Mancora... back at the beach

I was delighted once again to be coast adjacent when I arrived in Mancora... I've really missed the sea all those months spent in landlocked areas. Mancora is a tiny Peruvian villiage close to the Equadorian coast, and a nice place I thought for a day of rest and relaxation on the beach prior to another overnight bus up to Guyaquil in Equador.
I walked through the door of Loki Mancora to find three of my Canadian friends, Leyland, Dean and Josh hanging out by the pool. Yes, pool. Loki Mancora is a whole new step up in terms of hosteling. The hostel was beautiful, and I was still ejoying my 'Ex Staff' Loki discount... however I was disappointed to find out that a) there was nothing to do in Mancora but eat Cervicé (local speciality and very delicious but also quite expensive) and lay on the beach and b) my friends were leaving that afternoon and the hostel appeared to be dead.
I spent the day enjoying the waves on the beach, laying in a hammock reading my book (and getting my legs sunburned- idiot) and making friends with the bar staff... one of whom knew all my friends from La Paz... and after about 5 hours I was bored out of my mind, and felt like I was wasting my trip. So with little ado I changed my bus ticket to that night, didn't even stay in Mancora for 24 hours and was off to Equador...

Lima... an opportunity almost missed

I didn't want to go to Lima. If there was any way I could have gone straight from Cuzco into Guayaquil I would have done so; unfortunately the pesky Amazon is all in the way and whatnot and so my route was diverted into Lima. This was something of a downer as every other backpacker I had met to that date had said the same to me, "Avoid Lima; nothing to see there, get in and get out as fast as possible". Now others have given me bad advice before... for example I found Cuzco exremely disappointing as a South American city experience, and I loved the whole of Chile after everyone told me that the whole country was a pointless money pit. And so, considering there's a Loki in Lima which would afford me a very enjoyable 'ex-staff' discount on my room and bar tab, I decided to take the dive and stay in the city for a night. Couldn't have made a better decision as I was greeted by clean, wide streets, beautiful architecture and as an added extra bonus I knew just about everyone staying in Loki Lima when I got there. On walking through the door I was greeted by the reception staff who I had served behind the bar in Cuzco the week before, and my good friend 'the other blonde Alex W' was now working behind the bar in Lima much to my delight. On top of this my crazy Canadian friend Eric (pictured top... doing his bit for Movember) who I worked with in La Paz (who had come to visit me in Cuzco three days previously only to find me missing presumed on the Inca Trail) was staying at the hostel, which I was delighted about as he was to fly home to Canada that day and I was so pleased to have a chance to say goodbye.
Actually better than just a measely chance to say goodbye Eric had no plans for the day and no flight till 7pm, and as he knew Lima fairly well (and it turns out LOVED the city as much as I did- we obviously never got round to having that conversation) agreed to come into the centre with me and show me about. So we caught a bus into Lima city centre, and inbetween surveying the beautiful architecture managed to eat our body weights' in street food, ranging from the fresh juice I love so much, all the way up to seafood empañadas that Lima is famous for. Sufficently fattened, and having observed the beautiful cathedral, the parks and seafront that make Lima something quite special, we headed back to the hostel which is situated in an area of the city called Miraflores (very rich, extremely lovely part of the city). Upon arriving I was even more excited to find my firend Dom, who I had been working with for the past 5 weeks in Cuzco, was now also at Loki Lima (how we missed us having identical plans I don't know... clearly I was having a dizzy blonde moment)... and along with the other Alex we made plans to go to the fountain park. If anyone had told me about the fountain park prior to my arrival in Lima I would have made my visitation to see this tourist attraction something of a priority; the park consists of 14 elaborate fountains which at night are lit up to make a gorgeous and magical atmosphere, and as you wonder round the park classical music plays. Some of the fountains you can walk through, one of which the three of us braved, another of which we looked at the soaked Peruvian teenagers in the centre and decided against. And then in addition to the already magical atmosphere there's a nightly show where assorted images are projected onto the largest fountain in time to music. After the unsophisticated experience of 5 weeks in Loki Cuzco dancing every night to assorted eighties classics, and then a week of roughing it on the Inca trail, a wonderfully cultural night in Lima was a real treat. Highly recommended for anyone who finds themselves in this gift of a city.
The next day I got up and went for a run along the newly remodelled and picturesque cliffs that hem the city. Then Alex and I went and explored Miraflores throughly, browsing the markets and designer copies stores, plus enjoying an opportunity to catch up on our girl talk (I met Alex my very first day in La Paz- we have lots of mutual friends to gossip about!). The morning passed far too fast and, despite my intense love of Lima, I was keen to get into Equador in hopes of procuring myself a last minute trip to the Galpágos Islands and so the next day I moved on to Mancora. Another overnight bus, and the location of the final of the four Loki hostels...

Caminar de Inca

·There are MANY MANY more photos to follow... this internet connection is too poor for a mass upload. They will be added later·

And so, after literal months of waiting my Inca Trail had finally arrived, and the 12th November 2010 saw me stumbling around the staff room at 5am (a mere half an hour after my roommates had come back from the night before) in the dark trying to get my kit together. Despite the Navy O Clock hour I actually wasn't collected by the tour company until 7am, but hey, how else could you tell it was South America?! Luckily there were a few others from Loki also in my group to hike the trail and so I wasn't alone in my wait and spent the time getting to know identical twins Mark and Dave, a couple called Luke and Rachel, and three Ozzy lads Rod, Ash and Casper. When the bus finally arrived we were further joined by three other couples Americans Diane and Troy, an English couple called Kate and Rich, and a Danish couple called Petra and Peter. Luckily Lance a Kiwi and Hannah (Kate's sister) also joined us, and so I wasn't the only single gal on the trip... nice to have someone to share a tent with!!
Day 01: Cusco to Wayllabamba (12km) Friday
We started our trip from Cuzco with distribution of the MASSIVE sleeping bags we had hired for the duration (mine took up most of my pack... and I had borrow a bigger pack than the one I normally travel with anyway!) and then all basically fell asleep on the trip to Ollantaytambo where we would have breakfast before proceeding on to km82 where we would start our hike from. Now I'm ALWAYS a breakfast person, but I had never before had scrambled egg sandiches with melted cheese and ham, and I have to say the discovery is up there for new foods of the trip (try it now, thank me later, dont tell the doctor I told you to do it when your heart stops beating). Excellent breakfast over and it was another half hour on the bus before we were off and hiking. It was at this point I realised that EVERYONE else on the trip had hired a porter and I would be the only one carrying all my stuff. Always up for a challenge, and knowing I could never look my friends in the RN in the face again if I hired a tiny Peruvian to carry my kit, I turned down the last minute opportunity to change my mind and embarked on the four day hike con massive bag. Day one was a relatively easy hike, ascending just over 300m and still not really noticing the altitude. We stopped at the Inca site of Huillca Raccay and were able to appreciate the beauty of an Inca site still visited by few since it stopped functioning in the 1400s. Along the way we also stopped for lunch and had our first sample of the truly exceptional food the cook travelling with us was able to produce apprenly out of thin air. We were treated to a gorgeous noodle soup, vegetarian Cerviche, and the traditional Milanesa de Pollo that first day and it was all lovely, nicest food I've had in South America was provided by Perub Treks apparently without the aid of any refrigeration equiptment. Amazing!
That night we camped at a low camp that was warm and the grass was lovely and spongy soft to sleep on. We had an introduction ceremony that was suprisingly American in influence considering Peru Tours is an English owned company, and then whiled away the rest of the hours playing cards. By this point we were well aquainted with our guides Victor and José, and Victor's terrible sense of humor. The best joke of the night, told after dinner in what was to become a standard evening ritual, was the following:
'What do you call a deer with one ear?'
- 'No eye deer'
'What do you call a deer with no ear and no tail'
- 'Still no eye deer'

Once we had recovered from our fits of laughter it took us an hour to convince him the replace 'ear' with 'eye' and 'tail' with 'legs', after which he commented, 'I wondered why people always found that joke so funny'... needless to say as I can't tell any jokes in my third language I wont be commenting further (all people of the Sacred Valley primarily speak Ketchuan)... but it made for a very enjoyable evening.

Day 02: Wayllabamba to Pacamayo (12km) Saturday
The most important thing to note about that first day was the complete absence of steps. No steps. The ENTIRE remainder of the trek we were either walking up or walking down Inca built stone steps. Now far be it from me to criticise an ancient culture, but the Incas never got round to inventing workable metals. The tools Incas used to carve these steps were obsidan and amethyst chisles. NOT EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR CREATING FLAT OR EVEN STEPS. The steps we were walking on made your muscles scream in pain every uneven plod of the way, and day two is the day with the big ascent. Today we would be walking up a mere 1200m to reach our first pass. The first pass of the Inca Trail is known as dead womans pass as when you FINALLY reach a point far enough away to look back (on day three) it looks a tiny bit like a woman lying down. After 4 hours of Inca stairs I could think of at least one other reason it was going to be known as dead womans pass. However, the climb in itself was breathtaking, directly up through the cloud forest of the sacred valley the path is lined at the side by beautiful orchids, rare humming birds and a gorgous waterfall. Almost lovely enough to distract you from the searing pain in your thighs.
I was both lucky and well acclimatised on day two, as this was the stage in the trek when people started to get sick from the altitude. One or two because they hadn't acclimatised well enough, others just through dumb luck. With altitude sickness if you're going to get it there's nothing you can do unfortunately.
We stopped very briefly to take photos at the top of dead womans pass (which we reached in a mere 4 hours... the average group taking 7... combined with the twins, myself and the Ozzy lads were making for something of a competitive group) as it was too cold to hang around sweat-soaked for long. And then the descent began. Now before I started my Inca Trail I was told by everyone that the second mornings climb to the first pass would be the worst. I contest this. The two hours of downhill on uneven Inca stones in the pervasive rain that started coming down was a HUNDRED times worse. Ever the graceful ballerina I fell a mere 5 times getting to camp that day and would happily have traded Dead Womans Pass for those horrible wet downhill sections any day of the week. I started to feel a tad uneasy as there were many more downhill steps to be had the next day, and if it was to be wet it would be very slow going.
However the incredible beauty of the campsite (located at the top of the valley so you could watch the clouds roll up and down it) took my mind off the predicament. And having hiked the first part of the trek so fast the whole group had finished the 12k hike by 1pm so we were able to have time to watch the sunset and massage our battered thighs!
At this point a wrod should be said for the porters, incredible men who for the most part have been born and raised in the Sacred valley who literally run this Inca Trail with weights of 20kg on their backs in order to meet all the tourists with their stuff at each checkpoint. The olderst porter in our team was 54 years old. But it was interesting to have a talk on the second day about the face that Sacred Valley dwellers are adapted for the route having small wide feet and a whole extra pint of blood than the average person!!
The night ended with yet more of Victor's classic jokes, and a chocolate pudding to die for...
Day 03: Pacamayo to Wiñay Wayna (15km) Rememberance Sunday
We were exceptionally lucky on Day three as the morning dawned bright and clear for us. Today was to be the day we saw the really amazing Inca ruins, lagely unexplored and seen only by and handful of people since 1500ad due to them being only acessible by the two day killer hike and to the mere 200 people allowed onto the Ince Trail every 4 days. They didn't dissapoint, and even after a fairly gnarly downhill section I was delighted by the untouched majesty of Sayamarca. It says something that the name Sayacmarca actually means 'Inaccessible Town' and describes the position of the ruins perfectly, protected on three sides by sheer cliffs, the only entrance being a near veritcal saircase cut into the cliff face. No one knows the exact purpose of these ruins, as of yet they have been unexplored by archeologists and stand untouched as the Incas left them as the Spanish invaded the valley in 1500. After these beautiful ruins (we had already climbed one pass by that point) there was an uphill section to see some more ruins, called Phuyupatamarca, famous for its baths used in ritual sacrifice and blood-letting, and the last pass which came with some astonishing views across the sacred valley. After we were done with the amazing beauty came the 'Gringo Killers'... a set of steps that descend for four kilometers and are so treacherous, slippy and uneven that they claim at least one gringo casualty a day (and probably some porters and guides too). These were the stairs I was worried about. Especially since passing the day one campsite and all of us being told medical help was now inacessable and the only way off the Inca Trail now was to either walk or be carried out. Luckily the day had continued clear an beautiful, the stairs were for the most part dry (except where the Incas had crossed the path with waterfalls, which happened more than once). And in contrast to the day before I actually made it to camp without a single trip or fall (thanks to which ever diety of choice was listening). The hike on day three finishes in Winay Wayna which is basically an inca farm dotted with vibrant rare orchids.
We camped that night on hard stone. I was so tried, coming down from the adrenaline of not falling to my death, and so aware that we were getting up at 3.30 the next morning I slept like an infant.
Day 04: Wiñay Wayna to Machu Picchu (5km)
The final day of our trek and it was breakfast in the dark and a wait for the park gates to open so we could start the 5km assent to the Sun Gate for the money shot over Machu Picchu. In a shockingly responisble and health and safelty conscious move, the Peruvian government ruled not longer allowable to hike into MP in the dark. As I walked I found out why; the path there is sheer cliff face on your left side the entire way, and is only about 2m wide at the widest part (30cms at its heart-stopping narrowest). The night before our guide had warned us not to get our hopes up for the Sun Gate; despite our freakishly fortunate weather November is rainy season and with descending from so high we had been told we might wait 2 hours for a glimpse of Macchu Pichu through the cloud cover. It was about 7am when we arrived at the Sun Gate and we were elated to find not a cloud in sight, a straight view down to the beautiful, breathtaking, empty Macchu Pichu. Viewed as an Inca would have seen it after the same trek more than 400 years before. Its another 2k from the Sun Gate down into the famous ruins themselves, but I have to say my favourite part of visiting MP was that intial view through the Sun Gate as we stood there sweaty and exhausted and were the first that day to see the city. When we had got into Macchu Pichu itself (after posing for all the awesome postcardesque shots... see my pride and joy below) we experienced something of shellshock as after 4 days of peaceful hiking and no showers we were suddenly surrounded by tour groups being herded about all freshly showered having caught the bus up from nearby Aguas Calienties.
The ruins were spectacular though, and Victors tour was suitable taylored to 16 people who had just spent seval days immersed in Inca culture. And as we wondered round I couldn't help but feel that Macchu Pichu meant a little something extra for those of us who had hiked those four days to enter the city the way of the Incas. An amazing awesome experince indeed.
Soon it was time to leave MP and we explored the horrible little tourist trap town of Aguas Calientes (horrible overpriced place) before jumping on a train back to our original breakfast port of 'tambo and onwards to be back in Cuzco by a mere 11pm!!

What an INCAredible adventure!!

Things I learned on the Inca Trail

• Its not 'no ear deer'
• Even 95% deet wont save you from the Mosquitos. It will melt your watch.
  
• Australians are hysterical. Sometimes on purpose.
• The Inca Trail is SO MUCH HARDER than you think.
  
• Swearing in Ketchuan is often mistaken by gringos for 'hello'.
• If the guide tells all the porters you fancy Peruvian men you will be harrassed for the whole four days.
• Seeing Macchu Pichu from the sun gate is one of the most incredible moments of my life to date.
  

Life lessons of Loki Cuzco

My final days (and those all important final nights) at Loki Cuzco were more or less before the start of my Inca Trail as I would only be returning to the hostel for 17 hours before catching my bus out to Lima. I had tried to play the smart card, and doubting my motivation to get out of bed the day after my hike I had booked my bus ticket well in advance, so my plans were set in stone.
Despite a continual feeling throughout my stay in Cuzco that the city erred on the too touristy side (and was a bit of a sell out, sacrificing South American culture for the opportunity to make a quick buck) I would be sad to leave the beautiful little city that had been my home for 5 weeks. What I would be sadder to part with however (same as La paz) would be the other staff that had become my friends. I never thought that Peru would be the place I discovered a love of Israeli food for example, but due to my 6ft 5 friend Shai I had uncovered a love of Labane con mas Zatar and had the opportunity to learn all about the joys of growing up an Israeli Jew. In return I had introduced him to bangers and mash (although not great ones as you can't get decent pork in South Am), although I feel he needs to experience Mum's roast before hes an English food convert. I knew Shai and I would be friends the first time we went volunteering together and I watched him try to mime the word 'outside' (he had forgotten it in Spanish... try miming it for yourself, hilarious effects only), and I was too doubled over with laughter to help as the children guessed 'swimming' and 'dancing'. (Picture of us volunteering at the top)
I would be leaving behind Dror, another Israeli and main owner of the Loki franchise, who on my first night got drunk and decided to dance on the fridge behind the bar, knocking over several bottles of Jager for a devastated Caitlyn to smash when she next opened the fridge ('They're going to take it out of my pay!' - 'You don't get paid Caitlyn', as Dror told us not to worry and proceeded to dance in the puddle of liquor; 'Its South America Baybeee!!'). Dror, much the same as Cam and Alan in La Paz (having the same responsible management strategy), had become a close friend during my time in Cuzco... and I will be missing his morning greeting of 'Are you STILL here?!' each day.
I would be leaving behind Austin, the first ever American I've ever met who actually used phrases like 'right on' and 'awesome!', and provided quite the insight into what the Southern States of America really are like. One of the most amazingly lovely people I have met travelling. It will be a shame not to see him daily playing his banjo and wearing his wife beater, 'for real, y'all'.
And I would FINALLY be leaving Jeremy behind, the French Canadian who had been dogging my steps since I first started work in La Paz and had somehow ended up in Cuzco with me... and somehow I'm going to miss the way he dropped his pillow off the top bunk onto my face every morning, or the way he and his friend Roy decided to test the absorbency of the matress above my head by pouring a litre of water on it. I am keeping the cut- off denim shorts he gave me when he was drunk though...
I'm also going to miss the gaggle of interchangable American girls who seemed to inhabit the staff room for impossibly short periods, Vanessa with her everlasting patience sat behind reception doing everyone favours, and I've been missing my good friend Caitlyn since she left for Columbia some 2 weeks before me.
What I've once again learned during my stay in Cuzco is that seeing these fabulous wonderful places, being attacked by these rare creatures, irregular sleep patterns and insane diet is only part of the travelling experience. The remainder is made up of the friends I meet each day... some of whom change my world view immeasurably and educate me about other places and cultures, and others of whom are darn good fun to drink with for half an hour. One thing I do know for a fact is that the beautiful city of Cuzco was an amazing place to live for a while, but it was the people who shared the experince with me who made it all it was.
And sad though I was to be moving on there are no words for how impossibly excited I was to be off on my Inca Trail after a mere 5 months of waiting!!! Yay!!!

The White City and the Colca Canyon

Leaving Loki rather spontaneously at 8.30 Monday night, 6am Tuesday morning saw me stading in the undeniably beautiful Plaza De Armas in Arequipa, Southern Peru. Arequipa turned out to be a good deal hotter than Cuzco (or the savagely air condidtioned night bus for that matter) and within mínutes I had shed my jumper and was liberally applying the factor 30. I have made my peace with the fact that if I am sin suncream I will be con sunburn by the next day out here. Having gone to Arequipa to meet up with my friend Matt, as well as see the beautful city and the surrounding canyon country, I decided that 6am was still probably a tad on the early side for a social call and settled myself down in the Plaza to enjoy some desayuno (breakfast). I normally wouldn't ever eat in such an obvious tourist spot as the cost rockets up, but I found a very reasonably priced little place, and as the photos demonstrate the Plaza really was just a gorgeous place to sit for an hour or two... (see top and bottom photos). As I knew Matt was an early bird I decided that nine was late enough to pop round to Home Hostel Arequipa where he lives and disturb him. I was correct in my assumption he would be awake, and was charmingly greeted by a bread roll being launched at my head. Charming. However, Matt was secretly pleased to see me I'm sure, and within the hour we were off to explore the beautiful Arequipa. I was absolutely delighted when I was taken to the massive market there (since my first experience in Paraguay markets are one of my favourite places to visit in South American cities... they're so lively and entertaining; wizened old women battling over the price of meat, huge tubs of cearal and popcorn to eat as you walk about, big bags of fresh juice made to order- my own personal achilles heel; the whole experience just makes you feel engaged with the real people in the city. I'm always suprised so many gringos are scared to visit or just don't go at all), and for the first time since BA I was treated to good empañadas. Now a word must be said about the mystery of the empañada... when I first had one many, mnay months ago I was disgusted by the idea (its basically a cornish pasty but a million times more greasy, with unidentifiable meat inside, that has been constructed under circumstances of spurious hygine, normally by an old woman with no teeth, sold off a cart at the side of the road). However in Paraguay it was empañada or starve, and as time went by I became increasingly fond of the food. In Buenos Aries I found the art form perfected and enjoyed empañadas filled with beef and olives and egg (gorgeous)... and then La Paz. Now god bless the Bolivians but heaven only knows that if you enoy something in South America the Bolivians will have a version a million times worse that will repulse you, and after only one revolting empañada attempt I no longer ventured the street food in La Paz. Cuzco unfortunately suffers from too many tourist syndrome (a reason that I feel a tad uncomfortable in this city) and street food here had been cleared away for fussy tourists who want chocolate cakes and curries. However, Arequipa provided and I was so delighted with the find I ate no less than five and then spent my hot crowded bus journey to the canyon that afternoon reflecting on the poor choice of having a stomach full of grease and meat product.

Colca Canyon is about 3 hours from Arequipa. Do not believe the lying guidebook that insinuates that the canyon is just around the corner, and do not get onto a local bus as a result, as the upshot of this is you will end up with a box of live rabbits on your lap for several hours. I didn't even want to speculate what they were for. Anyway, it was just another South American essential experience, and at least I know enough Spanish now to politely make sure the bottom of the box was waterproof. I had once again decided to do a trip without a guide as the Isla Del Sol experience had been so fantastic, and I had figured out I could save roughly 50 pounds just taking local transport around the Canyon and asking the locals for travel advice. It was this attitude that led me to find a delightful little guesthouse in the villiage of Copanaconde to spend the night, and I whiled away the evening playing Uno with a very friendly group of Argentinians and drinking black tea.

It was also this attitude that saw me up at 5.30 the next morning to persuade a local cattle truck driver to give me a lift with all his market produce and the locals going the same way, and to drop me off at Cruz del Condor so I could see the birds of prey. The kind man assented for the mere price of three soles (75p) and I spent 2 of the most wonderful hours of my trip so far looking at the amazing scenery from the back of a cattle truck completely surrounded by bemused Peruvians (more bemused when I asked them to take me the photo here!).

Cruz del Condor was very pretty in itself and I was chuffed to see some of the birds (and lucky... its mating season and sightings are rare), and after an hour or so of bird watching I was back on a more conventional bus with hopes of hiking donw to the Oasis at the bottom of the canyon. Unfortunately my plans were foiled as I had only hiked about an hour down with a group of isreali guys hiking the same way before a local woman run up to us and informed us there had been puma sightings as early as few hours earlier and we should turn back. Turn back we did, and we were relieved to have done so as we found my hostel owners contemplating coming out looking for me and my other hikers in order to warn us of the danger. Evedently I have quite the way with the dangerous animals as apparently its been years since these kind of big cats vetured into the tourist part of the canyon.

My bus back to Arequipa was at two, and similarly full of livestock (think the scene from Borat where he lets the live chicken out on the subway), and by the time I got back I was shattered and only good for 3 or 4 hours of drinking in the bar with Matt and his employer Olly (a good friend of Cam and Alans´in La Paz... I was well looked after). I did finally get a chance to try a Pisco sour which is the local Peruvian cocktail, and not at all as revolting at the liquer its made with would have you think it might be. And then the next day, with a good nights sleep behind me I was off the explore the city with my running shoes on. Delighted to once again be in a park and by a river I spent seveal hours jogging about in the gorgeous Arequipa sunshine, before heading back to Home for a shower. I even managed to squeeze in a final trip to the market for an enormous bag of juice, a final peruse of the many bookstores (Arequipa is famed as being the Peruvian city of the educated- I missed bookshops SO much. But not libraries.) and a wonder round the sun drenched streets. And then it was back on my bus to Cuzco overnight, which was so cold there was ice on the inside of the windows for two hours before the bus driver thought to put the heating on. And by that night I was once again behind the bar at Loki counting down the days till my Inca Trail starts on Friday...

Halloween in the Inca City

Saturday of the halloween weekend dawned, and brought with it the reality that that very night I would be voluntarily parading down a runway in frontof Cuzco's elite. Evelyn, a local designer, and good friend of my current employer was holding a fashion show for her clothing line based in Cuzco. Cailtyn, Erianne and I (all Loki employees) had been asked to help model the $200- 300 dresses on the runway of one of Cuzco's more exclusive nightclubs on a Saturday night. And at the time it seemed like a good idea!! Having been rehearsing two hours a day all week in order to learn the Thriller dance (that Evelyn wanted us all to perform in perfect syncronisation at the end of the show) we were nervous but actually very excited to be finally getting to the big day. The night did not disappoint and with big hair and crazy makeup all the models were very excited to be showing off the lovely clothes (see picture... the clothes really were lovely, my face not so much in this picture!!). A local band was playing and we were all encouraged to dance about on the runway, hence the face in this picture... and up to the point where the skies OPENED the night was fantastic. Now the fashion show was indeed inside, however, I strongly suspect the roof had been sufferering from Peruvian maintainance syndrome for some time as when the monsoon started the deluge poured in, flooding the floor to about 5cm within 10 minutes. This was how I ended up spending last Saturday night dancing the thriller dance in a Cuzco nightclub, wearing a $200 dress, submerged in water to the ankles next to a Peruvian 6ft 4 drag queen called Barbie wearing a PVC miniskirt. Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually in the matrix...

The next day was halloween in itself, and once we had all revovered from our hangovers we were very excited to spend several hours carving fake gravestones for the garden at Loki out of polystyrene ´R.I.P your liver' and 'Here lies the remains of your dignity' coming out the winners. Followed by carving pumpkins (... check out smurf pumpkin to my left on the lower picture!). The night itself didn't dissapoint and with a live band, apple bobbing and many a fine zombie costume we had a very enjoyable and incredibly busy night with a totally full hostel bar. Luckily I hadnt been unable to get my hair untangled from the night before or my makeup off, so my zombie costume was very convincing... That combined with the fact that Mitch and I had spent the morning before making fake blood which had thickened convincingly and I spread it liberally over my face the effect was very pleasing, see below...

And the Sunday, apart from seeing us all much worse for wear, saw my boss gave me four days off, and by Monday night I was able to get on a bus to spend a few days in Arequipa and visiting Colca Canyon...