French Polynesia

Shock and horror at the cost of life, awaited me when I finally arrived in Tahiti. A king's ransom to get from the airport; doomed to a life of dorms and meals of crackers with cheese.

But of course there are wonderful things - breadfruit trees, delicious mangoes lying around under the trees fresh for collecting and eating; turquoise seas, wonderful snorkelling; manta rays and dolphins cavorting in the lagoon here on Moorea island.

Tomorrow I leave for Huahine, and then Raitea island, and finally in 10 days, I'm home.

So this will probably be my last blog post unless I stumble over an oyster with a giant black pearl and I can afford another 15 minutes on the internet! Thanks for reading and following my journeys. They have been the best.

Luv Jude

Valparaiso

I have had a great few days here on the coast of Chile an hour and a bit north of Santiago.

Visited Vina del Mar a few days ago. It´s a resort just north of Valparaiso - which is more of a port town. Gorgeous weather (you can tell I´ve been spending time with the Irish again!) I even had my swimming cossie out.

Met the 2 lovely Irish women on my first night at the hostel and we´ve spent plenty of time out eating and sampling Chilean wine and meeting some great people.


Yesterday we visited the fabulous and fantastic house of Pablo Neruda, Chile´s Nobel Prize winning poet. You can imagine just looking at the curves and juxtapositions and windows, how wonderful it is inside!



And that´s Dan with Laura a couple of nights ago. That´s also when we met Selina, an American of South Indian origin studying medicine and on her way to work in Kenya for a year, and who´d picked up bedbugs in Santiago and brought them to the coast only to get chucked out of her hostal when she told the owner!

Have to admit I´ve been waiting for those critters to turn up somewhere and kind of glad we´re staying different places!

Well, gotta go pack - it´s blue lagoons and white sandy beaches for me tonight! Tahiti the next stop. Hope I get to eat breadfruit soon!

Chile

Well my first day in Santiago and after the night flight and no sleep, I´m feeling almost like I´ve been dragged kicking and screaming here. But had a long snooze and later that morning I go to breakfast and meet up with an Australian from Carlton that I first met almost 2 months ago in Colca Canyon when I first arrived in Peru! That was a good start to the rest of the day.

I then head downtown for a look around and come across this young woman who was offering free hugs! Thought I could do with one of those - get plenty of hugs from other travellers when we part even tho I may have only known them a day or two, but it is a long time since I had a hug at the beginning of a meeting!

Chile is like that - really vibrant- rather chic and cool, and just like Melbourne - they´re all in black!


I´m now in Valparaiso which is about an hour or so from Santiago and the feelings for Chile are now almost in a complete about face. It´s a very pretty town beside the ocean with meandering cobblestone streets in the old quarters up in the surrounding hills where I stay. Lots of artesans out and about on this sunny Sunday and I´m getting some good ideas for knitting patterns - big needles, thick wool, lots of holes - thought it might be a nice job maybe when I get back.

Took a ride in a fishing boat around the harbour for a couple of dollars and we passed right by these sea lions bobbing away on a buoy in the sunshine.

Will try and tour some of the local wineries while I´m here, a great sacrifice but thought Deb and Al might just disown me if I got so close ...



Finally starting to feel a little better in my stomach a full week after I left Guayaquil

Back in Peru and not a day too soon! Read on..

Well changed my mind a couple of hours before my bus was due to leave and decided to go further down the Peruvian coast to Trujillo; partly because I didn´t like the idea of arriving in Chiclayo at 3am and partly because, I just can!

Well that´s not quite right but the 2 couples I´ve been doing things with in the last 24 hours (Australians I travelled with on the bus and Americans here in Trujillo on a visit to pre-Inca ruins), bickered away and I thought thank God I have only me to please, coz I can do without that. (The second reason really was that I thought maybe I didn´t have enough time to go both to Chiclayo and Trujillo).

These hairless dogs were bred to live at these pre-Inca sites

Checked my flights while I was on the bus last night and what do you know - in fact I go a day earlier than I thought! Well the plane goes at 1am which is very confusing for a woman who has to backtrack to August 10, a Sunday when I left the US, to work out just what day of the week and what date it is!

My last day in Ecuador I spent in Guyaquil. There´s a park there full of iguanas!

But of course, even better was my last day in Ayampe when I came across the whales at Los Frailles beach in the national park - here´s a big whale´s-tail splash for you!

Whale watching

View from my room at Ayampe, a small fishing village on the Ruta del Sol of Ecuador´s Pacific coast. Lots of surfing here too, reminds me of home...

I came here to visit Isla de la Plata, the poor woman´s Galapagos. Catch the cute blue-footed boobie in the photo at left - lots of them nesting on the island, almost tame they are too so long as you skirt the small circle they make out of their poo which the female sits inside of to hatch her eggs!



Didn´t set out to do it but I spent yesterday whale-watching just sitting on a beautiful deserted beach further up the Ecuadorian coast in the national park. Saw some earlier in the week also on the boat trip out to Isla de la Plata.

Crossed over the headland to `little turtle´ beach (translated that myself from the Spanish - comprendo muchas, speak very little!) folowing turtle tracks up the sand and found a fossilised turtle jaw. Saw the real thing swimming near the boat just off Isla de la Plata, but mostly I´ve heard about dead turtles washed up on the beaches. Plastic victims.


Saw a beautiful church today in Olon as I made my way down the Ecuadorean coast to Guayaquil. It sat high on a cliff edge at the south end of the bay with open sides down to a half-wall made of stones. It´s Sunday so it was full of people - many children.

I am now in Guayaquil which is Ecuador´s biggest city on my way back to Peru to visit some adobe pyramids from pre-Columbian times (AD 750) in Chiclayo on the coast. There´s also a very famous witchdoctor´s market there. Since Cuzco, there have been quite a few opportunities in this region to explore shamanism. But in La Paz I stayed just near the witchcraft market and that was close enough for me. But I´ll check out the witch doctors and let you know...


There´s been a referendum today and voting is mandatory. Every one has to go back to their home town to vote so it has been busy on the road and the bus station. Took half an hour just for our bus to turn in there. Got my ticket for tomorrow´s ride. We leave at 11.30am and arrive in Chiclayo at 3am. Not looking forward to that!

Ecuador

Well here´s a surprise - some photos of me, and in some pretty amazing places in Ecuador. I´ve been hiking around the Andes in southern Ecuador - drinking water from streams reputed to give the local people long life - but the wrinkles didn´t fade!

Celebrating with a banana on the top of the world after climbing into tropical cloud forest - straight up it was too!

Here I am at El Pato waterfall on the Rio Yambala in a different part of the Podocarpus National Park to the cloud forest. As you can see I´m still short, the waterfall´s 15m.

Met a nice American woman who´s looking for somewhere to live here and we´ve now travelled on together to Cuenca, the city of panama hats. And then we´re both off to the coast tomorrow. Too soon i fear, it´ll be back home. Mixed feelings on that one!

Spent the last few days up the Amazon River - wet wet wet but fantastic, and although the Bolivian pampas was better for wildlife spotting, what gorgeous jungle flowers and plants there were in the rainforest and river islands around the lodge where I stayed.

Bird of paradise

Walking Palm tree

Heliconia

I also saw my first breadfruit trees at the local Rio Amazon sugar cane whiskey distillery - brought to the Amazon from Polynesia - now I know just what to expect in Tahiti! The leaves of the breadfruit tree dangle in front of this wondrous sight of mother, baby and the hitchhiker!

Giant lily pads, Isla Yanamono, Rio Amazonas

Sunset through the plantation, Isla Yanamono, Rio Amazonas

This time I was with 4 Dutch people - not as much fun as the Irish that´s for sure. At least they weren´t couples (1 woman), and in an amazing coincidence, they live in a village only 5kms from Aarle Rixtel where I lived with Caroline and her family all those years ago!

And now I´m just killing time in Piura in north west of Peru waiting for my overnight bus to Ecuador! Saw some great gold burial items that are locked up in the vault in a museum here, and there´s a vego restaurant on the plaza, so the waiting is not so bad!

In the Amazon

Have now arrived in Iquitos, jungle town on the Rio Amazonas, after a wonderful few days sailing in on the Eduardo IV from Yurimaguas.

Needless to say life along the river made for a really interesting few days - stopping (and not stopping!) to load cargo, (bananas and more bananas), in the most novel ways.

And to add to the flavour there were plaintains served at every meal by the gayest galley staff!

Sunsets and sunrises, life on board was spent swaying in a hammock, and then on our last night on board the rains started. How I love the jungle in the rainy season!

Tomorrow I´m off to the Amazon rainforest for a few days....oh this part of the world is just truly fantastic!

Lares Valley to macchu Piccu

I arrived back in Cusco last night from a wonderful 4 days of trekking through the Lares Valley. We were between 3350 and 4450m so nights, and days going over the passes, were cold. But it was a truly wonderful experience.

The Lares trek is an alternative route to Macchu Piccu, much less travelled and much more interaction with local villagers and their customs. At our first campsite we were woken at 4am by preparations for Sunday market day - or barter day as our guide, Jose described it, when people from surrounding communities bring their crops to trade with others.

It´s not all work though - we came across this women´s soccer match (teams in full-skirted indigenous dress of course), as we entered the village of Patacancha - our second campsite.We ended the journey at Macchu Piccu in time for a wonderful meditation session in the Temple of the Condor looking out over Macchu Piccu mountain.

Bolivia

Had a wonderful time in the Bolivian Amazon. Great group of people -just met 2 of them again in a nearby street here in La Paz! We saw monkeys, pink dolphins - captured one on camera at last but all you´ll see in this photo is a hump!



Alligators by the hundreds.. we went swimming with the dolphins and the alligators, apparently the dolphins keep the alligators at bay?? Well our guide was a funny old guy but we believed him.

Josh is in the photo hanging on to the boat while that alligator `bump' glides around in the background encouraged by Jamie!

We saw anacondas and cobras, big birds and a sloth lazily swinging in the wind, stretching out a paw to grab some leaves as they swayed towards him. (It´s the dark triangle in the centre of the photo.)








And then it was back to La Paz and on to the Salar of Uyuni. More days of jolting around in a jeep covered in dust (the lady in the lavanderia knows just where I´ve been by the colour of my clothes each time I take them in), but this was truly a spectacular experience.


The flamingoes had arrived just 2 weeks ago on their annual migration and they were a very special sight. Flocks of them in all the lagunas. (I think I´m turning into one of those birding people!)

We skirted the western border with Chile past volcanoes shared by both countries.There were islands in the salt plains with coral grottos from the time when it was part of an inland lake.

Vanessa (a Swiss member of our group) and I knew there was something special about taking photos here. We knew it had something to do with shadow to create an illusion of floating. Got it completely wrong tho´- here I am celebrating my shadow when I needed to face 90 degrees to my left so I would have no shadow!
But we weren´t fussed because we were then treated to a concert on the salt by local musicians who come once a month to celebrate in the Salar.

And now following my third all-night bus ride in 3 weeks, (after vowing 33 years ago post-Magic Bus from Athens that I´d never do it again), I´m back in La Paz. More washing, some shopping, but that is a killer, and I´m now getting ready to leave Bolivia for Peru. I´m heading to Cusco for some more trekking to Machu Piccu.

Adios..my is the Spanish improving!

Lake Titicaca and Bolivia

My last stop in Peru was Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca. Stayed overnight with a local indigenous family. Great vegetarian food in cluding sage soup (the sage grows wild on the island), cups of wild peppermint tea for altitude and dressing up in local costume for a fiesta.

I also visited Los Uros floating islands where everything, boats huts the islands are made of todoro reed growing in the lake. Now I´m back on the Bolivian mainland this morning after a couple of days on Isla del Sol - the birthplace of the Inca religion and in the 40% of Lake Titicaca controlled by Bolivia.
I arrived in La Paz late this afternoon. Was a bit scared about going to La Paz - warnings from DFAT, a Peruvian friend I have made, other travellers, guidebooks etc. But it really is quite amazing. Went through the witchcraft market which is close by my hotel. Everything for sale there including llama foetuses! La Paz gives the impression of being a giant market!

I leave tomorrow for the lowland savannah region of the Bolivian Amazon which is north east of La Paz. Then I will go south to Uyuni salt lake, apparently one of the wonders of the world. After that I´ll head back to Peru towards Macchu Piccu.

What I have learned of the Incas in my travels in Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia has been such a revelation. But despite all the trekking and high altitude practice recently, I´m still quite unsure of my ability to make the steep inclines of the trek to Macchu Picu. Never mind, there´s always a train.

After that I´m heading up the Amazon on a 5-day boat trip to Iquitos where my Peruvian friend Jesil is taking up a health worker job. Would like to get to Ecuador but I think there may not be enough time. Can't believe my travel is coming to such a fast end....

Yes, I made it back up from the bottom of the canyon

Well the trek down into Colca Canyon and back out again was fantastic. One half-day to get down; another half-day to cross the canyon to the oasis where we lazed the afternoon away by the pool fed from a nearby waterfall. And then yesterday morning we trekked back out by the light of the full moon.





That was a hard slog! Straight uphill; I had to do it nonstop - breaks did me in! And I said my mantra for most of the way in a rather solitary climb. But at 56 (and only a week or two), I was the lead woman at the top! Yeh go Jude! Meanwhile, of course, local people ran up and down every day!

I´m the one in the yellow hat!

And let me tell you about my fantastic group. Three women from Catalan (Barcelona) - Montse a 28 year old pilates teacher; Lydia a 38 year old Olympian gymnast (Seoul, 1988), and Raquel, 28, a teacher of physics at med school and part-time gym teacher. In their defence, they took breaks and 2 of them smoke! And then there were Pierre and Oliver, 2 young French students who skipped and ran up the canyon! And finally Waldo who was our guide.

They are a great group of people and we had a lot of fun together. And I really enjoyed the physicality of the days. We finished with a plunge into hot springs at Chivay and a great massage.

Oh and some fun last night before we headed to all-night bus rides and separate ways...


Next stop - on to Puno for a stay on the islands of Lake Titicaca (and just a little bit of hiking) and then on to Bolivia.

Well my first overnight bus ride in many years went OK - nothing like the journey on the magic bus from Athens all those year ago that put me off forever, well till now! We were even fed too. Arequipa is a beautiful colonial town with the volcanic Mt Misti presiding over all. Visited the most famous monument in the town, the Santa Catalina convent where the nuns lived quite splendidly. Both the mountain and the convent which is described as a city within a city, are in the picture here.

Strolled down the street from the convent into the middle of a big street parade for Arequipa's foundation day. There were fireworks all night and many still heading home when I set out this morning.

Today I went to see something fabulous, the mummy Juanita, a young girl sacrificed by the Incas high on Mt Ampato. She was found by chance when a volcano on a neighbouring mountain erupted and melted the ice that had preserved her for 5 centuries. It is remarkable to see her still intact in the same clothes and same foetal position as when she was sacrificed.

Tomorrow I´m off for 3 days trekking in the Golca Canyon which is deeper than the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we´ll be seeing giant condors as they fly off on their morning search for food. And yes, to put all your minds at rest, I will be with a group!

Lima

Tonight I leave Lima for Arequipa on an overnight bus; don´t know how that'll go down. I got the last seat and it's in front of the loo! Never mind - I figured it was meant to be.

My plans now are to go from Arequipa to Lake Titicaca and from there to Bolivia. I've heard lots of good things about from people I have met here. Then I´ll come back to Peru and head towards Cusco and Macchu Picchu, hopefully it will be a bit quieter in September. People tell me it´s really busy until at least the end of August.

Went to view a great private collection of pre-Inca pottery and textiles yesterday. It was collected by a Japanese Peruvian and is now looked after by a foundation. To see items of the quality and completeness of this private collection, it suddenly hit home for me how hard it must be for public museums to compete.

Can't believe how cold it is (hoodie all day, add scarf and jumper at night) - and it's so close to the Equator! There´s a haze that hangs over the city during these winter months which is due to some meteorological cause.

But that aside, all seems very gracious in the capital of Peru. Expensive, not too many homeless, but glimpses of shanty towns and graffiti suggest there's much more here than meets the tourist eye.

And if nothing else, this virtual dentist was a bit of a clue to something going on..

South America at last!

Finally made it 37 years after I first thought I might and Lima is well worth the wait.

Spent my final day in the US battling with American Airlines who managed to rip off the buckle and strap to close my pack and who then tell me they 'don´t deal with my type of luggage'! So had to shrink wrap at the airport because the stories DFAT tells you about Sth America make you think it´ll be 'open sesame on your exposed contents'. But this place is lovely, and everyone I meet, whether they've been in Bolivia or anywhere else in this region, has only good stories to tell.

Anyway, I have a lovely place nearby making a fancy leather repair for me - here is the owner posing for a photo. He thought I wanted the baby croc skin when really I wanted the whole shop, so obviously my Spanish still has a long way to go.

Well hope it improves soon, there´s a lot of travel ahead. Met a lovely young German woman who had heard of Bhopal although she was born in 1984. Shé's convinced me to go to Arequipa and meet her there for some canyon adventures. Managed to get the last seat on tomorrow night's bus right in front of the bano (bathroom) - the one place the guide books say not to sit! This will test me, an all-night bus ride.

Oh and Andrea ..just met more Canadians from Toronto!