27/07/04- 29/07/04 Quito

We flew into Quito really early in the morning and my first impressions were very good. It is set in the valley and surrounded by huge mountains and volcanoes but also makes the town look absolutely massive. We checked into our apartment and after a nice cup of tea decided to head out and investigate the town.

Because of the limited time that we had here we decided to head straight for the Equator, which was fascinating. None of us managed to balance the egg on a nail but we did get to finally prove that water does go down the plug hole in a different direction in the different hemispheres.

The following day we took a trip up to the statue of Mary that supposedly is guarding the people of Quito. She is in a strange position and looks a little like she really needs the loo, but I am sure it is sacrilegious to say that so I wont. After that we wondered around the town until we could find a decent cafe to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. I spent the rest of the day stealing items of clothing from mum´s bag and offloading a whole load of crap on both mum and dad so that we didn't have to carry it around for the next three months.

The next morning it was up very early for another tearful goodbye at the airport. Managed to get to Panama city without any problems other than my bag getting robbed somewhere between Quito, the very brief stop over in Colombia and arriving in Panama. It is to be expected I suppose but rather annoying as they left the bag open so everything in that pocket (including our treasured washing lines) went missing.

Can't believed we got robbed in Colombia like so many people do and we didn't set foot in the country proper. Mind you many have had it worse but we didn't even leave the airport and FARC haven't started loitering around duty free yet.

26/07/04- 27/07/04 Manta

Possibly this town looks nice in any of the 3 month a year when it isn´t shrouded in fog, but I doubt it. The journey here was entertaining though.

We rented a driver and taxi to take us all the way to Manta and the driver brought his daughter along who kept playing with her mobile phone, making it ring and showing it off because it was new. The driver had a funny head twitch and a less funny one in his arms which caused him to swing the car side to side periodically; he drove very fast and we assumed the car was automatic as he never seemed to have to change gear but it turned out that he was just driving in second gear all the way on the clutch. As a consequence there was a nasty smell and another driver pulled us over and suggested that there was a problem with our vehicle. When the other driver left our driver tried to pull off but couldn't move as he had destroyed the clutch with his pathetic driving but he persisted and the car kept rolling down the slope of the roll- he didn't listen to us telling him that he had killed his vehicle until Fi's dad pulled the handbrake rather than drift off to be perpendicular to the road. Pulled car over, took out our bags and waited for bus. Turns out that the daughter's new mobile phone didn't work so there was no point flashing that around was there girl? And the man leant on the car talking to his daughter in (sitting in the boot seat) about the problem and crying about it- clutch for a 5 year old Mitsubishi 4x4 I guess would be very expensive. He only had a smattering of money left as we paid him only part of fare and he had spent most of that on petrol and I did feel really sorry for him though no one else did. Mind you I didn't feel so sorry to give him the rest of the money as he wanted/ begged for nor even giving him enough money to get back to our starting town so they were stuck out there as far as we knew. We, on the other hand, did have enough money for the bus when it came passed (after a few terrifying truckloads of men with balaclavas and machetes) and I maintained our no payment stance as I got on the public bus with the weeping driver tugging at my shirt. Aaaah. I felt really bad for him but, as I mentioned before, no one else did- I must learn to control my guillt. Anyway, second bus journey in bizarre coach nearly killed us.

Manta- stayed in hotel as it was miles from the town- not too impressed by it, Fiona went a bit mad at the staff as they were arses and when we left and set fire to the lobby and all the staff vehicles in the staff car park. Fiona strung up the manager on a flag pole- the rest we attached upside down to the fence and we danced around their flayed bodies chanting about the fallen taxi driver and the parable of the crap mobile phone.

24/07/04- 26/07/04 Salinas

The first night we were here we stayed in a very posh and pink hotel, the second night we stayed in a pit. But in between we went whale watching which was pretty impressive. Whales aren't quite as playful as dolphins, which is probably just as well given their size but neither were they too shy so we did get to see quite a few of them, or rather bits of quite a few of them.

Salinas is supposed to be like Miami beach, having never been there I thought that this was a good thing, but Roger explained later that it isn't and the comparison is justified, except that Miami beach has sun for most of the year whereas Salinas, like most of the coast of Ecuador and Peru only gets sun for 4-6 months a year, the rest of the time it is surrounded in thick fog. So after 4 months on holiday I am still a long way from getting anything like a tan.

Whales were good but the everyone in the town had the same haircut.

23/07/04- 24/07/04 Quayaquil, Ecuador

Fabulous place. Quayaquil has it all, a nice city, water with a very nice promenade type thing, sun, iguanas in the park and a bit of history. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the best bit of history (the shrunken heads in the museum) as they had been put away in place of an exhibit about the town because it was the weekend that the locals celebrated finding the city.

Yes, Malecón 2000 (as the sea side strip is called) is a remarkable improvement to what was there before and great for a stroll.

17/07/04- 22/07/04 Arequipa and Colca Canyon

We stayed in the nicest hotel on our trip for far in this place and it wasn't too expensive so for anyone thinking of visiting this very lovely city I recommend staying in a hotel called La Casa De Mi Abuela. The city is also really lovely although Roger has an issue with the Cathedral´s steps.

On our first night we went for a drink in one of the bars over looking the main square which was really lovely (the view rather than the alcohol, although in fairness that was quite nice as well), then the following day we had a wonder round and visited the monastery which, confusingly, was actually a convent but was pretty spectacular. I am still frightened of nuns but having seen their digs I can understand why someone in the 16th century might have taken this as an option.

The following day risked th roads again and headed off for the Colca canyon and some amazing scenery. We stayed over in a tiny little village and Rog and I still managed to get lost trying to find our way back to the hotel. The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn to head off to see the condors flying in the Colca Canyon. We arrived at the same time as 15 other bus loads of tourists and not surprisingly the racket being made by that number of people meant that most of the condors had gone off to look for food elsewhere, we did get to see a few of the stragglers at the viewpoint. But we got a much better glipse of them when we stopped later as one flew straight over our heads. The scenery along the canyon was really stunning, I am not sure that this picture actually does it justice.

The following day we wondered around town some more and visited the museum where they are keeping a frozen mummy that they discovered a few years back. It would seem that the Inca´s, being the wonderful civilization that they were, used to get young teenage girls to walk from Cusco to Arequipa (it is a hell of a long way) then get her to climb a really high volcano without proper equipment or clothing and once she had done all that they would stove her head in and leave her up there. Nice. Apparently she didn't mind, but I get the feeling that she probably wasn't given a huge number of options. Anyway they have found 6 or so of this human sacrifices (or murder victims as they would now be known) around Arequipa and they do all sorts of experiments on them to see how the Incas used to live. I cant help thinking that if the Inca´s had learnt to write then all this would not be necessary.

The following day was spent shopping for presents, you lucky people.


Mum and Dad enjoying the sunshine on top of the monastery in Arequipa.


The Colca Canyon


Aaahhh- wherever there is a bit of space and a viewpoint, you can guarantee that someone will be there to sell you something. Viewpoint spectacular and novelty fruit novel.

Colca canyon is stunning though- many people there to see the condors which has the converse effect of scaring them off. Best look at the enormous gash in the ground. Twice as deep as the grand canyon you know- second largest in the world- the largest is nearby so don't know why we didn't go and see that instead.

The author Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa- I would recommend him to you- well his books anyway though I am sure he is a good cook and all that. I have read two of his books but have eaten none of his food.

15/07/04- 17/07/04 Puno (again) & Lake Titicaca

There is nothing nice to say about this town, but the lake once you get out of the swamp of a port is very nice. The floating islands are a bit strange and I have to admit to feeling pretty uncomfortable on them as they are tiny and everyone who lives on them just sits around in a circle whilst the tourists walk around and take photos of them. It kind of feels like you are looking at people in a zoo.

We also visit the Island of Tranquil which was very pretty and the walk up to the top of the island had some lovely views over the lake. We spent the rest of the journey back to Puno trying not to be gassed by the fumes coming off the boat and playing cards.

Although it looks as if this is a picture of random people it is actually a game of "Where´s Wally" only you have to find Roger. Good luck.


Each of the floating islands (which were great actually) have a little wooden tower from which one can:

i. take aerial pictures of the floating islands
ii. spot incoming tourist boats so that you can get the island population to sit unnaturally in a circle doing the expected aboriginal thing of beating wheat, making gifts from reeds etc.
iii. ensure tourist boats far enough away to continue on their playstations.

To be honest, they don't really have playstations- I confiscated them.

...and you can eat the bottoms of the reeds that they use for the island and they don't taste too bad at all.

10/07/04- 15/07/04 Cusco

The picture postcard shot


Yes, standard Machu Picchu picture. I have little time for the Incas I am afraid- this 'ancient' site is 500 years old. The Incas couldn't write and were slaughtered before they could tell anyone why they bothered to build this pile in the middle of nowhere. Very expensive and stacked full of tourists (as expected) as it is a must-do in Peru but to be honest, aside from the scenery the site is pretty pathetic. There were very daft people in our tour group- questions such as 'did the Incas use acid to make the stones smooth?' I ask you. It took them years (more than 100) to get this place to this stage (actually, most of that shown above is rebuilt) and they still hadn't finished it. Perhaps if they started it elsewhere it might have had a better chance. Great place for the Inca elders to hide away. Archaeologists have no idea why the site was abandoned before it was finished with only a few bodies tucked away- a mystery I can solve by saying that they were incapable of living somewhere sensible and having to rely on slaves who probably died somewhere on route to feeding them. Idiots. 2/10

08/07/04- 10/07/04 Lima

We arrived in Lima a few hours before mum and dad were due and just enough time to get a few bottles of wine and some refreshments for later and find a pretty decent Chinese restaurant. After that we took a taxi down to the airport to meet them and joined the scramble around the arrivals gate. I have never seen so many people waiting before, I assumed that the pope, all four beatles or the Beckhams were expected. Still we managed to meet up with them and then spent the rest of the night and early morning catching up.

The following day we took a look around the city. I had been warned that Lima is pretty horrible but I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised, it helped that the first place we went to see was the Cathedral and were shown around by Jesus. After that we wondered up to the old prison and torture chambers and across from that to the Parliament. Then it was back to the hotel and miraflores to investigate that area and find somewhere to eat.

Lima- yes, very nice.

06/07/04- 08/07/04 Huaraz

Huaraz is the place you come to if you want to do some trekking etc in Peru, we thought we did but by the time we got here we were knackered so instead we settled for seeing it from a bus window on a tour to the Pre-Inca ruins of Chavin. The ruins were pretty spectacular most of the buildings were underground and then covered over which meant that we could only eally explore a little of the orginal site but still very impressive and in a really beautiful setting amoung hills.

The town of Huaraz is really pretty as well, it is surrounded by the most stunning mountain scenery and we even had pretty good weather while we were there which was nice.

One of my favourite bits though was finding out that the video shops would also rent you a room to watch vidoes in so that was how we spent our evenings. That and eating lots of really good chicken.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Quite watchable. 5 out of a possible 10

04/07/04- 05/07/04 Trujillo, Peru

As we had been travelling non stop for what felt like ages we decided to book into a nice hotel just outside of Trujillo in Huanchacho. This a fishing village on the pacific coast where the locals use Totora-reed boats to fish. It all sounded very lovely and would have been had the fog from Lima not moved up with us and the hotel been full of very brattish children and fleas. Not surprisingly we decided against spending too much time here and the next day booked a night bus to Huaraz.

This gave us enough time to visit Chan Chan city ruins (I like to think of it as the ancestorial home) and the various other temples in the area including the temples of the Moon and the Sun. These were very impressive. I think that the northern civilazations of Peru tend to be ignored in favour of teh Incas but i have to say that I thought these ruins were fabulous and the guides were very knowledgable so we got to find out loads about the area. We were particularly taken with the Temple of the Moon which they are still digging out, with the help of a beer company so we could even feel good about sponsoring the site, in a roundabout way.

Trujillo itself is a pretty town with lots of friendly locals just waiting to weigh you.


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Me looking at map. Marvellous. Really pretty square in the city- did loads that day and ate biggest meal ever. I was 5 and a half stone. Locals need new scales. That was before the really big meal.

02/07/04- 03/07/04 Puno, Peru

Confusingly this is a picture of Cocacabana in Bolivia on the shores of Lake Titicaca, it was the town that we stopped in briefly before crossing the border and as Puno is perhaps the ugliest town ever built we dont have any pictures of there.




Fancy cathedral in Copocobana (which is apparently the place the beach in Rio is named after)- they bless taxis outside hence all the taxis there- they are waiting to be blessed. Outside the cathedral- in Copocabana.

And there's me- looking at the taxis waiting to be blessed outside the etc.

Yes, Puno is pretty horrible- all the roads were being dug up for some reason. Went to a nice bar there though.