Feliz Navidad!

Hi dudes. Hope christmas finds you all well. We are fine although I did try and kill Emma up a mountain near Vilcabamba a few days ago. Now she starts getting worried every time I mention the "W" word. The salad dodging journey around South America has continued untainted by the evil greens thanks to mothers gas supply and cooker, which were conveniently located next door. Unfortunately we left the guide book (to Ecuador, Peru and Boliva) on a bus in Baños (I think it was Emmas fault of course) so I having been salad dodging blind for the past week. We have just picked up a second hand guide book in French so if someone could teach me the words for "large steaks" that would be good. We have been on the road a lot recently and are now in Chachapoyas (Peru) after 2 days in a variety of uncomfortable vehicles during which time something Im pretty sure is chicken shit has appeared on my rucksac [not really surprising as there were about twenty chickens on the roof of the mini-bus next to Cedds rucksack -Emma]

yes the heat seems to be getting to Cedd and he has lost his sense of direction. Despite detailed directions written by the german owners of the hotel we got lost in mountain territory where goats would be scared to walk. (cedd was convinced it was the right direction) And the guide book... well thats not quite what it seems of course, I had been dozing on the bus for a couple of hours and was woken by the bus driver shouting Baños loudly, Cedd of course was wide awake (well, awake as normal) but hadnt noticed, so it was a rather panicked exit from the bus.

After leaving Otavalo (where we did spanish classes) we went to the amazing Papallacta Thermal Springs (fed by a nearby volcano). Lots of different outdoor stone pools of varying temperatures, some almost boiling at the source. Cedd was a bit unsure (thought it would be a bit girly) but seemed to relax into it pretty quickly. The views were amazing.

Anyhow after two long days of travelling we are spending a relaxing day in Chachapoyas (no unguided walking for a while) before starting a 4 day trek tomorrow to visit various pre-inca ruins.



Papallacta Thermal Springs

Hola Chicos!

Well, I´m very glad we learnt some spanish before coming here. Nearly none of the locals speak English, including the girl we struggled to book spanish lessons with. On top of this, nearly all tourists speak a little spanish, even the Americans. Even when wearing the full gringo uniform, looking as touristy as is possible without turning Japanese I still get Buenas Dias´d by similarly clad 6ft tall white blokes who I imagine are called Brad, or something. I now have a hand made scarf after an indigenous village tour. This scarf couldn´t be any more hand made without impregnating the sheep personally and after the demonstration of the painstaking processes involved I dare anyone to leave without one. Even Emma has one and she´s allergic to wool. We are now staying with a Ecuadorian family in Otavalo which has just run out of bottled gas. Apparently further supplies are looking dubious so I may have to brave a salad. There is an exceedingly dodgy electric shower which seems to do nothing, until you flick the switch, when is gets colder.

Much to our amusement we (including our 65 year old danish housemate) get ´hola chicos´ from all at the spanish school and the Otavalen host family including the hosts three year old daughter (Chico = boy, Chica = girl).

Otavalo has been a great place to learn spanish and do some day trips on the weekend. We agreed on a compromise to hike up Fuya Fuya mountain (a tough four hour hike starting at 3200metres and up to the top, 4200metres) rather than the ten hour hike at similar altitude that Cedd wanted to do (impossible mi amigos). After the first ten steps we were out of breath! but despite this managed to do the hike following a long way behind our mountain goat of a guide (he can do it in 1 1-2 hours). We also visited Peguche waterfall, a site of special spiritural significance, where the idigenous people perform rituals, some involving guinea pigs! (we can fill you in with the gory details later, not over dinner).

oh and by the way Cedd has so far wimped out of trying roast guinea pig a local speciality. [I have tried three local beers though - Cedd]


Top of fuya fuya


Scarf Man

Quito lunch

one more photo!

Quito

We lucked out big time arriving in quito as there happens to be a fiesta on, which explains the thousands of smiling brown faces that greeted us at the airport. These werent all there to rip us off (my first, rather paranoid thought) or to welcome Madonna on another baby napping mission (my second, starting to daydream type thought). We proceeded to greatly amuse the locals by repeatedly asking if they would take US dollars before realising it is the national currency. Having worked this out Emma massively outstaged me on the going native front by ordering a hot chocolate with cheese in it while I was woffing down a banana split. I thought this was a big thing in south america before Emma pointed out that that was North America I was thinking of. Still I ate most of the cheese and the split, which is the sort of thing that often happens when we eat together.

There were lots of "firsts" on our first day, not just hot chocolate with cheese (yuk). Lunch was pot luck as we couldnt understand the menu. We ended up eating "choclos" (a bit like corn) and "chocos" which turns out to be the same food cooked differently! We also managed to get conned by the weather, getting sunburnt and soaking wet in a matter of hours, so now we are armed with suncream and a cheap tartan umbrella ($2). The chaos of Quito fed our initial paranoia, so it was a relief to get to the Panecillo, a guarded area on the top of a hill with fantastic panoramic views of Quito. Guarded because it has long been an area dangerous for tourists.

Viva Quito! Fiesta lights.
Viva Quito! Fiesta truck.
View from the Panecillo

Una Plaza