30 January, 2006
The other half – Partying in Peru
When you travel you try and do everything on a budget. It’s expensive, after all, to stay in a hotel every night, eat out all the time, and pay for buses and flights. But for the past few days I was invited to the beach house of the family I know in Lima (names preserved […]
28 January, 2006
Donkeys and Condors
Condors are scavengers – that means they only eat meat of animals that have died and died recently…. Now, in the Colca Valley the condor watching is a huge draw, although in reality the spectacular scenery should be enough for most. So, to keep the tourists coming and to keep them happy it helps if […]
24 January, 2006
Gin Tonic in Lima Central
It was Douglas Adams that suggested that wherever you are in the universe, asking for something that sounds like “Gin and Tonic” will usually give you the same drink. Of course I’ve only been able to test this theory on Earth, but so far it had proven unbreakable. So in a non touristy town in […]
Peruvian Food
Peruvian food can be quite easily categorised into the following sections: Salty and meaty. Egg based. Dangerous. Salty and fishy. Scary. Salty and vegetarian. Touristic. Lomo Saltado is one of the classic dishes – fried and salted beef, served in a big pile with gravy, vegetables and chips – all mixed together. There may be […]
Machu Picchu
This place is the jewel in the South American tourist crown. An abandoned town at the top of a mountain that never got destroyed by the colonials – partly it seems because it just wasn’t all that important and a lot because of its rather inaccesible location. I won’t bore on about the history of […]
20 January, 2006
Safety when travelling
A lot of travellers worry about being robbed, kidnapped, raped, or jailed for trumped up drugs charges. But they get on a knackered bus, driven by a coca leaf chewing driver for 12hrs at a stretch, along the most dangerous roads in the world, without a second thought. I´m pretty certain more travellers die in […]
19 January, 2006
On top of t’world!
This is a complete re-write of the original, hurried, posting which failed to cover any detail about the Colca Canyon or Arequipa… or anywhere much that had passed between postings. I hadn’t realised I’d been so scarce with information. Arriving High at Arequipa We took what could only be described as a mobile sauna masquerading […]
12 January, 2006
Sand surfing in Huacachina
Would have liked to, but the thought of falling in sand and filling every nook and cranny of my body with sand just didn´t appeal! So instead we climbed up to the top of the biggest dune we could see, watched the sunset, and then ran down using these comedy strides of about six feet. […]
10 January, 2006
The road to Paracas
And now we find ourselves in Paracas – a four hour bus ride from Lima. It’s a tiny fishing village with a lot of restaurants good naturedly touting for business on the promenade, a small beach, a few hostels and a feeling of chaotic charm. It’s clearly poor as hell, but everyone seems happy too. […]
Del Carajo
At the end of the night a few of us were still ready to party. The reception went from 2pm to 11pm and to be honest… that’s not enough when you have the wind in your sails. Myself and Romana had wondered off from the group to investigate another party in the military base that […]
Wedding!
This was the primary reason for coming here! And hey, it rocked. As the bilingual service started I realised the priest had an obvious and clear Dublin accent. Turned out to be known to the extensive family network of John, the guy getting married. You could see a slight tenderness in John’s steps as he […]
Lima
Right – this is a posting from Paracas. Not had much time to post, and even now I only have half an hour before I’m expected to rejoin the group. Not exactly pricey though – it’s 1 soles for half an hour, which adds up to the almighty cost of 16p. I’m coming to the […]
7 January, 2006
Hotel Lost
Zgubilismy sie i to jak gupki. Wysiadajac z taksowki w pospiechu, nie wzielismy wizytowki i teraz siedzimy w kafejce szukajac adresu naszego hotelu. When a large group goes out together it’s inevitable that the group splits into small units. Myself and Romana went off in search of a backpack but neither of us checked if […]
4 January, 2006
The night before
I catch the plane at 9:20am. Preparations have been arduous. I’ve been tipped off that a handy way of dealing with people hassling you for money is to say you don’t have enough, but instead offer a cigarette and a light. I’ll give feedback on this. Of course, carrying around boxes of fags with me […]
