Okay then, let's do another one of these...the posts seem to be getting longer and further apart from each other. It's okay, at least I have a load more to write each time (yay me!)
(That sentence took me about 5 days to write, just an example of how lazy I'm getting)
RIGHT. So, this post will probably be in chapters or something as well, might as well stick to tradition and all that. Ill put more pictures in though - lucky you! The last time I wrote this I was trying to survive in Arequipa, drinking coffee, working late bar shifts and waking up too early for Spanish lessons. All whilst attempting to do some dissertation work (I have to keep reminding myself that that is what I'm actually here for, actual research, and not to piss about drinking pisco and getting constantly ill [I'll talk about that later - fun for all]) So since Arequipa and all that happened there for 3 weeks, my lovely Swiss friend arrived and we jetted off to Bolivia for a bit to explore the salt flats (which are incredible) and generally have a lovely
time in Sucre, and the we bussed it back up to Cuzco (for me) and Puno (for her). Do not even get me started about the bus ride. No more buses, ever, in my life, ever. Ever. If I even see another bus...No, I'm exaggerating (as usual). It was dire but bearable. This will all be explained in the Bolivia chapter, don't you worry. So now I'm in Cuzco, but it's my last day before I go to the lovely little town of Ollantaytambo (about 2 hours away) to live in a homestay for about 2 and a half months. Im doing this so I can actually, finally,
get some hardcore research done - no volunteering, no lessons, just 2 1/2 months of talking about coca with the locals. Which I am looking forward to. And then - HOME!! Wow this is going fast, under 3 months until I set foot back on English land, which I'm both very very excited for and ready for, but also...no, I don't want to leave. It's cool here, I'm enjoying wondering round the cobbled streets and sitting in little coffee shops reading my book, and getting caught in the incredible Cuzco rain which soaks you to the bone. I love it! Three months to go though, I'm sure by the end I'll be even more excited to get home. Right, that's a summary of whats happened, just in case you're incredibly lazy and can't be bothered to read more detail (which, I wouldn't blame you for to be honest) Okay, anyway, here come the chapters that I know you've all really been waiting for...
1) Things I did in my last week in Arequipa
So, when I left you last time, I still had a week left in Arequipa. I finished my Spanish lessons, which were really awesome and I was sad to go, the lady who run them was very nice. On my last day, she cooked me a delicious meal, and her two lovely daughters presented me with a One Direction poster. Why not. So now I'm carrying it around in my bag with me, I'd feel rude to let it go (also Harry Styles is a BABE) - no that's a joke, oh god now everyone's going to disown me. Whatever. They were sweet (the girls, not One Direction!) so I took their poster. I also finished working at the bar, which I also had a great time doing. Learnt to make some cocktails, met some cool people! My last night at the bar was a bit of a mess though; when everyone found out it was my last night, I was bought drinks by pretty much everyone. I'm not complaining or anything, don't get me wrong, but dear God Peruvian drinks are strong. Then Yael (the Suissa) arrived, and we pretty much just drank and ate our way round Arequipa which was a lot of fun - and we also didn't realise that the day she arrived was the same day that Carnaval was ending. So we were walking innocently up the street, and suddenly got ambushed by Peruvian kids with silly string and foam. So much foam. But the end of Arequipa was fun, so that was good. Then, we packed up again and flew to Bolivia. Which is all in the next part!
2) Sucre & Salt Flats (or how I learnt to stop worrying and just hate public transport)
[^ ^ ^ ooh look a kind of cultural reference - for my Dad really]
Anyway, we arrived in Sucre, after hours of getting really mad at Amazonas Airlines for being incredibly South American and not being on time for anything. Obviously it was the cheapest option, so we weren't really surprised that neither of our planes were on time (we flew from Arequipa to La Paz, and then to Sucre). The first one was delayed for two hours, and the second for another hour and a half or something. So that's reason number one why public transport isn't fun, although I guess it's all part of the travelling. We finally arrived in Sucre, to a very iffy looking hostel, which claimed to be three different hostels. The Swiss couple that we got a taxi with said they were going to one hostel, just around the corner from ours, and when we arrived both hostels were the same hostel. Which makes no sense, and then the name on the door was
something else. The taxi we got was also the only taxi in the entire airport, because when we arrived at 6.30pm, the airport was already closing and there was no one in sight. Crazy Sucre. We stayed there for 3 days, and Sucre is a lovely city. It's the shared capital of Bolivia, with La Paz, but I would take Sucre over La Paz any day. It's classic South America, with little streets and old houses.We walked around quite a lot, visited a museum and also went to the crazy markets - which are filled with stalls selling everything you could imagine at a very cheap price. It was fun! From Sucre, we took an 8ish hour bus to Uyuni, where the salt flats are. The bus was, again, standard public transport. You get what you pay for, which was as followed: screaming kids, crying babies, women sat next to you breastfeeding for the whole goddamn journey, bad smells, toilet stops where there aren't really toilets and lots of delays. But hey ho, South American transport! When we got to Uyuni, we were getting off the bus and this woman comes up to us trying to sell us 3 day
tours, which is the reason we went there, and she knew it. 'Hey look at those white girls, I bet they're easy to get money out of', is what I bet she was thinking. We really wanted to do a tour the next day, so when she finally let us get our bags and stopped pestering us, we booked a tour through her. She promised it would be the best thing we've ever done, the food would be amazing, we'd see everything, the guide would be full of knowledge, the hostel would be equipped with hot showers and good food. Did we get this? Like hell we did. To be honest, I'd already read that the tours are not what the tour offices say they are, so I expected less. But we payed a bit more than we'd seen advertised, so I thought, yeah, this could be awesome. And it was really amazing, the group we went with were brilliant. It was me, Yael, 2 Danish girls and 2 Swedish guys (Europe 4eva), and we had a great time together. The salt flats are incredible, they're absoloutely huge! We also went to a train cemetery, and some hot springs and stopped over at loads of beautiful lakes and mountains. But we definitely didn't get what we payed for. When we got back to Uyuni after the tour, we (well, I say we, me not so much) layed into the woman who sold us the tour for way too much money. And, after about an hour and a half shouting at her, we managed to get some money back, success! However, the tour, although lacking some things, was amazing and a lot of fun! So we got back to Uyuni, and now is the time for the rest of why I don't enjoy 
public transport. The day we got back to Uyuni, we had had a 6 hour car journey - very very warm. We then had about 3 hours to eat and wifi and then we had booked a 12 hour bus to La Paz. I wanted to get to Cuzco as cheaply and quickly as I could, so this was the best option. Supposedly direct bus to La Paz, we had to get off the bus 6 hours into the journey at 1am and change to an equally crowed, small bus. I have short legs, but I could not feel them after that. Also got no sleep, because the driver turned the lights on every 20 minutes to pick randomers up. We arrived in La Paz at about 7.30am, and went straight to the bus station - luckily, we found an 8.30am bus straight to Cuzco, which was a great find. It stopped in Puno, where Yael got off. Another 15 hour journey, and I got to Cuzco! So, about 2 days of busses/cars later, and I had the best sleep of my life. What I'm trying to say here is that yes, public transport gets you to the destination, although you may be a lot later than planned and half-dead at the end of it. Apart from that, Bolivia was great!
3) And now, Cuzco
something else. The taxi we got was also the only taxi in the entire airport, because when we arrived at 6.30pm, the airport was already closing and there was no one in sight. Crazy Sucre. We stayed there for 3 days, and Sucre is a lovely city. It's the shared capital of Bolivia, with La Paz, but I would take Sucre over La Paz any day. It's classic South America, with little streets and old houses.We walked around quite a lot, visited a museum and also went to the crazy markets - which are filled with stalls selling everything you could imagine at a very cheap price. It was fun! From Sucre, we took an 8ish hour bus to Uyuni, where the salt flats are. The bus was, again, standard public transport. You get what you pay for, which was as followed: screaming kids, crying babies, women sat next to you breastfeeding for the whole goddamn journey, bad smells, toilet stops where there aren't really toilets and lots of delays. But hey ho, South American transport! When we got to Uyuni, we were getting off the bus and this woman comes up to us trying to sell us 3 daytours, which is the reason we went there, and she knew it. 'Hey look at those white girls, I bet they're easy to get money out of', is what I bet she was thinking. We really wanted to do a tour the next day, so when she finally let us get our bags and stopped pestering us, we booked a tour through her. She promised it would be the best thing we've ever done, the food would be amazing, we'd see everything, the guide would be full of knowledge, the hostel would be equipped with hot showers and good food. Did we get this? Like hell we did. To be honest, I'd already read that the tours are not what the tour offices say they are, so I expected less. But we payed a bit more than we'd seen advertised, so I thought, yeah, this could be awesome. And it was really amazing, the group we went with were brilliant. It was me, Yael, 2 Danish girls and 2 Swedish guys (Europe 4eva), and we had a great time together. The salt flats are incredible, they're absoloutely huge! We also went to a train cemetery, and some hot springs and stopped over at loads of beautiful lakes and mountains. But we definitely didn't get what we payed for. When we got back to Uyuni after the tour, we (well, I say we, me not so much) layed into the woman who sold us the tour for way too much money. And, after about an hour and a half shouting at her, we managed to get some money back, success! However, the tour, although lacking some things, was amazing and a lot of fun! So we got back to Uyuni, and now is the time for the rest of why I don't enjoy public transport. The day we got back to Uyuni, we had had a 6 hour car journey - very very warm. We then had about 3 hours to eat and wifi and then we had booked a 12 hour bus to La Paz. I wanted to get to Cuzco as cheaply and quickly as I could, so this was the best option. Supposedly direct bus to La Paz, we had to get off the bus 6 hours into the journey at 1am and change to an equally crowed, small bus. I have short legs, but I could not feel them after that. Also got no sleep, because the driver turned the lights on every 20 minutes to pick randomers up. We arrived in La Paz at about 7.30am, and went straight to the bus station - luckily, we found an 8.30am bus straight to Cuzco, which was a great find. It stopped in Puno, where Yael got off. Another 15 hour journey, and I got to Cuzco! So, about 2 days of busses/cars later, and I had the best sleep of my life. What I'm trying to say here is that yes, public transport gets you to the destination, although you may be a lot later than planned and half-dead at the end of it. Apart from that, Bolivia was great!
3) And now, Cuzco
from party...
I made it back to Cuzco, just alive but not feeling all too great. I love Cuzco, so I was very excited to explore again, and have a walk round. I met a guy off the bus and we went to get some dinner after the ridiculous bus journey, and the next night we went to a hostel bar and then met some more people and had a great time. However, I wasn't/am still not, feeling all too well. My tummy was feeling strange, and since I arrived in Cuzco I completely lost my appetite. I know something's wrong when I don't want to eat. So last Saturday, I walked around the city for a bit, bought some really good books for my dissertation, and then thought I'd go to the hospital to see if I'm all okay. 3 days in hospital, lots of antibiotics, a drip and too much TV later, and I'm out of there! Turns out I have bad food poisoning, so I had to stay for two nights in there. I was in a room on my own, connected to the drip and no wifi. I know, wifi, but come on, when you're on your own in a foreign hospital for 3 days, internet is really
...to hospital :(
quite a saviour. But nope, no internet, so I relied on the TV and my phone for entertainment. I'm back in my hostel now though, and still feeling a bit groggy with my stomach, but the doctors gave me lots of meds that will hopefully get me better. I hope they work quickly, too, because I'm off to my homestay tomorrow! I'm living with a family in Ollantaytambo, about 2 hours outside of Cuzco, which is exciting and I'm hoping to get the rest of my research done. So at the moment I'm repacking and sorting my life out again! I know this will all go really quickly, so I'm also having to sort out flights back to Lima for when I go home, and everything like that. Lots to do!
So that's it for now really, phew that took me too long to write. I'm sure I'll write another one in about a month or so, maybe earlier if lots happen, but I do like to keep you hanging!
Hasta luego, S x
|
| from party... |
|
| ...to hospital :( |
So that's it for now really, phew that took me too long to write. I'm sure I'll write another one in about a month or so, maybe earlier if lots happen, but I do like to keep you hanging!
Hasta luego, S x
