A Jew In Peru (and more)

Hi

Hope all is well.

I have now finished my journey through the country of Peru and am currently waiting for a bus in Copacabana to take me to Bolivia´s capital, La Paz. Overall I found Peru to be many more times more enjoyable than its Northern neighbour Ecuador. It seemed Peru offered up a lot more and was a lot friendlier.

I started at the beach resort of Mancora ... a great, chilled out resort where I met a few cool people whom I was to meet later on whilst travelling South. I was also offered the honey moon suite for $8 a night with its own porch and hammock. I really did not want to leave. Mancora was the last time I actually felt warm during the day and night as it has been getting progressively colder (currently around minus 5 at night).

After sunning myself at Mancora I got a bus to a town called Trujillo. There is not much to mention about this time other than I recieved the worst hair cut of my life ... the guy had to be 80, deaf with shakey hands and left me looking like Gary Rhodes. I can´t really mumble though as it cost me 50p. I did however have to go next door an hour later and get another haircut to make myself look "presentable".

Anyway after Truijillo I got a bus to the capital city of Lima. Now some peeps have told me that Lima was a grimy, smelly, dangerous city but in fact I found it to be a safe, fun and interesting one. Thankfully fate played me a good hand as I had met a Peruvian lady who lived in Lima, Marlene and a Swiss lady, Michelle, who also lived in the same suburb whilst in Mancora. So during the week I was at Lima I was taken around the city, away from Gringo ally, into the depths of Lima. There were a few memorable events worth talking about including a HUGE parade that went on for at least 4 hours in Lima with an astronomical fireworks display that was unparelled to any I have seen before (soirry dad) that went on for at least 20 minutes to a sound track from Star Wars. One night I was also invited to Marlenes flat and decided to buy and cook them a typical English dinner ... avocadoes and prawn mayonaise to start then stir fried beef with mixed vegetables in hoi sin sauce. The meal cost me under 8 pounds to buy ... and it served 5! Special thanks have to go to the Marlene, Michelle and Fabiola for their hopsitality.

After exploring Lima it was time to travel to Cusco. I decided to get a plane up there as it would have been a butt clenching 32 hrs by bus. Cusco was certainly a shock to the system not only because of the inflated prices but also the fact it was over 3,000 mtrs above sea level and bloody freezing at night ... I decided to not bring my sleeping bag and indeed any warm clothes. High altidue really does smack me hard and it felt like I had asthma and a dicky heart after climbing only 10 steps to the hostal. When I got to Cusco however I met a girl whom I had spent time with in Lima called Emily (from Palmers Green). She had already been at Cusco for a while so knew a few people thus we all went out in a big group and got pissed. One thing I did not heed was to go slowly on your first night in Cusco and thus I woke in the morning with a mini lightning storm actively engaging my temples and half my torso frozen to the bed. Cusco itself is a very beautiful town with cobbled narrow alleyways and a spectacular grand plaza but the hostels I stayed in where nuts ... literally a shed with no hot water or radiator.

Whilst in Cusco I did the gringo tours and went to a days worth of ruins surrounding the town, which according to the guides all look like Pumas and Condors ... you need to be chewing a lot of Cocoa leaves to imagine this. After three days it was time to see the grand-daddy of Inca ruins, Macchu Pichu. Unfortuantely I was not able to do the 4 day tour as you needed to book at least 3 months in advance so decided to do it in a day. After getting up at 5.00 am, catching a bus, then train, then another bus I arrived to see the MP ruins in blazing sunlight. A fantastic experience and one which I shall not forget. I have not yet developed my photos but I am sure there are a few gems.

After Cusco I travelled South (passing more ruins) to the Sourthern town of Puno. Puno is a bloody freezing town (I´ll never take a radiator for granted again) sitting beside the worlds highest lake, Titicaca. After meeting up with Emily again I spent my first and only day in Puno exploring the floating islands which have been man made from the lakes reeds. The natives have an interesting and tranquil life where they can move the islands to different spots if need be. From Puno I got a bus to the Bolivian boarder.

Overall Peru was a great country with diverse communities and interesting, exciting activities and I can easily say has been my favourite S. American country thus far. Lets see what awaits in Bolivia.

Just to let you know the blog site is not working and thus I cannot download photos or update the site but it shall be done soon.

Pura Vida,

James