Cusco possie

Worldly words-Peru

Last stop, they took credit cards luckily
Llamas have the right of way on this highway.
Jono sniffing the altitude sickness away, good sport even with all colour drained from him.
Alberto, champion at charades, we knew it was Shrek all along.

mountain goat




Claire Emily and yo



Me and my mate at Machu Picchu


Christmas market



Antigua. Motorbike volcano mission unsuccessful, donkey mission complete!


Christmas feast Peru style, I was not game for fried rodent


Christmas Eve

Travel rule numero 1: Check the dates of your international flights. One week of Spanish lessons had turned my brain to mash. Thinking l had a day up my sleeve to explore Antigua before my flight to Peru I checked my ticket, I asked my home stay mother Maria what the date was. Panic. Flight left in two hours, and Antigua is two hours from the international airport. Throwing my clothes from the floor into my pack, Alberto Jnr agrees to literally fly me in his red pick up to the airport, no seat belt required. Luckily, the airport runs on Guatemala time, and I scrapped through by a whisker. Tranquilla gringa. A mad dash was the only way to leave this place behind.

Peru. I had become accustomed to traveling alone but decided to swallow my independence and embrace group life for our Inca Journey over the next eight days. A mixed bunch, all quiet and meek to begin with, 'are we alive?' our guide asked us on the first day. Group dynamics took hold and the peeps were soon mingling and learning of one anothers journeys, physical, emotional, metaphysical or otherwise. All on a clean slate, no preconceived notions of one another’s past, present or future but moving closer to one another and Machu Picchu galvanised the group. The meeting of strangers is a wonderful thing. No expectations, but with time and amazing vistas, one man islands dissolved leading to the development of some very pure friendships. It is the life of a traveler, you meet people, some you stay with, and some you move on from, learning things about people and yourself along the way, in the hope of becoming a better person, whatever that means.

The trail, 42kms with altitudes of 4200m lead some to suffer. Five days of rain and sometimes hail did not dampen our spirits. Energised by the exploration of mountains, new friendships, ruins and of course our amazing guides Alberto and Cesar elevated us to new levels. Photos nor words will not do the last five days justice. These Peruvian mountains breathed new life on us all, and gave us a new way of seeing the world, sparking new ways of pondering the world we live in, ways to appreciate, conserve and respect this beautiful planet we live in.

Christmas in Cusco, con vinos muchos, amigos especiales y explosiones in La Plaza. Good one Tim!

Next stop Jungle boogie take two.

Feliz Navidad

Por Todo,

Awesome Xmas to everyone, filled with Pohutakawa trees, corney jokes and muchas cervezas. Lots of love to everyone, from one day fresh off a week hiking the inca trail. Photos to come. Big NY to ya!

Alex xoxox

WOW-temala

Mercados, speaks louder than the tortilla hawkers themselves. alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5008206176804474386" />

Largo de Atitlan, took my breath away in more ways than I expected. With a gang of backpackers from Luna Azul, we kayaked through hell to reach San Marcos, destination 30ft cliff. The boys jumped no problems, but being the sucker for punishment that I am, I waited and waited until a jump was forced by countdown. All was well until I hit the water, 30ft down, arse first. I couldn’t feel my legs for a few minutes, and now have the most awesome bruises ever. Thanks ´Haps´ for the encouragement!


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On the way up, I came across a band of kids who were on their way to cut maize and watermelon. Needless to say, I was scared for my life when this little Javier caught me off guard with his weapon of mass destruction. The town of Todos Santos was fascinating. Here in the 80s, the guerillas seized the village to gain territory from the government. In a gesture of government prowess, over 3000 villagers were murdered. And yet the people of Todos Santos were some of the friendliest and welcoming faces I have seen. It is truely amazing what the human spirit can defeat with a simple smile.


In the sticks. I caught microbuses and crossed half of Guatemala in 10 hours. Some of the locals, Carolina and her brothers, with piercing eyes, drop offs and pick ups in the middle of nowhere.

Leaving the jungle and bound for the highlands, our first of many obstacles was a flooded road at sunset. I was not complaining though.


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Andres, the longest legs in Guatemala, was fortunate enough to be given the shortest horse in all of the land, ´frijole´ or bean. Had he not gone crazy on the local Gallo beer and been seduced by the Gallo Girls in lycra the night before, he may not have agreed to two painful days in the rain in the jungle. This is a long story. Dont trust any Henrys or their deals that no es problemo, and then finding out everything is no es possible!

Chiapas de Mexico

This seems like eons ago, but my time in the San Christobal Colon de Chiapas is well worth reliving. Here I visited a Mayan village where life has changed little in a few hundred years. San Juan Chamula is the home of the infamous Zapatistas, and is a quaint town with one beautiful church, flocks of Mayan peeps in traditional cladding whose lives revolve around Sharman ceremonies and the local market. They try to steer clear of the evangelist who try to recruit souls like they are apples in a market. Inside this church, thousands of candles burned in the name of the saints, which are stored in huge glass boxes. There is so much smoke the walls need to be painted every year. The floor of the church is covered in new pine needles each week, and stings and strings of wild flowers hang everywhere. Mayan people come here to pray and perform rituals to cleanse the soul, lead by the spiritual leaders and Sharman’s. These rituals involve herbs, chickens, eggs, and the local drop ´posh´. I was lucky enough to witness such an event, the chicken didn’t make it. Explosions are heard every few minutes, a way of capturing the attention of the spirits, and they certainly caught my attention. Boom! The smell of this place is magic, pine needles, chicken feathers, wild flowers, cotton, smoke and gun powder fill the lungs. I wanted to learn more about Mayan natural medicine, but on my way to the Museo de Mayan Medicinas I encountered two lifeless bodies, and decided to come back the next day instead. 14hours overnight I landed in Polenque, Las Runias Central. Mind blowing civilization. Between the 600-800 8000 people lived here. One of the places that sticks in my mind is the playing field. The ball court was used as an entrance to the underworld, a place of death and resurrection. The movement of the ball represented celestial bodies, life and death. Defeated players were beheaded and displayed to warn off any challengers. Loser, Mayan style, they didn’t take any prisoners! Maybe we could toss a few of those Australian idols to the field.