It's all over

Well, we have now come to the end of our 21 day tour. In some ways it has felt like we have been on tour for ages and in other ways it has just flown - I guess it means more of my holidays have gone and I really want them to last forever.

As with the last few e-mails things have been busy. From Puno we did an overnight trip to Lake Titicaca - the highest navigable lake in the world. There are a number of islands on the lake and we visited one called Taquile Island, where traditionally the men sit and do all the knitting of hats, gloves etc and the women spin all the wool.

We then took our boat to the island of Amantani, where we stayed with a local family. It was a very interesting insight to their lives and it is the one time so far I really wished I had spoken more Spanish to try and communicate more, but with their bit of English and Spanish and my pathetic Spanish we managed a few conversations. As well as dining with the family, we also got dressed up in the local clothing - for girls 2 skirts, a colourful top and a belt like corset that made it very difficult to breathe while getting to the dance hall.

We are now in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, and the city is not really what I expected but it is certainly a very busy and thriving place – and luckily it’s very cheap so I have been doing a bit of shopping!!! We are here for another 4 days and will just chill out a bit before we head back to Santiago.

Take care & I will try and send an update from Santiago.

Keep on smiling!

Cathy

I survived the Inca Trail!

Well, after 4 days of the most physically challenging walk I’ve done I am still in one piece and I actually even enjoyed myself - though I am not going to tell my body this as it’s still quite sore!!!

The Inca Trail is one the steepest walks I’ve done. It’s either straight up small narrow steps, or it’s down them at the same pitch. Our most challenging day was the second when we walked to a pass called ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ at a height of around 4,200 meters above sea level. During the first part of the day, we were walking through some lovely surrounds – forests and trees with steams running through and I saw some humming birds in the wild as well. The second part of the day’s walk was just plain hard work! It was steep, dusty and the altitude made walking very hard - it was almost like you could only walk 2 steps and then you had to stop to catch your breath!

The third day was a long day – we covered 16 kilometres, but the walk was very scenic with a number of stops at Inca ruins. Again we were able to see some stunning surrounds with beautiful flowers, orchids, mosses and views. The entire time we were on the walk it felt as though we were on the top of the world, as we were near the top of the Andes with snow-capped mountains all around us. Needless to say it was bloody cold!

The highlight, of course, was yesterday morning when after rising at 3.30am we arrived at the sun gate over looking Machu Picchu. It had rained during the night and the valley was covered in fog, but by 8am it had all cleared away and we had the most stunning views of the ruins. Our guide gave us a 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu and then Coly and I still managed to spend another few hours walking around.

We are now in Puno - the jumping off point for lake Titicaca with an overnight stay at a local family’s home. I will let you all know about it when I get back…

Keep on smiling!

Cathy

A week's worth of travel

Well, we are both still alive having made it though a week’s worth of travel! It really feels as though I've been gone for months already, with all that we've seen and done. I never really imaged what the landscape was going to be like – I thought there would be possibly quite a lot of vegetation and the like, but in the last week, I think we would have been lucky to see more than about 2 dozen trees. Along the coastline it is such a dry and barren area, with mountains of sand and stone and nothing else…and still there are these little townships that exist there.

Since we left the Nazca Lines, we have been following the major highway - the Pan American - that seems to have been engineered with amazing feats - it is just cut into nothing and seems to hug closely to the edge of the mountain side.

We had a couple of days in the second largest Peruvian city, Arequipa. Compared to any other city we've been to it was clean, prosperous and very safe to look around. We spent some time looking through the Santa Catalina Convent and the museum.

Our next major sight was to Colca Canyon. To get to this point, we had to pass a peak of 4910m above sea level!!! Not an experience I wish to repeat as I nearly fainted at the top with such thin air!

The Colca Canyon is also renowned for the condors that glide on the thermal currents that come up for the base of the valley. Given that we were there at about midday, the chances of us seeing them were reduced, but the gods must have been smiling on us, because as soon as we got out of the bus, there was a condor above us! And, later down the path, another one just seemed to rise out of now where about 15 meters from Nicole and I! We could really appreciate the approx 3 meters in length that they are. In total we had a about 7 sightings of these amazing birds

We are now in Cuzco, the old Inca capital, for 3 free days to explore before beginning the Inca trail. Cuzco has so many amazing things to see and do that we're really going to have to try and decide what we have time not to do!

Other than that we are travelling well - at least nothing that a good cup of coca tea won't help with any anyway!

Will let you all know how we survive the trek and will tell you about Machu Picchu very soon!

Keep on smiling!!!!

Love Cathy

I've made it!

Hello All,

Well, we have made it to South America and are having a blast! We seem to have seen so much already that it feels like time is just flying. After a long 36 hour trip to get to Lima, we were all set to start out Tucan tour.

There are about 16 of us on the trip - some older and some younger than us - but we all seem to get along really well. Yesterday, once we had left Lima, we took a speed boat out to the Ballestas Islands - a haven for birds and seals - quite cool (literally!!!) . Then we headed to an oasis in the middle of the dry arid land and went in 6 seater dune buggies doing some of that thrill-seeking driving around.

Today was one of my highlights of the trip so far - the Nazca lines. We were so lucky that the sky was so clear and had great views of them. I can only hope that my photos do it some justice!

So all in all, things are going great. Nicola and I are still talking to each other so that's got to be a good sign! In the next couple of days we are heading to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon - can't wait!

Love Cathy

Bags packed, ready to go!

8 hours to go!

Well, I'm now packed and ready to head off to South America on my 7 week holiday!! I'm starting my adventure with a 21 day Tucan tour "Condor". On my last night before I depart I've got mixed feelings of excitement of exploring a new country, and the uncertianty of being in a place where English is not feely spoken, and the ever-asked question: have I taken too much stuff from home or not enough? Only 8 hours until the journey begins...bring it on!!!!! Cathy