Peru

From Bogotá I flew to Lima in order to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu. After spending an uneventful 24 hours in the capital I headed South to see some Inca ruins. My plans to head straight to Machu Picchu were thwarted by the exhausting altitude of Cusco but since it´s a very beautiful place sith fascinating museums it wasn´t so bad.

Cusco has magnificent architecture and walls dating back to the Inca settlement which started the city. There are indigenous people walking the streets with their llamas (although most of them want to be paid for a photo) and a spectacular Andean backdrop.

While I was people-watching on my first day a school trip arrived to visit the sights. This being Peru, they were all dressed in colourful cloths and intricate embroideries and arrived in a cattle truck. I was able to get some great photos of traditional costumes and my subjects were just as fascinated by me as I was by them.

From there I visited some of the museums which demonstrate the extraordinary potting skills of the various indigenous culture and also some very impressive jewellery. After fishing the shark on the way to Colombia the crew had made a necklace and bracelet from the vertebrae and I was interested to see that the indigenous cultures of Peru did just the same with their prey. Apart from adorning themselves with items of bone, shell and precious metals the Incas also deformed their skulls using metal strips. According to the museum, this practice doesn´t affect brain function and simply demonstrates the nobility of the subject. Having soaked up some of the culture, it was time to visit some ruins.

I had received instructions froma Dutch guy who had lived in Cusco about how to get to Machu Picchu and avoid the tourist rip-off. The trip involved a bus and then a taxi to a village with thermal springs. In the taxi I met up with some French and German tourists who were taking the same route and we decided to travel together.

We all left Santa Teresa at 4.30 am and the adventure began as we crossed a huge, frothing river by pulley. Once on the other side we got in the back of a lorry to the local electrical plant which is linked to Machu Picchu by rail. From then on we followed the railway tracks for 2 or 3 hours until we arrived at Machu Picchu. On the way we met some Peruvian boys who were all taking their mothers on an outing to the ruins. Together we all visited the ruins and climbed the Haynu Picchi, an adjacent mountain which gives spectacular views of the ruins.

The Incas were very keen on steps I have learned. After an exhausting day of walking up and down them and checking out the various temples we decided to stay in thearby village of Agua Calientes.

At dinner the waitress informed us that we could walk to the next town in 4 hours, again along train tracks, and that the hike would allow us to see some spectacular scenery. After a day of walking for 13 hours, the prospect of 4 short hours seemed like a great way to end our time in the Sacred Valley.

The following day we visited the thermal springs in the morning, bought some snacks and set off at noon. The scenery was indeed very beautiful but after 5 hours of walking, with night approaching, we began to get worried about when we would arrive. When we came across some railway workers they infromed us that we had another 12km before the nearest village, which was still 15km from the town we had planned to walk to. Since there are no roads in the area and the trains were unwilling to take us, we had no choice but to press on and grit our teeth against the blisters and aching muscles. At 7.30 we finally arrived in the first village that had a road and as we spotted a delivery van we magically summoned the strength to run and catch it. Providence smiled on us as the delivery driver agreed to take us halfway back to Cusco if we didn´t mind sitting in the back of the open truck on packets of rice and pasta.

The grocer´s van dropped us at Urubamba, some 2 hours from Cusco but on a popular bus route. So popular is the route that there was no space in any of the buses. Emboldened by our luck with the van earlier in the day we approached a man who had parked on the roadside to take a phonecall. Again we were incredibly lucky as he was going to Cusco and agreed to take us. Luis, the driver, told us tales of his two sons Luis and Luis, his father Luis and his grandfather and great uncle, also both Luis. To add to the confusion they all live under the same roof in Cusco. After leaving gifts of football cards and pens with integrated lights for the Luises we parted happily in Cusco and ready for bed. It was time to dream of the next stop: Isla del Sol, Bolivia.

Colombia

I started my land travel of Columbia in Cartagena. The city was the main Spanish port for their colonial empire. From there they shipped the gold and other riches that they plundered. The wealth allowed the Spaniards to build some stunning buildings, many of which still stand. Success also attracted pirates and there are fabulous stories of seiges and sackings. The city´s hero is Blas de Lezo the one-armed, one-eyed pirate who defended Cartagena against the Englishman Edward Vernon in a spectacular battle in which his men were hugely out-numbered. He died ruining Vernon´s plans for Prime Ministerial glory but is revered today as the man responsible for Colombia remaining Spanish. There was, however, little time for Cartagena because Manu Chao was to give a free concert in Bogotá a few days later.

Olga, a friend from the boat, and I headed off to the capital. The concert was amazing with thousands of people braving the strange security arrangements which involved removing your shoes and walking 30m barefoot before being searched.

From Bogota I headed South to St Agustin, a place where 5,000 year old statues have been discovered. Nothing is known about the culture that created them beyond the fact that they traded with the Incas and Mayas since items from both cultures have been discovered in the area. The area is magnificent and I would loved to have spent more time there but Cali, city of salsa was calling.

In Cali I fell ill with a fever and became extremely worried because Cédric, a friend with whom I had travelled in Honduras, had fallen prey to malaria. I headed straight to hospital for blood tests, after which of course I immediately began to feel better, and they came back negative as suspected. Following a day of recuperation I headed out to the salsa bars with some other people from the hostel to join in the flailing.

Once again it was time to move on, to the highlands and the coffee growing area. Since the region is so close to the equator it´s not actually cold and there is the most incredible light. On the first evening, just before sunset I witnessed a beautiful rainbow. Apart from great coffee and some of the kindest people I have encountered on my travels, La Zona Cafetera boasts extraordinary cloud forests replete with palm trees and hummingbirds.

I visited the area on horseback (although it could be argued that my mount was actually a donkey) and met a friendly Colombian couple from Cali who showed me the sights. the ride took us across rivers and up and down mountains teeming with life. Once again I had to say goodbye to new friends and head back to Bogota as my flight to Lima would leave the following day.

Sailing from Panama to Colombia

I had planned to got from Panama to Bolivia directly but at the last minute decided to cancel the flight and join a boat sailing for Cartagena in Colombia. All the travellers I had met raved about Colombia and I had to thow caution to the wind and go and see it for myself.

We followed a coastal route which was fortunate since the North Koreans decided to test their nuclear weapons while we were in the water. Although we were on the Atlantic side, and in relatively sheltered waters, we still experienced waves 8 metres high. Apart from the risk of tidal waves caused by errant dictatorships the San Blas islands are also the area in which most yachts are struck by lightening in the world. I was quite worried about this risk but apparently it is very rare that people are hurt even if lightening does strike. All this was in marked contrast to the the reality of being on the water which was tranquil and frequently breathtaking.

After leaving Portobelo in Panama we would head to the most beautiful border post in the world to get Panamanian exit stamps and then onto the San Blas Islands. The whole experience would last 6 days in total.

The trip was magical, stopping at deserted islands and beautiful beaches along the way. The San Blas islands between the two countries are owned by the Kuna, indigenous people of Panama, and are fairytale white beaches complete with palm trees. Most are uninhabited apart from a few birds and are very small - small enough to walk around in less than an hour. Frequently they were surrounded by spectacular corals and fish so the snorkelling was amazing.

Along the way we fished for our dinner, and one day the skipper caught a beautiful feathered snapper (which is actually a wrasse - for those of you who did BV). We constantly ran a fishing line off the back of the boat and managed to catch a small shark which we ate as ceviche.

We stopped in a small bay where South America begins, just after Cabo de Tiburon (Shark Point) and there experienced the wonderful Colombian hospitality. This coast, which inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez´s One Hundred Years of Solitude, is truly worthy of Magical Realism. Apart from the beauty of it all the joie de vivre of the people is really special. We hadn´t beenon land 5 minutes before a Colombian bought us drinks to welcome us to Colombia. He then gave us a ride to nearby Capurganá, plied us with rum and then when he went to take a phone call. In the man time he forgot that we were with him and drove back to the yacht without mentioning a word to the skipper about where he had left the crew.

Two days later we would arrive in Cartagena, the beautiful walled colonial city, to a sunrise.

Photos from this trip are here:

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=98429512

Not on Blogger due to technical problems.