The end of the road!!

Sunday Session in Arequipa

So after the trek we headed back to Cuzco for a night and then on to Arequipa in Peru. In Arequipa I met Geraldine, Breda and Marky Mark for one last time. We arrived on a Sunday and there was nothing to really do because everything closes on a Sunday so we did the obvious thing and  went all day drinking :-) This was great craic and we all got pretty shit faced playing drinking games.

Alpaca shop Arequipa

The next day we did the worst "free" walking tour I've ever been on. One of the lads  doing the tour couldn't speak a word of English and I was really hungover and couldn't understand a word he was saying. They did bring us to a cool Alpaca Shop where we could see how they make all those Alpaca Jumpers.  This was grand but I was really hungover so yeah I didn't give a shit. Anyway the guy at the end basically for
ced us to give him a tip by saying shit like "although this is free you have to tip us ". I'm pretty sure he didn't grasp the whole FREE part of his advertised free walking tour. I tipped him five soles or something cause I was to hungover to deal with his crap.

The only good thing about the walking tour is they brought us to a cool potato restaurant. So after the walking tour we headed back to get lunch. The restaurant was called Hatunpa and if you ever go to Arequipa check this place out. The food is amazing and they have about a thousand different potato's.

The next day as our final thing to do together we all went white water rafting. This was unbelievable and an absolutely amazing experience.

White water rafting

White water rafting 

That night we grabbed dinner in a fancy restaurant that had some strange guy playing strange songs like the Titanic theme song on some weird instrument.  This was our final meal together before we all went our separate ways so we all got drunk again on cheap red wine.

The Next night we had to say our final goodbyes which got fairly emotional. Geraldine, me , Rodger , Mark and Breda had met crossing the border into crazy Bolivia  five weeks ago and what a journey it had been since then. From the salt flat tour to death road I couldn't have asked for a better group to travel with. I've said it before and I'll say it again but thanks for the laughs and having the craic. You made my time in South America better then I ever could have imagined and I'll see you in Amerstdam (that includes you too James ).

After that me and Rodger headed on to Arica in Chile. We had a bit of trouble crossing the border because for some reason our taxi driver assumed the Dutch man was Irish and filled out some form he needed to cross the border wrong. We managed to be friend a Chilean couple who could speak English and we jumped in a taxi with them on the other side to get to Arica.

We booked into a weird hostel run by some doge guy near the bus station. We left the next day and booked into a surf hostel with an amazing breakfast and the best dorm I have ever stayed in. Me and the kid  were mad up for going surfing but the day we got there they said the waves weren't to good. Chile is ridiculously expensive so we couldn't afford to go out so we stayed in the hostel had the craic and drank cans.

Surfing in Arica, Chile 

The next day we went surfing with this crazy surfing instructor . He put us in his dodgy car and off we went to the beach(although he had to stop at his house on the way). This guy was mental and his surfing lesson consisted of two sentences - 1- Swim and 2- Jump on board. The whole thing was pretty funny but we got in and gave it a go. Although the instructor got out after five minutes because he said it was too cold. It wasn't cold at all. I actually thought it was fairly warm but yeah he was mental so we just left him to it.

After a couple of hours surfing we headed back to the hostel. Me and Rodger got cans and had our last cans and final smoke together. The next day we were flying to Santiago together where I was staying but the kid was catching a connecting flight to Buenos Aires.  The flight turned out to be good craic as it just felt that we were moving on to our next destination but when we got to Santiago the reality that we were coming to end of our time in South America set in.

Rodger had to wait a couple of hours for his flight so I hung around the airport with him for a couple of hours until we had to say our  final farewell. We had a coffee and had the craic but then it was time to go so we hugged out and made plans to stay in touch and off I went into Santiago on my own again.

Thats pretty much the end of my time in South America. So much more happened then I could write in this blog but I tried to cover the main things. All the little jokes, singing , drinking and general banter along the way I will never forget but most of all I will never forget the people.As cheesy as it sounds I think I have made some friends for life along the way. Marky Mark , Geraldine , Breda, James  and the Kid thanks for the laughs and I'll see you all for the reunion in Amsterdam ( oh and Markus I'll drop into Norway for that oil).

People often ask  will travelling change you and I will never be one of those pretentious people who thinks there better than someone just for going travelling. For me travelling around south America taught me to let go and to me that is one of the greatest feelings ever. The feeling of just letting all your stresses, worries, opinions and differences go and let south America take hold. This feeling I will never forget. If you are considering going to South America I can't tell you to do it and hey maybe you wont like it but from experience once south America grabs you, picks you up and takes hold of you  you will never look back. So hey go for it and jump straight in.

 Here's a video slide show just for the craic  because I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment !

Next stop New Zealand and the Magic Mike stray bus !

Salkanty Trek to Machu Picchu

Well so I've been a bit behind with this and at this stage nobody probably cares but I'm bored in Sydney waiting to start my job so heres what happened after I got off that fucking mountain.

After we got down we went straight back to La Paz and booked into a 3 bed private room in a fairly nice hostel and got drunk on cheap wine. The next day me and Rodger were leaving to go to lake Titicaca and Jesus was supposed to leave and go back to his girlfriend who was working on a monkey sanctuary at the bottom of death road. That plan soon changed when we got drunk and me and Rodger convinced Jesus  to come to lake Titicaca with us even though he had already been there.

The next day we all headed off on the bus to Copacabana and booked into  hostel for 30 Bolivianos(about 3 euros ). Here we met Mark and Breda again and we all went out for a Mexican with a dutch couple we had met along the way as well. After we all headed out to a strange little bar and got drunk. Mark and Breda were leaving the next day to go to Cusco and start their Machu Picchu trek so we said our goodbyes and me and rodger said we would meet them in Cusco before their trek started.

Rodger and Jesus at lake Titicaca

The next night it rained I think and we got drunk again. The following day it was sunny and me,Rodger and Jesus climbed the hill near the lake and sat their looking at the lake for the day and talking.  Jesus had told us about a really good 5 day trek  to Machu Picchu called the Salkanty trek . I had never done a 5 day trek before but it sounded like good craic so me and Rodger decided we would do that.  (on a side note , it actually works out cheaper to do a trek to Machu Picchu as getting the train and entrance fee almost costs the same. The trek cost $220 for five days with food and accommodation for 4 of the 5 ).

Anyway we all got drunk again in the room and then Rodger passed out as usual and me and Jesus went to get more drink and stopped in at that doge pub for a pint . Here I convinced JC to come with us to Cusco the next day. Since we were locked it seemed like a great idea so we decided we would stick together and all head to Cusco together.

The next morning me and Rodger got up really hungover to catch the bus to Puno and then another bus from Puno to Cusco. Jesus woke up and decided he wasn't going to come with us after all as it didn't make much sense for him to go back to Cusco! Me and Rodger had to run to get the bus so we couldn't really argue with him. We hugged it out with JC and said are hungover goodbyes and legged it to get the bus.

(Jesus it was some craic travelling with you, wherever you are now I hope your still saying really inappropriate things and pissing in Bottles :-))

After the worst bus journey ever we arrived in Cusco at around eight at night and booked into the eco back packers hostel. The Next day we booked our Salkanty Trek to Machu Picchu set to leave 3 days later. We then moved to another hostel where Mark and Breda were staying. That night we all went to Paddy's bar which is apparently the highest Irish bar in the World. Here I made everyone drink a really bad pint of Guinness.

The Following day we were all going to our meetings about our treks to Machu Picchu . Here we met Edalf ( a welsh guy) and Emily (Canadian). They were a couple who had met in London. We also met Herman( pronounced like German) an Argentinian from BA who was here on a holiday for a week to do the trek. This turned out to be the group of people I mainly stuck with for the entire trek.

After our meeting we went back to hostel and said goodbye to Breda and  Marky Mark. We decided we would all meet again with Geraldine in Arequipa after the trek.

Herman,Rodger,Emily,Me and Endalf first
day of the trek

Next morning me and Rodger were being collected at 4.30am to start the trek. We drove for a couple of  hours to the beginning of the trek. Here we were put into groups of 18 people  and all started walking . There was Dutch in the group, English and the guys we had met the night before at the meeting. There was also a group of crazy Brazilian girls who turned out to be great craic.

The First day involved a lot of walking but it was a lot of fun as we were all walking,talking and eventually singing so the walk didn't seem to bad and the sun was shining so it all went grand the first day.  We reached our camp site got our tents went for dinner then had a couple of drinks and went to bed as we were up early the next day.

Rodger and me at the top

The next day we had to walk 19km and walk up to a height of 4600m. Again this probably seems grand but walking to that altitude is never really easy as the air becomes so thin . Hard to explain but it ends up being fairly tough and you end up constantly chewing coca leaves,eating chocolate bars ans drinking shit loads of water. After we reached the top we had to trek down then through the jungle to reach where we were staying the for the night.

Group at 4600m

This was grand until it started to rain and there was mud everywhere . Downhill trekking through mud and rocks isn't that much fun but we sang a few songs and had the craic with the crazy Brazilians so it was actually good craic.

Eventually we reached the camp site for that night had dinner and a few drinks and went to bed.  The next day involved more trekking and a stop to hot pools which was cool and nice and relaxing after all the walking.

That night we had a party around a camp fire. Myself ,Rodger, Endalf , Emily ,Herman and the loco Brazilians all got really drunk on wine and Inca tequila and danced around the camp fire all night.

Night at the camp-fire 

In bits hungover we all got up the next day and headed off to trek to Aguas calientes. This was pretty cool as you walk along the train tracks through the jungle. We ended up walking for a good bit with out guide Ed who gave us cool info about Machu Picchu.  Eventaully we reached Aguas Calientes and checked into our hostel. That night he entire group went out for dinner and then me,Rodger,Endalf,Emily and Herman went back to our hostel had a few drinks and watch the Miami Heats beat the Spurs in the NBA final.

Machu Picchu

The next day we got up at 4am to start the trek to Machu Picchu. This involved walking up loads of steps in the dark and singing the rocky theme song over and over again. Eventually we reached the top and joined the line to get into Machu Picchu. We hadn't realised it until we got there but the day we arrived at Machu Picchu was actually the winter Solstice which was a pretty big deal at Machu Picchu and to the Incas.

As we walked into Machu Picchu we were completely blown away. To say this is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen is an understatement. The town nestled with the mountains is a spectacular display of Inca society that leaves you standing there completely in awe and wonder.

While I didn't have a spiritual awakening (Gap Yaahh) it was unbelievable to watch the sun rise over the mountains and shine over the alter in the middle of the courtyard( this only happens on the shortest day of the year).

Rodger,Endalf,Ed,Emily and me

We finished our tour with our guide Ed and then decided to walk up Machu Picchu mountain. We all thought how hard can it be we've just trekked through the mountains for 4 days. This wasn't our smartest move . The mountain itself was just over 3000m which we though would be grand. It wasn't grand. It was thousands and thousands of endless steps which after trekking for 4 days with blisters on our feet we eventually made it to the top to see some spectacular views of Machu Picchu.

The way down was fairly tough as well but eventually we made it back down and spent the rest of the day exploring the ruins of Machu Picchu. Then me and Rodger ran all the way back down the steps to machu Picchu. By the time we got back to the hostel we could barely stand. Check out the picks !

Me at the top of Machu Picchu Mountain                  

Endalf,Rodger,me and Emily 

Machu Picchu

Herman,me and Edalf half way up Machu Picchu
 Mountain

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone in the group on the trek especially Endalf ,Emily,Herman,Rodger and the Crazy Brazilians. All the walking, talking and singing made the whole trek itself better then reaching the destination ! Wherever you are I hope your all still singing and having the craic :-)

A few things you cant be at on a trek

Don't take Valium at all while drinking wine - you cant be at that lads !

Don't forget to bring a waterproof cover for your bag and have to buy a giant red poncho to cover your shit .

Don't think you don't need hiking boots. You do . If you plan on trekking up and downhill for five days bring a decent pair . Don't rent a pair off some doge shop in cusco !

Don't forget Motillium !always bring Motillium !:-)