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Do You Believe In Magic?
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 1 May 2010
I've never been much of a believer in magic. A friend and I spent three months terror-struck that we were being haunted by vengeful spirits after an ill-advised experiment with a ouija board back in my rather less skeptical youth, but a thoroughly scientific secondary and part-of-my-tertiary education has instilled a firm faith in the power of the scientific method and rather less in otherworldly explanations for, well, anything.
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第七十三天：有賊呀！！！
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 1 May 2010
我們的東西不見了！今早才說秘魯天下太平... 我應該用 "老貓燒鬚" 來形容自己嗎？對上那次遇小偷是七年前的事；還記得事發後我哭得死去活來 -- 接待我們的朋友在最後一天忽然說要參加婚禮著我們找旅館住，旅費緊絕的我們找不到相宜的住宿，唯有睡在街頭。坐火車到了接駁長途巴士的車站附近，打算倒頭就睡前在車站被小偷以分散注意力方式偷去背包，相隔 10 多分鐘始發現背包不翼而飛，最傷心是日記本沒了！也許我實在哭得太厲害，不法之徒偷去貴重物品後把背包丟到警局旁，早上警察到車站找我並物歸原主。雖然日記簿失而復得但我仍咬牙切齒說不會讓事件重演。 這一次，沒哄沒騙，只怪我們太相信巴士公司的職員，並把我們的行李 check-in 得太早，讓歹徒有機可乘。可是我必須讚揚他們的高超技術，好讓我們坐完車到旅舍打開行李時也不覺有異，直至三天後執拾輕便行裝才知攝影機、電話和現金不見了！ 我這個人很古怪，
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Day 74: Where's our money??
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 27 April 2010
POLTUR - Tourist Police in Cusco Bad news. We were repacking our bags for a side trip to Machu Picchu when soon enough things didn't seem right. My cash stash envelope disappeared. Well, it must be in the backpack somewhere... "look carefully" I thought to myself. "I think someone's been through my pack" I heard KF say soon after. A couple of her items were misplaced in different parts of
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Day 73: About a boy. A shoe shining boy.
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 27 April 2010
Christian came over and asked if I wanted my shoes shined when it started to drizzle. The rain got heavier and we sought cover together. "Where are you from?" "China." "China? That's far away. Are the people in China rich?" "Not really. Like Peru, there are some rich people living in the capital and many poor people living in villages." "Peru is poor. I'm very poor, I have no father, just my
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第七十一天：Cuzco
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 23 April 2010
民族服女子和 alpaca 昨晚坐通宵巴士從 Arequipa 去 Cuzco. 由於患上感冒 (是黃G 傳染給我的呀！) 和很乾燥 (我生平第三次有鼻血...)，除了首數句鐘，其餘時間我都睡不著。對於高山症，我是擔心的，尤其看過 Cindy 的金寶綠水照後，加上感冒且睡不好的我身體狀況確實差一點，而當前的目的地，是在海拔 3,300 米之上，不憂慮就是騙人的... 還好，我們預定了床位的旅舍質素非常高，特別是床的舒適度；洗過澡吃過早餐和藥後，我們終於可以好好睡一覺。需知道好床可遇不可求，對上一次已經是一個月前的 Bogota 了。 Plaza de Armas Cuzco 是四邊被山圍繞著的小鎮，由於位置與新世界七大奇景之一的馬丘比丘相鄰，每年吸引極多遊人到來觀光。就連病入膏肓的我在這山城隨意遊走，都覺到她的攝人魅力，這種美與 Arequipa 的白、火山石和曾經滄海不同
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Day 72: Acclimatizing at 3,300m!
Blog: Diaries of a Vagabonding Couple - 22 April 2010
Cusco, we've arrived. Staying at an awesome hostel (Pirawana, one of the best!) with nice thick and firm mattresses. Ahh it has been weeks since we've had a proper firm bed to rest our backs. Spending 4 out of the last 8 nights on buses, an orthopaedic mattress and nice fluffy duvets is just what we need. Our 8 bed dorm is smaller than the others but we slept like babies. LOVE the beds here, I
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Mysterious Disappearances in Zona X…. (cue X-Files Music)
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 10 April 2010
I’ve become aware that I’ve been dangling tasty little hints about upcoming “big news”, generally doubling as the sort of excuse for a series of half-arsed and increasingly infrequent blog posts that even my always obliging year 11 biology teacher would think twice before accepting. I’m sorry. I really have no excuse. Well I mean I [...]
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An escape from Cusco to the Temple of the Moon (Templo de la Luna)
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 11 March 2010
I have finally done it - for the first time since I went to Pisac I have been on a daytrip outside of Cusco. Can you believe it? In my own defence I was rather busy, between Spanish classes and working two shifts a day in Pariwana, and spending my Sundays off far too hungover to venture out of town, not too mention the fact that when you aren't in the crap-I-only-have-three-days-here-must-see-everything mindset it's quite easy to put things off, and off, and off.
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Machu Picchu may be unreachable, but Cusco is neither dangerous nor boring
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 12 February 2010
I arrived in Lima yesterday, after a rather late and horrifyingly bumpy flight from Cusco, to a chorus of questions from my friend Ama and her family - how things had been in Cusco, had there been a lot of damage, had we all been safe, and so on. Ama works for a hotel chain that has a few outlets in the Cusco department, so she already knew all too well about the impact on the tourism industry there. It's no surprise, really, that things have been so hard-hit, given the level of misinformation that's being bandied about.
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A closer look at the emergency
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 9 February 2010
After reading all the news reports, viewing the images, hearing first-hand accounts, I thought I had a pretty good idea of the devastation outside of Cusco itself, thanks to all the rain. Saturday, however, the folks of Pariwana gathered together with the Bullfrogs crew, and a few extra foreigners that had come to the fund-raising party on Thursday and wanted to help out more, to cart all the collected food, clothing, and blankets out to some of the harder-hit communities and to lend a hand with reconstruction.
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Weathering the storm, in a hostel full of Machu Picchu refugees
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 31 January 2010
Unexpectedly, I've spent this morning out in the patio enjoying the glorious sunshine, and yesterday almost expired of heat exhaustion in the overcrowded El Baratillo market, attempting to lug home three bags worth of clothes to donate, a mirror and a most-likely-stolen mobile that later turned out not to work. Despite the wonderful daytime weather, the nights and late-afternoons are still characterised by torrential downpours, and I've heard that in the rest of the department they're suffering through much more rain and occasional hailstorms.
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Cusco in emergency
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 27 January 2010
Up until (bless great luck) the day before the Australia Day BBQ, we suffered through practically incessant rain for around a week and a half. Not all that surprising, given that we are in the wet season, but apparently normally there are at least patches of sunshine.
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Where The Hell Is My Milk?
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 8 January 2010
Hostel living. It's one thing to be here three nights, there one or two, constantly on the move, but I'd almost forgotten what it's like to live and work in a backpackers. A completely different animal. Right now I guess I'm out of sorts anyway, still a little sick, working some ridiculous hours (4 hours over breakfast, 7 hour break, 4 or 5 hours in the bar until gone midnight, the hell?).
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New Years Eve, Cuzco-style
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 3 January 2010
So, January 1. Approximately 7pm. Watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, after a day of Bloody Marys, ceviche, and card games; planning another night out for Rach's last 24 hours in Peru before she heads off to London. In Mexico, I thought I'd found the perfect hangover food – huevos rancheros, anyone? Heavy, spicy, eggy, beany; all one could possibly desire. On arrival in Lima, Sara and I were asking her Peruvian mates about the traditional hangover breakfast. Turns out to be ceviche – raw fish marinated in citrus, spicy and delightful, but seriously? With a hangover?
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On The Brink Of The New Year
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 31 December 2009
I have managed to venture outside of Cuzco in the past few days (gasp!) for a day trip to Pisac with a couple of guys from the hostel. Sat on the local bus out there for an hour and a half, enjoying some of the most amazing mountain scenery I've ever seen. Reminded me a little of the Scottish Highlands, but with felt Peruvian hats in place of the kilts. Pisac is a beautiful little town, renowned for its markets and rightly so. I had wisely bought a limited amount of cash, so bought a few odds and ends and then trailed around behind Aaron, who was on a last-minute gift buying spree.
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Absolutely Nothing New To Report
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 28 December 2009
I'm deep into a passionate love-hate affair with Cuzco. Sometimes I'm fighting my way out of a deep shame spiral for spending all my money on beer and bad rum, dancing all night in the hideously-over-populated gringo-and-sleazy-local-fest that is Mamma Afrika and spending my days watching cable movies or sitting in Irish/English pubs easing my hangovers with bangers and mash and cider. Then when I do manage to detach myself from the backpacker party scene, however briefly, I'm reminded of how amazing this place is.
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Why do I insist on making everything so difficult for myself?
Blog: The Brink of Something Else - 23 December 2009
Despite a completely irrational fear of flying that necessitates a hefty dose of Valium every time I so much as look at a plane take off, I adore airports. Its much like my love of long, somewhat uncomfortable bus trips and its why I'm dying to sit on the trans-siberian railway for 7 days solid. The sense of limbo, being between places; everybody intersecting, coming from and going to different, unknown, exciting places. The enforced down-time's an attraction too. Guilt-free hours spent reading, listening to my iPod or watching movies.
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Arrival into Arequipa
Blog: Documentariously Challenged - 24 October 2009
Alright alright! We’ve spent the morning so far eating our standard breakfast of two rolls of bread with margarine and jam, watching the pregame show for the bullfight we’re going to tomorrow and just relaxing. It’s been quite nice. After Machu Picchu we returned to Cuzco and passed out hard. The next day, [...]
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Warning: Peruvian bus driver may actually be Mario Andretti
Blog: Documentariously Challenged - 15 October 2009
Leaving Huaraz, we knew that we had to get moving to get to Cuzco. It was a long trip, but we knew it would be, so I suppose we were mentally prepared. But you can’t really prepare for something that long. We left Huaraz around 10pm and got into Lima around 6am, [...]
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Seeing Machu Picchu (despite the clouds)
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 7 October 2009
It has been noted in the past that I can be somewhat…competitive, and the prospect of competing with two hundred other trekkers to get to Machu Picchu made me determined to beat them all. So despite a few two many beers the night before, Adrian & I found ourselves getting up at the ungodly hour of [...]
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The Inca Trail
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 5 October 2009
To think I wasn’t even going to do the Inca Trail orginally. I’d fallen into the trap of listening to too many other backpackers talk about how it’s too touristy, too expensive, and not even as good as the many alternatives such as the Salkantay Trail. Luckily, a comment from Gillian on this post started to [...]
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Machu Picchu
Blog: Felicity Sees... - 5 October 2009
The traditional Inka trail trek is so popular that you have to book a place several months in advance if you plan to do it. I didn't, so an alternative was always on the cards. I wasn't much up for gasping my way through thin air and days of leg burning hikes, so signed up instead for a different tour called 'Inka Jungle' which offered a bit more variation and a bit less exertion {well, supposedly}.
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Proxima para; Peru
Blog: Felicity Sees... - 5 October 2009
From one side of Lake Titicaca to the other, from Copacabana I crossed into Peru to the nothing-to-write-home-about town of Puno. Of more interest here than the town itself are the unique and unbelievable floating islands, still inhabitated by what looks to be the final generation of the Quecha speaking fisherman culture, now entirely reliant on tourism to survive.
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Cusco
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 3 October 2009
In my first few months of traveling, I’ve hardly managed to get away from the gringo trail, so I’m quite used to seeing places that are full of tourists. Nothing could have prepared me for Cusco though – it’s easily the most touristy place I’ve been to so far. The city is absolutely heaving with [...]
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Peru. Checking off More of the Life List before we Kick the Bucket
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 12 June 2009
Last year a fantastic movie with Jack Nickleson and Morgan Freeman came out, and everyone jumped on the band wagon of making a “Bucket List.” I am glad that this started getting people to finally get out there and start living their lives. Now that we have crazy and more extreme ambitions and it is nice to visit places like Victoria Falls or Egypt, where we can tick a bunch items on our “bucket list” in one destination. That was what it was like when we visited Peru.
