Cusco - Week Three

Hi everyone. I have now completed my last full week here in Cusco learning spanish. This update is a little earlier than normal as I will be out of internet access next week, more on that later. Here is the update for this week including my birthday celebrations!!:

After the exersions of the mini trek at the weekend I was feeling a bit sore on Monday morning. I think it was the last downhill descent that did me in. After Spanish on Monday morning we all went to visit the Inka Ruins of Saqsaywamen that are located in the hills above Cusco. It was a beautiful day and provided great views of the city. Here is a of shot of the ruins with Cusco in the background:

Tuesday was a relaxed day with Spanish lessons held in one of the cafes in town. After lunch I went to the local equivalent of The Gap (called "Topy-Top") to buy some cheap clothes for the community work I will be doing for the next four weeks. For the first week we are working on the construction of a new language school about 30 mins outside of Cusco. The following four weeks we are going to work in two remote villages high in the Andes. The work will involve conservation work, building work on community facilities and helping out in the local school. It should be an amazing experience. Tuesday was also a bit sad to learn of the death of the legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel who died whilst on holiday here in Cusco.

Wednesday 27th October and my birthday!! Thanks to everyone for the emails (and the card Sara!!!) it was great to hear from you all. I had a birthday lunch at my Peruvian family and they even cooked me a huge cake:

Happy Birthday Alex

Dan, Tom and Rich booked up a section in "Los Peros" (The Dogs) for drinks and food - thanks guys. I had a great time and thanks to everyone for the presents of a birhday cake, a wooly llama hat and a jar Marmite (a taste of home!!). After Los Peros we all hit the nightclubs, the funniest being Underworld where we were the only ones in the place and took over the DJ booth!! Here are some shots of the night:

Who's the daddy?

Hands off ladies I'm spoken for!!!

Me with my hat, cake and Marmite!!

Thursday was spent recovering from the night before and enjoying my Marmite - heaven! In the afternoon a few of us went to buy some building materials for the first weeks community work. In the evening we all went for a talk by the conservation charity we will be working for in the villages in the Andes. It was interesting to see photos of where we will be working and to get more detail on he type of work we will be doing.

Friday was the last day of Spanish. The past three weeks have flown by and I hope some of it will stick in my brain. For lunch we all went out with some of the local children from the school to a chicken and chips joint. After the lunch the children presented us with certificates of our achievements. Here I am receiving my certificate:

On Saturday we moved out of our Peruvian families. We bought Marina (my host) some chocolates and flowers which she really liked. It was sad to leave but I have some great memories. We all moved back into our hostal to prepare for the community work next week. Saturday night was a lads night out. We first went to see the movie Collateral with Tom Cruise, it was alright but not one of Cruise's best efforts. After the film we all went to the local Irish bar for beer and steak sandwiches. After the bar we all went out into the local square where celebrations were taking place for All Saints Day (I think that is what it was for). A large firework show was underway so it was great to watch. The fireworks were crazy with rockets shooting into the crowd. Health and saftey doesn't really exist here in Peru. It did add a certain excitement to the evening as you had to duck as rockets flew overhead!! Here are some shots of the fireworks:

Well that is it for this post. I will be out of communication for next week but will be doing another update next weekend. The next update will be all about our first week of community project work.

Hasta Luego.

Cusco - Week Two

Buenos dias everyone. I have now finished the second week of my stay here in Cusco. It is going quickly and only a week left here before leaving. Here is my update from last week:

Cusco Week 2 - Spanish, Football & Treking

Monday morning blues (Peru style) at the start of the week as it was back to Spanish lessons after spending the weekend out of Cusco. I am really starting to relax here in Cusco and feel a little bit local. I have my daily routine for getting up, having breakfast and then heading out for lessons. Spanish is going well now and I am able to start having simple conversations with our tutor. I have now progressed from "the glass is on the table" to ordering food in a restaurant and describing what I did last night. The constant problem I have is slipping back into French all the time. The result is a mixture English/French/Spanish, well I understand it anyway!!

The Spanish school is also a charity and after teaching "the gringos" Spanish in the morning they teach English to underpriviledged Peruvian children in the afternoon. The children are chosen from local schools in deprived areas and are selected based on their enthusiasm, aptitude and desire to learn. As a result we see a lot of the children around the school and always have a good laugh with them. The picture below is of one of the children and my Spanish tutor Claudia:



We have also been taking some of our Spanish lessons outside of the classroom in local markets and cafes. It is a great way to learn as we can use the language in "real" situations. The local market was great fun although the meat section turned a few stomachs with whole cow jaws amongst the items for sale!

In the afternoons this week I have been relaxing around Cusco, visiting museums and doing more salsa lessons. The salsa is coming on well now so watch out ladies!! Wednesday night was Laura´s birthday, so we all met up in the Blueberry Lounge for drinks before heading out to a local restaurant. It was a great night with a huge birthday cake and "Happy Birthday" sung to the music of a Peruvian pan pipe band!!

On Wednesday afternoon we went to visit one of the local schools in Cusco. This is one of the schools I was talking about earlier. The school was bursting at the seams with students up to age eleven. We were a real novelty when we arrived and managed to disrupt all the classes. Here is a photo of the school tuck shop:



On Wednesday evening we went to see the local Cusco football team (Cienciano) play. Last year Cienciano won the South American equivalent of the Champions League by beating Argentina´s Boca Juniors so they are a pretty good side. After being offered dodgy tickets by a local policeman (we bought legit ones in the end) we went in and watched the game. It was a good game however like the match I saw in Rio it ended in a 2-2 draw!! Here is a picture of me in the stadium at the end of the match:



Thursday and Friday afternoon were spent preparing for our first weekend away camping. This was our first chance to start using the tents and cooking stoves so provisions and kit had to be purchased. We were split into teams of three with each team responsible for their own food and tents. I was carrying the stove and all the cooking equipment - no jokes about being the lady of the group!!!

We set off from Cusco at 09:00 on Saturday morning and took a local bus to the start of the trek. Saturday's trek was 10km so not too bad to start off with. Here is a picture of me and Tom loaded up at the start:



Our destination was to the Inca ruins at Moray where we would camp for the night. The trek was fairly relaxed and after a break for lunch we arrived at camp by 16:30. The ruins were the site of an Inca agricultural research centre. The site has been partially restored and contains some excellent examples of Inca terracing. Here are a couple of shots from the trek:




Admiring the view, a great place to think things through.....



Our evening meal was a real gourmet affair. We started with chicken soup followed by a main course of ravioli in bolognese sauce and finished with a muffin. Not bad for our first effort of camp cooking. On Sunday we set off at 09:30 for a 14km trek to the town of Urubamba where we would catch the bus back to Cusco. The trek was fantastic as we descended down into the Sacred Valley and followed the river Urubamba. Along the way we passed a working salt mine cut into the side of the valley and constructed of terraces:



We finally arrived back in Cusco at 5pm on Sunday evening tired but thrilled by the experience. We all treated ourselves to a meal at Greens of roast chicken and all the trimmings, a perfect way to end the weekend.

That is all for this week - stay tuned for the next update and my last full week here in Cusco (also my birthday celebrations!!!!).

Cusco - Week One

Hola from Cusco at the end of my first week here. Below is a brief summary of my adventures from this week. Apologies about the quality of the photos, the software in this internet cafe is a bit old:-

Week One Cusco



Spanish lessons at Amigos Spanish School are going well although pretty intensive. We are doing four hours a day from 8am to 12pm with a short 20min break. It is a lot harder and more intensive than I thought, they even give us homework to complete each night!! There are four of us in my class and we have two tutors, Merly from Peru and Claudia from Swizterland. I am learning loads and everyday feel I can understand more and more. Hopefully by the end of the three week course I should have a basic grounding in the language.

The homestay is also going well. I have been very lucky with the family as we are having great food. Some other people in the group have not been too lucky with a diet of rice and potatos every day!! All our meals are taken with our homestay family. Breakfast is bread and jam with fresh fruit juices. Lunch is the main meal of the day in Peru and we have a large 2-3 course meal. Evening meals are lighter but still very filling, we even had pancakes with chocolate sauce one night!! It is very interesting living with a family and experiencing true Peruvian life.

Afternoons are free for us to explore and relax. On the 13th October a group of us climbed some of the hills around Cusco. It was the first exercise I have done at altitude and it was quite tiring. The scenery is spectacular and we had a fantastic view of the city. Here are some shots of Cusco -


Cusco from surrounding mountains


Cusco town square at night

We have also been going out to the pubs and bars in Cusco. It is a very touristy town so there is loads to do at night. We had a big night on 15th when we pretty much visited every club in Cusco. I think "Mama America" won the day with some excellent stage dancing from the VentureCo crew!!! Everyone was suitably drunk so Spanish classes the next day we a bit quieter than usual!

We also had our first Salsa lesson on the 15th and it was time for Alex to show his true latino roots!! The dancing was great fun, we learnt some of the basic steps and moves. Watch out Sara when we meet up in San Francisco!!! Here we are learning the steps -



At the weekend we left Cusco to visit the town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley. The scenery was absolutely spectacular and it made a nice change from Cusco. We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our hostel. The hostel was very cool and partly run by Joachim, an old friend of our leader Paul. Consequently we were given a very warm welcome and fantastic hospitality. We spent the evening sitting in the Square eating home made pizza from the wood-fired pizza oven and drinking beer, very cool.


Hostel in Pisac

On Sunday we put on our walking boots to climb up to the Inca ruins and temples that are located in the mountains overlooking the town. The climb took us up about 500 meters past ancient Inca terracing to the Sun Temple. The scenery was absolutely spectacular and the view from the top allowed us a fantastic view of Pisac and the Sacred Valley -


Sacred Valley


Climbing to the Inca Ruins


The Sun Temple


Enjoying the view from the top!!!

The climb took all morning and we arrived back in the town at 1pm for lunch at the hostel. Pisac is also famous for its Sunday Market so I spent the afternoon looking around. The market is very touristy but good fun. I managed to resist buying a Peruvian woolen hat on this occasion!!


Les bargains hard for a poncho

Next week is the second week of the language school. In addition I am doing more Salsa lessons, a "real Cusco" city tour and at the weekend we leave Cusco again to do some more trekking. I will be doing another update in one weeks time.

Hasta Luego Amigos - Alex

Lima to Cusco

Hola everyone, I have now arrived in Cusco and will be based here for three weeks learning Spanish in a Spanish school and living with a Peruvian family. Here is the latest update from the last week of my trip from Lima to Cusco.

6th October - 7th October Lima to Nazca

Had my final morning in Lima, can´t say I was that struck by the city and was quite glad to be leaving. Did some internet updates and sent some mail and then we all made our way to the bus station for our bus to Pisco. The bus left at 2:30 pm and was supposed to take about five hours. The driver had other ideas and after countless stops and a puncture we arrive in Pisco at 8pm. The puncture was amusing as the replacement tyre was non existent and so a spare had to be found from a local garage. The spare was just as bald:



After checking into our hostel we headed into town for a meal and then to a local bar. It was Luke´s birthday so we had a good night drinking the local brew Pisco Sour. More on that later!

The next day we headed to the small coastal town of Paracas where we took a boat ride to a nature reserve off the coast. The reserve contains seals and millions of birds, so many that every 7 years the locals go to the island to collect the bird crap and sell it for manure!! The boat ride back was entertaining as the wind had got up and so the journey was pretty rough. We all got a good soaking, at one point the boat died as the engine became flooded. We headed in land after the boat trip to a Pisco winery. Pisco is a strong wine grown locally and turned into many different forms including a cocktail drink called Pisco Sour which is made with pisco, lime, egg white and suger - very nice:



Alex samples some of the local brew!!!



We left the winery and headed inland to an oasis in the desert for lunch. The landscape is completely desert with dunes and reminded me a lot of my trip to Namibia. After lunch we all jumped into dune buggies and went out into the dunes. This was great fun and like riding a roller coaster at times when we went over the dunes. We also did some sand boarding down some of the biggest ones:




Dan heads off down one of the dunes

Our next stop was the town of Nazca for the night, we arrived about 8pm and checked into the hostel.

8th October - 9th October Nazca to Arequipa

The town of Nazca is next to the famous Nazca lines which are huge carvings believed to be carved by the Incas into the desert. Some people believe they are the work of aliens!! We spent the morning in the town of Nazca and I did some internet updates before taking a light arcraft flight over the lines. There are all manner of shapes including monkeys, whales and birds in addition to the lines stretching for miles. The picture below was taken from the aircraft so I hope it comes out ok, I think it is of one of the birds:



The flight over the lines was very bumpy due to high winds and everyone was feeling a bit green by the time we landed. Next stop was to the bus station for our overnight bus to Arequipa. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and a big university town.

The bus journey was uneventful except for attempting to load the bags. The spare driver was sleeping in the luggage compartment and had set himself up with a bed. It was very funny as we loaded bags all around him as he slept!! We arrived at about 9am and checked into the hostel. I didn`t sleep too well so was feeling pretty drained. Arequipa is a beautiful city with many old buildings and a fantastic square surrounded by cafes and bars. The city also has a backdrop of mountains which adds to the charm. In the morning we visited the museum of Juanita. This is the museum dedicated to the frozen body of a girl who was an Inca sacrifice. The body was found in 1995 in the mountains and has been perfectly preserved. Today it is on display in a special room in the museum. In the afternoon we went to a local market and relaxed in the hostel. Here is a shot of Arequipa town square:



In the evening some of us headed out to a local nightclub. What an funny night as we danced in the club to everthing from salsa, dance, charts, rap and rock. We all had a great time and it was good to be mixing with the locals rather than in a "gringo" bar!!

10th October - 11th October Cusco

We left Areqipa and took the short flight to Cusco on Lan Peru. This pleased me as I was able to add more points to my BA club card, that upgrade cannot be far away now!! Our first night in Cusco was in a hotel before we met up with our family stays. We checked into the hotel and headed out to explore the town. It was a Sunday today so the usual parades were taking place in the square. I did some internet updates and got my bearings - this town will be home for the next three weeks. In the evening we were given a talk by the manager of the language school about our time in Cusco. It is going to be great fun learning the language at last and also getting a real insight into Peruvian life. We all went out for some food after and headed to the "Cross Keys" pub for beer and pool. It was an early night as we have to be up early in the morning to meet our families and start the Spanish lessons.

Our families arrived at the hotel at 7am to pick us up. I am sharing with 3 other guys, none of us speak much Spanish so it is going to be great fun. The family we are living with is middle class and their home is more western than I thought. We were given our rooms and unpacked. It is going to be great not to have to live out of a rucksack for three weeks. The language classes started at 8am so we headed up to the school to begin. It was strange being back in a classroom after ten years but good fun. The classes last for the morning and we spent today learning some basic verbs and having simple conversations. Hopefully after three weeks I will be able to converse at a basic level.

All our meals are with the families and we headed back to our house for lunch of soup and some rice with stew, very nice. It will be interesting seeing family life Peru style for three weeks. This afternoon I have been getting the laundry done and updating the website. It takes a lot longer than you think!!!

OK that is all. I will do another update in a few days time and tell you how the Spanish is going.

Adios amigos!!!

Lima - Peru

I have now left Buenos Aires and landed in Lima - Peru. Here is a map of my route so far. It is a bit poor but I am doing this from an internet cafe!!



3rd October 2004

A bit of an emotional roller coaster of a day. My flight to Lima left a 08:40 so it had to be an early start. A sad goodbye with Sara as she was heading back to the US on an evening flight. We will be meeting up again in January (four months!!!) when I land in California.

My flight was delayed but once we got going it only took 4 hours to reach Lima. They showed "Stepford Wives" on the flight; not particularly impressed but yet again the brilliant Christopher Walken stole the show.

For the next 4 months I will be joining up with a group and travelling from Lima all the way to the southerly tip of South America at Ushuair. Along the way we will be learning spanish in Cusco, trecking Machu Pichu and undertaking local community work. It should be an amazing few months. Here is a link to the trip I will be doing:

http://www.ventureco-worldwide.com/patagonia.htm

I was met at the airport by a driver and one of the tour leaders as I have arrived a day before the rest of the group. I checked into the hostel and set off exploring Lima for the afternoon. I felt strange exploring on my own after 3 weeks touring with Sara. As it is October there are religous marches taking place on Sundays this month. Today´s march was to the god of miracles (I think that is what the local I was talking to said!). Anyway many of the local streets were shut and processions were taking place. It was quite entertaining. I am still waiting for my camera to be brought out so no photos as yet.

4th October 2004 - 5th October 2004 (Lima)

I met up with a couple of guys from the trip this morning so we have spent the day looking around the city and aclimatising. The rest of the group flies in this evening and the tour proper starts tomorrow. Spent the evening watching some videos with the guys (Leon and The Mask of Zorro). Zorro was crap but Leon was excellent and a great performance by Gary Oldman as always.

Woke up in good spirits and met the whole group for breakfast. It was good to catch up from the build up weekend and exchange stories. They all wanted to hear about the Rio robbing and now have complexes about walking around the city! We had our first briefing by venture leader Paul who told us about the next four months and what to expect. Over the next week we are travelling to Cusco via Arequipa and visiting the sites along the way. I will provide a full update on my next posting. The group also brought out a replacement camera from the folks back home so I should be able to start adding some pictures to the site. Spent the rest of the day doing some chores and being with the group.

Next posting will be from Cusco in about a week so stay tuned for more..........

Buenos Aires

Hi everyone. Here is my update from the capital of Argentina - Buenos Aires! I have also uploaded some photos from the rest of the trip here -http://www.alexexplores.com/2004/10/photos-so-far.html

After 20 hour bus ride from the Iguazu falls we finally arrived in Buenos Aires. The bus was fantastic with huge reclining seats, movies, wine and food served -



After checking into our hotel we hit the town. First stop was to the Place De Mayo to see the palace balcony where Eva Peron made her famous speach - Sara does her Eva Peron bit...



We then headed to Tortonis cafe for lunch and sample the true authentic BA experience. The city is very European and I would describe it as a cross between Spain and France. It is very cool just to hang out in bars and take in the atmosphere.

Day 2 and we decided to visit the cemetary where Eva Peron is buried. We went via the American express office to pick up replacements for my stolen travellers cheques. The place was full, I guess everyone wants US Dollars. The whole area was very interesting with lots of small market stalls and interesting shops. It was good fun to walk around. We went out for an Italian meal in the evening to a restaurant appently frequented by Madonna!! The food was fantastic and finished off with ice cream from a local Helado (ice cream seller).

Day 3 in BA and we took a train out of town to Tigre further up the coast. The town was nice but a bit quiet for our liking. It was fun to walk around but we missed the feel of BA. We arrived back in town late and decided to hit the night life in the form of Bar Blue in Retiro district. Many cocktails were had so I don´t recall a great deal else!!

Day 4 in BA and we went for a walk around San Telmo which is an old area containing antique shops and bars. There were also some Tango bars here so we made a note to return for entertainment later in the day. We then took a bus on to La Boca on the waterfront. The area is small but contains many old buildings brightly painted see below -



There were also Tango dancers in the street. Sara took the obligatory photo of me with Tango dancer -



By the time we finished in La Boca it was evening so we headed back to San Telmo for some drinks and an evening in a local tango bar. Wow what a night. We ended up in Bar Sur a famous tango bar. The bar was very small and intimate and the dancers are right next to the tables. The picture below is an example of some of the dancing we saw -



Day 5 (2nd October) Last day in Buenos Aires today before flying to Lima. Sara has to fly back to the US tomorrow also and we will be meeting up again in January - so feeling a bit sad. We visited a market and purchased some photos of the city. We also put Sara´s photos onto CD to upload onto the website. We are planning to go to a cuban bar tonight.

Stay tuned for more news. Next stop Peru!!!!!

Photos So Far

Here are some photos of the trip so far......

View from Sugar Loaf Mountain (cable car) over Rio


Copacabana beach view from hotel room (weather not too good)


Sara and Alex go to the Maracana football stadium


2-2 draw in the end between Vasco and Botafoga


Train through the jungle to Paranagua on the way to Isla Do Mel


Arriving on the island of Isla Do Mel


At the Iguazu Falls Alex gets friendly with the local wildlife!!


First view of the amazing Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side


Note the power boat going under some of the falls. This is the boat we took the following day.


A walkway takes you right to the edge of the falls to sample the power.


Alex reclines on the bus to Buenos Aires. The buses are equivalent to flying first class. We had wine and food served!!