PM to MudSkipper - Answer the big question please!

[SimonMac]

Did you eat Guinea Pig?

[mudskipper]

Did you eat Guinea Pig?

Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity.

Did see a farm though - lots of piggies running around and humping a lot. Nice poster on the wall.

[SimonMac]

Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity.

Did see a farm though - lots of piggies running around and humping a lot. Nice poster on the wall.

Is that a menu?

[eek]

Is that a menu?

More like a wholesaler by the sounds of it...

[MarillionFan]

Yum

[MyUserName]

I am currently eating curried crickets - they taste very good tbh

[vetran]

so MS do we get a full write up?

we want (well I do) a Alf style post with lots of poetry.

Congratulations on doing the walk , it must of been fabulous.

[OwlHoot]

Did you eat Guinea Pig?

and did you bomb it down the Yungas Road on your bike?

(or is that a different country? )

[mudskipper]

so MS do we get a full write up?

we want (well I do) a Alf style post with lots of poetry.

Congratulations on doing the walk , it must of been fabulous.

No poetry, but here you go:

Flight out horrible - spent the second flight (about 5 hours) throwing up. Air crew not particularly helpful. Arrived feeling like I'd been steam rollered. Found a restaurant, ate some soup and went to bed.

Woke early on Saturday morning and decided to take the opportunity to walk up to the ruins at Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman) before meeting my group at lunchtime. Met a French lady, so we explored together. Huge stones, cut and perfectly fitted together without mortar - still a mystery how they cut and moved them. Really nice enjoyable, relaxing morning.



Met the group at lunchtime. Mixture of Aussies, Canadians and Brits (me, and three Liverpudlians). Nice bunch of people, 10 of us doing the Inca Trail, 1 doing the Quarry Trail and 4 getting the train. Most of the trekkers were in their twenties, but there was one older guy so I didn't feel too out of place. Saturday afternoon was supposed to be a walking tour of Cusco, but in practice we just walked to the main square, then went to a restaurant for dinner. Had my first Pisco Sour.



The following day we headed to the Sacred Valley, where we visited a textile centre for a demonstration of how they turned alpaca into jumper,

then a house where we sampled chica (local home-brew corn beer)



and played a game which involved throwing brass discs at a brass frog. Ended at Ollantaytambo, where we explored the very impressive ruins and stayed the night.



The following morning we started the Inca Trail.

Day 1 was supposed to be easy, but was a lot tougher than I was anticipating. Baking hot day, and we took it nice and slowly, stopping to look at some ruins along the way.


Really thrilled to see a condor soaring over the mountain top - fantastic. Lunch was a pleasant surprise - we arrived at the lunch spot to find a tent with a fully laid out table, and the most excellent food - guacamole, soup, then trout, rice and veg. This set the standard for the meals to come - how those guys cooked such delicious food on a camp stove is a wonder. They even made a cake (steamed) for one of the girls whose birthday it was. Camping was horrible - twenty years since I last did it and had forgotten just how miserable it is.

Day two was the toughy - taking in 'Dead Woman's pass', ascending 1000m over about 5K. Most of the path was rough stone steps and it look a long time with lots of rest stops (I blamed the altitude!) to get to the top.


Fantastic views though - and saw the condor again. Did the geocache at the top The descent from the summit was even harder than the climb - we got hit by a thunderstorm, so the stones were slippy and it was very slow going - sideways one step at a time. Was very glad of my walking pole. The porters were amazing - sprinting past with huge loads on their backs as sure footed as mountain goats. Another climb, another summit, another descent and we arrived at camp pretty wet and broken.

Day 3 was much shorter, and mostly downhill. Could really feel thighs and calves. Probably the best day for scenery - the mountains were spectacular, and as we descended into rainforest, everything was lush and beautiful. Stopped at more ruins - smaller scale than Machu Picchu, but very impressive, and deserted apart from our group. Saw a toucan which was cool.



Up early on day 4 as we headed the last few kms to MP. Seems wrong to say it, but possibly a bit of an anti-climax - I think the ruins we'd already seen had given us the wow factor that should have been reserved for MP. Didn't help that we arrived in rain. Interesting place though - lots to see, and you got the impression it would be a fantastic place to live. Headed out of MP on the glass topped train which trundled very slowly along the Urubamba river, then got bussed back to the hotel. Having lain awake in a tent for the last three nights, I went straight to bed.



Saturday morning took the opportunity to explore Cusco a bit more, and found the local market - mixture of meat, fruit, veg and tourist tat. Fantastic sights and sounds - like the bucket of live frogs being converted to frogs' legs in front of your eyes. Bought some of the tourist tat.

Flight home better than the flight out - plane had a bit more space and generally seemed less miserable.

Bed last night - slept like a log. Back in the office today...

Might upload some pics later


TL;DR version:

Had an awesome time!

[Bunk]

Flight out horrible - spent the second flight (about 5 hours) throwing up.

Right, you're getting the aisle seat on the Copenhagen flight.