Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home ...

..... after around 24 hours of travelling from Rio De Janeiro to Santiago via Sao Paolo, then Santiago to Sydney via Auckland and a final quick hop from Sydney to Melbourne, we arrived home safe and sound this morning Thurs 15/1 at 10:30 am.

The welcoming committee (Ellen's friends) were equipped with party hats and those blower things that make rasberry sounds .... thanks guys, a nice welcome back to home turf .... I (Chris) sit here at 9 pm in the evening, every one else having succombed, desperately trying to hold off the desire to sleep to complete this one last blog entry ....

What can you say - six weeks of just stunning experiences in another continent of this amazingly diverse planet .... the key highlights of our trip would be something like ....

 1. Galapogas - stunning natural beauty and wildlife - you can see why Charles Darwin was captivated and amazed

 2. Cusco & surrounds - a lovely small city with beautiful architecture and lots of picturesque surrounding countryside

3. Machu Picchu - breathtaking in itself for what a civilisation could achieve hundreds of years ago

4. The Amazon basin - what can you say, the lungs of the planet and alive from dawn to dusk

5. The Bolivian high plains - possibly the highlight of the trip (or a close second to Galapogas) - the salt flats, the canyons, the geysers, the landscape - stunning natural beauty

6. San Pedro at Atatcama - sort of an extension of the high plans, but in Chile and deserving of mention in its own right - the El Tatio geysers and Moon Valley were individual highlights

7. Iguazu Falls - much more touristy but also leave you speechless - especially when you get dunked under the second biggest waterfall at Iguazu

Well, that about winds up the blog ... words cannot really add further to what we have alread talked about.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, we are not even sure how many photos we have .... Somewhere in the order of ten thousand we think ... 54 Gb on the storage module !!!

If you are interested, feel free to catch up with us for a look at some more pics .... or in due course the multimedia slide show will be available, although this will probably take many weeks to complete .... Thanks again to everyone who took interest in our travel blog and posted comments ... the trip is complete, but feel free to keep posting messages for another few days ....

Ciao !

Chris, Julie, Ellen, Tessa

15/1/2009

Rio de Janeiro

Day 36 Saturday 10th January 2009 Iguazu to Rio de Janeiro

 Short morning flight out of Iguazu on the Brazilian side (back across the border) for our flight to Rio ... In the afternoon, just wandered around for a short walk ... sorry any Rio fans - not impressed ... Rio is big, people everywhere, is noisy, hot and the Copocabana area smells ... And it is most disconcerting to walk the streets and see street kids just out cold on the doorways and on the gutters in the middle of the day ... This blog section will be short - interesting to come and see the main features of Rio ... but too many people, not enough space, too much poverty ...

Day 37 Sunday 11th January 2009 Rio de Janeiro, Corcovado & Sugar Loaf

The tourist tour day ... spent lots of time again stopping at hotels to pick up people ... big bus, took lots of time. In the morning up the mountain to Christ the Redeemer ... nice cable car ride up the mountain, but at the top you can hardly move ... you have to push through the crowd to the edge to find a viewing point. In the afternoon, took the cable cars to the top of Sugar Loaf at the end of the Copacabana beach .... spectacular views of Rio, you can see how big it is and you can see how much smog and haze there is ...

Day 38 Monday 12th January 2009 Rio de Janeiro

Rest day before leaving for home ... trying to update blog - sorry about the lack of photos yet ...

Day 39 Depart Rio de Janeiro Tuesday 13th January 2008

Home time - see you all soon !!!

Iguasu Falls

Day 34 Thursday 8th January 2009 (Ellen's Birthday) Buenos Aires/Iguasu - Brazilian Side

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Ellen, Happy Birthday to yooouuuu ... Ellen is 17 today ... In the morning we flew out of BA for a short flight to Iguasu City, still on the Argentinian side of the falls ... The recommended viewing of the falls is to start on the Brazilian side, so we actually had to cross into Brazil just for a few hours and then come back ... this comprised almost 2 hours of extra time sitting in a bus while the tour guides processed 40 people across the border ... not great use of time. Of course, the first viewing of the Iguasu falls is stunning ... like any falls, you hear first - and with the amount of water coming of these falls the sound is deafening up close.

On the Brazilian side, you approach along walkways on the bank, so are looking up at the biggest single waterfall at Iguasu, the Devils Throat.(Not: Unfortunately where are at an Internet cafe that is completely locked down so the machines will not read our photo storage module - we will upload photos when we can). From the bottom of the main falls, you then catch a small lift up to a platform that is level with the top of the falls, giving another stunning view across the top.

Day 35 Friday 9th January 2009 Iguazu - Argentinian Side

Today was the big Kahuna - a full day tour on the Argentinian side of the falls ... and wow ... From the Argentinian side, there are trails up high and down low along the river ... the upper trail leads out over the river above the falls and leads to a viewing platform right in the middle of the river at the top of the Devils Throat ... the view is just stunning ... other trails then lead you around to prime viewings spots of the smaller falls, which are all spectcular in their own right.

The lower trails lead around most of the same falls to them them from a different persective ... We were offered an optional extra to have a boat ride on the river ... not cheap but given we were near the end of our trip and the budget had survived ... we took the plunge, so to speak. Our guide explained we would get a little wet, so rubber bags were provided to protect cameras etc ... but we were fully clothed. Stage one of the boat ride was for the driver to hold in the middle of the river for pictures of the various falls from the river view ... the guide said these would be the best pictures ... however, the amount of spray made the view very clouded ... we thought the bank viewing spots offered better photography.

After pics, and with cameras stowed, we expected to be take up very close to the falls .... errr, not so ... the boat is driven all the way into the second biggest fall at Iguasu and you get to experience the biggest soaking you have ever had from the tons of water pouring over the boat. And we were all sitting right at the front, so copped the full drenching ! And this was not just once, but the boat is drive in and out several times .... No doubt they do not drive into the biggest fall as that would be too dangerous ... but the second biggest was enough ... you have never been so wet in your life ... but its hot so you dry off in a hour or so. We then rounded off the boat ride with a trip down a few rapids below the falls ... what a buzz ...

All in all, a spectacular place .... lots of people, very touristy, but still well worth the effort to get there.

Buenos Aires

Day 31 Monday 5th January 2009 San Pedro de Atacama to Buenos Aires

A travelling day today as we leave the Atacama desert and jump on a plane again for the first time in 15 days ... A long stopover in Santiago airport was not too bad, before continuing on to Buenos Aires ... and for the first time in many days back to temperatures above 20 C !

Day 32 Tuesday 6th January 2009 Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is huge ... 14 million people in one massive city, around a third of the countries total population. This meant that our city tour today was more of a bus tour to wave at the various landmarks pointed out as we drove past ... well, not completely accurate, but that´s what it seemed like. In the evening we attended a "Tango show", expecting to have an educational experience on where the tango came from, as well as seeing some expert dancing. While there was some dancing, a large chunk of the show (about an hour) was consumed by a local (assuming famous) opera singer who spent the entire time singing and speaking (extensively) in Portugese - not a great way to keep the tourists engaged !

And our consensus feeling was that after days on end of marvelling at natures offerings of scenery and interest ... what humans manage to offer comes a pretty woeful second ... we must have just got carried away with the natural beauty of the high plains across the western half of South America.

Day 33 Wednesday 7th January 2009 Buenos Aires

Another day event out to an Argentinian Gauho (cowboy) ranch ... expecting to see a bit about how a local horse/cattle ranch operates ... again a little disappointing. Seems just more set up as a comforatable tourist event - big nosh up with the biggest bbq you have ever seen, a bit more singing and dancing (all in Portugese again), a bit of a horse show which was just a few riders snagging rings on a stick while riding flat out ... and that was about it. Again, we were expecting a little more interest and education ... but the focus just seemed to be light entertainment for tourists.

The good news is that tomorrow we leave civilisation again ... off to the Iguasu Falls on the Argentine / Brazil border ... let´s see if nature can restore our interest once more !

Bolivian Aliplano, Uyuni Salt Flats, Atacama

Day 27 Thursday 1st January 2009 Uyuni Salt Flats and Incahuasi Island

We woke at the respectable time of 8 am ... being a tour group of 4 on our own meant that our new guide was quite happy to be flexible with timing. At our breakfast meeting he explained that our planned activity for the day was a visit to the salt flats, but that heavy rain had meant some areas ere not accessible. He offered his suggestion for an amended schedule, which we accepted without trying to seem disappointed ...

So we set off in a Toyota 4 wheel drive for a 20 km drive across "rumble" roads to the edge of the Uyini salt flats ... on these roads, the local drivers appear to work on the theory that faster makes for a smoother ride ... not sure about that one ! We arrived at the edge of the salt flat to a spectacular expanse of shimmering white salt sands and a huge lake of water ... all jumped out to admire the view and take some pictures on the assumption that we would be driving further around the lake.

We got back in the car - not so !! The driver headed straight into the water and took off across the lake ... It seems we misunderstood ... while the northern section of the lake was impassable, the main section we were heading across was fine. It turned out that the water in sections was 5 - 10 cm deep, but in other sections the lake was still fairly dry ... so we could hop along at 100 km/h in the dry sections, but had to slow up in the wet sections. Our guide explained that it´s just about water depth - once the water reaches 15 - 20 cm in the wet season, the tour companies don´t drive on the lake as the water gets to far up into their vehicles and destroys the engines ... but the depth we had was fine ... although by the end of the day the car looked like it was cover in snow.

And the travel gods very much smiled on us again - the couple of days of rain meant that much of the scenery was spectacular for mirror images of the horizon, making for many photo stops ! And for our day on the lake the sky was bright blue with lots of fluffy clouds around - we will let the pics we post speak for themselves. The salt lake is massive ... thousands of square kilometers ... we were heading for a small outcrop of rock called Incahuasi Island, 70 km from where we entered the lake, and we were taking the direct line !! After around 2 hours of driving, a small speck eventually turned into an island of rock perched in the middle of the lake ... very small, no more than 400 meters or so long and 200 across.

But what makes this island unique is that being in the middle of a salt lake and pretty much just rock, only one thing manages to survive on the island - one species of cactus ... and because they have the island all to themselves, aside from the odd tiny shrub, they grow big ... very big ... and are known as giant cactus. There is a short walk to the top of the island´s hill for spectacular panoramic views of the island, the lake and the mountains and clouds on the horizon ... just magic.

Again, we´ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but our journey keeps turning up new and amazingly spectacular natural beauty that we have never seem before. By the end of this day, we all agreed that this had been the most unexpected day so far in terms of not knowing what quite to expect but being blown away by the colours and scenery that flashed part all day. We also must just put in a note of special commendation for our drive and guide, who seemed to spend about 2 hours on our return washing down every nook and cranny of their poor car in an attempt to prevent their vehicle from turning into a complete rust bucket in the near future !

Day 28 Friday 2nd January 2009 Tahua to Alota to Villamar

Given the long entry yesterday for the salt plains, we´ll try and cut it down a little for today ... but these few days on the Bolivian high plains have been spectacular and packed with many different sights and landscapes. Today we set off again heading south, visiting a number of sites across the top of the high plains ... as we climbed toward 5,000 meters above sea level, the landscape pretty much turned to rocks, as at this altitude just nothing grows. But the effects of the wind and rain over thousands and in some cases millions of years results in amazing formations of the land.

We visited the Valley of the Rocks, an extensive outcrop of hard rocks worn down by the wind into interesting shapes ...we are sure we saw Elvis ... and we also spotted a local native rabbit - very similar in the body to our imported European rabbit, bit with a big long tail ! We also stopped at an massive natural canyon and perched cautiously on the edge in the high wind for a look - no safety barriers in this part of Bolivia !

Day 29 Saturday 3rd January 2009 Villamar REA (Reserve Eduardo Abaroa) and San Pedro de Atacama

After a night in a local hotel built on the side of a big rock in a tiny town of only a few hundred people ... continued to crunch over the bumpy roads toward the Bolivian border. Today we hit the various lakes and lagoons at the very top of the high plains and were rewarded with views of the colourful Andean pink flamingoes that propser up here. They were hard to get close to for photos, so a little cropping will be required when we get home.

One lagoon in particular is called the ¨green lake and is an amazing site - the green is from the high concentration of magnesium in the water and it is brilliant green-blue to the eye .. hard to capture on camera. We passed through a local geothermal area that includes a number of small geysers, or really more like bubbling mud pools ... and a bit further along a hot spring which we could dip our feet into - no one ventured right in, too many tourists around ! And finally, we rumbled up to the border to cross back into Chile ... the conclusion of a stunning few days on the Bolivian high plains ... full of spectacular views of mother nature´s creations over millions of years and a must see part of any trip to South America.

January 2009 San Pedro de Atacama

After crossing back into Chile, we descended over 1,500 meters back down the side of mountains to the desert floor of the Atacama desert and the town of San Pedro. Another very early morning start at 5 am was required for the two hour trip out of town to visit the famous El Tatio geyser field ... and did someone say desert ? It was at least 5 degrees below zero until the sun came up and we shivered violently for an hour or so !! And the geysers were fantastic in the dawn light - clouds of water and steam shooting from the ground in various places all over the geyser field ...

After a rest for the middle of the day, we ventured out again late afternoon to visit "moon valley", another well known area just outside of San Pedro with more massive areas of natural rock formations from the actions of wind and rain. We walked down "death valley", visited the central lunar flat and saw the "Three Marias" rock outcrop, dated at millions of years old. To top things off, we sat at the top of a ridge to watch the sun sink slowly over the horizon ... not quite as spectacular as hoped, but very pretty. And so concludes a memoerable visit to the high plains of Bolivia and northern Chile ... this blog hardly does it justice and we have only scraped the surface of what we saw in the photo album ... for anyone interested, there will be another few thousand pics of this part of our trip when we get home !

Tomorrow it´s back on a plane and returning to civilisation at Buenos Aires, Argentina for a couple of days ... then we head up to the Uguazu Falls ...

More soon !

Lake Titicaca Islands & La Paz

Day 23 Sunday 28th December 2008 Puno to Copacabana/Island of the Sun

Finally a morning sleep in as we departed our Puno Hotel at the leisurely hour of 9 am for the short drive to the Bolivian border. This was the only part of our trip so far where the arrangement seemed a tad vague – one guide took us to the border with the assurance that someone else would meet us … which did turn out to be the case. Land border crossings are always interesting … there is always a “DMZ” across which cars cannot travel, so you have to walk and be able to carry all your luggage … and this one was up the hill ! Fortunately we are prepared for these scenarios …

After meeting up with out new guide on the Bolivian side of the border, another short ride to the small town on Copocabana on the edge of Lake Titicaca … and it was a little amusing, they have attempted to make the beach look like the Brazilian version … but it doesn´t quite cut it … We were not there for the beach and jumped in a small boat to take us out into the lake to the Island of the Moon, to visit the ruins of the Inca moon temple … in the Incas time this was “boarding school” for all the local virgins until they were married. While one may think it gets tiring visiting site after site of Inca ruins, it is fascinating to find each has it´s unique features and all had one distinct purpose.

Another short ride took us across to the much larger Island of the Sun, where we had a wonderful local lunch prepared for us – the hot food wrapped in a cloth to keep warm included potato, sweet potato, broad beans and sweet corn (on steroids) all from the local farms … as well as chicken, local trout and local small sardine like fish. Wonderful ! We then hiked across the island terraces to an “ecolodge” perched on the side of the hill where we would spend the night. Just amazing views over the lake and fantastic hospitality in the lodge run by local people.

We haven´t spoken much about the affects of altitude in this region … we found Cusco at 3,300 m above sea level took a few days to get used to, but we were not doing much physical. On the Island of the Sun, we slept just under 4,000 m and any walking is a task, let alone climbing Inca terraces ! You find you have to stop regularly to try and catch your breath and are always breathing heavily through your mouth to suck in enough oxygen – makes for sore throats at the end of any day that includes an amount of walking. Even at night, you disturb your own sleep occasionally in having to draw an extra breath. Gives you new respect for people living at these altitudes and the mountaineers who go even higher …

Day 24 Monday 29th December 2008 Island of the Sun/La Paz

Woke up at first light to see the sunrise …. But there wasn´t one, the skies were cloudy. Back on our boat and around to the very north of the Island of the Sun to visit one more Inca site, the Temple of the Sun. This site was for trainee priests and was quite large in terms of the size of the temple. The local word for the temple means ¨”labyrinth”, which is exactly was it was – small winding passages interconnected all the various meeting and sleeping rooms. Even without a roof it was east to get lost … fortunately the Incas were small so we could see over most of the remaining walls !

Apparently the local myth is that the last Inca being chased by the Spaniards when they invaded ran into this temple and quickly lost his pursuers in the corridors, allowing him to gather up the remaining Inca treasures, escape out the far side and throw them into the lake before the Spaniards to get their hands on them. We returned to Copocabana for lunch, including a quick visit to the local Cathedral – seems to be a must for most towns you visit. Then back in our mini bus for the drive to La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia, the largest city in the country and also the highest city in the world. We climbed away from the Lake and up onto the Bolivian high plains .. again, more spectacular countryside and we also drove through a fierce hailstorm – the sheep along the roadside looked as though they had been snowed on ! Tomorrow we have a tour of the city, before continuing our journey south by bus and train to Uyini. Note: Again, apologies we cannot load more photos at present ... we´ll get some more pics uploaded ASAP after 1 Jan ...

Day 25 Tuesday 30th December 2008 La Paz/ Morning city tour & Moon Valley

A great short tour of the city of La Paz today ... first up, a trip up out of the city valley to Moon Valley - a section of mountainside where the wind and rain has eroded the soil away from some more solid cores of rock to create this fascinating landscape that resembles the moon .. hence the name. Then back down to the top of the city to a lookout that gives panomaric views of the whole city down the valley - beautiful. We finished up back in the middle of the city to see the main plaza and yet another cathedral ... this one very big but at least more modest with the decorations.

And finally a visit to the "witches market", a section of the large market where the local "medicine men/women" bring their cures to sell ... and a lot of it seems to be very much based on surperstition ... and funny contradiction for a country and professes to be very religous in the traditional sense.

Day 26 Wednesday 31st December 2008 La Paz to Oruro to Uyuni

We departed La Paz today for another travel day to head further south into Bolivia ... Firstly a bus trip on a local bus to the town of Oruro ... a journey supposed to take 3 hours but took 4 1/2 ... mainly because the driver seemed content to stop frequently to pick up locals and allow them to ride in the lower section of the bus, no doubt for a small "fare".

This was fine to an extent, but the side effect was that with annoying frequency one would appear on the top deck and try and sell something ... grapes, giant popcorn, drinks, ice creams and pastries were all on offer during the journey. And one lad stood up and offered about a 15 minute speech or sermon about something to do with health ... we picked up the words cancer and osteoporosis ... but then is was entirely unclear what he was selling to cure these ills ... a potion or magic powder perhaps ? We did no invest to find out ...

At Oruro, with the help of our guide we transferred from bus to train, for a evening journey across most of the Bolivian Aliplano ... a 7 pm departure made for a spectacular and colourful sunset as the train departed ... but our attempts at sleep were frequently interupted by not very comforable chairs and fellow passengers who insisted on having loud conversations with each other when it was quite obvious many people were trying to sleep.

Oh, and this was our New Years Eve ... but we pretty much just saw in the new year in a state of semi consciousness while trying to grap a little bit of sleep as the train clattered along. We arrived bleary eyed at 2:30 am in Uyini, population about 20,000 ... the upside of a small town being a 5 minute drive to our hotel for some extra shuteye.

Puno-Lake Titicaca-Uros Islands

Day 21 Friday 26th December 2008 Cucco to Puno

A 400 km bus trip from Cusco to Puno in the very south of Peru on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world. We were on a tourist bus, so there were a number of stops along the way to break up the journey, including at Raqchi to see the remains of the largest known Inca sun temple in Peru ... another amazing piece of engineering and design of the temple plus all the living houses built along a lane aligned exactly to the summer solstice so the people knew when the season had turned and it was time to plant the harvest.

We also visited the Sistine Chapel of Peru, another church full of spectacular art but this one especially because all the inside surfaces were painted with murals by the Jesuits when the church was first built - hence the "Sistine" tag ... unfortunately no photography is permitted inside any of these chuches, even without flash, so we can´t provide any pics. Also has some spectucular scenery of the Peruvian high plains along the journey, including the views from La Raya - the highest point on the journey at 4313 m above sea level and a wonderful view of Lake Titicaca as we descended into Puno. Tomorrow we have a day tour out to the amazing floating island called Uros, as well as one of the main permanent islands called Taquile.

Day 22 Saturday 27th December 2008 Puno to Uros Floating Islands to Taquile Island

Another day trip today, first out into the Puno Bay to visit the amazing Uros Floating Islands ... these are islands constructed from the totora reeds that grow around the edges of Lake Titicaca. They are literally floating islands, built on top of the reed roots with layers and layers of reeds that end up several meters thick. And then the buildings on top of the islands are also built from the reeds ... albeit it seems with a little help from the occasional piece of modern plastic between the layers of reeds. The whole thing is very tourist oriented, but the locals are extremely polite and welcome you to their island should you visit ... and there are 52 separate islands to choose from, each housing around 4 to 5 families. The only reason given by the tour guide for these islands is that the people just don´t want to live in Puno ... but there must be some more history to it than that ... the people produce income from tourists and from fishing ... they go to the mainland to the local markets to trade for the fruit and vegetables they cannot grow on their islands. We also were offered ( for a price of course) a ride on our hosts´s reed boat ...

The reeds themselves are multipurpose - nothing is wasted ... the base of the stalk is for oral hygiene i.e. a native toothbrush and can also be eaten, the middle section is used to feed the few animals they keep (such as guinea pigs) and the top section is the part that when dried out is used to construct the islands. The flowers of the reed also have medicincal properties ... all in all, another fascinating place to visit. We then continued to Tacquile Island, an inhabited permanent island further into the middle of the lake .. the population here is known for their weaving and textile skills that end up being sold locally and in Cusco.

The island rises steeply out of the lake, so we endured a long, slow climb ... but were rewarded at lunch at a local co-operative restaurant with absolutely spectacular views across Lake Titicaca ... there is one pic in the blog, will add more in due course. As noted in the photo album notes, we have just run out of photo quota for December, so could only add a few pics of this day trip ... once we have a new allocation available on 1 Jan we will be sure to add a few more ... they will be worth the wait.

Tomorrow we continue on from Puno around the lake and into Bolivia to visit some sites down the southern end of Titicaca ... so we farewell Peru and look forward to more adventures in Bolivia for the first time ... tomorrow night we are at an Ecolodge on Sun Island at the southern end of the lake so are not expecting Internet access. We´ll be back blogging again in a couple of days time ... until then ...

Cusco-Machu Picchu-Cusco

Day 16 Sunday 21st December 2008
Full-day Pisac Market & Cuzco to Yucay Ollantaytambo Fortress

Our first full day in Cusco and we set out on a full day tour of some of the important landmarks around the city of Cusco. Cusco is a very important city in Peru, being the historic capital of the Inca Empire from 1200 until the Spanish conquistadors arrived in around 1532 - but no space for more history lessons here ... First stop was another local market, this time in the town of Pisac - endless alleys stacked with stalls full of local handicrafts and artwork ... suffice to say the spending budget got a bit of a workout.

In the afternoon we visited the ruins of the Ollantaytambo Fortress (our first Inca ruins), a great example of advanced Inca architecture. We saw the Temple of Ten Niches and at the top of the structure is the Temple of the Sun, the highest point of the fortress with the most intricate stone work, no doubt required to be worthy of worship to the Sun God. Ollantaytambo is another Inca town that was abandoned and/or destroyed when the Spanish rampaged through Peru in the early 1500s and established their dominance as the ruling nation over the indigenous people.

Day 17 Monday 22nd December 2008 Cusco to Yucay to Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes

Day 18 Tuesday 23rd December 2008 Aguas Calientes Morning then train back to Cusco

Another early morning rise in Cusco to catch the 6 am train to Macchu Picchu ... the train climbs out of Cusco up a zig zag "switchback" track then trundles off down series of long winding valleys of the Urubamba river ... at times you are staring up at near vertical cliffs on both sides of the train ... a 4 hour trip brings you to the tiny town of Macchu Picchu (formerly Aguas Calientes) nestled in a valley. Another 30 minutes on a bus climbs the side of the valley to the top of the mountain ridge.

You pass through an entry gate, round the corner on a narrow path to emerge onto the breath taking scene of the ruins of Machu Picchu (Old Mountain) - the ancient Inca city perched on top of the ridge just below the mountain of Machu Picchu. You can all read about the history of Machu Picchu on Wikipedia ... but again, just a stunning example of the ability of people hundreds of years ago and what their civilisations were able to achieve. The architecture and engineering in the stone work ... the intricate aqueduct system moving water through the town (parts of which are still working today ... the absolute accuracy of alignment to the poles in the various places of workship ... all speak of a highly intelligent and advanced civilisation for so long ago.

And the views are just spectacular ... we will let the few pics we can squeeze into the photo album speak for themselves ... we stuck out the showers and dull light of the morning to return to the ruins after lunch and be rewarded with some magnificent sunny breaks in the afternoon that just lit up the mountain. Our final morning in Machu Picchu town was spent wandering the narrow streets, attempting to further hone our bargaining skills and just enjoying the ambience.

The return train journey included some interesting additions from the staff to keep the tourists entertained - a fashion parade no less plus some guy dressed as what we assume was some sort of traditional clown or "court jester" style antics ... there were many bemused looks on faces ! We are now back in Cusco, and it's time for our "Amazing Race" to take a compulsory rest period ... we have three nights here, including Christmas Day and another half day tour of the city itself tomorrow. The rest of the time we'll just "chill" or wander the local streets of San Blas which are very safe.

Day 19 Wednesday 24th December 2008 Cusco

Day 20 Thursday 25th December 2008

 CHRISTMAS DAY in Cusco

We are now resting up in Cusco for Christmas Day - a very noisy night last night, it seems Christmas Eve in Cusco is the time for fireworks - not the sort we know that explode high into the sky, much smaller but just as noisy leading up to midnight. We enjoyed wandering through the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Eve markets in the main square - did not see much of the square itself because it was so crowded, we will wander back in the morning for another look. Also visited the Cathedral and some other Inca ruins around town yesterday on our city tour - seems to be two recurring themes in Cusco - the Incas were driven out when the Spainards arrived ... and pretty much every sacred Inca site was destroyed by either the conquistadors or the Catholic Church when they built cathedrals on top of the Inca temples.

It was quite ... shall we say interesting ... to visit the Cusco cathedral - a massive church of at least three cathedrals in one, each with it's own altar, constructed of local cedar wood and covered in 22 carat gold leaf. In the main cathedral, apparently the wooden altar was not good enough, as a huge new one of pure silver has been built in front of the original altar. Our tour guide also pointed all the side chapels where the various figures of Jesus and Mary were adorned in garments and crowns make of pure gold and covered in rubies and diamonds. We were also shown the "silver car", a 6,000 kg ceremonial carriage also made of pure silver that is driven around the main plaza once a year. It seemed somewhat ironic after all this when our tour guide then explained that Catholocism is not about money and possessions but about what is in your heart ... hmmm, did not quite ring true after seeing the excesses of material wealth on display - and of course you pay to get in !

Then to come out into the streets and see so many local people around the streets trying to eke out a living by selling anything and everything just to earn a few soles (the local currency - A0.40 per S) ... somewhere in time one would think the Catholic Church will have some explaining to do ...(err, sorry, end of soapbox speech). One final note - unfortunately, we got a little carried away with our Galapogas pics and ran out of quota, so have only been able to post a few photos of Cusco and Machu Picchu ... when we have out new monthly quota available on 1 Jan we will go back and add a few more pics from around Cusco.

Tomorrow we head south to Puno for the start of our next journey to Lake Titicaca and on into Bolivia.

More soon !

Lima - Puerto Maldonado - Posada Amazonas

Day 11 Tuesday 16th December 2008 Lima

A lovely sleep in today, possibly the last one for a number of days ... followed by a tour of Lima in the afternoon. Lima is a big city (9 million people) and a city of contrasts - from the very rich to the very poor. There is no welfare system, so everyone is out on the street trying to etch out a living. Even with a just a casual stroll down the main street from our hotel toward the beach, every corner has multiple money changers, shoe shine vendors and people amongst the traffic trying to sell drinks, lollies or ice creams ... all to earn some sort of meagre income. By contrast, the upper class suburbs are very much like Toorak, with lovely winding parks full of olive trees in between the large estates with armed security guards at each gate. We stopped at "lovers park" to admire the views of the Pacific Ocean from atop the cliff and try and read the love poems in the mosaics - although not very well, they are all in Spanish !

A fascinating visit to the Franciscan monastery in the middle of Lima, dating back hundreds of years and having preserved an amazing collection of art and books from the early modern history of Peru. And the original catacombs are intact under the main church, providing a eery feeling of the thousands of souls who have been buried in the many chambers around a maze of corridors. The most fascinating room is probably the library, a long room of two levels housing some 16,000 historical religous books dating back to the early days of the Spanish conquering Peru.

Our final visit of the day was to a private musuem that houses a large collection of relics from the history of Peru, dating back to 8000 BC. Because the climate is so dry and people were buried with gifts accompanying the bodies, there is a huge collection of ceramics that have been collected completely intact and effectively provide a full history of civilisation from 8000 BC to the modern era. The evolution of technology and knowledge is clearly evident and traceable down the generations of civilisation. The erotic gallery discretely off to the side of the main museum also indicates many practices that we may consider modern, are actually not - again, all very clearly documented in the form of ceramic pots and figurines.

Day 12-15 Wednesday 17th December -Saturday 20th December Puerto Maldonado - Posada Amazonas

From Lima, another plane ride - via Cusco, then a hop across the Andes to Puerto Maldonado on the southern edge of the Amazon basin. And when they promise a jungle adventure in a remote lodge, then mean it ! From the town, first it´s a 45 minute bus trip over some of the worst roads imaginable (reminded Chris very much of New Guinea) to the river "port" ... and when they say "port" then actually mean slippery, muddy track to edge of river ... then another 45 minute trip in a long boat up the Tambopata river ... and then another 15 minute treck to our lodge Posada Amazonas.

And yet another amazing place to experience - rooms were open air (no windows, but you didn´t need them), no electricity except for a couple of hours a day from a generator, no hot water, but still a very comfortable bed and amazing local food from the kitchen ... all nestled amongst the dense rain forest. Everyone is assigned one guide who looks after you for the duration of your stay - our guide was Jinh and we had a small group including us and another young couple.

A typical day in the jungle consists of:

- being ready at 4:30 or 5 am for an early morning activity of 3 or 4 hours (every morning !)

- having a short break before lunch and a post lunch siesta

- afternoon activity at 3:30 pm or so until dark

- dinner followed by a short evening activity on a couple of nights

After the early start each morning is was quite easy to crash by 9 pm each night at the latest ... Our activities included - a day break visit to a nearby lake to watch the wildlife wake up and go pirahna fishing, two different walks to clay licks where the parrots and macaws eat the clay to help their digestion, climbing the 37 meter tower to get above the jungle canopy and bird watch, a visit to a local medicine man to learn about local medicinal plants, a walk to see the latest kapok tree in the forest that is over 500 years old, and a night walk to see all the frogs that come our at night.

Another fantastic experience - our few days felt like weeks ... again, the few pics in the photo album are a tiny selection from a very full 4 Gb memory card of the few days ! And it was the rainforest - so you only had to walk a few steps and the sweat was dripping off you ... The girls will not doubt say that the highlight of our visit was piranha fishing on the lake in the early morning light - it´s a bit tricky, but you soon get the hang of it.

The idea is to just jiggle your fingers in the water until a piranha comes up for a nibble - once one is hanging on you just jerk your hand back ... the piranha gets such a fright it lets go and ends up in the bottom of the boat. The only really tricky bit is not to leave your fingers in the water for too long ... or there could be nasty consequences (Ed: Please note - one should sometimes be careful as to the credibility of some travel blog material)

After our jungle adventure, another short plane hop back across the Andes to Cusco ... at 3,700 meters above sea level you quickly experience the notion of altitude sickness ... 24 hours of low level activity and drinking much coco tea is needed to help your body adjust. Tomorrow we are off to another place also expected to be a serious trip highlight - the ruins of the Inca city of Machu Picchu, a 4 hour train ride up the mountain valleys from Cusco.

Until our next blog entry ...

Quito-Otavalo-Galapagos Island

Day 4 Quito to Otavalo to Quito Tuesday 9th December 2008 Otavalo Market

Today was a full day tour to visit the famous Otavalo market north of Quito .. only just south of the Columbian border. Our two hour bus trip include some spectacular views of the country side, including the various volcanoes that surround the city of Quito. It was mid week at the market so somewhat quiet, but a very colourful spectacle with the vendors all displaying their range of local handicrafts made from natural materials .. wood, feathers, bronze and lama wool. We also wander the local streets and visited the central town plaza.

Day 5 Wednesday 10th December 2008 Quito to San Cristobal Galapagos Island

An early morning rise and headed off to the airport again for another flight ... two hours from Quito directly west back into the Pacific and you arrive at the marvel of the Galapogas Islands. From the airport, just a strip on the flattest piece of rock available, a bus, a ferry then another bus to arrive at the southern end of Santa Cruz Island at town of Peurto Ayora, the largest town in the Islands. Spent the afternoon visiting the Charles Darwin center, and the local giant tortoise sanctuary - the feral goats, pigs and dogs introduced to the Galapogas by humans have seriously endangered the tortoise populations, so there is now a significant breeding program to restore numbers onto each Island.

Day 6 Thursday 11th December 2008 Day trip to Plazas

 Our first day trip out from Santa Cruz to one of the smaller Islands that we are allowed to visit - a small piece of rock called South Plaza, roughly a kilometer long and half as wide. As you step off the dinghy onto land, you are greeted by a racous chorus from the male sea lions lounging about in the shallows or sun baking on the rocks. You can get up close and personal with these funny creatures, although the tour guides are careful to make sure you keep a safe distance. And of course, the babies are just cure and adorable. The other fascinating creature on Plaza is the land iguana - big lizards in the variety of sizes and colours that sit around all day under cactus plants waiting for a flower to fall off - because that´s lunch ! There are a couple of photos in the album of these colourful lizards. More on galapogas bird life in the next blog entry. After a quick swim in a sheltered cove on the way back, it`s home time to rest up and be ready for the crack of dawn start tomorrow.

Day 7 Friday 12th December 2008 Day trip to Bartolome

And crack of dawn it was - 5 am, for a 3 hour boat trip to Bartolome, most famous as home of Pinnacle Rock, the most photographed rock in the Galapogas - and sorry, got carried away with the animals and didn´t even get a photo of the rock on the photo album. Spectacular views of the rock and surrounds, both from the beach and from the lava hill that you climb beside the beach - about 120 meters up stairs and boardwalk for a fantastic panoramic view of the island and it´s surrounds.

Back at the base of Pinnacle Rock, penguins also make their home. And on the small beach the sea lions bask on the beach or just wallow in the shallows, pretty much oblivious to humans around them. The Galapogas promise of swimming with the sea lions is actually a reality !  The wind got up during the day and the trip back across the strait was not that pleasant - lots of rolling in a small boat meant that a couple of us (no names mentioned) were very green and very ill for a few hours until we got feet back on dry land .... but no permanent damage done and a quick recovery.

Day 8 Saturday 13th December 2008 Day trip to Seymour North

For our final day on Galapogas a much shorter trip to another flat island nearby in Seymour North - an island used particular by a wide range of birds as their nesting site, including the elegant frigate (thats the male with the puffed up red chest), the famous blue footed boobie and many others. As usual, large numbers of sea lions lounge about on the rocks or in the shallows around most of the island, always providing entertainment with their antics. Our final stop of the day was back on the main island of Santa Cruz, at a beach along the coast that sea turtles use to nest - we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one female up on the beach before she decided the safety of the water was a better option.

Again lots of entertainment from the local bird life - this time it was the local brown pelicans dive bombing the water from great height to find lunch that were great to watch.

And an amazing highlight - we were all just standing on the beach after a swim when out of the corner your eye there was a flash as a sea lion chased a large fish literally out of the water and on to the beach - it grabbed the fish and dashed back into the water with fish in mouth, no doubt to find somewhere quiet to consume lunch. And on that note, our time on Galapogas sadly draws to a close - after experiencing the amazing natural diversity of what this part of the world offers, tomorrow we head back to the mainland for a recovery day in Quito, before heading on to Peru.

Day 9 Sunday 14th December 2008 Return to Quito

Travel day ... pleasant enough flight back to Quito ... interested landing, we landed on the mountain top with the clouds sitting in the valley below. A return visit to the Hotel de la Rabida. We kid you not - this is the Fawlty Towers of Quito ! Tiny little hotel of two floors and eleven rooms, staircase just like Fawlty Towers and all the waiters say "Si" ... only difference is that the owner is five foot nothing, not six foot five ...

Day 10 Monday 15th December 2008 Quito Half-day tour of Quito

Half day tour of Quito today, we visited the "middle of the world" and stood on the Equator which passes through Quito, and then to the "old town" to see some of the history of Quito and local Cathedrals. The old town was particularly beautifiul with narrow streets and very steep slopes. The main Cathedral is absolutely spectacular, very Baroque in style with magnificent gold leaf (real gold !) work on every surface - unfortunately, no photos allowed !  We catch an evening flight very shortly to conclude our fantastic week in the diverse country of Ecaudor ... and we begin our time in Peru. Next entries will be in new blog entry in a few days time - thanks to everyone who is posting messages, we very much enjoy hearing from home .... until Peru ....