Odds And Ends

Well Maddy got off ok, and has arrived safely home. I'm glad to say that in the last few days in Mexico she really managed to begin living the Mexican life, with such choice quotes as:

"Is that a cockroach, or is there an elephant stuck to the ceiling?"

"Jamie that man just full-on groped my arse."

Of course I went looking for said man, to show him how western democratic justice works, but unfortunately he'd managed to escape me after I wondered slowly in the wrong direction, shaking with fear at the thought of finding him.

If you've been checking my photos recently you may have noticed that a strange Machu Picchu-like structure has cropped up in the middle on Mexico City. Well actually no it hasn't, I just uploaded Diego's photos from the Inca Trail. So that's that mystery solved, now we just have to work out how they got all those stones up there and so perfectly shaped without the use of wheels, metal tools or animals.

A blast from the past of a different jungle trip came in the following form from a fellow Lost City trekker:

i find myself in a weird mood in this current circumstances, kind of summering up my trip and looking back at things in a nostalgic manner; from meeting up with jamie kitson i can say i learnt this short, yet very true line that i found myself thinking about over and over again - "if it`s worth doing, than it`s worth doing well".

It's odd what you leave people with, I don't even remember saying it to him, mostly I asked him what the army was like and tried to keep off the subject of politics. He's Israeli.

Something I meant to mention about Colombia and all of America in general is this road system. The block system. It might be logical and easy to navigate, but it isn't half boring! Colombia though, decided that it wasn't boring enough and numbered the roads. Calling the north-south roads "Races" for some reason. But then Bogota decided that this was too boring and decided to renumber a whole sector meaning that lots of buildings now have two addresses on them, one crossed out in red.

UPDATE - So the phrase "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" was being applied to drinking, most of the guys were drinking warm rum with warm coke, and I couldn't stand it, I went out and bought a giant bag of ice and a giant bag of limes. If it's worth drinking, it's worth drinking well. And I hope I didn't cause any offence with the Israeli comment, I've liked every Israeli I've ever met.

Regrets, I Have A Few

Someone asked me if I have any regrets yesterday, just as I was having a look at Dan's photos of Haucachina, which I skipped to fly straight from Cusco to Lima. There's that, staying in Santa Cruz for all of a week and not getting my camera out fast enough yesterday when a man on a horse and cart past me. In the cart was an exercise bike. Aaaaagh!

You know you're on a good bus when both of the reading lights work, the trouble is, when the air conditioning works on buses in South America they tend to set it to -10° and so I woke up at 2:30am hungry for warmth. I went to the toilet, the back of the bus (near the engine) was lovely and warm but I decided I could not spend the rest of the journey in the loo. I discovered that I could sleep if I put my blanket (why oh why do they put the air conditioning on so low and give you a blanket?) over my face and head. I guess it's all the fault of my short hair. The other problem with my journey last night was that we arrived on time. At 5am. I took another taxi around various hostels and hotels until I eventually decided to walk. Bogota can't be that dangerous, I didn't get mugged or even threatened.

Bogota seems to be a really nice place, it reminds me of some of the good bits of London, but maybe that's just the weather, yep, it's grey, cool and wet.

So the first thing I did, once I'd slept for a total of about 12 hours (what is wrong with me?), was to visit the local travel agent to find out about flights. My initial plan was to see if I could get a cheap ticket to take me from Bogota to Mexico to Cuba to Guatemala to Brazil. Ok, Brazil's a big place, I'm talking Sao Paulo or Rio de Genaro. So first off, a one way to Mexico from Bogota is $600, but a return is $700. Ok, whatever. To fly between Cuba and Guatemala I have to go via Panama for some reason. I realise that I haven't really got time to "do" Cuba anyway, so we leave that out. To fly between Guatemala and Brazil I have to fly via Miami (WTF?!) I then ask about international flights from Cartagena, which is on the north coast of Colombia, which would not only be more convenient to me as it would mean I could just go one way through Colombia, but is also closer to Mexico. There aren't any international flights from Cartagena, but it turns out it is the cheapest option. And here is that cheapest option: Cartagena to Bogota to Mexico City, my first destination, then a month later Mexico City to Santiago (Chile!) to Sao Paulo, my second destination. Now I'm sure there's some logic to this somewhere along the line, but I certainly can't see it.

Funny Money

Ecuador uses the American dollar as its official currency. I have never been so confused by coins. Mostly the bigger they are the more they are worth. (The 50 cent coins are huge.) Except for the $1 coin. That's smaller. And the 5 cent coin is bigger than the 10 cent coin. And mostly they say what they are worth on them in big numerals. Except for the ones that don't. Some of the coins, including the tiny 10 cent coin, have the value printed on them in impossible to read words. Also some of the coins have "Banco Central Del Ecuador" written on them. Is Ecuador producing dollars? I can't imagine the US government allowing them to, is the US producing dollars for Ecuador? Trusty wikipedia doesn't have the answer so I can't tell you, This is all I could find: "Though Ecuador continues to mint its own coins, they are denominated in fractions of a dollar up to 50 cents."

Hopefully going on a train ride tomorrow through fantastic scenery, apparently you can ride on top (check the date :)

I think I did leave some things in Cusco in my rush to leave. My "North Face" (non) rain proof jacket, and I seem to be down a couple of pairs of pants and a T-shirt too. Oh well, I have too many clothes with me anyway.

Lemur

Lima gets a bad rap, and I'm not sure why, it's loud and polluted and the nice parts are expensive (man I've spent a lot of money over the last few days) and full of criminals, but what city isn't? And how many cities are this hot and have a nice cool shoreline to walk along? Maybe that's just it, I've been really lucky with the weather.

So I sold my soul, or morals, or rather bought someone else's, or at least mine deserted me when I went to the shops and saw how pricey cameras are here, no wonder the markets can charge so much.

Apparently the Peruvian government is trying to make Perumore punctual. It seems ok to me. Compared to other South American nations.

For A Few Dollars More

Guess I have to say something about Machu Picchu :)

Day 1: We got the bus up to the top of a hill in the poring rain and had lunch in a wooden shack in the middle of high jungle which had a giant corrugated iron bus shelter by it. We left the bikes about a meter outside the shelter. The rain stopped. We cycled for mile upon glorious mile of downhill track past sheer hills and jungle and fjords. The bikes slowly broke, the guides always taking the worst ones, by the end of the ride one guide had no chain and was scooting along, the other's saddle was at a painful looking angle. Got extremely muddy. Rained on and off.

Day 2: Trekked one of the Inca trails, again through jungle and along sheer hillsides, this time just wide enough for perhaps two people. My fear of heights and I got firmly reacquainted. Made friends with a pig at lunch.

Day 3: Seemed a bit pointless, but maybe that's just because it was mostly raining, we walked along a road before lunch and then a railway line after lunch, but we got to eat lots of things along the way. And see Machu Picchu (from below) for the first time.

Day 4: Got up at 4:30am and started the final accent to Machu Picchu. I think having been at altitude for so long has made me a bit fitter, Machu Picchu is relatively low, and quite a few of the others were having difficulty climbing the steps up. Machu Picchu itself are some recent ruins in good condition in an amazing setting. There's a vote on atm for the 8th wonder, they're pushing for Machu Picchu, but I'm not sure. While on the train/bus back to Cusco a fellow Machu Picchuer suggested I fly to Lima, rather than taking the 20 hour bus ride, as you can get tickets for under $60, not a lot more than the bus. Dropped my washing and asked for it by 12 the next day.

Day 5: Had a leisurely breakfast and got to the airport to enquire about tickets at about 10, to be told that the last cheap ticket was at midday, meaning I'd have to check my luggage in at 11. Rushed back to the hostel to see if my washing was ready. It wasn't, but I could go down the road to pick it up wet. Got back in the same taxi, went down the road, jumped out to search for my clothes, once I had found them and got back into the taxi the driver advised me not to leave my bags in taxis in Cusco as drivers often just drive off with them, but luckily he didn't like doing that. Made it to the airport at 11:00, hoping I had remembered to pack everything in my haste and checked in with a carrier bag full of wet washing as my hand luggage.

The first thing that I did in Lima was to check out the markets for cameras. It actually depressed me seeing all these blatantly stolen cameras, I think I was secretly hoping that I might see mine. I'm going to have to buy one from a shop (I'm probably going to buy a compact until the insurance comes through, finger's crossed), I cannot stomach buying a stolen camera. Bloody morals.

Hopefully some of the guys that were on the trek with me will take pity and donate a couple of pictures so that you don't have to just imagine me clinging to rocks along the way :)

Something I heard recently: "It's not that I don't believe in God, I do, it's just that I don't respect him."

Inca Stinka

The two things I find amazing about the Incas is how recent they are, 500 years (after all, they fought the Spanish) and, especially considering that, how little we seem to know about them. Every answer a guide gives seems to start with "Well..." For example I wanted to know why or how the Incas seem to have done so well against a Spanish army presumably armed with much more advanced weapons, and what weapons the Incas used against them. The answers went something like this "Well... there was probably ten Incas to every one Spaniard." and "Well... they might have used clubs with star headed stone heads and slings, we still use them today." We know what ancient civilisations believed created the moon, earth and stars, but did the Incas know that the earth goes around the sun? "Well... they had this sun dial to tell what time of year it was, and when to plant the crops so maybe they did, but maybe they didn't."

The Morning After II

I think I chose a bit of a bad day to go to Machu Picchu, the weather looks good, but everyone from my room went out last night and came back at various stages, waking me up. The last lot came back at about 5:30-6am, an hour before I was to get up, but how can you be angry at someone who wakes you up by playing the guitar so beautifully and singing "Jamie's asleep in bed, I'm off my head, on cocaine"? :)

The Big One

So I am off to the big MP tomorrow. I'm not doing the trail, partly because it's closed in February for maintenance, but also because it's pretty expensive. I'm doing an alternative four day trail, with biking on the first day. Apparently the biking is more impressive that the death road biking out of La Paz, which is good because I've been regretting not doing that. Machu Picchu without a camera, just fancy.

Dan, seriously, what's happened to you? Don't tell me all that time we spent in internet cafes together was purely for my benefit.

The Morning After

So at the end of my Bad Day, I returned to my hostel to put my name down for dinner (I really didn't want to eat alone) to be told I was too late. I almost turned away and cried, but instead swallowed my pride and begged, and showed how thin I was and how little I would eat and was rewarded with chicken satay.

It's a real shame I haven't got a camera, the hostel I am staying at is beautiful with amazing views.

I happened to mention a song Dan had claimed was the best mash up he'd ever heard, Enya vs Prodigy, to one of the bar staff who promptly downloaded it. I can see what Dan means, they are well matched, but really Dan, it's terrible! My favourites are still A Stroke of Genius and I Wish I Was A Cannonball, both by Freelance Hellraiser - The Strokes vs Christina Aguilera and The Breeders vs Skee-Lo respectively.

Arequipa is at a mere 2380m, while there I felt fit and healthy again, I could walk up flights of stairs, and even run! Cusco is at 3500m, and again, a short walk up a hill has me breathless.

Fuck

Well it finally happened, I had my camera stolen :( I know it's not the end of the world but it's really put a downer on things. And it's raining. But at least I get to use my "North Face" anorak. £2.70 in La Paz, it's already got a cigarette burn hole on one shoulder.

Wandering

I wonder what the election turn out is in South America, there's political graffiti everywhere. The current Bolivian president is the first of indigenous heritage, and is acting accordingly. The rich, white east wants more autonomy, though if you believe the graffiti in Santa Cruz they want independence. I received an email recently from a guy I met in Chile enquiring how things were in Bolivia, since "there is a chance of civil war soon". You could have fooled me. On a less serious note, driving into Peru there was some classic put your X here graffiti in support of Juan Huanca. Pronounced the Spanish way to English ears it sounds quite rude!

Mum, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that I made it through Bolivia without mishap, you can breath a sigh of relief. The bad news is that I am closer to Colombia :)

I've put up the lightning pictures and video. The pictures all looked the same unfortunately and the video is virtually all black, so you just have Dan's commentary and a few flashes of lightning.