Andes

Taken a long time to update this as I havent been able to get to the internet.
After the first night in Lima we had breakfast at 5am and left the hotel at 6 which was very cold. We all piled onto the coach/minibus and Carlos our leader introduced everyone. The guy sat behind me started talking to me and it turns out he's a year older and is from Exmouth which is a massive coincidence considering not even everyone on the trip is English.

The drive out of Lima as the sun came up was amazing. As you leave the main city there are hundreds of little shanty towns which make Rio's favelas look like palaces. The landscape outside Lima is different also...it is so dry and barren, it is like desert almost with only the occasional cactus or shrub growing.

The first day we drove along the coast where we took a speed boat from the bay out to the ballestras islands which are covered in all sorts of sea birds, and poop! There were penguins, pelicans, cormorants, gulls, sealions and many others all completely covering the rocks. We also saw a preincan design which is drawn into the cliff. The land round there is very dry and barren, it only rains a couple of times a year so it has stayed intact. After the boat journey we went to a restaurant and had local fish which was gorgeous. After lunch we drove towards Ica and stopped along the way at a traditional winery. Our very enthusiastic guide showed us round and explained the traditional ways of making Pisco (the national drink). After the tour we all tried bits of the different types, of which some are lovely and others like paintstripper. After that we drove to Ica and found our hotel which was lovely again and braved a very cold swim in the pool.

The next morning we got up early again and into the mood. We went to the museum in Ica. Here we saw lots of old Barracus (sp?) and Nazca artefacts. They also have fully preserved humans which are thousands of years old that got dried out in the sand and the skin and hair is still all intact and in one even the eyes.

After the museum we drove to the oasis and us 4younger ones opted to do sandboarding. We were strapped into buggies then taken up into the dunes. It was like a rollercoaster the dunes are massive and our driver sped and skidded up and down the slopes whilst we held on for dear life. The dunes are huge.... Everything here is on such a vast scale. The view from the top of the dunes is incredible they just go to the horizon. Then we got onto the boards and we opted to do bodyboarding style not standing up as apparently it's more fun and then flew down the slopes. They go so fast the first bit is gentle then you reach the edge and its like a death slide. It's so much fun but you do get sand everywhere! After that we took another very long drive towards Nazca along the big dry plateau thats between the mountains. When we got there I was one of the stupid people who took the over flight over the Nazca lines in a tiny little 6seater propeller plane. The lines themselves are huge and only 2cm deep into the ground but have still survived all this time. We then headed to our hotel and had an early night before the big assent the next day.

After another early breakfast we headed onto the coach for a whole day of driving. We climbed up out of the plateau where Nazca is up towards Abancay. The mountains are vast and just breathtaking. We watched the scenery change from desert to brush, then up to the high mountains and green valleys. The road was very windy, at our highest point we reached 4500+ metres above sea level. Some people got affected by the altitude, the air is much thinner and when you walk at first your legs burn as they are having to respire anaerobicly which produces lots of lactic acid. On the way we saw Vicoona (sp?) which look like skinny llamas, alpacas, llamas, condors - which are huge and flamingos. We stayed over night near Abancay and celebrated Carlos' birthday with Pisco sours.

Yesterday we had another long drive and along the way as we came up through the valleys we could see the mountains ontop covered in glaciers. It is stunning scenery around here. Along the way we stopped at some Incan ruins sites. The quality of the brickwork and architecture exeeds ours by far. We pass through lots of little towns on the way which all look half built. Mostly made of mud and tin and other scrap. The people look so Andean as well, small ladies with big hats and colourful wool dresses. And everywhere - like Brazil - has millions of stray dogs. Another thing they have are proper Richard Scarymobiles, converted motorbike, rickshaw threewheeled cars. We came to Cusco last night and went out for dinner. Some had Alpaca and I tried a bit, it was nice i think, apparently quite like venison. There's a chance to try guinea pig tonight. Half day tour of Cusco happening this morning then Macchu Pichu tomorrow.