Jungle Trekking to Machu Picchu

We started a jungle trek early last Monday morning which involved 4 days and 3 nights of mountain biking, trekking, zip lining and ending at Machu Picchu. We were jumping with excitement for our trip as we waited for Lorenzo Expeditions to pick us up.

We were taken to Abra Malaga at 4300 m to begin our descent into the jungle.  We rode downhill for about 4 hours through sun, pouring rain, and mud to Santa Maria.

Don´t let the smile fool you, she was not happy about being covered in  mud.

When we arrived in Santa Maria, we were greeted by garden hoses and Adam suffered some slight electrocution before we changed into some dry clothes.  We spent the night in Santa Maria and were ready to start trekking to Santa Teresa at 7:30 am on Tuesday morning.  It was about a 12 hour day of trekking with some stops for delicious food in the mountains and some Inca history lessons.

One of our stops was at the ¨Monkey House¨ where we had our faces painted and dressed up in traditional Peruvian dress.

Walking on an Inca trail...not for the faint-hearted with a 300 ft drop off

After a long day, we finally arrived in Cocalmayo to relax at the hot springs.  We spent the night in Santa Teresa at an eco lodge right next to the river outfitted with mosquito nets.  It was a really beautiful lodge and it would have been nicer to stay longer but the next day we had to be on our way.  Wednesday morning we went ziplining in Santa Teresa which has some of the highest ziplines in South America (200 ft above the river and reaching speeds of 65 km/h).  

After the ziplines we trekked to Aguas Calientes and had a very early night in preparation for our 4 am hike up over 1800 steps to Machu Picchu in the rain.  I think we both could have used more stairmaster before the trip!  Fortunately, the weather cleared up later and we spent almost the entire day taking in the ruins.

As promised, this is for you ladies...you know who you are.

We highly recommend if you are considering a jungle trek from Cusco to go with Lorenzo Expeditions.  Our guide was amazing (ask for Johan..aka Papi).

Tonight is our last night in Peru before heading off to Bolivia.  More to come later!

Spanish Lessons

Adam and I decided to take Spanish lessons in Cusco and they have certainly paid off.  We signed up for quite the intense schedule with FairPlay - a non-profit organization that trains single mothers to teach Spanish and improves their standard of living.  We just finished a week long 6 hour per day Spanish course which consisted of 3 hours grammer in the mornings, and 3 hours practice in the afternoon out in markets, museums, on hikes, etc.  Our teachers were excellent and very patient with us at times...especially during hours of trying to remember how to conjugate irregular verbs...We also stayed at a homestay and were able to practice more Spanish outside of our schooling. Some of the highlights from the homestay include: having one pillow for an entire week for the two of us, the rooster that woke us up every morning at 6, needing 5 blankets at night and still being cold and of course the lovable dog Toto who licks your pants and stains them forever.

Our cooking class at FairPlay 

The results of our lesson. Lomo Saltado

We feel quite confident with our Spanish now, and although we are not by any means fluent, we have a good  understanding of the language and are able to get around easier.

Cusco is a very interesting city and we have been happy that we were able to spend more time here.  Although the streets may be a bit dirty and there is some pollution, the city has a lot of character and we have met some great people here.  There are also so many interesting things to see in and around the city.

 A few of our favorite sights have been the Museo de los Incas, Templo de la luna, Cristo Blanco, and Mercado San Pedro.  We also went to a museum called irq´i yachay where a non-profit went out to various mountain villages and taught children how to paint, draw, create masks..etc.  It was very interesting to see because these kids had never had the opportunity to express themselves through art before and could only draw or paint what they knew (mountains, condors, family..etc).

We are leaving for a 4 day jungle trek to Machu Picchu tomorrow and I am sure we will have more stories from our trek.  Wish us luck - the high altidude may affect our hiking ability!

Cusco

We arrived in Cusco safely on Monday morning after quite the adventure. What we expected to be a short one hour flight from Lima turned into a day long adventure and a test of patience. The morning of our flight to Cusco, before leaving the hostel we checked our flight info and were surprised to see that the airline (Peruvian Airlines) no longer flew to Cusco.

They forgot to mention that to us.  We went to the airport anyways to see what was going on and the staff (less than helpful) told us that all flights were cancelled for at least 10 days. We later learned from a German traveller that Peruvian airlines had been operating this route without a licence for about a year and the government shut them down.

Basically, we had these options:

1. Going on a waitlist for another airline, the earliest flight being at 12 in the afternoon the following day (even then we would be unlikely to make it).

2. Take a bus from Lima to Cusco (30 hours).

3. Fly to Arequipa and then try to make it on a 10 hour overnight bus. 

We chose option 3 because that way we would be able to get out of the airport and possibly see Arequipa which is quite nice. We managed to get a ticket for the flight 5 minutes before boarding time and flew to Arequipa. After a quick taxi ride to the bus station, we managed to buy the last 2 tickets for the overnight bus arriving in Cusco at 6am. After a very comfortable and enjoyable ride (shout out to Cromotex bus company) we got in to Cusco and were able to get a few hours sleep before starting language school...

More to come about Cusco and spanish school. 

Lima

We arrived in Lima safely on Thursday night and were met by a couple of people from the hostel.  After a stimulating discussion on economics, we found our hostel in Miraflores - Open Guest House.

The guest house is very charming and the staff was very welcoming.  They have been really helpful with offering restaurant and tour advice, as well as giving us a overview of Peruvian history and culture.

Our first day we spent walking around Miraflores and the Costa Verde.  In the evening, we went to the Circuito Magico del Agua for an amazing evening of fountains, music, and neon lasers.  There was a water labyrinth that we managed to navigate...some more quickly than others.  Water would spring up at unexpected times from different places, making it a challenge to get to the center and back without getting soaked.

Today we took a free walking tour in Lima Centro around Plaza de Armas.  We learned a lot about the Spanish conquest of Peru and their battles with the Incas.  Spoiler alert: the Spanish won...for now.

We have enjoyed Lima so far.  It seems to get a bad rep from other travellers, but everyone has been very friendly, we`ve eaten delicious, cheap food, and we have felt safe everywhere we have been.  We are off to Cuzco tomorrow.  You will hear more from us there.

One more day!

Hello everyone,

After much planning and anticipation, our trip is finally here.  Adam and I will be starting our travels tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited.  For those of you who haven't heard, we have decided to disappear for as long as our budget allows and make our way through South America, SE Asia, and Europe.  

We fly out from Vancouver tomorrow evening and (after a few stops) will arrive in Lima on Thursday night.  We will try to update the blog often so you can expect to hear from us soon!

Let the adventures begin!

The bag: 35 L

The Clothes: May be sick of these soon...