A hike down the Inca trail

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect coming to Peru, it was a little bit the black hole after Costa Rica : a new continent, a new place to get used to, and most importantly a place without Leen. We both can say that saying goodbye in San Jose was one of the hardest things we ever did. But luckily enough, I didn't have too much time to be melancholic, because after only a day in Lima I met up with my brother Andres and his girlfriend Tina! They are doing a world trip of their own, and Peru was their last stop in their 6 months schedule. Coming from New Zealand, and dealing with a decent jetlag, we took it easy and spent more than a day just catching up on eachothers travel stories. And doing other silly things that brothers do, like exchanging music, talking about 10.000 euro costing hifi systems (well, Andres did) and finishing all the rum that was left from Costa Rica (mostly on my account). Good for us that there was Tina as well, who increased the level of our conversation with wonderful stories on yummie Indian food crisises and incredible Aussie outback bugs. Hehe. No, it certainly was a big mental boost to be the three of us. So, after a good rest and a trip to a Lima mall (what else is there to see in this misty and smoggy megapolis?!!), we got ourselves a seat on an Aerocontinente flight to Cuzco, where we would take on the Inca Trail. Well, that was the plan. We soon enough discovered that things go a bit slower in Peru : after our flight got delayed for 3 hours, it got cancelled, and the day after again delayed for 3 hours. Apparently, this is common business here (especially in the low season), but not for a couple of furious Argentinian girls on our flight, that managed to get us a free night at a 3 star hotel in Lima, free dinner and breakfast and free transportation from and to the airport. And if that weren't enough, after the delay on the second day, they yelled so hard at the flight operator that we all got a voucher for a free two-way flight in Peru with Aerocontinente ! 3 flights for the price of one? I was making money on this one! Well, I was so blown away on my luck that I forgot the voucher on the plane. Yep. No free flight to another place like Arequipa and from there to Lake Titicaca, saving me lots of bus time. We called and tried everything, even getting me a ticket on my brother's voucher, but we dismissed that idea too, knewing that all passports get checked at boarding. A Snoeckx is a Snoeckx, but no way in earth I could sell a José for an Andres, not even here. Oh well, so be it. It would almost make me forget to tell you what a good time we had in and around Cuzco. We had a slow start though, not only because of the flight being cancelled, but also because of the 3326m altitude we had to cope with. Luckily, we had great beds in the lovely Hotel Los Niños (working for Cuzco street kids) and yummie mate de coca, tea of pure coca leafs, that you can buy here in a big bag for only 1 sol (25 eurocent). So after catching our breath, and meeting up with Tina's brother and another friend, we discovered little by little all the wonders that the Cuzco area has to offer. Cuzco has a very rich history, bearing at the same time the legacy of the Incas and the Spanish conquest. The city boasts a curious mix between ancient Inca and colonial architecture : most of the impressive churches are built on Inca city walls or temple ruins, and in and around the city you can still witness what the Spanish left of what was once the capital of the Inca empire. And just outside the Sacred Valley, on the flanks of the Huyana Picchu mountain, you can visit the lost city of Machu Picchu, an Inca citadel that the Spanish never found. It was only (re)discovered in 1911 by American archeologists, with the help of an Quechua farmer boy and his father. Of course, all these marvels attract many tourists, and Cuzco as well as Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu) are a bit over-commercialized : you can't take a step outside without being harrassed by sketchy 'tour operators', restaurants showing off their menus, postcard vendors and the like. I think the high season from June to September must be crazy here. And the tourist area around the Plaza de Armas is quite a contrast with the poor suburbs up the hills. But still, just looking down on the city from the Sacsayhuaman ruins (say : Sexy Woman), visiting the Pisac Sunday market or doing the Inca Trail makes you realize how rich this area is. You could spend days on end here, discovering another colonial church or cute museum, taking a local bus to wonderful places like Chinchero, or you could hike to Las Salinas, where a mineral hot spring feeds marvelous salt pans, eversince the Inca time. All in all, we got very lucky with the weather too : it did rain quite a lot on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (which forced us to do the shorter two day trip), but we got quite some sunshine in Cuzco, which was very enjoyable. Being it the rain season, there also were a lot less tourists around, although we did get our share of US, Japanese and French senior citizens on Machu Picchu. I am glad I wasn't there when the whole band had to be evacuated after a landslide hit the train tracks near Aguas Calientes, just the day after we got back to Cuzco. Maybe all my luck went there?! Well, Tina and Andres are on their way home as I write this, and I am moving on too. Having another 6 weeks left, I am heading quietly to Bolivia, visiting on my way Lake Titicaca. I must thank Andres and Tina for taking home some of the stuff I bought here and leaving me another warm fleece and sunblock. I will need it ! So more PanAm adventures to come from the Altiplano ! And for those who want to take a peek at my brother's and Tina's version of the story, check their website at http://www.tinandres.2ya.com/ And thanks to Andres for sharing some of his pics and leaving me his 512 MB memory card ! Yoehoe. Hasta luego !

Another sad goodbye

lf there's one thing I hate about travelling, it's the goodbyes...




Goodbyes of your loved one, thrown apart again for another 8 weeks.
Goodbyes of a subcontinent I really came to like, of the Costa Rican sun and its rolling waves. Goodbyes of a warm place in this winter time.
Goodbyes to so many people who died in Madrid, Leen's home this year.
Goodbyes in the past and those to come.



And no goodbyes come along with an empty feeling afterwards, pondering on your memories...

Memories of that georgous food at the beach resto in Montezuma.
Memories of that long hike through the cloud forest in Santa Elena.
Memories of how we bodysurfed on the Pacific waves in Manuel Antonio.
Memories of the pistache nuts and beer we had waiting for that one bus to Uvita.
Memories of playing Kanasta all night until Leen fell sound asleep.



And it's also at these moments you start to look back, with your thoughts at what's going on back home...

Thoughts of a fresh Duvel on a summer terrace.
Thoughts of the breeze on a nice Belgian spring day.
Thoughts of watching the bike classics on Sunday afternoon.
Thoughts of having a morning coffee at work and chatting with Vero, Marleen and Ellen (really!).

Thoughts of playing basketball, and just being there.

You would start to think it's maybe time to come home, no? Well...not just yet. There are so many more reasons to hang around here a little more, and some many more things to see...

Discovering Peru (well a bit of it), meeting up with my brother Andres and Tina!
Changing climate and altitude in Bolivia.
Hablar y aprender un poco mas de Español.
Travelling all the way through to Rio de Janeiro, getting a glimp of Brazil.
Making plans for future travels...

And then, one day, it will be sooner there than I think...




I'll be going back home. Home. Listen to music. Eat a bicky burger. See Leen again. Go back to work. Fall back into routine. Look back and wonder where all this time went.

Have a good one, I am thinking of you.

Costa Rica, at last !

At last, at last ! What love can do : with Leen arriving here in San Jose almost two weeks ago, the internet shops totally got out the picture, so sorry guys for waiting that long for a sign of life... But as you might have guessed, no news is good news, and that's certainly the case! Leen and I have been hopping on busses and boats, savouring beaches and rain forests, swimming and walking... well, simply enjoying every single moment we have been together ! I must say, travelling alone for more than 2 months, some adjustments were made to my life style... Finished are those hours on MSN, I managed an amazing economy on phone calls (hehe), and now I don't need my sleeping bag either when I get cold at night ! No more toilet seats that are up, and at least two shaves a week... No more beard ! Well, I can live with that. No, travelling together is so much more fun : it's not only cheaper, but you can relate a lot more to what you are experiencing than when you're alone. Of course, maybe you meet less people and you spend less time telling the home front how life is in Central America, but that was a nice change for me after those 9 weeks alone on the road. So, needless to say we were both too excited to see eachother again, and for those would like to know, it's still BIG love at first sight between the two of us. Hehe.And what have we been up to in Costa Rica? Well, after recovering from the first emotions and jetlag, we headed down to the Nicoya Peninsula, where for 4 days, we savoured the sun and some very fine beaches. Montezuma proved to be the right spot for the two of us, with a relaxed atmosphere, quiet swimming (the surf beach at Malpais was a bit too rough for that), the beautiful Cabo Blanco nature reserve just next door and some very good food ! If you ever get there, go to Pension Lucy and get knocked over by the delicous baracuda or mariscos at La Playa de las Artistas just next to it. They even have a Belgian beer card with yummy Hoegaarden, Leffe and Duvel !After we got a bit too lazy and bored by the beach (and Leen got a bit burned too), we moved on to the Central highlands, where we took a couple of hikes in the quiet Santa Elena cloud forest reserve (go there instead of the Monteverde reserve, a lot less tourists and more wildlife!) and the area around Volcan Arenal. It was hard to keep up with Leen Powerbeen, jee her pace is something ! Arenal is the third most active volcano in the world, with minor eruptions almost every 15 minutes. Well, so said our guide, and we believed him on his word, because with all the cloud cover we saw zero of anyting that would come close to a volcano. Oh well, the thermal hot springs near Arenal certainly made up for missing out on all the lava action. Apparently we can all blame it on global warming : normally, in the 'dry' season one could see the volcano clear on any day, but unusual amounts of moisture moving in from the Atlantic have been bringing rain to the area for the last weeks. In general, the weather hasn't been as great as one would expect this time of year, but we deal with it. Although Leen is considering going back to the sunbed center once she gets back to Madrid. Anyways, in the last 10 days, we have had our share of climate changes : we moved from the nice spring like climate of San Jose to the dry, almost unbearable heat of the Pacific and from there to the almost European like windy and cloudy area of Monteverde. We got to see dry tropical forests, cloud forests and rain forests. Costa Rica has a lot to offer, that's if you are willing to cope with the tons of tourists and the strong US influence. For me, after Nicaragua, it certainly was a small culture shock to get on a 'regular' bus again and walking into airconditioned supermarkets, where they have all the stuff we have back home, or even more. The country is more expensive too than the rest I've visited so far, but there are ways to get through Costa Rica in a cheap way as well : eating in the local sodas and avoiding the tourist trap tours gets you quite far already. People on the other hand are very friendly, although they are very keen on speaking English any time, even if you stubbornly keep on talking Spanish to them. So, after taking a break in San Jose, washing our clothes and enjoying the luxery of satellite TV and a hot shower in the very much recommended Galileo Hostel , we are back on the road again. Leen is craving for some sunshine (well so am I), so we are heading back to the Pacific coast, lingering on to the end of our stay here next weekend. And then it's another sad goodbye, for another 2 months. Leen will head back to Spain for her second Erasmus semester, and I will fly to Peru to meet up with my brother Andres and his girlfriend Tina !More travel news and pictures next week !

Helena Tropicana & JoS Kokos