Pictures!!!

Finally, I know!  Please find pictures of the trip so far, split by country at my Picasa account.  Brian has promised to add them to facebook as soon as he has that sort of time which may be when we  get home.  For now, here you go:
https://picasaweb.google.com/113757691164438550487?feat

Orlando

I'm going to keep the details on Orlando pretty short. Its been awesome. We have a 14 day pass to the two Universal Studio parks, Wet and Wild, SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch gardens. We have only been in Orlando ten days but it was so worth getting the 14 day pass. Some of the highlights were a squirrel jumping on Brian's lap in order to get chips, the sea lion show at Seaworld, Hogsmeade and the Harry Potter castle in Universal Island of Adventure (wow they went all out on it, it feels like you are really there), the Karken rollercoast in SeaWorld in the front seat, the Chinese Fireball Triwizard ride in the front seat, the Men in Black ride and Simpsons ride in Universal Studio, the absolutely giant turtle in Busch gardens, the hungry stingrays trying to rub us and nibble our fingers Kumba in Busch gardens and the tigers, kangaroos and giant crocodile in Busch gardens. We also played some crazy golf (18 holes is great fun, 36 is too much crazy golf). I thought the Aquatica was a better waterpark then Wet and Wild and they have the coolest dolphins I have ever seen in my life but I'm not one for water parks. Aquatica also has a few fish features and a beach with the wave pool. America is terrible for food. Food which is really bad for you is available the whole time in over large quantities. We tried to buy fruit and eat health but it was so hard and we ended up eatting a lot of junk food. We have been doing really well up to now on the holiday eatting very well and exercising. The one thing to be said for the theme parks is that they are exhausting and we spent full days at them so hopefully we will burn off a good bit of the stuff we ate while here.

Orlando

I usually don't share the details of the trips between places but as ths one was so eventful I thought I'd share. As we were queueing in immigration at Miami airport to get an internal flight to our final destination we were followed in the queue by a big annoying American man in what looked like pjamas. On the way in the sign had very clearly said US citizens to the right and visitors to the left and above us in the queue were big yellow visitor signs. He stood behind us and complained to his friend about how long it was taken and how they were in the right place as they were only in Miami to visit another friend of theirs. At this point we turned around to explain to them that Americans had to go to a different queue. Finally we got through immigration and then customs and then moving our lugaging from one machine to another (I dont understand why we had to do this but it seemed very important to them) and then we were in the queue for the metal detector to our departure gate after about an hour and a half. After some really grumpy people told us to go various places and changed their minds and stopped to talk to people we got through the metal detector and I went to the bathroom. When I came out, Brian was gone and the area we were in was empty. I walked to the middle of the room and a man ran over from the metal detector and asked to check my back pack. He kneeled on the floor and searched it. Then he ran off and I went back to the crowd at the metal detector where I found Brian. He had been called back and had to wait by the machines while he and a number of other people had their bags re-examined. They didn't tell say anything be he overheard that this was the second time toda something had gotten through that shouldn't have. After being ignored for ten minutes we moved on to our gate but they had locked down the whole area so we were stuck. We waited hallf an hour, in which time our flight took off. I had been bored earlier and read the American Airlines terms and conditions and it turns out you can be rescheduled on another flight free of charge when things like this happen but its on a first come first served basis. Brian asked an attendant where we could rebook a flight and found out it was at gate 37. So once we were free of the lockdown we ran to the rebooking desk where the lady apologised for the fact the next flight was 4 hours away and booked us on it. A queue formed as we were booking our ticket. It was actually really easy to sort out. While exploring the airport burning 4 hours we saw the American in pjamas from before. He was surrounded by airport security, Miami Dade policy and homeland security who had taken his backpack off him. He was the annoying reason we missed our flight.

Mexico

After checking into hostel we headed off to see Isla Mujeres. We had heard it was one of the locations of an underwater museum/art exhibition. Every website recommended going with a tour guide and as part of a tour package there was a trip to see it. So first we went snorkling in the Garrafon Natural Reef Park. We got to see all sorts of fish which swam around us including a big baracuda. We were told that when they were in the reef they weren't looking for food so we were safe :) It was amazingly clear. You could almost 20 metres I'd say. Next we got to go to one of the pieces in the underwater museum. There were about 203 sculptures about 8 metres underwater. They were made of artificial reef and had shoals of fish living around them. The underwater camera took loads of great clear pictures it was perfect for Cancun. We also met a woman from Pentiction who came scuba diving with us. Pentiction is a little known ski resort in Canada which is exactly the resort we are going to. She was telling us how no one in Canada knew where the resort was but she was so surprised that it was advertised abroad (Brian had seen an ad for it in the paper on the floor of a dart going on a night out). That night we had dinner in the hostel with everyone else staying there and had a few drinks as we got to know a few peeple.

Next day we went to visit Chichen Itza. On the way we stopped at a cenote. It was an underwater cave with a pool of water in it. The Mayan's believed they were holy. There were some people in traditional Mayan outfits doing traditional dances in a platform in the middle of the pool. There are still quite a lot of Mayans in that area of Mexico around the Yucantan peninsula and they still wear the traditional clothes We saw a lot of women in white dresses with colourful patterns around the rims. After a buffet lunch we got to one of the seven wonders of the world. We had a very good guide take us around. He refreshed my memory on the whole place (I had been to Chichen Itza before with my Mam, Dad and brother years ago). Its quite a big site with loads of interesting bits to it. I had a great time even though it did lash rain for about half an hour on and off at the end of the tour. We did a bit of exploring ourselves and bought a few souvenirs. We got back to the hostel at about 8. We had planned on going to Coco Bongo that night. However some of the guys in the hostel went there the night before and were disappointed. The few people who had been thinking of going decided to go to a club called Bulldog. We followed suit and headed out. We paid about 48 Euro to get into the club and get a wristband. The wristband was an open bar wristband so we got free drinks all night. It was great, the put a full bottle of vodka and tequilla on our table and four jugs of juice. One of the girls got strawberry daquiries and a few of us got beer and they put about 4 glasses of these per person on the table to start. We had a great time hanging out with the guys from the hostel, among them were three Australian guys, three German guys, two Italians, two English girls and a Dutch girl. They were all really nice and we had a great time. We spent a great long time on the dance floor. Before the night really got started there was a booty shaking competition up by the dj which was very funny. Very late in the night we headed home having had a fantastic time. Brian did dedicate a good few minutes negoiating with the taxi drivers outside to get us a very good deal to get home.

Our last day in Mexico Brian spent very hung over. We got up about 12 and we were both feeling a bit iffy. After get a good feed in MacDonalds I was feeling much better but unfortunately Brian got a headache so we decided to spend the day in the hostel. Brian watched a bit of the superbowl and I read a bit. We had a few drinks with the gorgeous free dinner provided by the hostel. The food there was great and I would really recommend it. Also the beer in the hostel was less than a euro a can and there were always a few people in the common area to share a drink with.

Mexico

So then it was on to Mexico where I finally got to enjoy the birthday present Brian got me which was 5 nights in the Bel Air hotel. It was a really beautiful hotel. It had a prefect white beach and blue ocean out behind it. As I imagine most hotels on the hotel strip in Cancun have. it had a gorgeous pool as well. So we spent most of the 5 days just lying by it and swimming in the pool or the ocean. The pool to cool down as the ocean was actually really warm. The hotel had hammocks and all sorts of little enclosed areas outside where you could sit out in the roasting shade. The room service was really cheap, a lot cheaper then the restaurant so we spent the hotest part of the day getting lunch in our rooms. Though one day we ate in the outdoor area of the restaurant which had chairs and tables in a shallow pool. It was very weird eatting at a table with your lower legs in water. Every day from 5 to 6 in the hotel we watched the sun set drinking free champagne from the hotel and eatting cake. The cake and coffee lasted til 7. It was an amazing trip even if I did walk into a fish tank on my first day as I was looking at the sea. The stairs swept away to the right but I was still looking at the sea. The fish in the tank were ok though and didn't seem to notice the event. They were happen and health at the end of our stay and had their pool clenaed out before that. When we weren't on the beach we did a bit of shopping and went exploring downtown. There was a spa in the hotel and while I had fully intend on taking advantage of it, I was completely distracted by the beach and champagne. On the Friday we had finally finished our stay in the hotel which I would thoroughly recommend.

Peru

Its been a while since I updated this with everything that has been going on.  As lot has happened since then so to be honest I don't remember much of the flying visit through Lima.  We did get a tour around one of the archaeological sites in Lima.  It was pretty interesting as it was very different from things like Machu Pichu.  They made earthquake proof temples out of mud bricks.  When they originally tried to reconstruct it, all the pieces they reconstructed fell down at the first tremor and they original stuff was all still fine.  They seemed to know what they were doing.  There are quite a few sites in Lima itself, its quite the old town.  Brian also went swimming on the beach to take him a step closer to swimming in all 7 seas.  He said it was the dirtiest, most uncomfortable sea he has ever swam in.  It was viciously rocky as well.  I'm glad I decided to forgo a swim that day.  It might have been because that beach was near enough to the centre of a massive city that it was so dirty.  The bright point of the beach was that for less than a euro we got an amazing sandwich.  It was a bap or big bun which plain shredded chicken.  As a topping I got ketchup, mustard and shredded crisps.  It was amazing.  Brian got mayonasse on his and said it was also amazing.  We went to a cocktail bar that night and spent the night talking to a business man named Keith and a Peruvian guy he works with who was introduced very quickly to us.  We had a few Pisco based cocktails.  Pisco is the traditional spirit of Peru (if you ignore the fact Chile is trying to get a court case to say its theirs, Peru has a lot more going for it to say they had it first).

Lake Titicaca

So we had to get out of the hostel by 2. We decided to go down to the bus station as we were getting an overnight bus to lake Titicaca that night. We tried to find somewhere to leave our bags but we couldn't. No one recognised the word that was in my dictionary for left luggage. So in the end we took our bags and did some souvenir shopping along with getting all our soaking clothes from the Inca trail washed. Once we had everything sorted we got food and waited for our bus. We got into Puno at half 4 and met someone from the tour company who took us to a hostel as the tour started at 7. At 7 we got onto a boat on the lake. It was very wet so the tour guide said we couldn't get to the reed islands in this weather. He was going to take us to an island called Taquila and hopefully the weather would clear up by the afternoon. On the Taquila we walked around a very hilly island. We got a great view of the lake and got some lovely lunch and learned all about the customs of the people on the island. They were very bright clothes and mostly do weaving and knitting. By lunch the weather was stone splitting. We were so happy we were going to get to go see the reed islands. So we headed off to them in a boat. When we got there the president of the island met us and helped the tour guide explain how the islands were made. She even had sample reed blocks and strings so show us how they tie together all the blocks of reeds to make islands. Then all the people in the village took members of the tour into their house to show them how they lived. They only sleep in their houses and spend all other time away from them. They are descendants of pre Inca tribes. They use solar panels and energy efficient bulbs to light their houses and its the only electricity. Their houses and boats are all made out of reeds. They even eat the reeds. They only hunt once a week for food and they are the only people allowed hunt in the area. The can fish every day though. There is a school and a medical centre on the island though they don't use the medical centre. The lake only has .01% pollution. Then they sang us songs from the island and then we had to all sing them songs. They were really welcoming people and we even got to get rowed to the final island on one of their reed boats. They have a hotel and bar on the last island as it was a bit bigger and tourist orientated then the little island we started on. It was a really interesting day. We got dinner and Brian got to eat Alpaca meat to get him closer to his goal of eating 30 different none fish animals.

Later we got another overnight bus back to Cucso. We spent the day wander Cusco and got some great food in a place called Jack's cafe. We saw the Inca museum which was nice but wasn't very consistent with what it translated and didn't translate. We then stopped in the highest Irish pub in the world for a drink. Finally we got on the bus to take us back to Lima. It was a 21 hour journey.

The Inca Trail

So in the two days leading up to the Inca trail not a whole lot went on. We were told to take it easy and drink loads of coca tea so we did. We were in a nice hostel with rather temperamental internet. We booked a trip to lake Titicaca and all the accommodation we needed to sort out. I could only get an hour or two sleep for the first two nights. Not sure if it is the altitude or the fact that we were just chilling out and didn't do anything tiring. We also met with our guide for the Inca trail and he went through everything that was going to happen on the trip and gave us a map.

So on the third day in Cusco we got up at 5 in the morning and got a bus to the start of the Inca trail. We stopped off for breakfast in Ollantaytambo and headed on by bus to the 82km marker. I think its a marker for the train as the Inca trail is only about 40km long. There we passed through the checkpoint into the trail and all got stamps on our passport. We headed out on the trip with an Argentine couple called Florencia and Ruan. They spoke a good bit of English as the little bit of Spanish we had never really got us anywhere :) The first day hiking was fine. The weather was lovely and the walk was nice. We stopped for lunch where our porters were waiting for us. They brought all the food and pots and sleeping bags. They are legally only allowed carry 70kg which is a crazy amount. Every meal starts with a soup course and there was always loads to eat. The weather was warm and sunny. We kept going after lunch and reached a few houses together. When we arrived the porters were just finishing setting up our tents. We took a quick nap and had some tea and popcorn and then got dinner. The dinner was lovely. Afterwards I wasn't feeling great so I took an altitude sickness tablet before bed. Unfortunately that night Brian thinks I might have had an allergic reaction as I woke up and my throat was really tight and I had to sit up to breathe and was really hot. So I didn't take any more of those tablets. I also didn't really get a whole nights sleep.

We got up at 5.30 the next day and headed off on the hardest day of the trip. It was up hill for about the first 5 hours. So we headed off and I was completely exhausted after the first section. After just under 2 hours we stopped at a checkpoint. Here we were sitting with a few other groups and a guide came up and said that we should take the whole walk at our own pace and not be rushed by keeping up with anyone else. So for the rest of day I went at my own pace and ignored our guide trying to rush me. It turns out I don't like steps. They have loads on the Inca trail. About half of them were made for people with really long legs. I found it really hard to step up the high ones so it took me a bit of time. It wasn't like I just stopped and sat around, I kept walking and just stopped when I had to catch my breath for a few seconds. Its quite hard to catch your breath at such high altitude though. It was a bright warm day but started to rain a little half way through. I put on my rain jacket but was way too warm so I took it off and went around without a jacket and just got wet. It was actually really refreshing and because it was so warm, when it stopped we dried off quickly (Brian also kept off his jacket). Florencia had brought a back pack on the first day but had given it to one of the porters for the second day hiking as it was slowing her down too much. So Florencia and Ruan were walking ahead of us most of the time. They didn't have as much trouble as me. Brian was very sweet and stayed walking with me the whole time so I would have company and to make sure I was ok. By the end of the 5 hours uphill Ruan had slowed down to my pace because he was still carrying a big backpack. Myself and Brian both had small backpacks. Brian was carrying a 2 litre bottle and little bottle of water and a few other things. I only had a little bottle and bits and pieces like sun cream and insect repellant. After the hours uphill we reached Dead Woman's Pass which is at 4200 metres. It was so misty and foggy we couldn't see a thing. We still got a good sense of achievement. After which we had a two hour walk downhill. For this myself and Brian raced ahead. Quite enjoy walking downhill. There were mostly steps for the whole downhill and I don't have any problems with my knees. Ruan's knees hurt and Brian's did a little too but not enough to slow him down at all. We got to camp ages ahead of everyone which was a big change from the morning. We then got lunch and a nap. After which was dinner. It was a lot of food for 3 o'clock in the afternoon considering we hadn't eaten since 6 in the morning. That night we sat around talking for a while after dinner and then went to bed. That night Brian didn't get a very good nights sleep as there were loads of rocks under the tent.

It rained heavily the whole night and when we got up the next day it was fairly miserable. We got on all our rain gear that days as it wasn't at all warm enough out to dry us if we did get wet. Because it was so wet our guide was afraid of landslides on the last phase of the walk. So in the end we decided to walk all the way to Machu Pichu town and stay in a hostel there rather than be stuck on the Inca trail. So we had about 10 hours of walking to do that day. We got up at 5 and had breakfast and started walking about quarter past 6. We walked until 2 or 3 and got to Winay Wayna. We were soaking wet by the time we got there. There was a pub and shop there and it was packed when we arrived. Our porters made us a lovely lunch and then we had a porter ceremony. There we were all introduced to the porters and they were introduced to us. Then we said thanks and gave them a tip. It was quite an awkward ceremony as we had no idea what we were suppose to be doing. There were 7 porters needed to carry all of our stuff. That included the chief. They seemed nice even though we were only talking to them for a few minutes. Brian had a sore chest for lunch but decided just to ignore it. He decided it was just from being tired, it went away the next day so he was probably right. Then we started off again walking. This time it was downhill for about 2 hours and then flat to the town. We walked along the train tracks for a lot of the flat bit. We had to get off the tracks when the trains came. It seems a lot of people walk along the tracks as the trains beep the whole way along that stretch to warn people well in advance. For the last stretch of the walk we were soaking wet and so was everything we owned. We were so happy when we got to the hostel, we had gotten so excited about having a hot shower. When we got there it turned out the entire town was without water. We got out of our wet clothes and just had to dry ourselves with towels because there was nothing else we could do. I wore my only other pair of shoes to dinner which was a pair of water shoes and Brian wore flip flops and shorts out in the lashing rain to dinner. Dinner was in a restaurant but it turns out that our porters had cooked it for us and we just got it served in a restaurant. It was a very nice rice and beef stir fry. Up to that point we had been having a lot of tradition Peruvian food which was really good too. Then we all went to bed as we were getting up at half 3 to see Machu Pichu. Unfortunately I could still only sleep for 3 or 4 hours it was enough to stop me being exhausted which was a relief. The reason we were getting up so early is that at 10 there was a walk up Wina Pichu to overlook the whole city.

At 4 in the morning we queued for the bus to Machu Pichu. We queued til half 5 and got on the third bus going up there as a lot of people were queuing at that time of morning. It was so wet and miserable in the end none of us decided to climb Wina Pichu. Instead we took a tour around Machu Pichu and saw the city. It was very beautiful. They have tonnes of terraces all the way down the city and a sun dial and compass. There were a lot of structures that showed the two different types of construction in the city. The Inca construction was really impressive. Then we were left to our own devices for the day and all we had to do was be back at the train station for 7. We went to see the Condor temple where there was suppose to be a condor visible in the temple. Brian spent a good few minutes convincing the Argentine couple we were with that it was on a big stone at the back of the temple. Shortly afterwards a tour came by and the tour guide pointed to a worn stone carving on the ground and explained how it used to be a condor. It was very funny. After walking around the city a while we walking about 45 minutes up to the sungate. It was really foggy and misty out so we actually couldn't see anything but grey so we walked back to the city. By the time we got back it had actually cleared up. Even though we never got to see the great view from the sun gate we did get a great view of the city from slightly above it. It was fantastic. There were loads of llama too. We also went to see the Inca bridge. So after seeing everything there was to see we went to get lunch/dinner as it was quite late. We got some beautiful food in town and had a few drinks to relax after the really hard trek. After which we headed to the hot springs in the town. It was still raining when we got into our togs and settle into what seemed like our door pools. There were about 7 pools with different temperatures in each pool. We started in a nice medium heat one. Then tried a colder one and ten the warmest one. We spent a few hours in that and let our muscles relax after the hard walk. It was lovely. They had a bar at the place so we had a last drink before getting on the train back to Cusco. Unfortunately, while we avoid landslides on the Inca trail, we did not avoid them on the train. The train journey took 5 extra hours while we were stuck in front of a land slide. We ended up getting into Cusco at 4 in the morning. So we checked into our hostel and I showered and we were in bed by 5 and Brian was up by half 9. I woke then but stayed in bed. Even if I couldn't sleep, I was really enjoying having a comfortable bed to lie in. And that was the end of our trip to Machu Pichu.