Hello!!!!
Whaddup from Cuzco, home of Incas, alpacas and lots of sad-faced Peruvian ladies carrying lambs. We've been here for just over a week now and last Monday our new travelling partner Alex arrived!!! The first few days we were hit by the horrible effects of altitude sickness and spent the entire time complaining about how sick we felt and how cold it is at night. Since Tuesday we have been volunteering in an orphanage called Elim Girls where there are 14 girls between the ages of about 4 and 17, mostly early teens. On our first day the girls were not unfriendly but not super open to us but we assumed this was completely normal as we had just arrived and they had never met us before. However, we found out that it was because that day there had been a lot of tension over some inter-girl drama (exact details a bit hazy) and the next night after the three of us came back from dinner we found that the girls had not only made us all pancakes but put on a whole show with several dance numbers and a guitar rendition of Wonderwall and written a big sign that concluded "I'm Zorry". That's right - they put on a song and dance show to apologise to us for being a tiny bit standoffish the day before. God knows what they would think if they came to London. Since then they have all been extremely welcoming, fun and energetic. Also, they call us Sister which makes us melt inside a little bit each time they say it.
We've spent most of our time at the orphanage helping with homework during the day, and playing cards with the girls in the evenings and watching Harry Potter before they go to bed. All the girls except for two (who are younger) have school until 1 every weekday so we have spent many pleasurable mornings exploring Cuzco and buying jumpers in the market. The two younger girls are called Zulema and Patricia and are around 4 and 7 although their exact ages are unknown as they were found abandoned on the streets in Lima. They are both absolutely adorable and so much fun to play with. Zulema is the younger one but has the eyes and manner of an older, worldly woman. She enjoys telling Rebecca off. Patricia is older and has downs syndrome but is so, so highly functioning and one of the most affectionate children I have ever met despite her lack of speech. All the girls are really lovely and have welcomed us so openly into their big, fun, slightly dysfunctional family.
On the weekend we did what everyone comes to Cuzco to do- visit Machu Picchu. Joined by Indi, we took the bus and train to Aguas Calientes, the town nearest to MP and spent several hours soaking in the amazing hot springs there. The next day we got up at 5am to do the two hour hike up to Machu Picchu. When asking our tour operator if this would be a difficult climb, they said "No it's fine, you're all young and fit". I don't think anyone will be offended when I say that on Sunday we were all reminded just how unfit we are - we took breaks every two minutes and Rebecca is still feeling the ache. However it was an amazing walk and made finally arriving there all the more impressive than if we had just taken the half hour bus journey. Almost immediately after arriving we set off to climb Wayna Picchu (pronounced Whine-a Picchu which is what we did while we were climbing), the mountain right next to Machu Picchu itself and another hour long hike. Getting to the top was unbelievable and made even better by the fact that we all took the opportunity to phone home while we were up there.
After having climbed back down the mountain (silently laughing at people who had only just started the ascent) we had about an hour until our guided tour of Machu Picchu. We ate our leftover snacks, drank lots of water and generally enjoyed not walking up or down steps for a bit. When our tour guide turned up (25 minutes late) we were given a walking tour of the 'lost city' complete with historical facts, photographs and very bad jokes. By the end of the 2 hour tour we were all absolutely exhausted, having been up since before sunrise (!!!!) and decided to take the bus down the mountain and treat ourselves to a huge, fairly pricey Italian meal. Eating was AMAZING. After eating we went back to the thermal baths and spent the next 3 hours soaking our aching legs.
So here comes the not so amazing part. After getting the train to Ollantaytambo (a town between Aguas Calientes and Cuzco), we arrived at the station at 11.30 to find out that there was not, as promised, a bus waiting to take us on the two hour journey back to Cuzco. We found the group that we had travelled with on the bus the day before but when we went to the bus with them discovered that our four seats had mysteriously been filled by four Peruvians who had not been there before. When we asked the woman co-ordinating the passengers (who had also travelled with us the day before) why we didn't have spaces, who these new people were and if she had confirmed that they were meant to be there she avoided the question and screamed at us to get off the bus. We called our tour operator several times and after receiving lots of evasive and unhelpful answers we realised that we were about to be left alone in the middle of the night in a completely deserted town with no way of getting home.
At this point there was only one coach left outside the station and we realised our only potential way of getting back would be to appeal to the driver's better nature by explaining our situation and begging him not to leave until we'd sorted out what we were going to do next. Luckily, and with the help of our tear filled eyes, he took pity on us and let us ride on the floor of the coach, along with 2 Peruvians, a Frenchman and a pregnant woman. It was the most uncomfortable ride of our lives and my back is still recovering now but at least we made it back unharmed and the tube in rush hour is going to seem an absolute luxury when we get home.
Today is our last day at the orphanage and tomorrow we are heading off to Puno and Lake Titicaca for a few days before saying goodbye to Peru and crossing over to Bolivia! We will be very emotional to leave here but are excited for whatever is coming our way. Stay tuned!
xxx
Whaddup from Cuzco, home of Incas, alpacas and lots of sad-faced Peruvian ladies carrying lambs. We've been here for just over a week now and last Monday our new travelling partner Alex arrived!!! The first few days we were hit by the horrible effects of altitude sickness and spent the entire time complaining about how sick we felt and how cold it is at night. Since Tuesday we have been volunteering in an orphanage called Elim Girls where there are 14 girls between the ages of about 4 and 17, mostly early teens. On our first day the girls were not unfriendly but not super open to us but we assumed this was completely normal as we had just arrived and they had never met us before. However, we found out that it was because that day there had been a lot of tension over some inter-girl drama (exact details a bit hazy) and the next night after the three of us came back from dinner we found that the girls had not only made us all pancakes but put on a whole show with several dance numbers and a guitar rendition of Wonderwall and written a big sign that concluded "I'm Zorry". That's right - they put on a song and dance show to apologise to us for being a tiny bit standoffish the day before. God knows what they would think if they came to London. Since then they have all been extremely welcoming, fun and energetic. Also, they call us Sister which makes us melt inside a little bit each time they say it.
We've spent most of our time at the orphanage helping with homework during the day, and playing cards with the girls in the evenings and watching Harry Potter before they go to bed. All the girls except for two (who are younger) have school until 1 every weekday so we have spent many pleasurable mornings exploring Cuzco and buying jumpers in the market. The two younger girls are called Zulema and Patricia and are around 4 and 7 although their exact ages are unknown as they were found abandoned on the streets in Lima. They are both absolutely adorable and so much fun to play with. Zulema is the younger one but has the eyes and manner of an older, worldly woman. She enjoys telling Rebecca off. Patricia is older and has downs syndrome but is so, so highly functioning and one of the most affectionate children I have ever met despite her lack of speech. All the girls are really lovely and have welcomed us so openly into their big, fun, slightly dysfunctional family.
On the weekend we did what everyone comes to Cuzco to do- visit Machu Picchu. Joined by Indi, we took the bus and train to Aguas Calientes, the town nearest to MP and spent several hours soaking in the amazing hot springs there. The next day we got up at 5am to do the two hour hike up to Machu Picchu. When asking our tour operator if this would be a difficult climb, they said "No it's fine, you're all young and fit". I don't think anyone will be offended when I say that on Sunday we were all reminded just how unfit we are - we took breaks every two minutes and Rebecca is still feeling the ache. However it was an amazing walk and made finally arriving there all the more impressive than if we had just taken the half hour bus journey. Almost immediately after arriving we set off to climb Wayna Picchu (pronounced Whine-a Picchu which is what we did while we were climbing), the mountain right next to Machu Picchu itself and another hour long hike. Getting to the top was unbelievable and made even better by the fact that we all took the opportunity to phone home while we were up there.
After having climbed back down the mountain (silently laughing at people who had only just started the ascent) we had about an hour until our guided tour of Machu Picchu. We ate our leftover snacks, drank lots of water and generally enjoyed not walking up or down steps for a bit. When our tour guide turned up (25 minutes late) we were given a walking tour of the 'lost city' complete with historical facts, photographs and very bad jokes. By the end of the 2 hour tour we were all absolutely exhausted, having been up since before sunrise (!!!!) and decided to take the bus down the mountain and treat ourselves to a huge, fairly pricey Italian meal. Eating was AMAZING. After eating we went back to the thermal baths and spent the next 3 hours soaking our aching legs.
So here comes the not so amazing part. After getting the train to Ollantaytambo (a town between Aguas Calientes and Cuzco), we arrived at the station at 11.30 to find out that there was not, as promised, a bus waiting to take us on the two hour journey back to Cuzco. We found the group that we had travelled with on the bus the day before but when we went to the bus with them discovered that our four seats had mysteriously been filled by four Peruvians who had not been there before. When we asked the woman co-ordinating the passengers (who had also travelled with us the day before) why we didn't have spaces, who these new people were and if she had confirmed that they were meant to be there she avoided the question and screamed at us to get off the bus. We called our tour operator several times and after receiving lots of evasive and unhelpful answers we realised that we were about to be left alone in the middle of the night in a completely deserted town with no way of getting home.
At this point there was only one coach left outside the station and we realised our only potential way of getting back would be to appeal to the driver's better nature by explaining our situation and begging him not to leave until we'd sorted out what we were going to do next. Luckily, and with the help of our tear filled eyes, he took pity on us and let us ride on the floor of the coach, along with 2 Peruvians, a Frenchman and a pregnant woman. It was the most uncomfortable ride of our lives and my back is still recovering now but at least we made it back unharmed and the tube in rush hour is going to seem an absolute luxury when we get home.
Today is our last day at the orphanage and tomorrow we are heading off to Puno and Lake Titicaca for a few days before saying goodbye to Peru and crossing over to Bolivia! We will be very emotional to leave here but are excited for whatever is coming our way. Stay tuned!
xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment