Arequipa and Colca Canyon and Arequipa again

So arrived in Arequipa early in the morning. Arrived at our really nice accomodation (best of the trip so far, apart from shite internet) and dumped our gear. Immediately set off for a tour of a Francescan Nunnery. This might sound like a bit of a gay thing to do but it was actually really good. The nuns themselves had moved to a new part of the Nunnery so we didnt actually see any nuns up close (only through far off windows) but the facility had been in operation for hundreds of years so it was interesting to see and hear about how the operation had changed over time. The buildings were really beautiful and we had a good rooftop view of the surrounding mountains and volcanos. Doubt anyone really wants to read about a nunnery so i´ll leave it at that. After the tour we headed back for a nap. Corry had come down with a really gross chest infection and was coughing up all manner of vile pollution so he slept the whole afternoon. I also slept in so missed the group lunch. Went and found lunch myself then headed to the Juanita exhibition which was superb. Juanita is the mummy corpse of a 12 year old girl that some exlorers found not that long ago atop a volcano that was previously covered in ice. She was a sacrifice made by the Incans to the volcano god, she was extremely well preserved, as were a large number of items also found with her that were given as offerings to the god. The whole exhibition (including seeing Juanita herself in a special frozen tank) was really interesting and a good insight into Incan culture. After that I headed back to the hostel to relax until our Colca Canyon briefing. Our guide for the trip gave us a ran through, including that we would be starting early both days. On the basis of that information we all decided to cook our own meals at the hostel, food in Peru is incredibly cheap so had some sweet as pasta and avocado etc for about 2.50 NZ each. I then headed out with one of the girls on the trip for a couple of beers with some peruvian guys she had met. They were bizarre and rather dodgy individuals. The first guy tried to sell me cocaine (politely refused) then the second guy shouted in my ear, spraying me with saliva, for the next 30 minutes. Was glad to escape after a couple of beers. Next morning, Corry was in an absolute state and hating life. We left Arequipa early and started to head up into the highlands, at our highest point we were 4900m above sea level. Incredible landscapes everywhere, very barren, but absolutely stunning mountains. We all tried coca leaves for the altitude but they tasted terrible so that little experiment didnt last long. Stopped at a cafe for some coca tea which was much better. We finally arrived in Chivay, had a quick lunch of alpaca and rice, and set off walking for the local hotpools which are fed by a nearby volcano. They were awesome and definitely well needed, couple of pisco sours in the pool didnt go amiss either. Spent a couple of hours there then headed back to the hostel to prepare for our homestay evening with a local Quechua family. On arrival, me and Corry volunteered to slaughter the two guinea pigs. Corry didnt actually get to slit one of their throats, but I certainly did, right through its neck bone. Was a rather interesting and bizarre experience. Few of the girls werent all that impressed but I figured it was going to die anyway and I gave it a pretty quick death. Me and Corry then skinned it and gutted the two pigs which was somewhat of an amusing exercise at times. Wont go into too much details but it involved drenching it in hot water to peel the skin and hair off, then slitting it open down its belly and ripping out its innards. We then watched the family cook it, along with preparing alpaca meat, potatos, and a mash of local grains, milk and cheese. We all sat round an open fire and ate what was a really delicious dinner in actual fact (despite how it sounds) and it all went down really well. Time for a few group photos etc, and photos with their pet llama, before heading off. Had to get up at 530am the next day to set of for the Colca Canyon and the flight of the Andean Condors. Was a really bumpy and long ride in our van to the Canyon, again some incredible scenery and some really quaint little Peruvian towns. Was good to get to the Canyon though, it was pretty breathtaking scenery there, its the deepest canyon in the world (4500m or something like that at deepest point), more so than the Grand Canyon or any other. We hung around waiting for some condors to fly but didnt have much luck until we set off for our hike along part of the Canyon. As soon as we left we got some amazing views of the Andean Condors flying and gliding, really close up to us; they are rather majestic and beautiful creatures. After the hike, where we got to appreciate some more magnificent views, we set off again back down the same bumpy road to Chivay. Stopped for some more alpaca for lunch and got some photos of local families in traditional dress with their pet alpacas and llamas. We then set off again for Arequipa, most of us slept a good portion of the ride back and were all glad to get back to the hostel after a pretty exhausting but memorable trip. Corry´s chest infection had got even worse on the trip and he wasnt the most joyful character to be around. He slept again while I made the wee fella dinner, he then ungratefully mowed it down and left me to wash up. Great mate. Went out for a beer with a few of the girls from our trip but was pretty over it so headed back for a reasonably early night. Arequipa was scorching hot the next day and I spent most of the morning reading on the roof while Master Corry slept in and also visited the pharmacy. Most of the tour, including Corry who was starting to enjoy life again after getting some antibiotics, visited the Juanita exhibition so I went for a walk around the town by myself. Its a very beautiful but crazy city, more dangerous driving, beggars, and markets selling a random collection of junk (although a few gems in amongst the rubbish) mixed in with beautiful buildings, cobbled streets, sunny blue sky, and a beautiful backdrop. Despite this, I have to say Arequipa has been my favourite city so far (think Corry is agreed on that) and have been really lucky to spend a bit of time here. Backtracking a bit, went out for lunch with some of the tour, 3.50 NZ for a 3 course lunch with a glass of juice (excellent grub and superb value for money) then found a bar doing happy hour at 1pm in the day so had a mojito and a pisco sour. Went and had a walk around the markets again and bought a couple of t-shirts for cheap as chips prices then headed back to the hostel to unwind and prepare for an overnight bus to Cusco. Just found out one of the girls, Emma from England, fractured her leg whilst exploring the city today which is an absolute bugger and tragedy considering we have the Inca Trail and Machu Pichu in a couple of days time. Seriously bad luck. As I say, off to Cusco tonight on the overnight bus, got the day in Cusco tomorrow then an early start the next day on the Inca Trail for 3 or 4 days until we arrive at Machu Pich- Yeah Baby! First time the blog has been up to date so far, will update again when we are back in Cusco after the hike. Chur

Lima, Pisco and Ballestos Islands, Nasca (including Nasca lines!) and towards Arequipa

When I left off we had just arrived in Lima, I tell a lie, we didnt go to a restaurant, we instead hit up Peruvian McDonalds. Not as good as the kiwi version but some cravings were satisfied. In the morning we headed to the supermarket to get some breakfast then went for a walk along Lima´s waterfront and beach area. Not actually a particularly nice or attractive part of town and not really much of interest to report on. Headed back to Hostel to chill out as we were saying adios to our tour guide Diego, who had been magnificent to us, and saying hola to our new guide Ollie (Oligar really but Ollie to us). Few tears shed by some of the girls and corry when saying goodbye to Diego. Ollie gave us a run down of our itinery with us then we headed off to a much nicer part of Lima, basically the municipal/presidential area, with some beatutifully historic buildings and palaces. Had a walk around the main square then went into the cathedral for a tour, which included seeing the catacombs, a huge underground cemetry where all people from Lima used to be buried. A lot of human remains etc, some beautiful artwork in the cathedral itself but apparently only 20% of it was real and the rest had been done recently to mimic the original. Still an interesting site to view. Went for a walk down some of the streets of Lima and tried some local food before ending up in another square with more magnificent buildings (although one housed a KFC which was rather disappointing). Then got a taxi back to the hostel. Driving in Lima is an absolute experience as I alluded to earlier, pretty dodgy taxi ride both ways. Went out for dinner at a local restaurant with more local cuisine which escapes me now. Then hit up a bar for a couple of drinks with Ollie before heading home. Relaxing morning before catching a long local bus ride to Pisco on the coast. Pisco was destroyed by a huge earthquake not that long ago and the town was a bit of a mess with lots of roads completely out of order and plenty of piles of rubble where buildings used to be. Bus ride fairly boring, but getting used to long trips now so handling the jandle no sweat. Had time for a quick dinner at a nice wee restaurant, delicious avocado salads etc (south american avo is superb) with some more cerveza. Early night as we had to be up early for our boat tour around the Ballestos Peninsula and Islands. Was a really good activity, firstly we saw a huge candelabra shape that had been dug into the side of a sand dune on the Peninsula around Incan time that was completely intact 500 years later more or less in the same state. Around 150m high and 60m wide I think, an odd phenomenon. Then we headed out to the islands, where we saw a huge amount of pelicans, penguins, sea lions and other bird and sea life. Very cool spot. After the tour we hopped on a bus towards Nasca (famous for the Nasca lines). Along the way we stopped at a desert oasis for dune buggying and sand boarding. Dune buggying was epic, in a massive 10 seater buggy with a crazy peruvian driver flying up, down and across sand dunes at top speed. Quite exhilarating. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far. Sand boarding involving lying down on something like a snowboard and flying down a massive sand dune as fast as you could. Also very exhilarating, got up to some pretty decent speeds. Got covered in sand also and corry was sporting a sand moustache after applying too much sunscreen. Had a wee race, I came second to Australian Tim, whilst Corry utterly embarrassed himself... After dune buggying back to the start we headed to the pool which was a beautiful setting, no one wanted to leave so we set off late after a load of swimming, suntanning and cerveza-ing. A really cool spot also and we all reckoned it was one of the best days on the trip to date. Back onto the bus and set off for Nasca. We stopped at a lookout along the way and got a bit of a view of some of the lines and shapes as well as a beautiful sunset, however the best was to come the next day on the scenic flight. Nasca was a nice litle town, we had pretty rubbish accomodation so set off quickly for a restaurant specialising in spit roast chicken, really good and I absolutely gorged myself, couple of cervezas werent helping matters either. Had a bit of a walk around the town and the square before getting an early night for our early flight the next day. Early start with another delicious (haha) breakfast of bread and jam. Set off early to the airport to avoid the lines and got on a plane almost straight away. I was on a plane with Corry. Aussie Emma and an Irish guy with the worst B.O you´ll ever have the pleasure of smelling. Luckily, think the pilot got a whiff of it too so had the window slightly ajar for the whole flight. The Nasca lines were awesome, got a bunch of photos out of the side of the plane but they dont do justice to seeing it with your own eyes. Shapes included the owlman, whale, trapezoids, hummingbird, spider, spiral and pelican amongst others, pretty amazing sight to see, especially in amongst the surrounding landscape which I found stunning. Corry was pretty glad to land and kissed the ground upon exiting the plane. Airport was a bit of mickey mouse operation but wont dwell on that, getting accustomed to south american shambolicness. Waited a while for the others on the tour to complete their flights, only one vomit amongst them which was promising. In the afternoon me and Corry went on a tour of some local aquaducts which had been constructed pre-Incan time, they were really interesting and beautifully constructed. Also saw the world´s highest sand dune in terms of height above sea level which was pretty cool. Apparently people sandboard it - 1.5km straight downhill, we didnt get to do it but can imagine it would be an incredible rush. After the tour we got a quick meal with some of the other tour guys and some snacks for our overnight bus ride. Bus was pretty comfy but not as good as the first one, still had reclining seats and a couple of snack meals, wifi internet etc. We left Nasca at 10pm and slept most of the ride which was good (think we both woke up about 630), arrived in Arequipa at 8am. Arequipa is Peru´s second largest city and is very beautiful set at the base of some volcanos with lots of rich architecture, cobbled streets etc. Next post will be Arequipa and the Colca Canyon trip which we´ve just come back from - really great trip including seeing Andean Condors in flight and viewing the Canyon, which is the world´s deepest. Think we are having a quiet night and cooking at the hostel (really good accomodation here apart from slow internet) as the trip was rather exhausting, 530am start today and many hours on unsealed roads. Until next time then

Trujillo/Huanchaco and onto Lima

Arrived in Trujillo pretty late and got a taxi to our accomodation in Huanchaco about 30 mins away. Everyone pretty knackered so hit the sack straight away. Had another jam and bread breakfast - pretty over jam and bread already but we will probably have it for most of the trip. Smaverage. After breakfast we went into Trujillo and had a walk around the city. One of Peru´s bigger cities but I cant remember much of interest, didnt really grab me that much. Went to a really nice restaurant for lunch. Corry tried duck whilst I went with Cerviche - which in Peru is raw seafood (as opposed to in Ecuador where Cerviche is a soup). Mine was mixed so raw fish, squid, scallops, prawns etc. Pretty good, especially with a beer. Back to Huanchaco on a dodgy public bus, everyone decided to have an afternoon off activities so mostly spent the day looking around the beach, at some local markets, and chilling by the pool reading a book etc. After a pretty hectic start to the tour think everyone appreciated recharging the batteries. Went across the road for dinner to a really good italian place, had a mean hamburger and a couple of cervezas whilst corry (eyes bigger than stomach) was comprehensively defeated by a large pizza. Think the guy but a whole block of cheese on it though, never seen anything like it. Hit up a bar afterwards and convinced the dude to give us our first drinks at happy our prices, numerous beers and cocktails followed as well as a pretty gross tequila shot that the tour guide, Diego, shouted all the boys. The night descended into some pretty awful dancing (we were only people in the bar) and then wandered home. Cruisy start to the morning (more bread and jam) and reading by the pool before hopping on a luxury bus to Lima just before lunch. The bus was incredible, fully reclining seats, wi-fi internet, a meal and a snack at various intervals, movies showing throughout, a couple of toilets, it was two storey with heaps of leg room. Definitely the way to travel. We were on the second floor of the bus, right up the front so we had a great view of the road and the surrounds. Despite being on a massive two-storey bus, our driver was unphased and attempted a number of ridiculous overtaking manoeuvres for the first hour before he decided it wasnt worth it. The old fella then settled down and we cruised down the coastal desert for about 10 hours before arriving in Lima. The scenery was pretty breathtaking, sea on one side, surrounded by desert all around, then rising up to the foothills of the Andes. Was much better than watching the movie. Lima is a massive city and took us a while to barge through traffic to the bus station. Driving in Lima is definitely an experience I will remember, doesnt seem to be any road rules apart from to try and get to the front. All sorts of crazy acceleration, lane-changing, overtaking, tactical blocking, near misses, scrapes and crashes. Your horn is your biggest weapon and everyone seems to be on the buzzer at least every 3 seconds. My sense of hearing was rather offended by the end of it. Got a huge amount of laughs out of it though when you sit back and let it wash over you. Got into Lima quite late but there was time to head to a restaurant for some dinner. Me and Corry and a couple of the girls stopped in at one of the casinos on the way home. I was down about 15 NZ at the end of an hour or so, Corry down about 5 NZ, while both the girls had made coin! Cheeky cerveza back at the hostel. Will be more on Lima in next post, in Arequipa now, beautiful city, Peru´s second largest

Ecuador/Peru Border and Mancora

After Cuenca we had a several hours long bus ride to the border of Ecuador and Peru on a public bus. Was a bit of a circus like affair. Couple more stamps in the passport but a hopelessly inefficient process with most officials just staring from the sidelines as we have become accustomed to. Interestingly, the border seems to be about 10km wide and the area in between is neither Peru nor Ecuador so it is filled with a huge number of people selling an absolutely ridiculous range and amount of pure junk. Its a very bright and loud place, but not one you would want to experience hungover in the heat of the desert as we were, really a shock to the senses. We thought we had got through all the border crap and were on our way to Mancora in Peru but we were stopped by the customs office of Peru about an hour down the road into Peru. Not really sure what that is accomplishing, if you had managed to smuggle something into Peru through the border you would be long gone by the time you met the customs office. Another mickey mouse affair and basically held us up for 45 mins before letting us through without searching anything. Guess you can only laugh and crack jokes. The drive to Mancora was quite nice, good smooth road and some interesting enough desert scenery. We were also on the coast so had a pretty sweet view of the ocean and it wasnt too long to Mancora. We arrived in the mid afternoon. Amazing accomodation, had a bungalow with an outside shower and a swimming pool for all the guests. We dominated the swimming pool and spent most of the afternoon performing a series of dives to impress the ladies. None seemed suitably impressed, despite Aussie Tim´s stunning effort to look like a salmon. Got amongst a few Peruvian cervezas by the pool too and was glorius weather. Got to dinner time and we went out to a local restaurant, not sure what Corry ate but I had a Chicharon de pescado (deep fried fish) - excellent. Everyone was pretty ruined so hit the hay back at the hostel after a bit of a walk around the town and down to the beach. Next morning was spent mostly by the pool in the sun again, a few ppl went into town for brekky but the hostel food was pretty decent. At around noon, Aussie Tim, Corry and I went surfing. First time for me and Corry but Tim was a bit of a pro and helped us out. I got up a few times and really enjoyed it but Corry looked like a retarded fish out of water and spent most of his time trying not to drown - despite the water being armpit high at the deepest point where waves were breaking. Had another Chicharon for lunch before looking around the local markets and hitting the banks to obtain some Sole (Peruvian currency pronounced ´solly´- as in bro). I ran into my kiwi friend I had met in Banjos which was cool. Again spent the rest of the arvo by the pool impressing the ladies, my superman dive attracted some attention whilst Corry lurked around the deep end looking like an absolute creep. More cerveza in the sun before heading out for dinner at Mancora´s finest. Much banter between the kiwis (me and Corry) and the aussies (about half the tour) about who were bigger drinkers (most ppl were a few down at this stage) and a few bets made which may or may not come to fruition as the tour progresses. I had an excellent Chicharon again - this time it was calamari though, whilst Corry went with a Chicharon de pollo (chicken). Ecuadorian and Peruvian food to this point had mostly been excellent and very cheap. Could get an entree and a main and a couple of beers for about 15 NZ. Superb value. Definitely like Peruvian beer more than Ecuadorian too. Headed down to the beach after dinner for a big drinking session. Plenty of cerveza, pisco sour, shots and many more I have forgotten. Drunken stumble back to the hostel and collapsed into the bungalow. Woke up covered in bed bug bites which was pretty average but they didnt itch too bad and I got some stuff from a pharmacy which got rid of them pretty quickly. Spent the morning chilling by the pool before packing up and jumping on another public bus to Trujillo. Pretty decent ride and we are all getting used to being on buses. After a few 10 hour bus rides, our 5 or so hour ride was an absolute piece of piss. More on Trujillo and Huanchaco in the next entry (and maybe Lima too). Currently in Nazca (doing Nazca lines flight tomorrow) after staying in Pisco overnight - went on a boat ride out to an island this morning to see pelicans, sea lions, penguins etc and then been in the desert this afternoon on a dune buggy and sand boarding. Very sunburnt...

Banjos and Cuenca

Been a while since the last post, apologies. Starting from where I left off, we went out for an italian meal in Banjos, I felt I had recovered a bit and managed to keep down a couple of slices of pizza. Corry was on the cerveza - lucky sod. Didnt have much of an eventful night and I was a bit buggered so hit the sack while a few people chilled out on the roof of the motel with some cerveza and vino. Woke up feeling much better and declared myself fit. Me and Corry went and hired a 4 wheel, 2 seat offride buggy capable of about 70-80km an hour. Everyone else hired push bikes - muppets. We hit the main highway in the buggy, would never be allowed in NZ. Drove off back down the valley road towards the waterfalls. Stopped at one and took a pretty loose open-air teleferico (cable car) across a ravine for a pretty stunning view of a waterfall as well as the valley up to Banjos. Only $1 US dollar too! Set off again in the buggy and cruised down to the bottom of the valley. Corry was driving at this stage and decided it would be a good idea to turn around down someones driveway, got chased by their (rather rabid looking) dog - he got pretty close too. Anyway, we boosted off back onto the highway, was reasonably slow going back up the valley and we got passed by all manner of vehicles, some very dodgy manoeuvres taking place, including overtaking by big trucks on blind corners. On the way back we passed the others coming the other way on their bikes, massive battlers all of them. We had a bit of time up our sleeve so we decided to take a few side rides. Found a couple of good off road tracks, probably private roads but who gives a rats arse, we were leaving soon. One time we actually ended up on someones front door step which was taking the piss probably a bit too far. Some pretty interesting side streets in Banjos, interesting street art, buildings, and generally Ecuadorians mucking around not up to much. Can see why there is a bit of poverty as a lot of them stand around looking around most of the time. Drove around Banjos a bit and got lost, couldnt find the place to return the buggy so went back to the hostel and waited for them to come get us. They eventually did and after that we went white water rafting with a bunch of ppl from the group. Was pretty epic white water in some places, few dodgy moments but was also quite relaxing in between. Both of us were towards the front of the boat so got some good views of the rapids we ploughed through. Had a long van trip back to Banjos but our raft guide cranked up some tunes in the front which made it more bearable. Deserved a hot shower back at the hostel then went out for dinner, I had an ordinary Pad Thai but felt pretty good again so me and Corry and most of the tour group went out for a bit. Had a couple of beers then cruised home. Next day got up early and went hiking up to the volcano with Diego and a bunch of the girls from the group. Some stunning views of Banjos and then took a truck up a cobbled road to a spot where we had some awesome views of the Banjos volcano. The spot had a treehouse with a swing that swung out over the valley so took plenty of photos there. Really cool place. Walked all the way back down the hill to the hostel, some pretty epic yarns about which super power you would most rather have on the way. Then went canyoning with Corry and Aussie Tim from our group. Was awesome - basically you are abseiling down waterfalls, we did about four waterfalls which were 10-20m high then the last one was about 50m high. Some superb photos taken and was quite a buzz doing the last one. Rode in the back of the truck on the way back, deserved another hot shower then went out for a really good dinner of local cuisine right under the foot of the volcano at a nice restaurant. Everyone in a good mood so we all decided on having a massive night. Plenty of cerveza, rum, long island iced teas... Played fuzball and pool against the locals and some germans who were real good guys and met a kiwi girl who was travelling through south america on her way back home - really sweet girl. Diego our guide then took us across the road to a discoteca (dance club) and we showed the locals a few new moves, some pretty classic times there and a whole lot of ridiculous dance moves were pulled out of the bag, the robot featured strongly... Bit of a struggle getting up the next day and had a long bus ride to Cuenca to deal with. not a hugely eventful ride from memory and everyone was glad to arrive in Cuenca. Cuenca is Ecuadors third biggest city and I really loved it, had an old town feel to it with lots of original architecture, really beautiful. Tiny one way streets all around the city too, a really wonderful place. Got in quite late so grabbed a quick dinner then walked around the inner city for a while at night, felt very safe in Cuenca and really liked it as I say. Had a pretty sweet hostel too. Woke up the next day and it was my birthday. Diego bought me some vegemite for breakfast which was a nice taste of home. After breakfast we did a walking tour around the city. Went to a cathedral, UNESCO listed heritage site (I will come back to this place later) which was right next to the main square. Then to the flower market, roses for 20 cents and heaps of ppl selling other cheaps flowers which the girls and Corry all loved. Next we hit up a local fruit market and tried a lot of Ecuadorian fruits which were delicious. Following that we had a tour of the Panama hat factory which makes the authentic version of panama hats. I bought 4 hats with postage back home for 100 US, very cheap. Some really cool panama hats there, we then went to the museum and saw shrunken heads before heading to an Australian restaurant for lunch. After that we went up to 4000m above sea level to a beautiful national park at the base of the Andes. Reminded me a bit of the south island, some stunning scenery and even got up close with a few llamas. It was then time for dinner, went out to a really nice restaurant, lots of balloons and streamers for my birthday. I got a card signed by everyone and a birthday cake too. The real present was 6 sky rockets from Diego tho, bloody awesome (though not sure how legal). Went out to the main square to set them off, the first one flew into the UNESCO cathedral I mentioned earlier, about 3 storeys up into one of their outer chambers with no windows, and blew up with a massive bang, couldnt have aimed it better/worse if I´d tried. Was pretty loose but we sent off the other 5 anyway. Then went out for drinks, I got pretty plastered and didnt by a drink all night, all manner of tequila, iced tea, cerveza, cuba libre etc. Then hit up a club for a few hours, some massive dancing taking place, was an absolute blast, again intrepid tour group dominated dance floor and danced like absolute clowns. Very good times, so mint to spend my birthday overseas and in Cuenca especially, very good memories and plenty of classic photos for evidence. Drunken stumble home to bed and then a very early start for a bus ride to the border, will update with more soon on the border, Mancora, Trujillo/Huanchaco and Lima... gotta pack now as we´re leaving for Pisco today!

Quito, the Amazon and Banjos (and a number of spews)

So arrived in Quito several days ago. South America is pretty cool! Pretty random place I must say. Had about a 30 hour journey from Wellington to Quito via Auckland and Santiago, planes weren't too bad and me and Corry made a friend on the Santiago-Quito leg. Had a few drinks on the plane which didnt go down that great. Arrived in Quito about 9pm local time and had a taxi driver waiting with a sign for 'Anthony Corry' which was rather exciting. Hotel Casa Kanela was all good for us. Woke up thr next morning and went exploring. Up the teleferico (cable car) to get some good views of Quito at 4100m above sea level. Met a nice German girl called Katrina who showed us around Quito. The Basilica was awesome and we got some great views of Old Town and the Virgin statue 150m up the clock tower. Went and scratched around Old Town for a bit which was really interesting, cool architecture and street layout etc. Met our tour group that night and went out for dinner, good bunch of ppl. 5 guys and 10 girls - corry liking the odds. Next day went to Otovalo to a local market (saw a cow give birth) and a tourist market where we had a go at bartering. corry has taken to it like a duck to water. also went to a condor park - some amazing birds including Andes Condors and Harpy Owls. Also went to the equator line which was sweet. Went out for dinner with a bunch of ppl that night to a local restaurant, yummy food, my first pisco sour and free tequila at the end of the night. Ecaudorian ppl are really friendly and helpful ppl. pretty chilled out way of life. next day was off to the jungle, corry was sick with a bug and had about 5 spews, including two on buses. eventually reached the accomodation outside of Tena. Really nice. went and saw a local family and saw how the indigenous ppl do things - some of it was rather ingenious. got painted up like local ppl and had a go shooting a blow pipe, then went for a swim in the Napa river. after that had a chilled out night at the bar on the cerveza. next morning we went for a walk in the jungle and for a swim at a waterfall which was excellent. then went tubing down the river which was awesome and very relaxing. of course corry fell out going down the rapids. i started to get sick after lunch and had a couple of epic yaks, one with some serious nose chunks. they came out of nowhere, literally within 5 seconds of feeling shit your blowing your guts. so i had a lie down in the arvo while corry headed off to an animal sanctuary. apparently they rode on top of a local bus which was pretty loose. i was laid pretty low so no dinner for me, but the locals bought me some herbal tea to my room - as i say they really are marvellous ppl, very friendly and helpful. although then i woke up at 1am in the morning and blew it all out. next morning we left for Banjos with a couple of public bus rides, i handled them fine cos i had nothing in my system anyway. Banjos is a really cool city, lots of adventure sports. after lunch (where i had a yak at the restaurant) i had a lie down while corry has been hiking up the volcano. that brings us to about the present time, im feeling much better so going out for dinner. corry not back yet but im sure the hike will have been cool - gutted to miss out but got a couple of days of white water rafting, canyoning, abseiling, biking etc coming up. we are thinking of hiring a 2 seater mototrised buggy and driving around Banjos tomorrow too.Will get another post up soon to let everyone know next set of news. Loving it here and having a great time! sorry i have tried to make this extensive but definitely missed out some stuff, los siento amigos. asta luego!

D-Day

Outies... see you in 3 months NZ. Very surreal that this day has finally rolled around, huge anticipation for the trip, got about 30 hours of travel coming up then walking into spanish speaking Ecuador. BOOM, will get a post up when we arrive