October 2008
31 posts
Day 5-6 Colca
Today we have a swim am and for the first time since I got to Peru…sunbathe! I don´t get the opportunity to, and it´s soooo nice to do f-all occasionally. We decide to explore the other hostal, and maybe have lunch there cos there really aren´t many people in our place and the lack of men is annoying!lol
When we get to the other place I feel proper gutted, it is 200% better, nicer pool etc...
Day 4...17-10-08
Well, I didn´t get eaten! I feel quite negative about this hostal though, so I am glad when we leave. Knees have over-night healed again, so I have developed a 4 point ealking plan to prevent further damage….(use for going downhill or steps)
1- The ´Lara Croft´(game 1) Turn so you are sideways on to the path you are taking. Bend the leg furthest away from forward and tread sideways down the...
Colca Pics 2 →
Colca Canyon Pics 1 →
Day 3 Colca 16th October
Woke up at 5!! Yes, me! Breakfast at 5.40, and didnt actually leave til 6.30, but I swear I have never woken up voluntarily at that time of the morning! My knees seem to have repaired themselves today, so I won´t be needing donkey-hire!
The owners of this hostel, Claudio and Yola are so nice it´s worth a plug if you´re ever in this neck of the woods! We pay them s.31(about a fiver) for bed,...
New Map Update!!! →
Colca Canyon Part 1! 15th October
We arrived yesterday morning, got a bus at 6am to a village called Cabanaconde. Usual story of cliff-face roads, except this time the cliffs were the edge of the second largest Canyon in the world!(The largest being Cotahuasi..which is about 4-5 hours away by bus).Near Cabanaconde there was a lorry broken down in the road, blocking the way and basically everyone got off our bus to help push it...
mountain business 2 →
Mountain business 1 →
Weekend in the mountains
woke up at 6am on Saturday, having had 2 hours sleep cos I went to a shit club(the music unless it´s proper salsa leaves a looooooot to be desired) I ended up having a ´wow ure English…but actually a bit of a knob´conversation with 1 dude followed by an embarrassingly inacurate geography lesson with some Irish dudes, turns out, The Giant´s Causeway is absolutely nowhere near Galway!(But they...
Here´s the link to the organisation I am working... →
10th October The Party!!!!
Today we threw a giant birthday party for the children in San Isidro, about 50 in total. Me and Alberto(the co-ordinator) dressed up as clowns, and although I felt a total dick in the beginning, the feeling soon wore off!!! We all had loads to do in preperation for the event, so we didn´t have a chance to sort out any kind of routine. Apparently, though, titting around in a clown costume works...
Weds 8th October
Hola! The new place is feeling like home already and the work is beginning!!! I have started Spanish lessons and am doing well. I understand more and more every day. We are throwing a massive birthday party for all the children on Friday so there´s lots of painting and planning going on, and I´ve been asked to be a clown for the occasion! I´m so excited, hired costume with massive shoes and wig,...
Arequipa photos part 2! →
The very first drama.....
Wow!(firstly my apologies for the backlog but it is so mental here!!!)
The first few days were pretty tough. Basically as soon as I arrived I was warned by the other volunteers about the úncharitable conduct´of the owners of the hostel, basically it is run by a family who were supposed to be affiliated with the Intiwawa Organisation(in case you are unaware, the one I work for) but they basically...
Arequipa Part One! →
1st October Arriving Arequipa
It is very, very hard to sleep on a bus when you are a 34” inside leg. Particularly a Peruvian one! I managed to get a couple of hours but am not too sleepy when I wake up, it´s getting light outside and there´s a kid-at-christmas feeling when I see the view. It´s bright, but 6am ish so not sunny and all I can see are sand dunes and desert. It´s unreal. Tried to take pictures but the sheer...
Lima! →
Leaving Lima...
I went back to my hotel(only to realise that all along they had a crazy-fast internet connection, but what the hey!!) and waited for the bell-hop guy to hail me a cab. Ended up getting a typical, doors-hanging-off yellow cab(like the one in pulp fiction, but sans the dice/rosary decoration…shame!!) it was basically a skeleton of a car, very open plan!!lol I was quite scared of the erratic...
FINAL CANADA!!! FINALLY!!!!!! →
Second Canada album... →
First Canada Album, sorry it´s a bit backward!! →
First proper day in Lima 30-01-08
Got myself properly lost today. Best way if you ask me! Lima is AMAZING. Seriously. I walked down this random street into a crazy-busy highway that has 2 mountains at the end of them, impressive backdrop! Got to the end of these roads, having risked my life to cross them. Everything seems to be one-way here, not sure how that works…It´s basically like a real-life version of that TV adaptor...
“´One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been´”
– My calendar has daily quotes on it. Today could not have been truer!