Beautiful Mancora.... camera situation and of course the Peruvian Belly sickness!

What is there to say about Mancora??? Well let´s just say I will try to remember it for its sunny blue sky, beautiful beach and not for its swimming parasites that inflict the human stomach.

Upon arriving in Mancora Andrew and I thought to ourselves "how can this place top Huanchaco?" Well.... as it turns out every place we visit seems just as good as the last, and has so many different things to offer.
We arrived to town 6am by a 9 hr bus ride and checked into Laguna Surf Camp hostel. Our rooms were cute Indonesian syle bamboo huts. (really basic with bed, mosquito nets, toilet and cold showers.) The owner Pilar was such a sweet lady and she cut us a deal on 3 nights in the hostel. The other travellers staying there were extremely friendly and the staff was wonderful. The only downfall to the hostel was the mosquitos and the toilet that when flushed smelled like sulphur. Kinda gross after a while!

Mancora is a surf town situated around 2 hours from the Ecuadorian border. The weather is perfect year round so both Peruviano´s and foreigner´s flock there to soak up the sun and relax. The beach is lined with hotels, restaurant stalls and surf shops. Unfortunately for Andrew, at that time the surfing in Mancora wasn´t too great. It was a small point break and every surfer squished into the same area. On the second day Andrew rented a board and spent a few hours surfing, but to his disapointment the locals were "wave hogs" which made the situation pretty dangerous and at any moment surfers could crash into each other. We spent 7 lazy days in Mancora relaxing and enjoying the sun. During our stay the weather was picture perfect with blue skies and hot weather.

What could ruin this tropical paradise????

Within our first few days in Mancora both Andrew and I began to get the "Peruvian belly sickness" once again. Unfortunately mine was accompanied by chills so I decided to take the antibiotics that the travel doctor had given to us in case of emergencies.
Andrew and I always said that if one of us became really ill we would check into a nice hotel. Well the moment had arrived and on our 3rd day we left our cute bamboo huts and checked into what we called "Shangri la" hotel Buena Vista.

Buena Vista:
This hotel had a deal on for 3 nights so we decided we would stay a little longer in Mancora. Our room had a cute hammock on the balcony, huge bedroom, king size bed, huge bathroom with hot showers, t.v and swimming room. We really felt like we were living it up! Shortly after we checked in we met our very friendly Australian neighbours who we quickly became friends with. (Hi Jess and Chris) They introduced us to a few nicer restaurants which were "safer" to eat at.

Just as our health was getting better and things were starting to look up.......
Our hotel room was broken into and our brand new 20x optical zoom canon camera was stolen. On our last day in Mancora we spent it "trying" to explain to a Spanish only speaking police officer what had happened. We managed to get an offical police report and hopefully we will get our money back from our travel insurance. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

And if things couldn´t get worse that day......
I started our 19 hr bus ride journey back to Lima feeling a little glum due to our camera mishap, but belly feeling better than it had in days. Little did I know... that evening the "Peruvian belly sickness" would step it up to a whole new level. Let´s just say it was a very uncomfortable bus ride for both me and the other passengers. And a torturous plane ride to Bogota, Colombia.
~Nicola

Click on picture below to see the album in Picasa.

Mancora, Peru

Premiero Hospital Visit... Segundo Parte

Well we´re back from the Hospital results and meds in hand. Nicola had her leftovers examined and she had some Amoebas and blood where Amoebas and blood shouldn´t be... So they prescribed an antibiotic, painkiller for abdominal pains and a bacteria replacement for after the antibiotics. She is resting in our very nice Hotel room and we will try and see the beautiful city of Bogota tomorrow!

The whole Colombian health care experience has been amazing the doctor was very friendly and informative, nurses wore traditonal uniforms and we were treated very quickly. The whole thing only cost $101 (Canadian) drugs incl. Paying for medical care definitely changes the whole treatment experience. We thought everything was going to be much more expensive, based on all the American system horror stories we hear in Canada, and we were amazed at how fast a test sample result can come back when you are a customer/patient rather then just a patient.

All in all, in time, Nicola will be back to herself a few days from now and we will back to exploring the Southern Americas... So no need to worry!

~Andrew

Premiero Hospital Visit...

Well it finally happened and for all those who thought it would definetely be Andrew who needed medical attention first... you were wrong!!

Nicola has had belly sickness for 7 days straight and when we left Mancora-Peru, (update to follow) on our 18 hour bus ride followed by a 3 hour plane ride, she was afflicted with severe belly pain and numerous boughts of bathroom runs so...
Once we arrived in Bogota Colombia we rested for the night and went to Clinica Marly first thing in the mornig and are now awaiting her sample results.
The Clinic is a private clinic and is very modern hospital, the Colombian medical system seems to mirror that of the American system. We where immediately asked for our credit card, to pay for our consultation, and we were seen quickly. The Doctor spoke perfect english and was extremely nice.

Stay tuned results to follow...

~Andrew

Huanchaco, surfers town

Upon arival to Huanchaco we discovered that it was low season so it was very empty and many restaurants lining the beach were closed. The weather was dull and the climate was also quite mild. At first we were a little put off by the quietness and emptiness of the town but by the end we realized that was the thing we most loved about the town.

We quickly became friends with a local boy named Guillermo who worked at the local surf shop. He took us out to a fabulous seafood restaurant, which became our favourite place to eat. FYI: the food in Huanchaco was a seafood junkies personal paradise. All restaruants served cerviche, chicharrones (deep fried fish or shellfish), rice with tons of seafood on top, and at night they would bring a grill out for meat and fish. Definetely no complaints in the food department from me. Unfortunately Andrew had a case of jelly belly while there, so he was on a plain diet.

We decided to take a tour of the ruins that were near called Chan Chan and Huacca del Luna which are part the pre Incan civilizations Sipan and Moche. They were pretty amazing, some areas had such detail remaining and even had colour. Unfortunately like most developing countries there just isn´t enough money to maintain the ruins properly. That´s the sad part about some of the ruins, with the elements and other factors who knows how long they will be around for.

Our hostel Naylamp was an amazing hostel, the staff were super friendly and the food was amazing too. Everyday was a source of amusement... our "very American neighbours" were a father and son (25) travelling Peru together. On any given occasion they would just corner you and talk your ear off about any topic, but there favourite being Lake Tahoe, California where they were from.
Across from us were a couple from Halifax, Canada named Leslie and Allan. (Hi guys told you we would give a shout-out) After meeting them there on our first day in Huanchaco we became fast friends. Andrew and I both say it was nice to hang out with some nice new people for a while.... give each other a break!!!!!

SURFING:
Andrew enrolled in a 2 hour private surf lesson with Chicho a local surfing guru. With 20 years experience, he guarantees that if you don´t stand up on your first lesson it´s free. After half hour theory lesson on the beach Andrew and Chicho went into the water. He did an amazing job at surfing... and like Chicho promised he was standing up and surfing. After that moment.... Andrew became hooked on surfing. Allan our Canadian friend was also a surfer and he even brought his board from home. So everyday Andrew and Allan would go surfing and Leslie and I would chat on the beach.

MY 31st BIRTHDAY:
Trujillo is the main town in the area and for my birthday we decided to go shoe shopping. The Canadian couple and us took a local bus into town. Apparantely there is a shoe factory close by and the town is known for having chep shoes. Honestly, there were so many stall with shoes that never ended it made your eyes hurt. Even I, at the end of our excursion had had enough shoe shopping! So after a nice day of shopping we headed back to Hanchaco for a nice grilled dinner of seafood.

~Nicola

Click on picture below to see the album in Picasa.

Huanchaco, Peru

Sandboarding in Huacachina the desert oasis

Sorry for being MIA from the Blog! To answer everyone.. Yes we are safe and No we have not been kidnapped by Bandito´s!

We arrived to Ica by bus then took a short taxi ride into Huacachina which is a desert town situated around an oasis. When you look up all you see are dunes in the distance. What a contrast to the places we´ve been so far in South America. The weather was hot and sunny during the day and a little cooler at night. (How perfect!) We spent our days relaxing by the pool or swinging in a hammock, a nice reward after all the hiking that we had done.

DUNE BUGGYING and SANDBOARDING:
Our last full day in the dessert we went on dune buggy tour which included sand boarding. As we left our hotel at dusk for the dunes I noticed our crazy Peruvian driver genuflect himself before driving off at record speed! Thoughts going through my mind.... holy shit are we going to die tonight? Somehow Andrew convinced me to sit in the front with him and the driver... it was the scarriest seat possible. When the driver would race up the dunes it was impossible to see the drop that was coming up ahead. All very frightening for a wimp like me! After the adrenaline was pumping we stopped at the top of a dune to sandboard.
The two options were lie on your tummy and hold on to a strap or to strap your ankles on to the wood board and ride it like a snowboard. I obviously opted for the tummy ride. The guide pushed me down the hill and I went speeding down the hill like a bullet. Since I was lighter than most on the tour I went the fastest down the dune and the furthest. For the first few times Andrew also decided to go down on his tummy. After the first two dunes we were fully pumped and ready for higher dunes. I must admit even I thought that it was fun. Then our driver took us to the " Mother of all dunes" The first half was small and easy and I was unable to see over the second half... so when we were at the half way mark to my surprise it was extremely steep and scary. At that point it was too late to turn back as the dune buggy picked you up at the bottom. Lesson learned.... don´t atempt to sandboard a dune that you can´t see where it ends! Of course Andrew fully enjoyed the whole thing!!! For the smaller first half he decided to try riding the board like a snowboard. For the second half he decided to go on his belly (as an Israeli fellow broke his neck and died one month before doing that) Being a gentleman Andrew decided to go first to show me which way to go down on the board, which left me stranded at the top and a prisoner to my fears!!!! Finally after much contemplation I decided I couldn´t go down the dune, and a British girl and I walked down with our boards!!!! hehe

After 5 days of desert paradise we left for a bus to Trujillo and the beach town of Huanchaco

~Nicola

Click on picture below to see the album in Picasa.

Huacachina, Peru

Macchu Picchu

After spending the night in Aguas Calientes in a nice soft bed... we started our journey to Macchu Picchu at 4:00am in order arrive before most of the other tourists. We were on the 3rd bus to Macchu Picchu, so it payed off to be an early riser! As the bus drove up the very winding roads leading to Macchu Picchu, the excitement on the bus could be felt. I have seen hundreds of photographs and t.v shows about the ruins and lost Incan city, but being there in person was nothing other than magical. Were the Incan´s aliens?, magicians? Seems impossible to build structures of that magnitude without modern machinery.

There is another mountain called Huyana Picchu that you can climb to get a great view of Macchu Picchu, it is extremely steep and only the first 400 people can get permits to climb for the day. I had originally decided (due to the pain in my knee) that I would not do the climb... but a few advil´s later and some encouraging words, Paz and I decided that we would do it together. (no matter how long it took) After our tour of Macchu Picchu was completed we started the climb. It took me about 60 mins, and Andrew and the rest completed it in 25mins. They really weren´t kidding when the sign to the mountain said "Must be in good general health". The path was steep and at some points we had to be on all fours.
On our way down Huayana Picchu we ran into Puma, who informed us that our train had been changed to an early departure time. That meant that we needed to "RUN" out of Huayana Picchu and through Macchu Picchu to get the bus on time.

Arriving back to Cusco:
A trip wouldn´t be a trip without a little drama. We had a minor delay as we waited for our private bus to pick us up, but luckily we arrived back in Cusco in good time!

The family and Puma met for one last dinner together, after some food and a few drinks it was time to say goodbye!

~Nicola

Lares Trek

I have to be honest and say that after the Colca Canyon trek I was a little "apprehensive" about doing the Lares trek. Would my legs and body be able to handle the grueling task of a 42 km trek??? How could I manage without proper toilets or showers for 3 days????
A few days before the trek we attended our group meeting which was designed to explain the trek to us, meet our fellow trekkers and meet our guides. We were a group of 11 people and our guide introduced himself to us as "Puma". He went over the schedule and explained to us in detail all that would be happening over the next few days. Puma told us that we would be known as "the family".... and over the entire trek that is exactly what he referred to us as.

Over the next 3 days the Lares Trek did not dissapoint. We started this trek not having a clue what to expect, but everything we experienced and saw will be remembered for the rest of my life. We were so small compared to the huge mountains continuing as far as the eye could see. We never once crossed the path of another trekking group, it was as if the "family" were the only people on earth... except the groups of Alpaca´s or LLama´s that we would pass grazing in the grass. Sometimes in the distance we could see the children running up the mountains to come and greet us. During the trek we able to meet local Andean children and see the villages where they lived and went to school. Meeting the children was an amazing experience, we brought crayons to give to them. Their faces would light up with a priceless smile, something that will never be forgotten.

The staff that accompanied us on the trek consisted of 1 guide (Puma), 1 assistant guide, 1 cook, 1 assistant cook, 1 general assisstant and 4 horsemen (including the emergency mule that followed us the entire journey) Without them it would have been impossible, the staff would set up and take down our tents and the mules would carry our belongings and food. Everyday the staff would stay at the camp sites after we left to clean up then "wizz" by us on the trek to get to the next site in time to set up or prepare food.

"COCA POWER"
Coca is used by the local people to make the altitude easier on the body. People drink it as tea, or chew on it. So on our first day as promised our trusted local guide Puma demonstrated for us how coca is correctly chewed.
"Pick out about 5 good leaves and fold in half. Rip off the stem with your
teeth and chew up the leaves then place it in the side of your mouth. Now
repeat until your cheeks are full. Then add a little of the catalyst into the
pile inside your cheek! When the numbness goes away, Repeat!"

Anytime we would start to do a high pass we would stop to do "coca power" which supposably helped us climb the steep passes.
NOTE: Cataylist was black gummy paste that was made of ash of many different things. Tasted like DIRT and was gross!


"THE FAMILY"
We were so lucky to have the diverse group of people that we did on our trek. At the briefing when Puma called us a "family" we looked aound at each other, 11 strangers not knowing what to expect over the next few days. But during our trek we truly did become "the family" as Puma had predicted. I think after a life changing experience like trekking 42kms through the mountains and experiencing what we did together there is no other outcome than to become a "family."

**special thanks to my fellow slow trekker Paz, having someone to bring up the rear with was so helpful and without her encouragement I probably wouldn´t have conquered Huayna Picchu at Macchu Picchu.

Day 1:
Depart Cusco at 5:20am by private bus to Calca (a local market) No other gringo´s there other than us. Puma told us to buy bags of coca with catalyst and any other produce that we wanted as snacks for the trek. We ate at a VERY local stall for breakfast, and drank some coca tea. By bus we drove to Quishuariani where the trek began!!!!

We walked over our first pass of 4200m (13850ft)which would be the 2nd highest for the entire trek. We passed by a lagoon and entire time snow capped mountains were in the distance. The scenery was spectacular and it was hard to take it all in. (Imagine Frodo and the hobbits walking through Middle Earth) After arriving at Cuncani we ate our lunch then walked to our camp site at Vicabamba where we ate a delicious dinner and spent our first night!

Day 2:
After a cold night spent in tents we were awoken to our assisstant guide and cook offering us tea in our tents. (Nice way to wake up!) We knew that today would be the toughest day of the entire trek with 2 passes of 4100m (13500 ft) and 4500m (14850ft) Thanks to Coca Power we were able to complete the passes safe and sound, though I must admit that the 2nd pass was pretty difficult. The air is thin due to the high altitude which makes it difficult to catch your breath. What normally would be easy to do, becomes so much more difficult with the altitude. We were fortunate that day to get invited into a local Andean women´s home to see how she lives. She had plenty of loose guinea pigs in her house, when one gets fat it becomes dinner! This was a great experience because we were able to get a glimpse into a life that we would normally know nothing about. After thanking her with some coca leaves, we continued with our trek. That night we set up camp at Ipsaycocha

Day 3:
After our morning tea in the tent... we got out to find a covering of frost on the ground and our tents. Brrrrr! After a nice hearty breakfast we started our 3rd day of the trek, knowing that it would be the shortest of all the other days! After only 2 hours we reached Patacancha where we took a bus to Ollantaytambo where we ate lunch then took a train to Aguas Calientes to our hotel. (With HOT showers and a BED) How wonderful!!!!

~Nicola

Click on picture below to see the album in Picasa.

Machu Picchu & the Lares Trek

Chillin´ in Cusco

We arrived 6:00am in Cusco feeling exhasted after another long night bus! Since we had arrived a few days before our estimated date, or hostel had no room for us. We roamed around a bit and found a really cute hotel (hot showers, t.v and breakfast inc)

We realized that it is nice to be in one place for a while. In 2 weeks we really were able to get a good feeling of the city.
Since we had some extra days in Cusco, we decided to spend it taking private Spanish lessons. Thanks to our amazing teacher we were able to improve our Spanish a little. During our stay here in Cusco we also purchased a Billeto Touristico which enabled us to see all religious museums and cathedrals and also see the Sacred Valley. (located just outside the city) The cathedrals and museums were interesting to us... the art inside demonstrated the fusion between the Spanish (and their newly brought over religion) and the Incan´s (who´s religion was about mother earth). For example the "Last supper" was painted with a Guinea Pig in the middle of a round table, which was an example of how they tried to help the Incan´s understand their new religion.

Andrew´s "Iron belly" was put to the test... and let´s just say "it failed!" That´s what happened after he started to feel invincible from the South American jelly belly! So now I am not the only one with the stomach problems. But luckily at this point I think it is safe to say that both Andrew and I are fully recovered.

Sacred Valley Tour:
We decided to do a 1 day bus tour of the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was a large local market in Pisac, once a market where locals would go to trade goods... now a place for tourists to get any kind of knik knak imaginable. Of course Andrew and I bought a few items (knitted sweaters, socks and hats) We then went to Ollataytambo to see the Incan ruins. We were able to expore the area and climb to the top of the site. Later that evening our bus took us to another ruin site called Chinchiro, which was also very interesting.

We have thouroughly enjoyed the Cusco and all the amazing things it has to offer, from it´s beautiful cobble roads, Spanish lessons, museums, ruins and dependable cuisine, chatting with friends and fellow travellers. "Hi Michelle and Caspian" We will always remember this city and definately suggest people visit Cusco.

~Nicola

Click on picture below to see the album in Picasa.

Cusco, Peru & Sacred Valley