Sleep was the order of the day after our long day fishing and heavy night drinking in Barranco yesterday. Our new room in Loki was a lot quieter than our other room so we could sleep in peace. And sleep we did! They also have a DVD/TV room in Loki which we made good use of that day as well...
We met a couple of Dublin lads that evening and we had the craic with them playing pool and talking about all the places they'd been to in South America and Austrailia. Ended up heading out with them to a night club called Bierhouse in Miraflores.
These are the kinda days that I hate writing up on the Blog cause it looks like we did nothing but we're on holidays! And it's not as if we did nothing, we grew our beards which is not as easy as you think...
Charlie
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Day 47 > Fishing, sickness and cooking!
We woke up early at 5.30 and met Alberto as he was pulling up outside the door of the hostel. He had an old car but on the way to the beach he was racing a Volvo trying to impress us. He lost.
We got to the dock and met all the fishermen up having their breakfast. This seemed to be the most important part of the day with all the fisherman chatting and talking about their catches and the weather. Alberto met the local bait man and bought us enough to catch all the fish in the ocean. The bugs were little and looked like the flesh eating bugs in the film the Mummy. They were all still live and rolling around in the bottom of the bucket.
Then we saw the boat. When I say boat, I mean the boats I am used to. It was the kind of boat that I would use to go lake fishing! The boat was tiny and had to fit all of us, Alberto and two fishermen... We got into the boat and the fishermen started up their little diesel engine and we set off for the open ocean in our 12 foot wooden "boat"! The ocean was pretty choppy and we started to feel the sea sickness coming on early as the waves pushed us up into the air. The fishermen were laughing at the four men in their boat looking like white sheets...
We fished with a bit of line wrapped around a piece of timber no bigger than my hand. We put the little bugs on the hook and through the line with a weight into the ocean. Then we put the piece of timber under our legs and we sat on it until we landed a fish! The fishermen were naturals with four lines going all at the one time and they were catching fish everytime... We weren't so good! Ro caught a fish and was delighted and Alberto caught a couple as well. Unfourtunately, me and Joe must have missed the Corcoran gene for fishing because all we caught was sea sickness!
After a couple hours of fishing, sleeping, getting sick, sleeping and fishing, Alberto decided it was time to call it a day and we headed back to the main land. We got off the boat and Ronan kissed the ground! We were glad to be back on the main land. We headed to the fish market and bought a few fish for the dinner that night.
Joe and Ronan were surfing with Alberto a couple of days before and he decided to show us some of the best surfing in Lima. He brought us to a point break where the waves crash onto the rocks after coming around the corner at the bottom of the cliff face. As we looked out at the crazy surfers riding these huge waves we seen five dolphins jump between two surfers on the wave. An incredible sight! We spent nearly half an hour there watching the surfers ride the waves until they came close to the rocks and then jumping off before they were killed.
Next we went for dinner in a cool little place near to Alberto's home. We had the menu of the day (3 courses) all for only 9Soles and talked all about Peru and Ireland. Alberto asked all about the surfing in Ireland and talked to us about Peru and how the rich really run the country and the poor have no say. The government doesn't help the people out like they do in Ireland and you have to work really hard just to survive, which we seen that morning with the fishermen.
Alberto dropped us off at the Loki and we headed out to buy some drink and ingredients for our dinner. Ronan cooked the fish to perfection and we had a few drinks and some sea bass for the dinner before heading out to Barranco...
Charlie
We got to the dock and met all the fishermen up having their breakfast. This seemed to be the most important part of the day with all the fisherman chatting and talking about their catches and the weather. Alberto met the local bait man and bought us enough to catch all the fish in the ocean. The bugs were little and looked like the flesh eating bugs in the film the Mummy. They were all still live and rolling around in the bottom of the bucket.
Then we saw the boat. When I say boat, I mean the boats I am used to. It was the kind of boat that I would use to go lake fishing! The boat was tiny and had to fit all of us, Alberto and two fishermen... We got into the boat and the fishermen started up their little diesel engine and we set off for the open ocean in our 12 foot wooden "boat"! The ocean was pretty choppy and we started to feel the sea sickness coming on early as the waves pushed us up into the air. The fishermen were laughing at the four men in their boat looking like white sheets...
We fished with a bit of line wrapped around a piece of timber no bigger than my hand. We put the little bugs on the hook and through the line with a weight into the ocean. Then we put the piece of timber under our legs and we sat on it until we landed a fish! The fishermen were naturals with four lines going all at the one time and they were catching fish everytime... We weren't so good! Ro caught a fish and was delighted and Alberto caught a couple as well. Unfourtunately, me and Joe must have missed the Corcoran gene for fishing because all we caught was sea sickness!
After a couple hours of fishing, sleeping, getting sick, sleeping and fishing, Alberto decided it was time to call it a day and we headed back to the main land. We got off the boat and Ronan kissed the ground! We were glad to be back on the main land. We headed to the fish market and bought a few fish for the dinner that night.
Joe and Ronan were surfing with Alberto a couple of days before and he decided to show us some of the best surfing in Lima. He brought us to a point break where the waves crash onto the rocks after coming around the corner at the bottom of the cliff face. As we looked out at the crazy surfers riding these huge waves we seen five dolphins jump between two surfers on the wave. An incredible sight! We spent nearly half an hour there watching the surfers ride the waves until they came close to the rocks and then jumping off before they were killed.
Next we went for dinner in a cool little place near to Alberto's home. We had the menu of the day (3 courses) all for only 9Soles and talked all about Peru and Ireland. Alberto asked all about the surfing in Ireland and talked to us about Peru and how the rich really run the country and the poor have no say. The government doesn't help the people out like they do in Ireland and you have to work really hard just to survive, which we seen that morning with the fishermen.
Alberto dropped us off at the Loki and we headed out to buy some drink and ingredients for our dinner. Ronan cooked the fish to perfection and we had a few drinks and some sea bass for the dinner before heading out to Barranco...
Charlie
Day 46 > No fishing!
We knew we had an early start but when Alberto burst into the room at 5.30 I was seriously thinking about turning over again for another couple of hours. But Alberto was the bearer of bad news. The engine of the boat that he was taking us out on had broken down and we couldn't go fishing. He handed us back our money and was gone as quick as he had come in...
When we finally woke up and realised what had happened we weren't too happy. We had a whole day with nothing to do and Ronan really wanted to go fishing. So we started to try and organise another way to get out and fish tomorrow. We talked to the guy at reception and tried to organise another boat. He called his uncle who owned a boat and who would take us out but it was expensive. We were trying to decide what to do but then Alberto came back and said that he would bring us out again tomorrow at 5.30 in the morning! Excellent, Ro was delighted so we chilled out for the evening again around the hostel and hit the bed early...
Charlie
When we finally woke up and realised what had happened we weren't too happy. We had a whole day with nothing to do and Ronan really wanted to go fishing. So we started to try and organise another way to get out and fish tomorrow. We talked to the guy at reception and tried to organise another boat. He called his uncle who owned a boat and who would take us out but it was expensive. We were trying to decide what to do but then Alberto came back and said that he would bring us out again tomorrow at 5.30 in the morning! Excellent, Ro was delighted so we chilled out for the evening again around the hostel and hit the bed early...
Charlie
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Emilio : RIP (2008)
We´ve seen a lot of things on our trip. We´ve been mugged, seen violence, fights and extreme poverty. We´ve hiked up mountains and glaciers in freezing temperatures and been sunburnt so badly it hurt to move. I´ve had my balls squashed in a harness while hand gliding but nothing prepared us for the emotional and physical hurt that we felt when we lost our good friend Emilio.
Really we had only know Emilio for a few days before he passed away, but he touched our lives so much. We first met Emilio´s father Chris on one of our first nights in Secret Garden in Quito, Ecuador. Chris was an American and a really down to earth guy who showed his love for Emilio from the first time we talked about him.
We met Emilio the next day at lunch. Him and Chris came up the stairs to the terrace and all the girls began to take notice. Emilio was the centre of attention and Chris was as proud as punch as all the girls flocked over to say hello. But we were not left out either. Joe and Emilio got on like a house on fire and you could tell there was a mutual respect there.
It really was through Emilio that we got to know Chris and Matt who were also heading to Cotapaxi. We expected Emilio to join us on the trek even for just a little while...
However, on the morning of the trek we received the bad news. Emilio had passed away. We all felt for Chris and the other American´s of the group, Matt, Julia and Adrian. They all had a special connection with Emilio but we were not sure what state they would be in to climb the mountain but Chris was determined to climb it and reach the top for Emilio. He then had a great idea to bury Emilio there.
So after our trek on the first day we decided to have a little ceremony to bury and remember Emilio. We treked out to a little ledge over looking the valley with a fine view of the Cotopaxi Volcano. A beautiful place for a grave. Then Paulo and Chris began to dig. We all got a turn to dig the grave for our friend. When it was complete Chris placed Emilio into the Earth. It was an emotional time for Chris and I think I saw a little tear in his eye. Everyone said a few words for our friend and as we walked away we gave Chris a bit of extra time to say his goodbyes.
He may have had a short life but Emilio lived it to the last. The lads climbed to the top of Cotopaxi all for Emilio... It was a great achievement and one they will never forget.
By the way Emilio was a duck who Chris bought in the market for $2! He was named after Emilio Estevez from the film Mighty Ducks! He lived a great short life and we will all miss him. (And he also inspired rule five at the bottom of the blog!)
"Thanks for filling our Blog Emilio!"
Ronan Dooley, graveside oration, 2008
Charlie
Really we had only know Emilio for a few days before he passed away, but he touched our lives so much. We first met Emilio´s father Chris on one of our first nights in Secret Garden in Quito, Ecuador. Chris was an American and a really down to earth guy who showed his love for Emilio from the first time we talked about him.
We met Emilio the next day at lunch. Him and Chris came up the stairs to the terrace and all the girls began to take notice. Emilio was the centre of attention and Chris was as proud as punch as all the girls flocked over to say hello. But we were not left out either. Joe and Emilio got on like a house on fire and you could tell there was a mutual respect there.
It really was through Emilio that we got to know Chris and Matt who were also heading to Cotapaxi. We expected Emilio to join us on the trek even for just a little while...
However, on the morning of the trek we received the bad news. Emilio had passed away. We all felt for Chris and the other American´s of the group, Matt, Julia and Adrian. They all had a special connection with Emilio but we were not sure what state they would be in to climb the mountain but Chris was determined to climb it and reach the top for Emilio. He then had a great idea to bury Emilio there.
So after our trek on the first day we decided to have a little ceremony to bury and remember Emilio. We treked out to a little ledge over looking the valley with a fine view of the Cotopaxi Volcano. A beautiful place for a grave. Then Paulo and Chris began to dig. We all got a turn to dig the grave for our friend. When it was complete Chris placed Emilio into the Earth. It was an emotional time for Chris and I think I saw a little tear in his eye. Everyone said a few words for our friend and as we walked away we gave Chris a bit of extra time to say his goodbyes.
He may have had a short life but Emilio lived it to the last. The lads climbed to the top of Cotopaxi all for Emilio... It was a great achievement and one they will never forget.
By the way Emilio was a duck who Chris bought in the market for $2! He was named after Emilio Estevez from the film Mighty Ducks! He lived a great short life and we will all miss him. (And he also inspired rule five at the bottom of the blog!)
"Thanks for filling our Blog Emilio!"
Ronan Dooley, graveside oration, 2008
Charlie
Monday, October 13, 2008
Off to Inca Land
We're off at dawn for a five day 50km hike from Mollepata over Salkantay mountain and onto Machu Picchu.
We'll get the blog up to date & get some photos up when we get back on Friday. (I managed to get a virus on my memory key & camera, making them useless, but Charlie has it sorted now)
Also....
Happy Birthday Breda!
Joe
We'll get the blog up to date & get some photos up when we get back on Friday. (I managed to get a virus on my memory key & camera, making them useless, but Charlie has it sorted now)
Also....
Happy Birthday Breda!
Joe
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Day 45 - Lima or Malibu!
We were woken by one of the Loki workers looking for Charlie! The Irish Consulate are on the phone and they want to know what time you'll be there!! After yesterdays encounter with Micheal we didn't think the consulate would be in such a rush. I said I'd be there in an hour and started to make my way over.
When I got there Micheal was really red and was sweating really badly. He apologised for his appearance and explained that he was working out on his exercise bike! It must have been his first time. We talked through all the details of the passport and he sent one of his girls to work on it. Then he started talking! My God could this man talk. He was a tour guide in Russia and Eastern Europe for years and then he moved to Peru in South America. Then while in Lima for Saint Patrick's day he called the Irish Consulate to see what was happening. When the person on the phone told him that the Consulate had just died Micheal rang his lawyer and asked him to put in for the job. 17years later he was still there... Talking about the world to me!
I was there for so long we ended up having a bit of breakfast together and I met his son who was down syndrome and attending military school. He decided I was the perfect person to try out his newly learned english lessons on me. Then all of a sudden Micheal jumped up out of his chair, after about 3 hours of talking, and decided he had work to do. I left saying my goodbyes taking my emergency passport. As I left I heard his secretary ask him what he wanted for lunch!
I knew it was too late to head surfing with the guys so I pulled into an internet cafe and Skype´d home to let them know about the passport and the morning I had! When I got back to the hostel I had missed the guys but they came back from an afternoons surfing with Alberto.
We then organised to go fishing the next morning at 5.30 with Alberto. So we decided we needed to have an early night!
Charlie
Surf was amazing today, Alberto took us down to check out the swell in a few different spots along the coast before we picked one beach. The triangle was the name of this particular spot between the harbor & the beach. It was a reef break so you get a really long ride after the wave breaks not like home! Alberto warned us to stay clear of the local surfers because apparently they aren't so tolerate of Gringo surfers!! We tackled the waves for a couple of hours & then went for a bit of lunch - Lomo Saltada in one of Alberto's favorite local cafes. We got a few strange looks & smiles from the female staff who weren't too used of seeing Gringos in that part of town. We had a good chat with Alberto who explained in his words that Peru is full of uneducated morans that have too many children & this keeps the country down!
Joe
When I got there Micheal was really red and was sweating really badly. He apologised for his appearance and explained that he was working out on his exercise bike! It must have been his first time. We talked through all the details of the passport and he sent one of his girls to work on it. Then he started talking! My God could this man talk. He was a tour guide in Russia and Eastern Europe for years and then he moved to Peru in South America. Then while in Lima for Saint Patrick's day he called the Irish Consulate to see what was happening. When the person on the phone told him that the Consulate had just died Micheal rang his lawyer and asked him to put in for the job. 17years later he was still there... Talking about the world to me!
I was there for so long we ended up having a bit of breakfast together and I met his son who was down syndrome and attending military school. He decided I was the perfect person to try out his newly learned english lessons on me. Then all of a sudden Micheal jumped up out of his chair, after about 3 hours of talking, and decided he had work to do. I left saying my goodbyes taking my emergency passport. As I left I heard his secretary ask him what he wanted for lunch!
I knew it was too late to head surfing with the guys so I pulled into an internet cafe and Skype´d home to let them know about the passport and the morning I had! When I got back to the hostel I had missed the guys but they came back from an afternoons surfing with Alberto.
We then organised to go fishing the next morning at 5.30 with Alberto. So we decided we needed to have an early night!
Charlie
Surf was amazing today, Alberto took us down to check out the swell in a few different spots along the coast before we picked one beach. The triangle was the name of this particular spot between the harbor & the beach. It was a reef break so you get a really long ride after the wave breaks not like home! Alberto warned us to stay clear of the local surfers because apparently they aren't so tolerate of Gringo surfers!! We tackled the waves for a couple of hours & then went for a bit of lunch - Lomo Saltada in one of Alberto's favorite local cafes. We got a few strange looks & smiles from the female staff who weren't too used of seeing Gringos in that part of town. We had a good chat with Alberto who explained in his words that Peru is full of uneducated morans that have too many children & this keeps the country down!
Joe
Day 44 - I don`t give a shit.......
We had an appointment with the Irish Consulate this morning to sort out Charlie with a new passport. The Irish Consulate in Lima is officially the easiest job in the world! This Irish/ Canadian guy Michael lives in a really nice house with his maid & secretary. Basically his secretary does all the paperwork & he signs the forms.
We made our way over to the tourist police station to get an offcial report to say Charlie`s passport was robbed in Lima rather than Quito to save explaining how we got over the border. We brought the report over to Michael & Charlie decided to tell him the real story of the mugging in Quito & how we got over the border, to which his reply was "....i don`t give a shit!" classic. I wouldn`t say Michael gives a shit about most things!! The most easy going man you'd ever meet.
We headed back to the hostel after to met Oran & Tal to go and visit one of Lima's only tourist attractions, this park full of fountains as it was described to us. Turned out to be really impressive, the park has like a dozen different fountains you can run through etc. Plus boasts the highest fountain in the world. Just by chance the Latin American Idol winner was giving a concert at the park that night which seemed to be a pretty big deal & the park filled up with local fans. So we were getting excited at this stage!
The concert was a bit rubbish but I managed to slide pass security & ended up standing at the edge of the stage beside a group of dancers who were confused by my laughing and taking photos. I got busted then because Ro, Charlie & the Israeli lads were laughing so hard in the crowd & pointing over at me. The security guard didn't find it so funny!
Back to the hostel for some more poker with Omar & his other Israeli buddys. Omar was keen to make his money back off us tonight because we pulled the piss out of him so much the night before. I ended up spliting the pot with him so he was happy enough, bit of a hussler I think!
We met up with a local guide at the hostel - Alberto who turned out to be a true legend & really made our stay in Lima. We organised a surf for the next day & fishing the day after.
Back down to Pizza Street to a local nightclub with a big group from the hostel, the club was empty but we made our own fun. Charlie got stung by a local rose salesman who he though was saying free when he was actually saying 3! But Charlie ended up getting the roses back & selling them on at a profit, Bill Cullen eat your heart out!!
Joe
We made our way over to the tourist police station to get an offcial report to say Charlie`s passport was robbed in Lima rather than Quito to save explaining how we got over the border. We brought the report over to Michael & Charlie decided to tell him the real story of the mugging in Quito & how we got over the border, to which his reply was "....i don`t give a shit!" classic. I wouldn`t say Michael gives a shit about most things!! The most easy going man you'd ever meet.
We headed back to the hostel after to met Oran & Tal to go and visit one of Lima's only tourist attractions, this park full of fountains as it was described to us. Turned out to be really impressive, the park has like a dozen different fountains you can run through etc. Plus boasts the highest fountain in the world. Just by chance the Latin American Idol winner was giving a concert at the park that night which seemed to be a pretty big deal & the park filled up with local fans. So we were getting excited at this stage!
The concert was a bit rubbish but I managed to slide pass security & ended up standing at the edge of the stage beside a group of dancers who were confused by my laughing and taking photos. I got busted then because Ro, Charlie & the Israeli lads were laughing so hard in the crowd & pointing over at me. The security guard didn't find it so funny!
Back to the hostel for some more poker with Omar & his other Israeli buddys. Omar was keen to make his money back off us tonight because we pulled the piss out of him so much the night before. I ended up spliting the pot with him so he was happy enough, bit of a hussler I think!
We met up with a local guide at the hostel - Alberto who turned out to be a true legend & really made our stay in Lima. We organised a surf for the next day & fishing the day after.
Back down to Pizza Street to a local nightclub with a big group from the hostel, the club was empty but we made our own fun. Charlie got stung by a local rose salesman who he though was saying free when he was actually saying 3! But Charlie ended up getting the roses back & selling them on at a profit, Bill Cullen eat your heart out!!
Joe
Day 43 - Killer Sunday
We met other Israeli guy today - Omar. Omar just bought a shiny new poker set in La Paz for $15 (would go for about €100 at home!) & he was eager to give it a go so we joined him for a game. S$20 in & poor Omar was the first out, unlucky Omar! We ended up spliting the pot between us.
After loading up on double rums we were in the mood for a bit of salsa dancing only to find out there`s no clubs open in Lima on a Sunday night! So we ended up playing killer on the pool table for the night with a few English lads - Tony & Mike.
Joe
After loading up on double rums we were in the mood for a bit of salsa dancing only to find out there`s no clubs open in Lima on a Sunday night! So we ended up playing killer on the pool table for the night with a few English lads - Tony & Mike.
Joe
Day 42 - Meh
Nothing much to report today just loads of sleep, we saw a bit of a parade out of the hostel window which was nice! Really have to update my fantasy premier league team other weekend & Im still sitting on the bottom! Charlie rang the Irish Consulate - Michael about a new passport but he was in the pub!
We`re getting to know everyone in the hostel pretty quick here. But two of the best - Tal & Oran two Israeli brothers. Tal like most young Israeli guys you meet traveling just finished his 2yrs draft in the Israeli defence forces. He was in an elite commando Para-trooper unit which is supposed to be badass! Even though he cant tell us, Im pretty sure he`s killed a lot of people!! We drank with the lads in Loki, stocked up on double rums for happy hour & ended up in a real locals club over on Pizza Street with not one gringo in sight.
In a stark contrast to Ireland, the girls seem to chat up the lads here!
Here`s some vital tips for anyone coming to South America:
1) Dear god learn some Spanish!
2) Learn to Salsa dance
That`s it!
Joe
We`re getting to know everyone in the hostel pretty quick here. But two of the best - Tal & Oran two Israeli brothers. Tal like most young Israeli guys you meet traveling just finished his 2yrs draft in the Israeli defence forces. He was in an elite commando Para-trooper unit which is supposed to be badass! Even though he cant tell us, Im pretty sure he`s killed a lot of people!! We drank with the lads in Loki, stocked up on double rums for happy hour & ended up in a real locals club over on Pizza Street with not one gringo in sight.
In a stark contrast to Ireland, the girls seem to chat up the lads here!
Here`s some vital tips for anyone coming to South America:
1) Dear god learn some Spanish!
2) Learn to Salsa dance
That`s it!
Joe
Day 41 - 1000 Miles of Bus!
Day two on this horrible bus today! Seat no. 35 is like a second home after two nights! At this stage we`d gotten to know nearly everyone on the bus. We spend an hour at a lunch stop showing some of the lads Euro notes & telling them about Ireland and our travels in South America. Everyone has a real pride in their countries here, so some were really disappointed to hear we wouldn`t reach Venezuela & Colombia. Then we got a bit of a Spainish lesson off one of the more lively Colombian lads, who taugh us to say massterbation & many other useful day-to-day phrases in Spainish!!
Arrived in Lima 9pm after 42hrs & 1000mls on the road! Lima is huge - 9.5 million people making it the third biggest city we`ve seen in South America after Buenos Aires & Rio. We got off the bus & said some emotional farewells to our new friends. We`re staying in the Loki Hostel in Lima which is located in a really nice modern part of the city - Miraflores aka Gringo Land! Miraflores has McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza hut, KFC, Starbucks, an Irish Pub & dozens of clubs! I love Gringo Land!
The Loki hostels are owned by a group of Irish guys & they have more hostels in Cusco & La Paz (Bolivia). So Loki are famous for being party hostals. If you stay in all three you get a free t-shirt! We could hear the noise from the roof bar as soon as we got in the door, always a good sign. We hadn`t had showers in three days so a good wash was in order! Then up to the bar were there was a load of lads in drag. One of which tried his best to give Ro a lap dance! Ro fought him off by bursting one of his ballon boobs! Turns out it`s not a cross-dressing hostel they were just having a Miss Universe competition. We ended up watching the AFl grand final with a bunch of Ozzies in an effort to get used to the Australian way of life. Hawthorn beat Geelong which seemed to please most of the drunken Ozzies!
We drank in the Loki bar until 2am & got a taxi to the Bierhaus in Barranco which was closed for the night. So back to the Loki for the rest of the night.
Peru fact of the Day: The potato originates from Peru & they have 4000 types of spud! Thank you Peru!
Joe
Arrived in Lima 9pm after 42hrs & 1000mls on the road! Lima is huge - 9.5 million people making it the third biggest city we`ve seen in South America after Buenos Aires & Rio. We got off the bus & said some emotional farewells to our new friends. We`re staying in the Loki Hostel in Lima which is located in a really nice modern part of the city - Miraflores aka Gringo Land! Miraflores has McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza hut, KFC, Starbucks, an Irish Pub & dozens of clubs! I love Gringo Land!
The Loki hostels are owned by a group of Irish guys & they have more hostels in Cusco & La Paz (Bolivia). So Loki are famous for being party hostals. If you stay in all three you get a free t-shirt! We could hear the noise from the roof bar as soon as we got in the door, always a good sign. We hadn`t had showers in three days so a good wash was in order! Then up to the bar were there was a load of lads in drag. One of which tried his best to give Ro a lap dance! Ro fought him off by bursting one of his ballon boobs! Turns out it`s not a cross-dressing hostel they were just having a Miss Universe competition. We ended up watching the AFl grand final with a bunch of Ozzies in an effort to get used to the Australian way of life. Hawthorn beat Geelong which seemed to please most of the drunken Ozzies!
We drank in the Loki bar until 2am & got a taxi to the Bierhaus in Barranco which was closed for the night. So back to the Loki for the rest of the night.
Peru fact of the Day: The potato originates from Peru & they have 4000 types of spud! Thank you Peru!
Joe
Day 40 - Bus to Hell!
Today started off at 2am we had to get across town to the Ormeno office to get the bus to Lima, Peru. There's no international bus terminal in Quito so you have to go directly to the companies office. As most of Ireland seems to know by now we ended up getting mugged that night so I might as well give the correct version of events!
The bus company have a pretty usually system because the bus that runs to Lima comes all the way from Caracus in Venezuela via Bogota, Colombia through Quito & on to Lima. That's about 1700 mls down the Pan American highway! They don't know exactly when the bus is going to get to Quito because of delays. If it doesn't get through the Colombian border in time it can be delayed by up to a day! So the company has to call your hostel with a time once they figure it out. Our bus was due in at 3:30am. So we booked a taxi at reception before we hit the hay. The power was out in the area around the hostel for some reason that night. So we don`t know if the thick English girl at reception didn`t book or taxi or she just forgot but when we got up there was no taxi in sight. The night guard wasn`t much help either when we woke him up! He just told us to hail one on the main street nearby.
Anyways we decided to take the risk knowing it was pretty dangerous around at that time of night but there`s usually loads of taxis bringing Gringos home from the nightclubs. It was usually quiet when we got down there & 2 or 3 taxis passed us by for some reason. Then we noticed 4 ominous looking gentlemen emerging from the darkness! Shit!
Two of them went straight for Charlie`s smaller bag & the other two smashed glass bottles and came at Ro & myself. We ended up backing out on to the main road as they came closer to us. The two lads & Charlie ended up wrestling around on the ground while he was trying to hang on to his bag. Finally a taxi made it`s way towards us, Ro & myself dived in front of the car desperate for some help. The driver slowed right down & then bumped me out of the way with the car & kept going not wanting any part of our situation. All of a sudden we were left back facing the two lads with glass bottles again!
The third guy went over to help the other two lads who still hadn`t managed to pry Charlie`s bag away from him after about 5mins! Ro threw his wallet at the guy shouting at him for dollars, he pulled out the money & threw the wallet back at him! Just then another taxi came along & we weren`t taking no for an answer. Myself & Ro practically jumped on top of the car knowing it was the only way outta there! Charlie gave one of the lads a belt across the face. This seemed to anger him!!
The driver & passenger got out to help, the 4 lads knew they where out numbered at this stage so they hopped Charlie`s head off the ground nearly knocking him out cold. They grabbed his back & sprinted off down a side street. We carried Charlie into the cab, thanked the driver for stopping & got moving. Once we got to the bus office we gave the driver $30 - all the money we had which was 10 times the fair! He was pretty grateful & so were we knowing we could have been stripped of everything we owned had he not stopped like the other taxi.
We were left in an awkward position now with Charlie`s passport & bus ticket gone. We managed to replace the ticket when the office opened but this bus still had to cross the border into Peru which was now impossible for us without all three passports. We decided to board anyway just to get out of Quito & made a decision to get off the next morning in Guayaquil the next biggest city in Ecuador to try & sort out some new documents. We didn´t sleep a wink on the bus playing over in our heads what had happened. Every single "What if?" goes through your head.
The whole bus was full of South Americans which made things a bit more difficult, not an English speaker in sight.
Before reaching Guayaquil the next morning we got stopped in some random hole of a town at a military checkpoint. The soldiers boarded the bus with M16s & directed us off shouting "Pasporta!" Apparently these stops are quiet routine especially for international buses to check peoples documents, visas etc. We couldn`t believe our misfourtune & I had visions of us being held in this awful town while the bus continued on. A soldier patted us down against the side of bus & checked our passports until it got to Charlie. The soldier was asking questions about 90mph in Spainish & we knew this was going to be difficult! Just then a Columbian guy off the bus came up to help us translate, thank god! We explained to him about the mugging, the stolen pasporta & even started pretending to break glass bottles & hit Charlie over the head in an effort to explain. We ended up getting a smile out of the soldier & he directed us back on to the bus!
I got chatting to the Colombian guy - Javier back on the bus & told him how we needed to get to Peru. He just kept telling me how dangerous South America was & to never trust anyone! Which we had already reliased at this stage! He agreed to help me speak to one of the bus drivers about getting over the border without the passport which he thought was possible for the right price! After a long winded conversion over & back with the driver, Javier & me he said he would get us through to Peru for a bribe of about $30. Happy days except we had about $7 in total on us on the time. But Javier being an absolute legend offered us a loan. We promised him he would get twice the money back but he just wanted to help out.
We reached Guayaquil about 3pm with other 24hrs to reach Lima. We stoped for lunch in some backwards Ecaudorian town. Lunch was soup with random potato-like stuff & a main course of fryed fish head & rice - Yummy! That night at 11pm the bus pulled into the border checkpoint on the Ecuadorian side. Ro & myself got our exit stamps while Charlie & Javier talked with the driver - Persy about getting through into Peru. Persy told Charlie they would act like friends & told him to just act dump & shrug his shoulders everytime they asked him questions in Spainish. Which was easy considering our Spainish is terrible! Persy made up some story about the lost Passport & slide the border guard the $30. Charlie was just asked "North or South Irlanda?" & we were on our way to Lima. Happy days!
Joe
The bus company have a pretty usually system because the bus that runs to Lima comes all the way from Caracus in Venezuela via Bogota, Colombia through Quito & on to Lima. That's about 1700 mls down the Pan American highway! They don't know exactly when the bus is going to get to Quito because of delays. If it doesn't get through the Colombian border in time it can be delayed by up to a day! So the company has to call your hostel with a time once they figure it out. Our bus was due in at 3:30am. So we booked a taxi at reception before we hit the hay. The power was out in the area around the hostel for some reason that night. So we don`t know if the thick English girl at reception didn`t book or taxi or she just forgot but when we got up there was no taxi in sight. The night guard wasn`t much help either when we woke him up! He just told us to hail one on the main street nearby.
Anyways we decided to take the risk knowing it was pretty dangerous around at that time of night but there`s usually loads of taxis bringing Gringos home from the nightclubs. It was usually quiet when we got down there & 2 or 3 taxis passed us by for some reason. Then we noticed 4 ominous looking gentlemen emerging from the darkness! Shit!
Two of them went straight for Charlie`s smaller bag & the other two smashed glass bottles and came at Ro & myself. We ended up backing out on to the main road as they came closer to us. The two lads & Charlie ended up wrestling around on the ground while he was trying to hang on to his bag. Finally a taxi made it`s way towards us, Ro & myself dived in front of the car desperate for some help. The driver slowed right down & then bumped me out of the way with the car & kept going not wanting any part of our situation. All of a sudden we were left back facing the two lads with glass bottles again!
The third guy went over to help the other two lads who still hadn`t managed to pry Charlie`s bag away from him after about 5mins! Ro threw his wallet at the guy shouting at him for dollars, he pulled out the money & threw the wallet back at him! Just then another taxi came along & we weren`t taking no for an answer. Myself & Ro practically jumped on top of the car knowing it was the only way outta there! Charlie gave one of the lads a belt across the face. This seemed to anger him!!
The driver & passenger got out to help, the 4 lads knew they where out numbered at this stage so they hopped Charlie`s head off the ground nearly knocking him out cold. They grabbed his back & sprinted off down a side street. We carried Charlie into the cab, thanked the driver for stopping & got moving. Once we got to the bus office we gave the driver $30 - all the money we had which was 10 times the fair! He was pretty grateful & so were we knowing we could have been stripped of everything we owned had he not stopped like the other taxi.
We were left in an awkward position now with Charlie`s passport & bus ticket gone. We managed to replace the ticket when the office opened but this bus still had to cross the border into Peru which was now impossible for us without all three passports. We decided to board anyway just to get out of Quito & made a decision to get off the next morning in Guayaquil the next biggest city in Ecuador to try & sort out some new documents. We didn´t sleep a wink on the bus playing over in our heads what had happened. Every single "What if?" goes through your head.
The whole bus was full of South Americans which made things a bit more difficult, not an English speaker in sight.
Before reaching Guayaquil the next morning we got stopped in some random hole of a town at a military checkpoint. The soldiers boarded the bus with M16s & directed us off shouting "Pasporta!" Apparently these stops are quiet routine especially for international buses to check peoples documents, visas etc. We couldn`t believe our misfourtune & I had visions of us being held in this awful town while the bus continued on. A soldier patted us down against the side of bus & checked our passports until it got to Charlie. The soldier was asking questions about 90mph in Spainish & we knew this was going to be difficult! Just then a Columbian guy off the bus came up to help us translate, thank god! We explained to him about the mugging, the stolen pasporta & even started pretending to break glass bottles & hit Charlie over the head in an effort to explain. We ended up getting a smile out of the soldier & he directed us back on to the bus!
I got chatting to the Colombian guy - Javier back on the bus & told him how we needed to get to Peru. He just kept telling me how dangerous South America was & to never trust anyone! Which we had already reliased at this stage! He agreed to help me speak to one of the bus drivers about getting over the border without the passport which he thought was possible for the right price! After a long winded conversion over & back with the driver, Javier & me he said he would get us through to Peru for a bribe of about $30. Happy days except we had about $7 in total on us on the time. But Javier being an absolute legend offered us a loan. We promised him he would get twice the money back but he just wanted to help out.
We reached Guayaquil about 3pm with other 24hrs to reach Lima. We stoped for lunch in some backwards Ecaudorian town. Lunch was soup with random potato-like stuff & a main course of fryed fish head & rice - Yummy! That night at 11pm the bus pulled into the border checkpoint on the Ecuadorian side. Ro & myself got our exit stamps while Charlie & Javier talked with the driver - Persy about getting through into Peru. Persy told Charlie they would act like friends & told him to just act dump & shrug his shoulders everytime they asked him questions in Spainish. Which was easy considering our Spainish is terrible! Persy made up some story about the lost Passport & slide the border guard the $30. Charlie was just asked "North or South Irlanda?" & we were on our way to Lima. Happy days!
Joe
Day 39 - Banos Waterfalls by Quad
We only have 24hrs in Banos since our bus to Lima leaves at 3am tomorrow morning so we got to make the most of it & see as much as possible. So what better way to sightsee then to get quads & drive around really fast?! $20 for 3hrs happy days! Ellen from the hostel was keen to tag along & see some sights so we brought her for the spin. We zoomed outta town & headed for the famous waterfalls. Myself & Ro drove full speed the wrong way into a one-way tunnel during the excitment of it all! When I say tunnel I mean a cave carved out of the mountain, pitch dark! We only reliased our mistake when we discoverd headlights bearing full speed in our direction. The driver managed to spot us slow down & scream "are you suicidal?.....no but thanks anyways!"
After be got back to Banos we got some dinner, said goodbye to Ellen & we reluctantly hoped on last bus back to Quito. It would have been great to chill here for a few days but that`s the nature of backpacking, there's always something else to see gotta keep moving.
Some crafty thief on the bus managed to discretly slash Ro & Charlie's bags from underneath the seats! We we're dreading getting back to that hole of a bus station in Quito, especially after dark considering how bad it was in broad day light the day before! But we literally jumped from the bus right into a cab & got the hell outta there.
We met up with Luke back at the Secret Garden for a few beers & his ex-friend/ special friend who just got in from Oz. I hope they have lots of fun traveling around together........White Lotus Luke! wink wink nod nod!!
Joe
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