The goose that lays the golden eggs.

My flight from Lima to Cusco was on a BAe 146 followed by a taxi to the hotel, trip to ATM and a strip of thin beef with rice and chips in a dodgy looking cafe. You guessed it, the next day I met Montezuma, well not that bad monty python really, but don't worry it passed quickly, boom boom.

Next day was a travel day, I left my suitcase and laptop bag with the hotel and took my small Tesco rucksack with essentials. My taxi took me up the hill to the station at Poroy and we headed on a Peru Rail train up the valley following the river Urubamba. After 4 hours of being subjected to Manuel and the music of the mountains, last heard in 1975, we arrived in Machu Picchu town (or Agula Callientes). This is a tourist trap and prices are hiked. It consist mainly of hotels, hostels and restaurants. I asked about buses to Machu Picchu and was advised by the receptionist to have an early breakfast and get to the bus stop at 0530 to beat the queues.

Sunday 30th October. I got up, ate and got to the bus stop spot on time to find a queue of hundreds snaking up the hill. It took half an hour to get to a bus then another half a hour to zig zag up the hill just feet away from a sheer drop. This track was mostly one way and buses were reversing back up the steep incline to let upcoming buses pass. Finally got there and went straight in. No maps seemed to be available (I think they want you to pay for a guide) and I found myself wandering up a very steep path following some Americans who didn't know where they were going either. I finally thought of referring to my mobile map and the site was indeed included. We had wandered slightly off track but a short walk back down and I was overlooking the site. It was very cloudy and I had to wait for a break in the clouds to get a decent picture. I spent two and a half hours walking around the one way system contending with lots of foreigners with sticks taking selfies. The pictures kind of speak for themselves. The site has been reconstructed, though not sure how much, but it is still a one off and is very impressive.

The health and safety was also impressive: the first photo shows the rope stopping you fall of the edge and the second is a pedestrian bridge which is crossed by the 2,500 visitors a day, complete with safety string.

By 1000 the sun was breaking through and I was starting to feel weary with the altitude and the heat. I headed back to the bus and braved the reversing uphill round blind corners to alight back in the town. I had 6 hour to kill before my train back so I considered hing a meal. The Alpaca was tempting but I am away with Mr Marsden (work colleague) next spring so decided not to. And that chicken is not quite right, it looks like it has got teeth and four legs the same size, so I gave that a miss too. I had checked our of my hotel in the morning so stood outside to get Wi-Fi as I could still log in. Found out that Bristol Rugby lost to sale, well at least somebody will be pleased (work joke).

Gone to lunch, well we don't want the tourists tripping over it do we!

Finally boarded the train a 1630. On the way up we were constantly offered food and drink. As I had eaten a big breakfast I could only manage a piece of cake and a coffee. So I decided to just have a roll at lunchtime so that I could take advantage of the feast on the way back. It transpired that this consisted of a small bag of corn nuts, but we were treated to the sight of a snow covered mountain. The German guy sat next to me had got his flight for $8 from a site called holiday pirates that trawls the airlines for mistakes in fare prices. May have to check that out hymie my boy.

I arrived back the hotel at 2100 (0200 UK time) tired, hungry, knackered and crashed.

Great day though.

Footnotes: The bank have finally deigned to send me a secure message on my account 9 days after stopping my card.

And I did wonder if Otto should consider a mohecan, I think it might suit you.

Lima - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Firstly I must point out to my faithful followers that to date this blog has been largely done on the blessed moto G using speech recognition so may contain typographical or grammatical errers'.  

The buses in Lima are pretty chaotic. They come in four difference sizes ranging from small 19 seater mini buses to large coaches. A conductor shouts the destination at each bus stop and hassles people onboard. The fares are very cheap, I paid 50 pence each way. At one stop a blind girl got on. I thought it was strange when a man offered her his seat and she declined. She then started singing a short song then walked up and down the bus collecting money from people. The next stop she got off presumably to get onto another bus! My bus trip was into Miraflores which is the tourist area of Lima. I took a few hours wandering around looking at the parks and monuments then caught the bus back 2 my hotel.  That was the good!

The hotel itself is very nice, clean rooms and a good breakfast. Unfortunately, here toilet paper goes into a bin Greek style, not nice. There is a noise that sounds like a brontosaurus with asthma that goes on through the night (not me). It is also on the flight path to the airport so you can hear the arrivals and departures. Talking about airports when I arrived I logged onto the airport's WiFi and a message said 'welcome Daniel', how strange.

It has been going so well. Then I got a message from my bank informing me that they suspect fraudulent use of my account. Despite telling them about my trip they have stopped my card. My last Uber trip was not paid so I currenly cannot use them. I cannot top up my money card. I have already spent 15 quid trying to contact them on my mobile. V has phoned them but has got nowhere. They have decide that the hotel number I have messaged them to phone me on is a scam so have instructed their staff not to phone me. Nice. They will find I will be distinctly uncooperative when I get back. In the meantime we have discovered a cunning plan to top up my money card with beer tokens from home.

So Lima, international airport so a neccessary visit. But no wilderbeast and not exactly the hanging gardens of Babylon. But excited by the next phase of the trip which is away from the cities and into the country. Mahu Piccu awaits, if I can work out how to buy the ticket. La Paz as -1 last night, eeek!

El Dorado, well Bogotá

Another short flight and I arrived in Bogota the capital of Colombia. The city is in the center of the country. The temperature was cooler, a welcome 19 degrees. I booked into my hotel with the help of Google Translate and quickly retired to have a sleep.

The next morning I took breakfast at 7 then walked into the center. It had that big city feel with tall skyscrapers and graffiti on the monument, something I had not seen before in Colombia. I found a statue of the Duke of Wellington (or somebody similar) and some protesters protesting about something, in Spanish.

The Museum's  opened  at 10 o'clock. I decided to look around the botero museum. He is clearly considered to be one of south America's finest artists. He donated his collection of art, many of his paintings and sculptures but also  work by Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, Dega, Henry Moore and Lucien Freud. I have seen millions worth of art on this trip.

They also have a museum of money alongside which show the history of their coinage. Try have a selection of minting machines, most of which were made in Birmingham.

After a full two hours looking round I decided to head back. I didn't want to change up more money as I was flying out tomorrow so I managed to find a Kebab House that took credit cards. While I was eating a local asked me for money. I spoke to him in English and he said gringo and walked off. I think he must have mistaken me for John Wayne. After a mixed kebab I got back to the hotel and arranged for the printing of my boarding pass for tomorrow, then after watching the final of master chef professional 2013 I crashed into bed. All this walking around and  visiting museums is obviously taking its toll and I woke up 12 hours later just in time for a breakfast of orange juice,scrambled eggs on toast and coffee. Just going to pack and get a taxi to El Dorado Airport ready to fly off to my next destination - Lima in Peru. I wonder if they do marmalade sandwiches?

Medellin

Uber came up with the goods again and got me to the airport on time for a couple of quid. A short flight later with Colombia's version of Ryan Air and I was in Medellin. The airport is a good drive from the city. Medellin is set in a temperate valley with the river Medellin flowing down the centre. Driving down the hillside I saw spectacular views of the city with its terracotta buildings.

The hotel was quite highly rated on the website. Located in the business area and quite modern. They have an interesting choice of things to buy in the room.

I went for a wander and a within a minute found a shop with seats outside that just happened to sell bottles of beer. Well it would be rude not to, wouldn´t it?

I only scheduled one day to look round the city. The geography is inescapable with tall mountains on both sides. Medellin has a metro system but unlike Washington where you have to search for a small pole with an M on it, this metro is a bit more obvious.

First stop was the Plaza De Las Esculturas where 23 sculptures by famous artist Botero  reside (that is not Otto by the way).

The Metro includes a cable car section which is a great photo opportunity.

The last visit of the day was to Nutibara hill, one of Medellin's 7 guardian hills. It is a nature reserve and a old town square has been rebuilt on the top.

I walked back to the hotel. En route I noticed that the shops use Halloween as an excuse for a sale, though only twenty percent off.

I decide to eat in the hotel and had a lovely plate of beef. Flicking through the TV channels in my room I whooped with delight when I found Saracens playing Scarlets on ESPN. And to end the day nicely I got a text to say that the girls had won, well done.

Next stop Bogota.

Cartagena

Cartagena is on the North Coast of Colombia, the weather is tropical. The old town was built by the Spanish, some houses are 400 years old. The narrow streets save you from the blistering hot sun.The fort that overlooks the town is thought to be the best of its kind in South America. It has steep walls so though it has been attacked it has never fallen. The sculpture that I am standing by is Monumento a Los Zapatos Viejos. It is drawn from the last line of a poem '... and he left his boots behind'. You can see the fort in the background.

Cartagena was one of the slave ports where slaves were bought and sold in the market place.

My hotel El Pedregal is in the old town so very well situated for exploring. Walking around you can quickly see that the culture is clearly different from Washington. There were many homeless asking for money in Washington but here I have only seen one. Many people sell things on the street to make money (pens, jewelry, drinks, hats) either from small stalls or often from carts that they push around. Lots of them have fruit; mangos, pineapples or oranges that they squeeze for the juice. They also sell snacks, cheese balls and pancakes that are deep fried with either chicken or egg inside. I found a local restaurant and I have eaten there twice, good cheap food.

The weather has been very hot much hotter than Washington my shirt has been sticking to me while I walk around. I have had to wash it when I get back to the hotel but it dries quickly in the heat. There are lots of sculptures both of famous people and art sculptures. There are also lots of murals on the walls, not graffiti but art.

This definitely isn't Otto,

.... but this might be!
















To finish this post these are things you might not see at home...

Heading south

Woke up nice and early. Reheated the Pizza from the fridge and made some Colombian coffee. Called for an Uber taxi on my phone  and it arrived right on time. We did seem to take a few detours and made a few loops. They might want to look at their database system. Arrived at Ronald Reagan airport and checked in.

The first flight stopped at fort Lauderdale and the second took off a few hours later. On route we flew past the Bahamas, over cuba and then over Jamaica. The photo is of Montero bay.

We got a good view of Cartagena as we approached. Got slightly ripped off by the taxi driver taking me to the hotel. I have since found out that they have uber here too! I shall be using them on the way back. The receptionist didn't speak English. I tried Google translate which was partially successful. Went for a wander, had a chicken burger and went to bed to the boom boom boom of Colombian music from nearby. Good hotel choice mark boy!