"I just wanted to sit down all day"

Quoting Katharine.

SO today was obviously a bit of a slow started. We had to get up and go and catch our flight so at least we got up.

Star Peru are probably the worst airline company EVER. They didn`t check our passports but they didn`t lose our bags so its all good! Aeroplane was fairly retro but we didnt experience any turbulance so there was no need for sick bags, which is a good thing since there weren`t any...

Back in Lima except this time we`re staying in a hostal called the Red Psycho Llama... courtesy of James and Nia`s choice. They`ve been hear for a couple of days already. Katharine went to bed and Will read his book on the balcony for a while.

Spent the evening chilling at the hostal since all 4 of us were all pretty knackered. The Hangover is SO good. The Spanish subtitles were not so good... Finished the night with James Bond: Live to die another day - WHO KNEW Madonna was in it!?

Katharine enters adulthood....

Tuesday

Today it was Katharine`s 21st! Woke up and Will was playing it rather cool. Sent Katharine off to the bar to get breakfast and then sneaked back to the room to get his `moneybelt` but then came back with 2 balloons and a little suprise parcel, courtesy of her Mum.

So we eat some breakfast and Katharine opened all her lovely cards and letters from various family members and then we celebrated with a birthday stale break role (no cake available). Will also gave Katharine some Llama earrings but to prevent any possible ear infections we`re going to wait until we can TCP them at home before she wears them.

We got collected from the hostal to go paragliding. First impressions weren´t great when we got picked up in a taxi whic was too small for us all (one guy had to sit in the boot....) I think we both hoped for better first impresssions from people we were about to risk our lives with. Anyway, after quite a long drive including a dirt road which MUST have destroyed the taxi we arrived at the top of a very high hill (mountain ?). So we didn`t realise but you actually need quite precise wind conditions for paragliding so we had to wait for quite a while before we even got kitted up. While we were waiting we had to listen to 3 girls from London where apparnelty it is 35 degress in the summer and pints cost only 2.50.... unfortunately we did`t find out where in London this occurs but we`re both pretty keen to go there.

Eventually it was our turn. Will had to go first and had a pretty easy takeoff. He says he could`t look down and was gripping the harness so hard he crippled his fingers but thought it was awesome. We flew over an amazing view of the Sacred Valley (see earlier blog). He then had an ultimate FAIL when landing. Either he is a retard at running or the guy landed too fast but he definitely landed flat on his face being dragged along. Although Will was worried his beautiful face may be tainted, you don`t have to worry - he escaped with a graze on his arm and leg.

Next was Katharine`s turn. So although it took about 80 times for Katharine to take off, all of which were not doing wonders for her hip, she did eventually make it into the sky. Although she was worried she might soil herself, no such disasters happened and she even says she would love to do it again! Birthday WIN!

After that we had to stop off via a Bungee jump because one of the girls was doing that too. We absolutely did not.. haha. The guy who took Will paragliding definitely sat and smoked a joint though... Katharine dealt with this very well.... haha.

The rest of the afternoon we had a leisurely lunch and prepared ourself for the night that was to come. And o what a night it was. It began at the hostal bar... we definitely sat for 15 minutes waiting for happy hour to begin... YASS. A few rounds of Pisco Sours (Pisco, lemon and egg white) and a free birthday long island iced tea and the drinking games began. Katharine competed in at least 8 rounds although Will had to take a rain check for fear of vomming and being KO`d before we`d even left. Best drinking game ever and definitely bringing it back to Edinburgh.

We headed out, first stop Mama Africa. We managed to avoid the various people selling drugs (lol?) but unfortunately Mama Africa was a bit dead so we moved on to Mythology (our old favourite). Katharine managed to get her Lady Gaga request played at last, just before she was sick on the dance floor (cheap Peruvian booze FAIL). This was only a minor blip in her performance and we continued to dance until the early hours.

21ST BIRTHDAY WIN

Bodily function WIN

A litte bit of a more productive day today as both of us managed to stay under control of all of our bodily fluids lol.

In the morning we went to Qorikancha which is supposedly on e of the best Inca sites in Cusco. Not so much. Museum has the WORST translations so negative on the understanding front. There are very few ruins to see from the outside too. Howeever (apologies the keyboard is haaving a bit of a mare) then we went inside Santa Domingo convent which was really good. It was built on top of the originial Inca site so all of the ruins are insode of the building. A little bit strange but really well preserved. Luckily also everything was in English too so Will could understand it all...good times. Some very strange contemporary art exhibitions upstairs in the convent - not sure that pictures of private parts should be ina convent. What about the monks!?

We raided the artisan market in the afternoon for lots of Peruvian artefacts. Good times. Between the two of us we will be able to set up a small Peruvian shop back at home (maybe try and earn enough money to cover what we have spent haha. The stall owners are incredibly pushy though and seeing as neither of us are particularly patient this was not a good combo!

We went out for a nice Italian meal for dinenr and had an early night to prepare ourselves for goign paragliding tomorrow for Katharine´s birthday woopwoop. Hopefully no vomming for either of us ie. minimal breakfast!

Maras and Moray

Thankfully Will woke up today looking like a new person. We met up with James and Nia (our friends from the tour who are also spending a few more days in Cusco) and decided to head to two more touristy places. Just before we were about to leave though 4 became 3 as James suddenly took a turn for the worse (it was about his turn..) and had to head back to bed.

Anyway the 3 of us got on a bus which definitely was much more similar to those we had to take in Ecuador - far too many people packed onto a very small bus with minimal functioning dashboard (i.e. only the indicators worked properly...) Bus dropped us off on the way to it´s final destination and from there we were left ot negotiate a good price with the taxi drivers to take us to Maras and Moray.

First stop was Moray which was a huge Inca terrace which Will decided was a good idea to climb all the way to the bottom - turned out that didn´t make him feel too great. Pretty impressive although Inca terraces are starting to lose their appeal ever so slightly...

Next was the Salt fields of Maras. Basically they have managed to cultivate a stream that was naturally high in salt and harvest (or grow as Katharine likes to say) the salt - really impressive! Also salty. Katharine licked some and Will managed a spectacular slip which left his left foot in the stream. Prior to this we had discussed whether or not they would get radged if you fell in... well no-one told Will off.

The bus journey back involved us having to stand for the first half since there were no seats... sad times. But we made it back eventually. Just got back from having a meal by the main square and said our goodbyes to nia and James. A reasonably early night to prepare us for a mega day of bartering tomorrow at the market.. whoop whoop!

Cusco fail

Generally bit of a fail in Cusco at the moment. We think the bbq on Frioday was abit dodge so Will is now upchucking everywhere and so me fothe other peeps we went with are also ill. Bad times. hopefully it will only be a 24hour thing .

Yesterday we visited the INCa museum which definitely wasn´t quite as good as we´d thought it was going to be. Lots of rocks, very little informtion and some displays definitely built by children. Oh wells. We spent the afternoon doing nothing in case Will vommed again (which he did lol. Katharine is being the perfect nurse at the moment hahaha.

Hoefully today will be a little more productive and we´ll get to go and OD on some more Inca ruins woop. If not no worries seeing as we are here until Wednesday!

Oh and the theatre production we went to see was one of the strangest things we have both ever seeen. Some antastic acrobatics and Peruvian dancing but for the m ost just uber strange!

A night we won´t forget but don´t really remember...

Our night out last night was well overdue so to make up for our lack of partying we really went all out. Katharine on the Pisco, Will on the Rum. After various drinking games, our friend James vomitting over the balcony and Will blocking the toilet with sick we were ready to go out... haha

Ended up at a club called Mythology (we think). Although Katharine requested Lady Gaga 5 times they didn´t play any... damn South Americans and their lack of taste in music. The free drink finished Will off so he had to call it a night slightly earlier, leaving James, Nia and Katharine to carry on partying. Will fell asleep and locked Katharine out of the room. In an attempt to wake him up Katharine was slightly too aggressive with the window and unfortunately it smashed... lol?

Anyway we eventually all got to bed after waking up most of the hotel .. bad times. Today was been spent mostly feeling slightly worse for wear. Just got back from a Peruvian BBQ which the whole group went to - our last meal together as a group. Tonight we´re heading to the theatre! Hopefully seeing some kind of Peruvian Cirque de Solei (?)! Well exciting.

Tomorrow we´ll start to slum it again in hostals like real travellers... haha

Cuzco with functioning Colons!

Turns out Cuzco is really beautiful and really great to look around when you´re body is functioning fully! Haha. However, turns out that Cuzco is not the centre of Gay Pride and that the dozens of rainbow flags flying throughout the city are actually Cuzco´s official flag!

This morning we gave ourselves a nice lie in to fully recover from our EPIC Inca Trail/Machu Pichu extravaganza. Then we headed out to explore the city. This firstly involved finding food in the form of an awesome restaurant called Jack´s cafe. After that we hopped in a taxi and headed up to see another Inca ruin called Sacsayhuaman (said "sexy-woman" haha.) Finished our visit with a look at the huge white statue of Jesus (who looks ever so slightly stoned... lol). Back down the hill in flip flops was a challenge for Will but we got back safe and sound.

Headed to the Muesum of Popular Art. Wow. Errm... yeah don´t rush out to see this unless you have a REAL fettish for nativity scene figures. But it was free so we were happy enough. We´re going to see a show in Cuzco at some point over the next two days which looks pretty awesome - we´ll let you know.

Right that´s all for now. We´re off to enjoy the luxury of the hotel and hot showers and head out for a night in Cuzco. Rum and Pisco to the ready!!!

Inca Extravaganza

So we have overdosed on Inca ruins over the past five days.

On Saturday we visited the Sacred Valley where we went to two different Inca sites - Pisac and Ollantaytambo. Both were fantastic although not sure we believed the guide 100% all of the time - think they just answer the question they want you to ask and not the one you actually do haha. It is unbelievable to think about how much the Inca people managaed to achieve in only 100 years ... outs us to shame. they were able to move rocks which weighed multiple tonnes - not quite sure why they chose to do those yet but fair dos to them!

We also visited a project set up by GAP in a community. It was a weaving project where they had taught 20 women how to make the most out of the wool that they were already making. It was quite good to see the positive impact GAP was having but not sure about all the tourists taking their picture all the time. If it improves their life then I guess its alright.

We spent the night in Ollantaytambo in preparation for starting the trek on SUnday. We were only allowed to take 6kg with us plus our day packs which isnt a lot!

From Sunday til Wednesday we trekked along the Inca Trail. It was absolutely fantastic. Genuinely couldn´t have been better!

Sunday- The first day wasn´t too difficult. Met the other four people on our group and all of the porters who were going to be with us. The porters are genuinely amazing. They just run along the path with their massive packs on their backs. You wouldn´t believe it until you´d seen it!

Monday- The most difficult day. The previous night w cmpaed at 3000m and the pass we had to get over was at 4200m. A massive 1200m climb. Gads. Katharine found it very difficult but Will not so much! Lucily when we reached the top there was some downhill - a 600m drop of just stairs. For small people the Incas made some HUGE steps! Unfortuantely one of the ladies in our group was quite ill so had to be carried by one of the porters - but they just took it in their stride!

Tuesday- Another two passes to get over tonight but luckily they werençt as high as the second day! Lots of stairs though! weatehr was good and it warmed up alittle as we were getting a little lower. At the campsite we even managed to have a hot shower which was the best 5 soles weçve spent so far! The cooks made us a cake for desert too which was amazing - still not sure how you cook a cake without an oven though! Throughout the whol trip the food was fantastic - you would hardly have been able to tell that we were in the middle of nowhere. Only downside was the coriander overdose.

Wednesday- We reached Machu Pichu! We got up at 4 and trekked for a few hours to reach the Sun Gate. Trekking through the jungle whilst the sun came up was a great site. Coming through the Sun Gate (which isn´t a gate by the way) and seeing Machu Pichu absolutely made the trek worthwhile. It looked just like the postcards!

Machu Pichu is even bigger and more spectacular than you think it is judgin by photoshopped pictures! We can´t really describe it but we canshow you LOTS of pictures if you want to see what its like (I´m sure we´ll bore you with them anyways hahaha). Not sure our pictures will do it justice but we tried! It was a really sunny day so a great day to see it - although as usual Katharine burnt through her sunscreen. Our guide from our trek gave us a agreat walking tour of Machu Pichu telling us about it all. Only downside was that when we were coming to then end of our tour was that it was getting really quite busy. We chilaxed in the shade then and avoided the crowds - and got to touch llamas! So exciting!

We spent the afternoon in Aguas Calientes (Machu Pichu town) which is not nice. For the amount of money that is spent in it you would have thought it might have been a bit nicer. We did however get to try our first Pisco sour - pisco is a drink a bit like tequila made in Peru. They were really good so a few more might be consumed whilst we are in Cusco!

Yo get back to Cusco from Machu Pichu we got the SLOWEST train ever made. It must go slower than old steam trains. To go 90km it took us 4 hours - doesnñt help that there is only one track so when a nother train comes its abit of a nightmare! But we made it back to Cusco to have hot shower and a long sleep to rest or weary legs (well Katharine´s anyways!).

Cusco and antibiotics

Arrived in Cusco this morning at half 6 in the morning and it was freezing. Katharine went to the toilet on the bus and there was genuinely no water in the tap because it had all frozen. Gads.

Cusco is a beautiful city. Unfortunately Katharine spent the day in bed hoping that some antibiotics will help. Fingers crossed! Will went and explored Cusco with some of the others. There´s sop much to see and a strange mixture of Inca and Spanish buildings. Its lovely and hot during the day thougha nd only gets cold at night so thats a bonus.

Unfortunately chat is limited at the moment due to Katharine´s incapacitation (and that´s who is writing lol). But tomorrow we are off to see some of the Sacred Valley and then to Ollantaytambo to prepare for our hike woop. Peace out.

Arequipa FAIL

Lat day in Arequipa today and then we are off to Cusco before doing the Inca trail. Katharine isnñt well at all so today has been a day of trying to be as physically close to a toilet as is possible. Not good times when you have to share a room hahaha.

Arequipa is however a really nice city to chillax in so that is at least a positive. Not much to report from today. We are off on the night bus to Cysco tonight so going to dope Katharine up on as much as we can find woop. Should be grand.

Mmmm Guinea Pig

That´s right people. Last night we tried guinea pig for the very first time. What does it taste like? Hate to say the cliche thing but HONESTLY it tastes just like chicken. Although a lot of bones and a lot of effort for not very much meet. Katharine also tried Alpacca stake but it´s definitely not the best taste sensation. The guinea pig had a face, including teeth, brain and claws - pictures to come. Will would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Rosie... sorry little sister!

Today we woke up at 2.30am to catch a 3am bus to Colca Canyon - the deepest Canyon in the world! Turns out it´s a lot deeper than the Grand Canyon which was a shock to us both. Who knew Peru had so much cool stuff!? Anyway we saw some traditional villages, a lot of Condor birds, some alpaccas and Llamas (and some other little llama-like thing but can´t remember the name of it).

Out our highest point, 4910m, Katharine definitely felt some altitude sickness kick in so fingers crossed she´ll be fine next week when we attempt Machu Pichu. Off out tonight with a few people from the tour - let´s hope Arequipa has some great nightlife (complete with some Lady Gaga.) Im sure there´ll be plenty of stories tomorrow.... haha

And then she fell down the volcano...

Currently in Arequipa and will be for the nxext two days (which is lucky as the hotel we are in is AMAZING...so much better than the hostels we were staing in hahaha).

The night bus last night wasn´t the best. Pretty cold. But at least everyone was in coach class like us two! Film started at half 6 this morning - waking up to guns and screaming isn´t the best way to wake up after a couple of hours sleep.

We arrived sometime around 8 and the rooms weren't ready so we headed out for breakfast. After 50 minutes Katharine managed to get her fruit salad...not good times...rage time!

Arequipa is such a nice city. One of the best ones we have visited. It always helps when the weather is nice which it definitely is here woop bring on the burn. There are churches a plenty here as usual - but the architecture here is some of the best. Lots of tourists though.

The city is surrounded by three volcanoes and we went to see a mummy which was discovered at the top of one of the volcanoes. Well actually the mummy girl had fallen down the volcano a bit so its face was all weather beaten. It was really well preserved but REALLY SCARY! Defo buying a picture of that to show you all! They have another 14 mummies but sadly we didnçt get to see those bad boys. Its all a bit strange though looking at dead people who still look like people. Not sure.

Spent the rest of the afternoon not really doing anything. Chillaxing. Burning. Being shagged (as in tired according to one of the other boys).

We´re off out to try guinea pig tonight so we shall report back. Also off to Colca Canyon tomorrow so hopefully see some condors woopwoop.

PS all of the people we have met on the tour are great. Only a couple of strangeos have started to come out now hahaha!

Nazca

One of the best days yet! SO good!

Hostel is well good so such a good sleep! And then a good breakfast - best start to a day yet! And then it was off to the airport to fly over the Nazca Lines. A little bit of a stress as the plane was TINY ... defo no space for anything extra in there! The pilot assured us that it was going to be a very smooth flight though woop.

It was fantastic. Genuinely loved it. The Nazca lines are amazing. They still don´t really know why they are there but there are plenty of theories! The animals are huge and I have no idea how they managed to make them look like what they are meant to be when they are 100s of metres long! Hopefully we got some good pictures (if not postcards will have to do!). Unfortunately the other group we were with didn´t have such a great time - lots of motion sickness! Not so good in a confined space ahaha. But they all agreed that it was absolutely worth it (it was quite expensive!).

In the afternoon we visited the Chauchilla cemetery which was also built by the Nazca people. A strange experience. They have lots of mummies which are well preserved because they were in the desert (who knew there is so much desert in Peru!) but in the areas where they haven't excavated the tombs there are just bones scattered. There are bones all over the desert of the Nazca valley and they simply don´t have the resourced to do anything with them. Not sure about that. The mummies are amazing to loook at though - like nothing you´ve seen before.

We went out for a traditional meal for dinner before the night bus to Arequipa. It was the best meal we have eaten yet. Its cooked in a whole in the ground with hot rocks and then covered with banana leaves. Lots and lots of food which was delicious! The Canadian man we are with wants to build one at home - he will definitely do it! I can´t describe quite how good it was though!

To the night bus!

620 Avenida Grau

Sunday

It was our final day in Lima so we had our last showers in the open plan shared bathroom (lol) and headed out to see the last few sights of Lima. The morning consisted of the National Museum which, according to Rough Guides, was the one to see in Lima!

Hoped on our new favourite form of transport (metropolitana) and then managed to work out how to catch one of the local buses (crazy little minibuses) and there we were. The muesum had 7 floors HOWEVER there were only 3 actually open. So we decided to start on the top floor which was called something along the lines of ´Not to be forgotten´. A 150 photo exhibition of the attrocities that affected Peru between 1980-2000. We were both pretty oblivous to what had happened so this was definitely pretty eye opening. We then ended with the other 2 floors which were on a much more cheery note, looking at some traditional and modern art from Peru.

The afternoon consisted of a visit to a local Pre-Inca ruins which were an old temple that was now a mound that looked over the city. The guide was slightly more interested with the skinless dogs that were running around - the National Dog of Peru. Neither of us were great fans and after finidng out they were the national dog, Will said "I hate Peru". He doesn´t - it´s awesome but the dogs are not so great. Anyway that was pretty cool - human sacrifices of stoning woman to death.. bad times. We did have to leave the tour early though because we were conscious not to be late to meet our tour group for Peru for the first time.

Made it back in enough time and headed for our hotel on 620 Avenida Grau. Turns out 620 Avenida Grau is definitely not a hotel. Not the Avenida Grau in the part of town we were anyway. Turns out Lima has multiple Avenida Grau.... FAIL. Taxi ride later though and we made it to our desired destination. Settlled into our luxurious hotel (we say luxious, it just wasn´t a hostal haha.) Met our group and then went out for a traditional Ecuadorian meal and drinks. Good times! There´s quite a few people our age, and some older people. Brits, Aussies and Canadians. ALL GOOD.

Blonde hair to the rescue and Will´s super powers

Oh my gads. So many buses. BUT bed seats are most definitely the way forward.

Thursday

After leaving Vilcabamba at 5 o´clock in the morning (not cool) we hotfooted it to the bus to Piura (after having changed our ticket and luckily not being accosted by too many strangeos in the Loja bus terminal unlike last time).

The bus to Piura was shoddy. Fact. Too many people who do not understand the etiquette surrounding putting your seat back ( quote "stupid bitches" by Will). Some serious knee issues going on. Bus was also incredibly hot. Turns out the south of Ecuador and the north of Peru is a desert. Who knew. Sweaty times. Managed to get our stamps to leave Ecuador and get into Peru - and after a little wander realised we needed to go to Peruvian immigration too. Luckily we are now legally in Peru.

Once we reached Piura we tried to make friends with a Polish couple. They did not want to be our friends. Sad times. BUT the woman did speak good spanish so it helped us to get good seats on the bus to Lima.

Bus to Lima was 15 hours. Bed seats made it. As did dinner and breakfast on the bus - with an airhostess....maybe a "bus-tess"!? Arrived in Lima without being hijacked woop and with all of our luggage.

Friday

We have spent today exploring Lima. 8 million people live here so to say its busy is a bit of an understatement. Green lights and red lights mean NOTHING. If you need to cross the road run for it. It is however a really nice city. Lots of friendly people (including some school children whose day we definitely made by being "tall" and blonde woop - they genuinely love blonde hair and "sky" blue eyes woop) and interesting buildings (says Will). Went to the catacombs beneath San Francisco Church where around 70000 people were buried. Lots of femurs (if the RMS needs more we know where to come) but a distinct lack of pelvises, ribs etc. No idea where those were!

As well as friendly people there are as usual the odd strange ones. Lots of weird men with too much hair who like blonde hair it seems. And also a man (who may have been a woman) who decided to gain some super powers by stroking his naked foot up Will´s leg. WHAT THE BEJESUS! Genuinely have no idea why - but when Will´s foot becomes gangrenous after being scratched by this person´s nail we shall start to worry.

Tomorrow we get to meet the group which we will be travelling with for the next two weeks. Hopefully they all avoid salt with fluoride and none of them are concealing electromagnetic weapons - otherwise things could get nasty.

Off for food now but unfortunately no guinea pig yet!!

The Valley of Longevity and very few electromagnetic waves...

We left Cuenca bright and early and headed to Vilcabamba - a wee town just outside of Loja also known as the Valley of Longevity. We´d decided to treat ourselves and stay at a beautiful hostal complete with swimming pool. Sad times when we arrived to find out there was no room at the inn BUT we managed to head to somewhere on the otherside of town which not only had a swimming pool but also a jacuzzi! (whoop - more for Will than Katharine, the hot baths in Baños were quite enough.)

Spent the afternoon relaxing at the hostal which only had another 4 guests (lol) and then headed down a fairly dark road to find food in town. And what good food we found! Lovely mexican restaurant complete with green interior lighting (we sat outside - the green lighting was simply too much for Will). Then headed back to the hostal avoiding any dodgy men/dogs).

Next day we headed on a long walk around Vilcabamba. Map reading skills = 0, walk = 2 hours longer than expected. But we did see some pretty good views of the village and lots of banana plants (WHICH are technically herbs - WHO KNEW!!??) Finished our walk with lunch in town and this is the moment when entered the STRANGO...

.. Will kindly offers an American guy change for his $20 (NOONE has change out here) and then he starts talking to us. Firstly about how Vilcabamba has quite a large Gringo (ex-pat) population AND THEN about how the reason he is here is to escape the electromagnetic weapons of the US. Apparently, the levels are very low here but not at 0 so he will be heading to Peru next month to get as high as possible to avoid them completely. He then also advised us to avoid the salt (they add fluoride - and as the Nazis and Russians knew, fluoride shrinks a gland in your body making you very passive....) Will thought this would be an appropriate time to tell him that fluoride occurs naturally in the water near his home in England and it simply gives people better teeth.... Thankfully in walks another American family who the guy knew and that´s when we made our escape.

We didn´t hire horses although as a sign read, ´Hire a WHOLE horse. Horses make you happy.´We were happy enough with the lack of electromagnetic waves. No horses needed. Next we plan to try and make it to Lima in Peru. HELLO long bus ride, bye bye Ecuador.

Bed buses

Currently in Cuenca after a day of travelling yesterday. Spent our last night in Montaita on Saturday which involved a lot of hunting for toilets and drinking beer in the street. Also turns out Katharine´s Spanish rapidly improves after a couple of beers and she spoe to an Ecuadorian family for a long time - blonde hair is definitely s talking point here! Managed to stay out quite late though despite not really doing anything which wasn´t the best idea for getting up early!

On Sunday got the bus to Guayaquil and then on to Cuenca. The second bus we were on was amazing - the seats were like beds! Genuinely amazing! You can almost forget that you´re in a bus! Managed to find a hostel and crash for the night - much colder up here in comparison to the coast!

Spent today doing touristy things in Cuenca. LOTS of churches and cathedrals. Visited a big museum with lots of religious art and then loads on all the different cultures here. Even got to see some real shrunken heads woop. They have some Inca ruins here but most of the stones were removed by the Spaniards so its a little bit difficult to see whats there. Cuence is pretty small so we managed to wander around most of it today.

Tomorrow of to Loja to begin the humungous trip to get to Lima, Peru. Hopefulyl more bed buses!

Neither of us would do well in the Navy...

Hola!

Sadly we woke to rain this morning in our lovely little coastal town of Montanita, but alas this just gives us a good excuse to be updating the blog.

So yesterday we headed out on our trip to Isla de Plata (the poor man´s Galapagos) including some whale watching on our way there. However, although we were both doing really well following our late night out, it turns out that adding in some motion sickness really didn´t bode well for either of us (but especially Will). Half an hour into the trip Will had to relocate to the back of the boat where he remained for the remainder of the journey to the island, vomiting at regular intervals. Katharine lasted a bit longer but come an hour and a half into the trip she also got a reminder of what she had for breakfast. Don´t worry though, in between these bouts of sickness we still spotted a few whales AND a green turtle - all very exciting!

Once on land we did a tour of the island and saw some blue-footed boobys (genuinely there name), some other cool birds, a snake and MOST EXCITING OF ALL, an albatross! Just as we´d started to feel better it was time to get back on the boat. Katharine managed to sleep through but Will had to relocate again to the back of the boat. But all in all quite an exciting day! haha

Spending our last night in little Montanita tongiht before we head further South. I think we´ll both be laying off the alcohol for a while though. Thursday night was so much fun (Will had to pay twice as much to get in the club - haha!). Katharine was taught salsa by the guy who had the microphone in the club (we dont really know why he had a microphone but he must have been important), Katharine was mistaken for being Swedish because of her hair and the night was finished off with a good dance on the stage - AMAZING!

Dreadlocks, sand and hippies.

Yesterday we spent the whole day in the bus which as bad sa it sounds didn't end up being too horrendous. The buses here are REALLY good - much better than that Lothian Bus nonsense!

We are now in Montanita which is a tiny little town in the coast. It is really small - only about 3 blocka by 3. And it is definitely too cool for the two of us haha. Lots of surfers and hippies. Lots of people walking around with no shoes in and lots of dreadlocks all around the place (neither of us have been tempted to start growing them though haha ). It is however the busiest place at night compared to all of the other places we have been too - there are actually more than 5 people in each bar ... its amazing!

Our hostel is quite nice too. Very beachy! Hammocks and sand everywhere! Katharine got very excited becuase we have to sleep under mosquito nets. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as exciting as she hoped!

Today we spent the day on the beach. Unfortunately the sun is not out - very cloudy - but Katharine still managed to get burnt! The beach is alright but would definitely be better if the sun was out - hopefully tomorrow! Met some more people so we might even make it a late one tonight (!) but don't worry Katharine's mum ... we won't go mad!

We think tomorrow we will go on a whale watching tour becasue they come here to mate so there should be quite a few - we shall see!

Baños

We realise that we´ve neglected our blog over the past couple of days but we do have a good excuse - we´ve simply been too busy relaxing in Banos.

It is a beautiful little town nestled in the middle of many mountains. Also one MASSIVE volcano that errupted only 5 weeks ago (lol?) but you´ll be pleased to know we are well aware of what to do in the case of an erruption thanks to the signs all over town ....

However, although the volcano often takes away (on a massive scale) it also gives - in the form of thermal baths. We hired ourselves bikes yesterday and headed out on the Route la Cascades (route of waterfalls) - Katharine was loving the fact she was ACTUALLY Katharine WHEELS Bingham.. haha. After our day of exervise and excitement we chilled out at the local thermal baths. Will braved all 3 including the extremely hot one but due to Katharines burn patch on her leg and burn on her foot this was not an option.

Today we both enjoyed a morning Health Bath. This included being steamed followed by bathing outselves in freezing water, followed by ´massaging´our colons and then a high pressure hose down.... yeah a little strange but at least we didnt do it naked.......

Anyway today has included a massive hike - all great training for Machu Pichu. Will just got naked for a massage but claims she stuck to his head, neck and back.....

Much more to come soon but we´re off out for dinner now with our FRIENDS (yeah.. we made friends) for our last evening in Baños. Much more exciting blogs to come soon when we´re not on a slow computer.

Equador = equator = very strong sun = BURN

Hola

Took a mini adventure today to Quilitoa (a volcanic crater with a lake in it) via Zumbhua (?spelling) where there was a massive market. They were selling everything although neither of us were brave enough o buy anything - maybe next market time! They even sell chicken heads mmmm (Kristina you would probably love it ahaha). Saw some llamas which Katharine loved ... definitely bringing one back!

We hitchhiked a pick up truck to get us to Quilitoa which was an incredibly bumpy ride to say the least! Also think we should have bargained the price a little as we defo got the "foreigner" price! Quilitoa is a tiny village with very little there except hostals and cafes which are springing up in response to all the tours which go there. The lake is fantastic - absolutely huge! Unfortunately the weather wasn´t that great so it didn´t look quite as spectacular as all of the postcards! We hiked down to the bottom of the crater to have a closer look which wasn´t really worth it because it definitely looks better from the top! Going down wasn´t too bad but the hike back up was fairly horrendous. We had descended 400m in only about an hour so going up it was very steep. Luckily there was minimal moaning! We could have got a donkey back up but they looked just as exhausted as us!

It only took just over an hour and a half to get back to the rim of the crater (Katharine took a little longer!) but by the time we reached there it was definitely getting cold. Who knew that when you are at nearly at 4000m it gets VERY cold! Also despite the cloudy and cool weather we both definitely managed to catch the sun!

After a pick up truck and a bus we are back in Latacunga for the night. People in our dorm are all very friendly although all seem to know more about everything than us - it is not going down very well! Staying here tonight and then off to Baños in the morning to relax in some hot springs and admire the volcano!

Adios Quito, Hola Latacunga!!

Ok, so today we well and truly waved goodbye to Quito (with a very small tear in Will´s eye - none in Katharines, they´re bright red at the moment.)

We scribe this post with Lady Gaga playing in the background - this hostal obviously wins mega points for this fact. Katharine is extremely happy right now. Today we arrived in Latacunga - a town that is well and truly slated by most guide books. However, we would like to put the world to rights. LATACUNGA IS A NICE PLACE. Today we have seen some beautiful squares, walked up to see a huge statue of the Virgin (who looks like a man and is definitely not called Mary.. dont ask, we don´t know either.) We also headed to a HUMONGOUS market. Will likes markets but apparently not meat on a slab and he well and truly chickened out of visiting the meat place complete with pigs heads.... HAHA.

Then we went for our second proper Ecuadorian cuisine. Brace yourself because I think this may actually be more adventurous than the tripe stew. We had Chugchucaras - fried pork, fried pork skin (complete with hairs..), fried plantain, fried corn, popcorn, fried potatoes and then some miscellaneous barley + pork scratching mixture. Haha.. so like a heart attack on a plate and not as good as you might think but extremely happy we both tried it.

Afterwards we headed to a museum of archeolgy and religion - now just wait before you laugh. It was actually really good and Katharine got to really put her Spanish to the test when we were given a full tour completely in Spanish. We saw multiple pictures of the last supper (one of the disciples is definitely a woman in all of them... SPREAD IT.) The best bit was probably finding out about the ´Mama Negro Festival.´Literally.. the Black Mamma festival. This basically consists of one man painting himself black and dressing up as a black woman, and then having a parade follow of many other men (also mostly dressed as woman) performing various rituals. (Will, "It basically looks like a Gay pride parade")... Can´t believe its not until September time.

Katharine just found the Ecuadorian version of monopoly so that´s us sorted for the evening. Chilling in our beautiful hammocks and drinking some peru beers is how we plan to spend the evening. Pictures soon - we promise!

Mindo

Hola!

We have made it to Mindo and then back again to Quito in the past day. After an early start we got the bus to Mindo which is a little town up in the cloud forest. Slightly surprised we managed to make it there in one piece with the drivers tendency to have NO HANDS on the steering wheel. Just tried not to to look. Or look over the edge as it was a very windy road with no barriers and VERY high up.

Pretty sure we were the only people staying in our hostel but tit was really nice. Went on a humungous walk up to the waterfalls after we dumped our stuff. Very up hill and very humid. Once it started raining the novelty began to wear off! 2 hours later we reached the point where you had to PAY to go and see the waterfall - since when do you pay to go and see water!

Anyways after a brief chillax at the bottom of the valley with the waterfall in the rain we decided to head back. It was definitely pouring and it was definitely very steep. By the time we made it back to the hostel everything was soaking despite the rain having stopped - and we mean everything...passports...books...underwear... gads.

A hot shower and a wee rest later and food was needed. Katharine had a combo of meat, cheese and eggs - much better than its sounds! Definite protein overload though hahaha. A beer and a cocktail later and it was half 8 - definitely time for bed haha.

This morning we went on The Mindo Canopy Adventure which was basically zip wires VERY high up in the trees. Absolutely amazing but poop your pants scary - especially for Will who was brave enough to go UPSIDE DOWN!!! Katharine definitely was not.

We are now back in Quito where it is raining AGAIN. We´re off to Latacunga tomorrow from where we should be able to go on some good day trips woopwoop.

PS best answer to 20 questions is ALWAYS Elizabeth haha.

Centre of the world

After nearly a ten hour sleep we got up and ventured out of Quito... on a public bus! But actually turned out to be much less like the queue for big cheese bar and more civilised. Anyway after 2 bus journeys (and $0.55 later) we made it to the Mitad del Mundo - the Equator!

At the huge monument we got lots of pictures straddling the line of the equator, in real tourist-style and then we BOTH managed to climb to the top today.. whoop whoop.

Unfortunately we ruined an American family´s trip when we told them that (according to the guidebooks) this isn´t the REAL equator ... which was 300 metres down the road.... good times. We also went there and watched the water go down the plug in two different directions - prrof it does actually happen! THEN the most exciting bit of our trip occured so far - we both gained our diplomas in egg-balancing. That´s right.. we both managed to balance an egg on the head of a nail... try it at home!

Katharine may or may not have experienced altitude sickness for the first time today ... not really sure but before you ask it DEFINITELY wasn´t a hangover!

We´re off to Mindo tomorrow which is up in the cloud forest. Hopefully see some animals? And other ecuadorian things ...

Hola!

Hello!

So we made it to Quito safe and sound. Managed to wake up the hostel at 2am so they could let us in... we are not their favourite people right now. Katharine and I are sharing a lovely double coomplete with a starry sky painted on our ceiling!

Today we´ve wandered Quito which is humongous. Our adventures included a climb up the Basilica´s clock tower which was really scary (well Katharine didnt quite make it). All churched out after visting the cathedral too. Ventured into local Ecuadorian cuisine for lunch (in a cupboard). We had guatitas which is basically a tripe stew. Katharine definitely did not know this when we started eating. Remarkably good though. Will successfully spoke his first bit of Spanish too so all in all a good day. The woman looked kind of shocked because until that point I think she thought we were just stupid tourists...

Currently sitting in an internet shop as it pours down outside. Defo forgot we are in the mountains and it is not sunny all of the time! We did have some sunshine this morning, and for all of those who will be concerned, Katharine made sure she had her SPF on so don´t you worry!

We plan to go to Mitad del Mundo tomorrow (the equator) which wil linvolve us getting on our first Ecuadorian bus... (imagine the queue for the bar at Big Cheese and then put in on a bus..)

The day before it all began

Hi all :D

Its the night before we jet away and I finally figured out how to make a blog (apologies because I know its not quite as nice as Paul's!). We'll be arriving in Quito (capital of Ecuador) at 11 o'clock tomorrow night after 20 hours of travelling and I am just hoping that the hostel will still let us in! I am so excited! But also terrified at the same time ...however supposedly its raining over there and only 13 degrees so maybe theres less to worrying about than I thought!

We shall try and document what we're up to ... and depending on how I'm feeling I might do some REAL blogging hahaha (starting with the titles of each day lol)... we'll see how the chat goes!