be many photos.