Sexy Woman!!!

Hello everyone.

Well since arriving to Cusco, Sean and I left Loki Hostel after we found out there were no jobs avaliable. But we will be back there shortly.

Since moving to our new hostel, Amazing Brew, a nice and cheap hostel with a kitchen, I have entered one museum. The Inka Museum. Obviously it features alot of manly bits and old stuff. Also some very dead mummies. Yep. Old, dusty and bony mummies.

I was also fortunate to be in Cusco for some crazy insane celebration. Cusco flags (heavily resembling the gay pride flag) was hanged everywhere, and throughout the entire day school children danced in cultural costumes, ranging from the lower years to the higher. So the city centre was packed quite abit.

I also climbed the Incan ruins, Saesaywaman, or as I like to call it, Sexy Woman. Its basically one of the Incan fortresses that is still kind of standing. Really, we only see 20 percent of it. I also climbed up to the giant statue of Jesus Christ. And for karma points, I helped a local push his bike cart up a stoney path with Sean. Of course, between the ruins and Jesus Christ, I jumped over ruins and went through pitch black tunnels, once again fighting my fear of falling. Oh the joy.

Machu Pichu Baby!

Hello everyone.

Sam, Luke, Jess and Jo decided to go to MP (Machu Pichu) one day earlier than I and Sean. Which is no biggie really, because as luck would have it, I ran into Carielle again. This was amazing as I simply adore my abuela (grandma). This resulted in a day of drinking and going out dancing with Claire, Sean and Carielle. All good, all good.

The next day Sean and I embarked for MP with a new group, Paul, Jasper, Marcello and more people I can't really remember.





Day 1 - The guide was actually late to pick us up, 30 minutes to be exact. This means I could have had 30 more minutes of sleep! Alas, things did not become better. After being picked up, there were still further delays as we waited at a checkpoint to load the bikes and get into a new van, one that can accomodate more people. I also had stomach issues, which prevented me from eating anything. The delay also meant we didn't get to spend time in the first town, Ollytambo (possible incorrect spelling here). The bus ride to the top of the bike route took around 3 hours I reckon. Now, I love to ride bikes, but the fun here was taken out completely because after doning the helmet and pads, we had to ride in formation. Yep. Formation. Slow.

Reaching the bottom of the mountain, I had to ride through dirt and rock paths, which is due to the construction taking place along the path. Reaching the finish line, we all boarded the bus to get stuck in traffic for many hours. Fantastic fun that was. Reaching the hostel in the second town, Santa something, we recieved lunch, dinner, and no shower. This really does get better doesn't it. No it doesn't. I was attacked by a severe headache because of the cold high altitude wind.

Day 2 - Day 2 was a typical hike through the jungle. First we took a pickup truck to the beginning of the path, then we started climbing. Highlights were, eating the local delicacy, cuy. Which is guinea pig.

I was also painted on my face using a paint berry plant that the Incans used to use. After ascending the mountain, going through treacherous paths where my fear of falling made my progress stupidly slow, we then had to cross rivers using a rope and lift system. I did the pulling while Sean just sat back. After doing this a few more times, I had to trek through river rocks and jump from one to another whilst hugging the wall as to not fall into the river. It was dangerous, but it was extremely exhillarating. At the end, we were rewarded with the natural hot springs. Unfortuantly, I cut my foot deeply here as I fell into the pool. Totally sucks. Sean and I then got a bus to the hostel with the guide, ate dinner and went to sleep.

Day 3 - Today was a hard day for trekking. The cut I recieved was deeper than I first thought, so it hurts like hell when trying to walk. Luckily, the path wasn´t too difficult, and with the help of pain killers, I was able to power through the pain. Sean, thankfully, decided to walk with me, so I wasn´t without company. He must have noticed I wasn´t walking properly when I was 10 minutes behind him. My stomach still hasn´t played down yet, but I am able to eat more now. Eventually, we arrived to the train tracks, which would lead us directly to Agus Calientes, the last stop town to Machu Pichu. We had a lunch of soup (I been eating alot of soup on this trip), rice with chicken, and ice cream for dessert. It may sound nice, but all the food I have had so far sucked. After a few hours, we arrive in Agus Calientes, where I visted the local marketplace, which was unfortuantly full of touristic crap. But the dinner here was very good however. Chicken cream soup for starters, and beef fillet with rice and chips for the main. I also got to shower, which was great as I only bathe in the hot spring so far.

Day 4 - Had to wake up at 3 30 am. Had crappy breakfast. Then started a major hike up the mountain, racing against everyone else to the top so we can get tickets to Hyana Pichu, another mountain next to Machu Pichu. It was very hard too, as it was just insanely steep stairs. We managed to reach the top in 40 minutes, where we then waited in a queue.

Machu Pichu is a very beautiful place, which makes it more of a shame that the Incans got totally smashed by the Spanish. The structures are amazingly pieced together with blocks of rock. Stairs are dotted all around MP, connecting the different parts of the city together, seemingly creating a maze.

After the guided tour, Sean and I climbed Hyana Pichu. Going up was the easy part. Going down was just hell for me. My fear forced me to take it extremely slow, but luckily Sean helped me down. But by the time I got down, I was exhausted. The hyper ventilation and lack of water slowed my body. My foot injury still hasn´t gotten better either.

So after a rest, Sean and I climbed to the Sun gate. What a waste of time that was. It was exhausting and there was hardly anything to see. But we took a picture nonetheless. By now, we both were tired, so we called it a day and went back to Agus Calientes on the highly priced bus, decided to screw the MP mountain and not climb to its peak. Returning to AC, we went to the hot springs to wash our exhausted bodies, then we took a train to Ollytambo, then a bus to Cusco and back to Loki. I had to say good bye to Marcello unfortuantly, but it was just nice to have a decent bed after being awake for 20 hours. But I ran into Luke, Sam, Jess and Jo in the bar. So naturally, I drank, danced on the bar and slept 2 hours later. Who needs sleep when you have friends and booze?

Goodbye Arequipa, I will always love you

Hey everyone.

Its a sad time. My stay in Arequipa will end soon. Its been amazing here. All the friends I made amongst the GVI crew. Brap braps to Sam, Luke, Jo, Carielle, Michael, Claire, Patrick, Kat, Katrien, Ben and so much more.

On my last night in Arequipa, I went to Michael´s cervichi party. Cervichi is a South American dish, but in the peruvian style, its raw fish cooked using the acidic lime juice. The fish is then mixed with large quantities of various hot peppers and herbs. This creates an intense sour and spicy flavour. In a sense, it taste like sour spicy tuna. I also drank a fudge load and took up the hot pepper challenge. Those were the hottest peppers I have ever eaten and I will never do that again. The burning sensation is absolute killer.

Afterwards, we did more drinking.  Fun.

To prepare for the bus to Cusco, Sean and I purchased crisp, chicken and chips and water. Unfortuantly, Sean had his food carried off by Luke. I still had my food though. But some annoying child and mother took my bag of grocceries that I have been saving, consisting of cooking oil, spices, spaghetti and etc.

Arriving to Cusco was without trouble, and I got to look foward to spending more time with the GVI crew, Sam, Luke, Jo, Jess and Claire. We all went to Cusco and stayed in the same hostel, Loki. During night, we all drank, slept and our plans for Machu Pichu assembled.

Colca Trekking Mayhem!!! Part 2

Greetings to my adoring fans. Or fans. Or just people.

Here is where the hard part starts. Waking up from the much needed sleep, I obtained 4 chocolate bars and 2 small bottles of fizzy drinks. We started our climb out of the canyon around 8ish am. That was our first mistake. The second mistake was not having any breakfast. The third mistake was not having enough water and food to get us out.

With the Sun blazing on our sweating backs, we climbed for hours. Eventually it became such a hard and exhausting climb, I literally hugged any shaded walls, giving myself a few minutes of rest. Or more. We consumed all the chocolate before it melted, and the worst occured. We both ran out of water. It now became a mission of survival to climb out of that hell hole and get something to drink. I eventually had to start crawling my way up because it was so difficult. We did make it out obviously, after 4 hours I believe. It was by sheer will power we managed to achieve this. Reaching the top, we were greeted by a nice cold stream, where we soaked our heads in the revitilizing water. I also drank some of it, putting my Steripen to test.

Things only got worse however. Reaching the small town, we found out we would have to wait until 9 30pm until we could get a bus out of the bloody place. That left us with 6 hours to kill, where all we wanted was a nice shower and some decent food. But no, life decided to punch us in our groins. At least I managed to solve the mystery of the apaca meat. We ordered steaks at the same restaurant, and I was relieved to find that the steak did not look like the apaca meat at all. So Sean didn´t eat my apaca meat.

Finally reaching Arequipa, life decided to further stamp and stomp on us as we discovered that our hostel no longer had any spare rooms. Even worse, the hostel was lacking staff! We were just lucky that the door to the hostel was actually open, so we quickly collected the rest of our bags and trekked to the famous hostel, Wild Rover. Here we finally got to sleep in fairly decent beds.

Colca Trekking Mayhem!!! Part 1

Hello true believers.

Yes its me, the lovable and yet, amazingly awesome, John. I have escaped the clutches of the Colca Canyon after a death defying 5 hour trek today, after an 8 hour trek the day before.

But I shall begin from the start.

Only Sean and I went on the trek. We left our hostel around 12ish, and got on a bus to Cabanaconde at 2pm. We arrived in Cabanaconde by 8pm I believe. Our choices of hostels incuded the VALLEY OF FIRE and Valla. We chose the non death sounding one.

For dinner, I had Apaca steak with chips after whooping Sean in a game of Chess two times. This was followed by a huge debate of whether Sean ate my Apaca or not. We literally could not tell the difference between a beef steak and an apaca steak. This issue was resolved later on however.

We left for trekking at 7am, and by Jeebus did we get lost. It is extremely fortunate we decided not to go to the Cruz del Condor, or we be stuck in the town for much longer than we would have liked.

The start of the trek was fairly easy. Sun scorching, rocky paths filled with mule poop...yep, it was the trekker life. Until the blisters appeared. Then the horror started. Every step was filled with foot numbing pain, severely delaying my progress whilst Sean whizzed ahead, leaving me behind. To suffer. In the canyon....

We eventually reached a river after 3 hours of downhill marching, where we soaked our feet in the freezing cold, most likely, glacial melt water. It was divine and worked wonders for my blisters. Until they started hurting again of course.

Throughout the day, we became lost many times as there are no directions at all. I am also positive I came to death several times due to my fear of heights combined with the possibility of falling down to my death. We kept trekking higher and higher, crossing bridges, tiny paths, aqueducts, and passing by villages and trespassing in gardens we wern´t aware off (Due to Sean´s terrible sense of directions). I also had to fight off a few wild evil dogs that tried to kill us. I do recommend the apaca stir fried with vegetables and chips in Cosni something village. Good value, as it was only 10 soles. But do not buy the cold drinks, as it is a rip off.

 

Now, the perils I experienced was terrible indeed. I had to fight off fire ants, stalking tree branches, mule poop, wild rabid dogs and the possibility of falling to my death. It was not a fun time. But I believe it was easier than Mount Cerro Torco due to the many rest points along the way. 

After reaching the highest point, Malata, we then had to bloody descend the Canyon again. This resulted in more mind numbing pain for me as we descended to the Oasis. I eventually arrived, after Sean took the wrong direction (lol). We quickly paid for our beds, I took a swim in the pool, had dinner and went to sleep. 

Battered, Bruised and Bleeding

Hey everyone.

Its Sunday, and I am going to spend my time wisely recovering from my injuries that I obtained from the Chachani mountain bike ride.

It was fun, no doubt about it. Just painful. The tankers met up at the Casa for 8am, then we took a 2 - 3 hour van ride to the top of the Chachani volcano. Then we strapped on our geeky helmets, protective pads, sat our asses on our bikes and rode down the mountain.

I look rough after my tumble

I tackled sand pits, rocky paths and such. Most of the way it was a down slope ride, which was extremely exilerating. I hated the sand parts though, because whenever I dropped in speed, my bike would sink. If I go too fast, I would drift out of control, resulting in me eating sand and dirt. Unfortuantly, this occured several times. 8 to be exact.

The wounds I suffered are the following:

- Bleeding left elbow
- Majorly bruised right palm
- Muscle fatique along the hips, stomache, upper legs and my balls.
- Yes, my balls

Unfortuantly during the trip, Carielle, one of the tankers, lost her Camera lens cover. This resulted in a further 1 hour of driving around looking for it. It amazes me what the tour guides did to help, but to no luck. I´m sure it can be replaced however.

Getting back to the hostel, I dropped out faster than a falling turtle. That means I slept like a baby.

Its been so long

Hey fellow believers!

Sorry its been such a long time since my last post. After finding out Sean´s amazing view count, I realized my blog is far inferior to his, therefore I must make it better. So expect to see pictures and the sort.

So what have I done since my arrival in Arequipa?

- I didn't do much until Sean arrived.

Not really surprising is it? I did watch alot of episodes of Spartacus. So violent and features alot of sex scenes, so young and strict minded people, beware. Funny thing, Sean's voice really has changed. Its really gruff now, partly due to his crazy antics in Bolivia.

With Sean´s arrival, I finally left the hostel and computer. I explored more of Arequipa, went into a few museums, visited a church thing and the artisans market.

Old helmet

Maiden of seven sorrows

When the time came, we left the hostel we were at. Surprisingly, I kinda miss the hostel, mainly due to Sean and I dominating the computers. Also, the manager offered a pretty sweet deal for us; write a positive review and we get one night free! No point arguing in that.


Meeting the other members of GVI on a Friday barbecue was very interesting. But it seemed we were the only "tankers" at the time. But we did get to meet the project coordinators and managers and other staff members. Plus the barbecue was pretty decent, as well as the bar we went to.

Black Russian and White Russian for 12 soles. That's less than 3 pounds people!

As the weekend went by, the ranks of the Tankers swelled. Our numbers now include Michael, Carielle, Joanh and Claire. But honestly, Sean and I did most of the work. We moved mountains, destroyed rocks and just dominated nature overall.

Patrick (Project manager), Joanh, Michael, Carielle, Claire, Me, Sean

First day of work didn´t go too well though. Our taxi driver managed to get lost, therefore we were lost. Luckily Sean had Patrick´s number, so we quickly joined up with Patrick and Carielle. Claire and Michael were sick unfortuantly. But like I said, Sean and I did most of the work. 

Call for help!

Pic of the site