Day 8 – Friday 5^th September

Sadly the night was not as restful as hoped due to Paul vomiting violently.  It appears that something he ate for tea reacted badly and he ended up vomiting all over our bags, equipment and his bed.  The clean up operation took about an hour as everything was cleaned up.  Needless to say Sean and I were worried about Paul.

After quick showers we went for breakfast and made sure that Paul ate something.  With Paul’s clothes still drying and my bag still wet after the clean up operation we sorted out bags so that mine took the laundry inside a carrier bag whilst Paul and Sean took my gear.

With everything sorted we decided to go for a coffee and give Paul time to recover.  As midday approached he started to feel better so we took the chance to amble around Agua Calientes’ markets.  This proved to be good fun and gave me plenty of ideas for gifts to take home.

During lunch Paul’s appetite returned as we had a huge meal ready for our train journey to Cusco tonight.  Whilst eating I was able to write several postcards too.  With time pressing on I posted my postcards and we collected our bags from the hostel.  The baking heat had returned making carrying our luggage to the train station an ordeal.  That said we easily made it to the station in time.  The train left on time and we were able to enjoy the incredible views of the Urubamba river and the Sacred Valley.  Despite having no leg room I was enjoying every second of the journey.

As 19:00 approached we had risen to 14,000ft in the fading light.  The temperature started to fall but the journey was still pleasurable.  With Cusco arriving into view at 21:30 we were treated to the spectacular sight of the city by street light.

We jumped off our train and headed straight for the hostel.  At one point we knew we were being followed so we pressed on and arrived at our hostel in quick time.  In the sanctuary of our room we enjoyed a snack for tea and turned in for the night just after 23:00.

Day 9 – Saturday 6^th September

With no alarm being set we all enjoyed a very sound sleep.  Waking up around 07:00 we joked and chatted whilst playing with my inflatable globe until just after 08:00.

By 09:00n I was washed and showered and sending emails home.  Enjoying a day of rest I sauntered up to our room just before 11:00 to talk with Sean and Paul.

We set out to organise our clothes washing and enjoy the sights of beautiful Cusco.  Stopping for lunch we enjoyed the views of the city from our balcony table.  Just as I was finishing off my lunch I started to feel feint and staggered towards the toilet.  Sitting down the world started spinning round.  I made it out the toilet to where Sea and Paul were sitting and told them something was wrong.  They could both sympathise after their recent experiences.

Slowly we set about arranging the rest of our trip.  I was finding it tough going walking through the narrow streets but we arrived at our kayaking expedition shop to find out that our guide had gone with another group and cancelled out tour!  We were not impressed!

Feeling terrible I sat down and spent an hour trying to drink an orange juice as we discussed our next move.  I started to feel a bit better about 16:00 so we hit the town with the quest of organising another kayaking trip.  Fortunately we found a guide who was free to go tomorrow and was able to provide a course just for the three of us.

Feeling on a roll we went to the SAS travel agency and spent the next three hours arranging the rest of our trip.  Just before 20:00 everything was booked with us just needing to pick up the tickets on our return to Cusco on Tuesday.

Walking back to the hostel we collected our laundry and sorted it out in our room.  Someone had stolen my towel so I need to chase that up in the morning before leaving on the kayaking trip.  After going out for a quick tea we sorted out our gear for tomorrow with us going to bed just on 23:00…with me finally feeling much better!

Day 10 – Sunday 7^th September

Waking up at 07:00 we set about making final preparations for our kayaking trip.  Having showered and washed by 08:00 I set out to the laundry place to find that the person I need to speak to was not there.  Not to worry, I can pester them again on Tuesday when I return to Cusco!

We put our baggage into the hostel store and waited for our kayaking guides to arrive.  Half an hour late they came running up our street apologising that they had gone to the wrong place.  We set out along the highway passing through some villages along the way and were thoroughly enjoying the views – if not the very erratic driving!

Stopping briefly at a market to buy some fruit (beautiful oranges!) we pressed on and arrived at the Apurimac river.  This was to be the venue for our training.  Before too long we had taken all the equipment off our van’s roof and had begun our first kayaking lessons.  The kayaking proved to be fun although it did turn out to be quite tricky with balance being an issue.  My confidence remained high though because I only flipped over the same number of times as Sean and Paul who have several months experience.

Reaching a natural break about 14:30 we stopped for lunch at some nearby hot springs, which were great for swimming in too!  Lunch was a carbohydrate busting portion of pasta and tuna which was certainly most gratefully received as we were working hard in the river!

Just after 16:00 we hit the river again to try some new exercises.  These proved much tougher but I only capsized twice which was actually quite good for me!  Clearly needing more practice we moved to the hot spring pools to try Eskimo rolls.  Again, this proved difficult but by the time we finished at19:00 I was beginning to get there with it.

Having completed our kayaking for the day we enjoyed the hot springs for an hour or so and tried to rest our aching bodies.  Just after 21:00 we were treated to a huge chicken and rice meal which took an hour to eat!  The events of the day had started to take its toll and by the time the tents were up we had crawled into them with the intention of sleeping as much as possible.  It had been a tough but very enjoyable day!

Day 11 – Monday 8^th September

With our tent not having a cover sheet the light woke us up just before 07:00.  However, having slept in our sleeping bags without a mattress (and therefore sleeping on rocks!) we dozed until about 07:50 and got up just in time for breakfast.  Our huge portions of porridge were clearly designed to get more carbs into us.

By 09:00we were practicing Eskimo rolls on the ground.  This proved to be quite useful in preparation for trying the real thing in the pools.  However, the Eskimo rolls just as tough as yesterday.  I kept trying until 11:15 when the guides instructed me to stop and take a break.  Somewhat relieved (As I was nowhere near doing an Eskimo roll!) I enjoyed a swim until lunchtime.  I will complete an Eskimo roll one day!

After lunch, which was another huge chicken and rice meal, we packed our van ready to launch an assault on the Apurimac river.  Feeling very anxious we set out in the scorching heat.  Surprisingly I found the rapids far easier to cope with than I thought I would and was enjoying the ride.  For nearly two hours I managed to keep upright until eventually I flipped the kayak.  Sadly as I tried to swim to shore the rapids slammed me against rocks leaving me with a sharp pain in my right ankle.  I couldn’t take my bodyweight on the ankle and so had to spend the rest of the river run on the support raft, which Paul was also on by this stage.

As the river run continued the ankle didn’t ease up so I decided to stay on the raft and give myself every chance for the big run tomorrow.  It was so frustrating but I had thoroughly enjoyed the run until the accident.

We arrived back at the hot springs just on 18:15 as darkness was falling, and met up with Sean who had managed the whole run and capsized only once (at the same rapid as me).  We packed away all the gear and headed to the hot psrings.  With the ankle feeling better we went about organising tea (while Sean slept) ready for another carb feast at 21:00.

Despite the ankle pain it had been an enjoyable day with me overcoming my anxiety before heading to our tents at 22:00.

Day 12- Tuesday 9^th September

I slept remarkably well and woke up around 06:30 feeling stiff and sore but ready raring to go.  We sorted out our gear until breakfast was served at 08:00.  After our rather runny porridge we loaded up the van ready for another assault on the Apurimac river.  The sun was scorching hot and at 09:00 it was 36º.  This was going to be very hot and also very challenging as we had been told this would be a tougher day!

We set out at 10:00, after Paul had spent a long time trying to fix a problem with the skirt on his kayak, and headed straight into two tough rapids.  This set the tone for the next four hours!  Fortunately I only flipped the kayak twice and managed to conquer the rapid that I injured myself on yesterday so spirits were very high.

We eventually reached the point where we could go no further and packed up our equipment.  Feeling tired but happy we organised the van and set off for a well earned lunch.  After our lunch we hit the trail back to Cusco.  We had clearly exhauste our guides as they slept all the way back to Cusco despite the suicidal tendencies of our van driver!

Arriving in Cusco we said goodbye to our guides and started to organise our equipment in the hostel.  We ventured out to collect our tickets for the rest of the trip (which had been arranged on Saturday).  Theis proved a time consuming matter but eventually everything was ready to go and after tea we headed back to the at 20:30.

On the way back to the hostel I called in to the laundrette where my towel had been stolen to be told all sorts of excuses.  Never mind, if that is the only thing that I lose on this trip then fair enough!

Just on 21:00, as I was sending emails home, our guides turned up with a CD and DVD of the kayaking trip.  Paul and I (Sean was asleep!) watched the DVD immediately and laughed out very loud!  We went to bed still chuckling at 22:00.

Day 13 – Wednesday 10^th September

The alarm went off at 06:00 and we wearily got up out of bed.  The past few days had taken their toll on our battered, bruised and mosquito bitten bodies but we were in very high spirits.  Not even my freezing cold shower could dampen my spirits as I was looking forward to the next part of the trip.

We checked out of our Cusco hostel for the last time and headed to our rendezvous point with a taxi bound for the bus station.  Unusually for Peru the taxi was only 5 minutes late and before long we were at the bus station trying to figure out how and where to convert our bus vouchers into tickets.  This proved quite a challenge but eventually we were sat on the bus heading in the direction of Puno and Lake Titicaca.  It was another hot day but the journey passed by quickly enough.  We were able to watch Pam’s Labyrinth on the bus and I managed to read a huge chunk of Chris Bonnington’s ‘Everest South West Face’.  The views were amazing and as we climbed to 12,400ft the salt pans came into view.  What an incredible sight!  They stretched on to the horizon.

We eventually landed in Puno at 14:30 and then had to wait for an hour for our lift to the accommodation.  The wait was worth it though as we were told our hostel was full and were put into a 3 star hotel for no extra cost!  Despite Paul’s slight altitude induced headache we were all still in good spirits and looking forward to our cruise tomorrow.  After spending a little time in our room we headed out to see the sights of Puno and walked straight into a carnival that was taking place with local students – what a spectacular sight.

Having enjoyed the carnival we went for our evening meal where I was able to enjoy Alpaca again.  The Puno nightlife seems very relaxed and friendly and we were enjoying our time there.  The hot weather turned to rain but it was still enjoyable walking through the streets back to the hotel.  Although it was only 20:00 with our early start tomorrow we just spent some time in our room and had an early night.  The last few days had worn us out and we were all in bed by 21:00!

Day 14 – Thursday 11^th September

The alarm went off at 05:20 and was met with a few groans.  We were extremely tired from the recent exertions but were very much looking forward to our cruise.  By 06:00 we had all showered and prepared our gear for the day.  Breakfast was taken early and by 06:40 we were in a minibus on the way to the Puno quayside.

Our guide for the day Carlos introduced us to the history of the people in the Lake Titicaca region as the battered Wari II chugged its way towards the Uros islands.  These islands are made of reeds and float on the lake.  By 07:30 we had arrived at one of the 30 Uros islands and were enjoying the experience.  It is a very strange feeling walking on an island of reeds that moves but it was great to gain an understanding of a culture totally different to mine.

After a short sailing on a reed boat we said our farewells to the Uros islanders and headed towards Tequile.  The three hour sailing passed remarkably quickly and before long we were trekking up to the village at Tequile.  The people there wear very distinctive and colourful attire and clearly enjoy life on the island.  I can see why!

We spent two hours wandering around the island and enjoying the spectacular views.  Whilst on the island we were also treated to beautifully fresh trout caught that morning for lunch.  Nobody wanted to leave the island but the time had arrived to head towards Puno.  Sadly, our boat captain had a slight mishap resulting in a bent propeller.  This meant a rather slow and choppy ride!  Eventually our captain gave up and requested that another boat came and collected us.  When the boat arrived we made undignified jumps onto our new craft and set off towards Puno.  I ended up sitting on the floor for the 2 hour journey as I gave my seat up to a pregnant woman with a small child only to find there were no other spare seats.

Arriving back in Puno only 1 hour late (good all things considered!) we arranged our ride to Juliaca airport for tomorrow morning and organised our backpacks.  We headed out for tea and then went to a very entertaining rock pub to enjoy a couple of Cusquena beers.  After that it was off to bed at 22:00.

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