Cusco catchup and car crashes...

well, i have actually been quite ill this week. i have spent two days in bed with a fever and then had some kind of chest infection, i think. is hard to tell what you have when you dont really understand. but thats my guess anyways.

so im slowly recovering, which is just as well as im off to do the inca trail tomorrow, 28 miles in 4 days. that should make me feel better!

we had protests here in cusco this week, as the government wants to build a dam, which would almost cut off the water supply to the poorest people here. the protesters were calm on the first day but everything was shut and they blocked off the roads out of the city with sticks and bricks so that no one could leave. the second day was more violent, with protesters throwing rocks at tourists in anger at the governement not doing anything. luckily i wasnt due to leave, but many people who had plans or treks etc had to put everything on hold, as no one knew how the protests would go.

after the protests, i went on a tour of the sacred valley the other day, an attempt to get out and see some stuff. it was interesting, but i was stuck with americans the whole day! now, i know all americans arent the same, and i happen to know some very nice ones, but middle aged americans seem to expect everything to be like america, wherever they do. and they think they´re funny. reall funny. and they all laugh at each other. ugh.

despite this, i had a good day, seeing inca ruins is always impressive. its a wonder how they did what they did and why.

although on the way back, we saw the most terrible car crash. the car in front just span out of control and over the wall an rolled down the hill until it hit a tree. our bus stopped and we all got out to help. the driver wasnt hurt, but there were three children in the back and were pulled out all covered in blood, screaming and crying. it was an awful sight. they were lucky to have hit that tree, otherwise they would have kept going. it was so sad, we were miles from any big city to get help. i was so shocked that i nearly burst into tears there and then, not knowing what we could do to help.

ive met some cool people here in cusco, mark very kindly looked after me when i was ill, but i have since heard that he is in hospital after a biking accident on his trek. by the sounds of it, he is always going to hospitals around the world. and the daves, one english but living in argentina and one ozzie were really cool as well. so despite the illness an general lack of energy this week, everything is going ok.

i shall  be back from my trek wednesday next week and i shall try and head down to lake titicaca, copacabana an then la paz, bolivia. although its going to be even colder. eek!

muchos love xxx

Nasca y Crazy Cusco!

Hola mi amigos!

I am currently in Cusco, which is super high up  in the mountains. Its pretty beautiful up here, but im still adjusting to the altitude. I have drank buckets of cocoa leaf tea, which really does help!

Anyways  have met some awesome people here, and despite the altitude, wnt clubbing on my first night with jane and catherine who work at the hostal here and their friends and a few other travellers. was pretty good fun!

we went to a bar for cocktails and shots, to celebrate Mo´s birthday and we tried to leave without paying!! didnt work though as there were so any of us! and then we went to Inkateam, a local club which was pretty small but jam packed. Then the night got a little crazy with the guys all becoming topless, chests were being licked etc etc.

The dancing here is pretty incredible. It looks all bump and grind, but without the Oceana sleaziness. They dance with passion, whether it is with a lover or a friend. I learnt all the moves from my new friend William, a local in Cusco. He owns a hostel here and despite not speaking English, we got along very well. And he was hot :)

So yesterday, being horribly hungover,  went and sat in the main plaza, where I met Shay, an Israli traveller so we went out for lunch and walked around the city. Sundays are pretty special in Cusco, they have lots of tradtional dress and celebrations to bruing the city together. We saw some incredble dances, in the most beautful and brightly coloured handmade clothes. Some of the dances included whippng each other, including children, which was strange to watch. It didnt appear to hurt though.

A few days ago I was in Nasca to see the Lines, which was interesting, but the planes were very small and made me feel very sick! i made it though. my favourite was the astronaught! its pretty mad to think that these were made all those years ago and people still dont know why. I also met a local who used to live near Surbiton station when he was studying at Kingston-small world. and my old pruvian travl agent kept kissing me on the lips. people are quite lip friendly, i dont know if its a custom, or just me!

Anyways, im off to see some inca ruins today and to organise my inca trail which starts on my birthday! a presant to myself!

i hope everyone is well.

muchos love xxx

Sometimes I do the stupidest things...

I think that when im in England, im a pretty sensible sort of gal. So the fact that i ended up walking through the middle of the motorway in flip flops, trying to reach the Miraflores beach, which happened to be miles away, was a bit silly.

But dont worry, its actually not as dangerous as it sounds. And i did make it, blisters and all.

I feel that ive become a bit of a tourist attraction since being here. I have literally had hundreds of car tooting me, men blowing kisses at me and saying hi or whatever. Could be worse i guess, at least they´re all friendly.

Anyways, so i have booked my next trip. I leave Lima tomorrow morning on the 4am bus to Nazca, to take a flight over the muy famoso Nazca Lines. This is followed by a 12hr bus journey to Cusco, where i shall spend the week before i set off on the Inca Trail on my birthday. woop woop!

And i have met lots of cool and interesting people already - so many langauges and so many purposes. 

I also met an ozzie guy, but unfortunately, he is not the one. I feel i will have better luck in oz. But he´s moving to london in december, so maybe you´ll see him around!

Anyways, thats the low'down for now.

Adios amigos xoxo

Whoever said there was a language barrier?

So, first things first. After travelling for around 17 hours and watching 3.25 films (clash of the titans was boring), I made it to Lima!

My first language faux pas was on my first night, when i accidentally brushed my teeth with foot cream. It looked like colgate.

The second? Agua con gas. L'odio gas! oh well.

Anyways, I befriended my finnish room mates over breakfast and we headed to the historical centre of Lima. I spent the bus journey sitting next to an old Peruvian man, dressed in a turquoise Adidas shell suit, singing in my ear.

After walking around the very colourful city, we visited the San Fransico Church and the Peruvian Catacombs. Theres nothing like looking at 25 000 dead people to make you hungry for lunch! It was very interesting though, not scary like the Parisian Catacombs.

After lunch, which im not sure what it was, but it was pretty good! we went back to the main square, where we saw many many riot police, police with guns and police on horses. We got pretty excited that something big was going down!

But after a while we got bored and went to find the bus to San Cristablo. We were bearly co erced onto a slightley dodgey seeming tour, but thought better of it. perhaps today we will make it there!

After walking through the protests in central Lima- something political but we´re not sure what, we found that all being blonde, tall and uncanningly wearing almost identical dress, we were more of a tourist attraction than the beautifully colourful architecture. We had many photos taken with Peruvian tourists and children! It was quite novel.

Anyways, im going to try and book my trip to Nazca today and maybe go back into the city centre to make it on the San Cristablo tour!

Adios Amigos!!

Muchas love xxxx