Sunday, October 29, 2006

Lima and an Oasis

This is a sight you dont often see. Marilyn about to sand board down a massive sand dune. When you got to the bottom the buggy picked you up and took you up to the next one. Felt a bit like Wallis and Grommit on the moon
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We loved Lima despite what everyone had told us. We where only going to spend one day but ended up spending 4 .

Some thoughts on Peru.

1. It has casinos designed for me and marilyn. Great gambling and little men who give M another free G&T before she has finshed the last one

2. Peru has had some terrible terrorism in the past. The Shining Path killed 60000 people. So it is not surprising that security is high. In the bus terminal you have to give your passport when buying a ticket and you go through a metal detecor and then a security guard waves a wand over you. All very impressive. Why then does the bus stop 100yds outside the terminal and let hoards of people on who have massive amounts of stuff bought at the market and dont have tickets. Oh yes they never check women either

3. Why do 10 post card stamps for the UK cost exactly the same as a room with en suite and 100 channel cable TV in a modern hotel in Lima?

4. Lots and lots of poverty but some of the most luxurious buses. We travelled super VIP. Not just vip but super vip. We had seats that turned into proper beds, stewardess service, drinks, food etc. But it did cost 6 times more that the normal fare

5. There are Catholic churches everywhere. Filled with peasants giving as much as they can. Why then do Nuns travel Super VIP?

6. Why does no one in a Catholic picture or statue ever look happy ?

They had a bad  day!

The view from our Lima bedroom showing the security fence and the raised sentry box

So did he!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Vultures and sand

One of the poor sods who were buried with the lord at a massive site at Sipan
Chan Chan city to 100,000 people

I bought a panama hat in Ecuador (they have always been made in Ecuador but got the popilar name when they where made for the workers on the Panama Canal). I think I look cool but Marilyn just laughs everytime I put it on




Carried on down the Andes into Puru and then turned left towards the coast. The difference was total from snow capped volcanoes and lush valleys to desert. Sometimes there was nothing but sand in all directions.

The N Peruvian towns have a neat way of getting rid of their rubbish - just dump it alongside the road outside of town. This way visitors can get a really good feel for the town´s cuisine, main industies and domestic animals long before they actually arrive. They even get the chance to observe the local vultures

The bigger towns a realy lively and the people very friendly. The preÍnca ruins are amazing - massive pryamids and whole towns made of mud bricks. They survived because they were buried by the desert sand.

From Truijllo we are doing the 8 hour bus ride into Lima

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Valley of longevity


In the sothern part of Ecuador is a small paridise. Villcabamba is a very special valley surrounded by hills that give it a perfect climate all year round.

We had
- our own beautiful cabin with onsuite and beautifil views.
- superb food, everything made on the premisies including the bread
- humming birds around us at breakfast
- swimming pool created out of a mountain stream
- great bar with wicked cocktails
- free montain bikes with a two mile down hill ride to town and a truck taxi to take you back up

4 days of bliss for 25 pounds a day all in, including booze for both of us

Back to reality tomorrow. We have a 12 hour bus ride into Peru!!

PS we took another 8 hours of Spanish. Thought it nessary after I told a taxi driver that his offer of $4 was not acceptable and that I was going to pay $5.
Its called the valley of longlevity because so many of the inhabitants live and carry on working into their 100s. Scientists think it is mixture of environment, diet and excerise - Didn´t see many of them in the bar though

Monday, October 16, 2006

Bloody Election

Wish I had the camera moment - Marilyn´s face when the waiter told her that the sale of all alcohol is banned in Ecuador for the 3 days running up to the election

We were staying in Cuenca. A lovely, laid back old town, that has a reputation for being lively on Friday and Saturday nights - except when the election is on!

We had got so used to the noise and razmataz of the election that it seemed really strange when it suddenely stopped on Friday. Instead, 100s of soldiers turned up in Cuenca, ready for the election. All armed of course. In Ecuador if you wear a uniform you get a gun. Most decent sized shops have a pimply teenager on guard outside with a massive F-off pump action gun.

We where traveling on election day and every village had a carnival atmosphere with all sorts of food and sales stalls set up outside the election booths.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Highest mountain in the world (?), H poirot II and other stories

Started working our way south. Took what is supposedly one of the world´s great train journeys, dug out of the Andes. Most of the time we could see our own tracks as they zig zagged up mountains. The train derailled twice, the engineers fixed it by putting rocks under the wheels and driving the train back onto the tracks. Great fun but its tiring sitting on a roof for 8 hours!! My big disappointment is that it is usually a steam train but they only had a diesel working














We took a trip up Chimoborazo, the highest mountain in the world if measured from the centre of the Earth (its because of the bulge on the equator) . We were driven to the first refuge and then climbed upto the second refuge at 5000m. It is the highest we have ever been and the effect of the altitude was incredible. Marilyn didn.t make it all the way and I had to leave her sitting on a rock with the radio. She subsequenlty rcovered and nearly made it to the top but ran out of time. After this we cycled down 30 miles on mountain tracks
They are electing a new president in Ecuador. Every wall has election slogans on it, even in the indiginous community villages in the jungle. In the towns there are parades with stilt walkers, bands and banners everywhere. Most of the candidates seem to canvass by giving out free sweets. They don´t have parties but each candidate has a number which is on every bit of publicity. Dont know how many candidates there are but we have seen up to number 66 so far

Ecuadorian Hercule Poirot - Marilyn handed our washing in at the hostal last night. When we got it back her very special, much loved fleece was missing. The girl on the desk was as upset as Marilyn but couldnt find it. We gave her the number of our new hostal and she called to say she might have found and could we go back. Her boyfriend had realised who the culprit was and suggested that she look in the night watchman´s room and it was there. She was very scared because of his reaction if he found out she had been in his room. After a lot of negotiation the manager promised that he would say it was him who went in. Marilyn is happy but we would like to know the end of the story and hope the girl will be ok

Ughh Stuff

1. I went into the toilet in an airport and saw a guy wiping the inside of the loos with a cloth. How very clean and thorough I thought until he walked over to the sinks and wiped the taps with the same cloth !!

2. The resturants have a dish of chilli and herb sauce on the tables. I had added it to my soup and eaten it when I saw a fly get trapped in the dish. I took it out with my spoon and realised that all the bits of herb where in fact other dead flies

3. One of our long distance buses had a loo on board. Great unless you are in mid flow when the driver makes an emergency stop

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Darwin´s Orange Heron and Hercule Poirot


Orange heron about to strike at one of the 27 White Tip Sharks in this trench












lonesome george - the last of his species. He is 90 and knackered. He has two attractive sub speacies femails in his pen but he is not intereted. They have even tried masturbation but couldnt get enough

Blue footed Booby about to land in Porta Ayora


Our cabin´s at the top



What happens if a tourist touches a baby sea lion - the mum rejects it







The Galapogas exceeds its reputation as a magical place but one under servere pressure. If you ever fancied visiting come soon before we destroy it. Despite great efforts to irradicate interlopers such as ferral dogs and goats, alien creatures are still arriving with vistiors, international fishing fleets and imports for the local people. The latest is a fly that lays its grubs in Finches´ nests and eats the chicks. However, the worst threat is global warming and the increased frequency and severity of El Nino phenominum. It brings warm water from the Pacific and depletes the marine life. This has a devastating effect on birds, iquanas and sea lions. 8 years ago 1000´s of sea lions died. There is a new El Nino building up now, it meant we had brilliant weather but everyone is hoping that it wont be a big one!!

We took a 8 day cruise so we could visit the outlying islands and then spend three days island hopping by ourselves. We saw everything we had hoped - Albatross mating, eggs and chicks, all the various Boobies, giant tortoises. Swam with sharks, turtles and sting rays. Took a horse ride to the top of an active volcano in the morning and then went to a trench that had 27 sleeping white tip sharks in the afternoon. Brilliant!

There was good bit of cabin swapping when we first got on the boat because there where some non-gay same sex couples with double beds. Marilyn and myself ended up in the best cabin at the top of the boat, with our own veranda and fabulous views. They even made a cake to celebrate our wedding anniversary and more importantly gave everyone a free cocktail

There was a big commotion one morning. A couple had had 150$ stolen from their cabin. We were stopped by the Ecuadorian navy and Captain Poirot boarded. He actually called all the passengers and crew into the library and we waited for his demuno of the culprit. Instead he threatened to take us all to HQ for interrigation and the trip would have been cancelled. Sensibly the couple said they didnt want this to happen and the boat owners offered to reimburse them at the end of the trip. So we where allowed to go on our way - Of course when we got to the port at the end of the trip there was no sign of boat´s owners

To top it all our guide was fantastic, totally knowledgable, enthustatic with a greta sense of humour. We promised to try and boost traffic on her web site. Its www. galapagos-ec.com.