The Sacred Valley

Another early start we got picked up by the bus at 8.15am ready for an overnight trip to go and check out machu picchu and the sacred valley. The first stop on the bus was a town called Pisaq which is in the valleys between the mountains. Unbelievable views, the bus absolutely flies round the tiny corners, as we mentioned this the Australian guy on the bus told us how just a couple of days before he had seen a really bad crash. He told us the front of the bus was destroyed with bodies lying everywhere, latest tip therefore is to sit at the back of the bus (nice one mate!) Once at the town centre there was a market which we had time to look around, Lou finally bought an Alpaca cardigan which she is very pleased about. At the same market we found a restaurant that had its own brood of guinea pigs in a little house, they seemed happy enough, roaming free, getting fattened up, ready for the oven.

We had a buffet lunch at a lovely Hacienda in the country side, and then carried on to a town called Ollantaytambo. Another nice town, this one had Inca ruins at the centre which we climbed in order to see unfinished Inca works, amazing how they constructed their buildings out of massive rocks without any machines. It was really interesting, the problem was that there were like 200 steps and we both ate absolutely loads at the buffet, including a couple of beers, it was hard work to begin with. This older couple that were on  our tour really started panicking about the heights, was quite funny as the woman was crying but the man was no better, he totally left her and was stuck to the wall, the woman was helped down by the guide. funny stuff.

After this we were dropped off back in the town to wait for the train, leaving us with over 2 hours to kill. We hooked up with two American guys (California) and a Brazilian girl and went for a few drinks. One of the local drinks is called Pisco Sour, which we all drank and chatted. The blokes were paramedics in the military and had been out in Iraq. We stayed with them until we all caught the train to Aguas Calientes.

The train journey was forever long and there weren't any views as it was already dark, dont get me wrong it was a nice train, they even gave us a snack of dried fried banana (rubbish) however there were moths in there to terrorise us. The biggest one of the lot landed right in front of Lou! I was hoping the foreign bloke opposite would deal with it, but no he sat there scared to death (it was massive) Lou acted quickly and cupped the beast, launching it out the window, saving us all, I would have dealt with it of course, but was too busy making notes.

We had a tot in Agues Calientes with the yanks again, and some very crap food, the hostel was ok, there is a massive raging river next to it with potential to swell and kill us at any point. We survived.

Getting to Cusco and the place so far..

The flight to Cusco was a joke, I was convinced that we were going to die!

The plane was nice, like a proper jet and everything, but there wasn't many people on it, which is always a little worrying, the flight however was horrific! loads of turbulence, and then, when you start flying over the Andes, and you realise that they're going to land the thing in the mountains, it all gets a little bit silly, to me it looked like we were flying directly into the mountain then next thing you know it banks like crazy and we some how manage to land, Lou was pretty cool though out, my palms were sweating! I shook the captains hand on the way out to thank him for keeping me alive.

The first day was fine, we both seem to have dodged altitude sickness, which is good news. The weather here is difficult to suss as one minute its raining, the next minute its boiling hot sunshine, the next its really cold, as I write this I am sitting here glowing like a lobster with a light bulb up its bum. Lou's burnt her arms but her face has got away with it, my face is really red, look like a right muppet.

We took it easy on the first night so today we've had a really full day (Monday). We've been to the indoor market, which was a real eye opener. There were all sorts of animals heads and feet scattered around on counters, but also lots of lovely cheese and bread and fruit and stuff. We had a laugh trying to film all the rotting donkey snouts without the sellers catching us. I went off the rails slightly by sitting down with the locals to have some chicken / salmonella soup with noodles, to be honest it was nice. Lou and I have been advised by freddy our land lord that there is a drink called chicha which is worth a go, unfortunately the woman selling it in the market looked like she had been dug up, Lou was very quick to spur me on to having a glass of this red delicacy so I did, I took one sip from the grotty glass and ditched it, to be honest I'm not even sure I will survive from that amount. Lou took a video of the moment laughing her head off.

Following the market we have taken a tour of all different Inca sights which has been really good, we've also planned out the next parts of our stay in Peru, I will tell you more another time, for now we need to go out and get some dinner.

If you leave a comment on any of these, make sure you state your name, as we don't know who you are otherwise.  T&L x

Cusco

Getting here

After hours of travelling we have had our first night in Lima.
The flights were ok, although we booked with BA / Qantas the flights here were with a Spanish airline called Iberia. First we flew to Madrid, where we had to wait for only about 1.5 hours before jumping on a much bigger plane to Peru. The flight was full of Spaniards and Peruvians, very few English speaking people. The stewardesses were a bit rude and we had a woman next to us that kept staring at us.

We were sitting there minding our own business, reading a book or whatever when one of them came round slamming all the window covers shut, it was only 3pm in the afternoon....SIESTA! Couldn't believe it, the whole plane was having an afternoon nap! including the flight crew, I'm just glad the captain stayed awake, but then again maybe he didn't.

The flight seemed to go on forever, I suppose 12 hours in one go is a long time, even when you fly to Australia from the UK, its broken down into two. When we got to Lima airport, after waiting ages for Lou's bag to turn up, we spotted Keke holding up a sign with our names on, and he whisked us away from the chaos that is the Jorge Chavez airport to his home, our B&B for the night.

Keke's wife Mirian gave us freshly made passion fruit juice from fruits that she had grown herself, and told us that for breakfast we will be having lots of fruit she has grown in her garden, just outside our room infact, is a banana tree.....next stop, Cusco

6.30am at heathrow

Here we go

Licence to kill

Whilst at the bar last night Elliott told me a story of how it was pointed out to him by a copper that his driving licence was out of date, so I've checked mine and ITS OUT OF DATE!!
This could be a problem since we've rented a campervan for a month in New Zealand!
I've checked the campervan website and sure enough they ask for driving licence number and EXPIRY DATE.
Mom and Dad have said they will post a new licence to New Zealand if I apply for one so thats the next move......

......Cant apply online! my photo is out of date and therefore i need to go to a post office. There's no way snail mail is going to get this done in time! ring the DVLA!....

......Love the DVLA, welsh people generally are just very nice in my opinion. Pam at the DVLA has told me that although my photo card expired in APRIL LAST YEAR, my licence to drive is valid until 2054, she reckons that I should take the card I've got, tell them the 2054 date, and then if there's any problems to phone her and she will fax them and tell them the score...what a lady.

Lou has reminded me when the renewal form came for my licence last year, that she was telling me for ages to get it done, and i never did, right again Lou..ggrrrr

Last day in UK

Right then, last day today, every stress and worry has got to be resolved by today, because after this, its just not going to matter any more. Thanks to everyone that came to the Farm last Saturday, it was a great night, from what I can remember. Great crack in the Bulls Head in Earlswood last night too for the final night tot. I think we all agree though that George is a darts hustler, and should never have been allowed 25! Me and Lou want to thank you all anyway, great to see you, we will however be having one final drink at the....only kidding, that's definitely enough of that.

Getting ready to go

Its only a couple of weeks now until we jet off for the first leg of our trip.
We are still trying to work out what we are taking, well I am anyway, Louise seems to be much more organised than me, but whats new.
We've had updates to all our injections and had yellow fever too, which was nice. Got a load of malaria tablets for when we go in the Amazon, so all set pretty much.

I literally cant wait now! We're having a bit of a leaving do at The Farm on Saturday which will be nice, perhaps I could stand on a table and tell everyone where we're going and our thoughts etc to save us from having to have the same conversation over and over again.

Lou is finding it very weird being out of the house, but is enjoying not having to work, I keep telling her not to get used to it!