Hola! Allilanchu!
I am aware that I have not been blogging whilst travelling, and a timely prompt has helped me to get started again. So rather than in-depth travel tales, this is a nod towards beautiful deepest darkest Peru.
1st week of September: Everyone back home is spending a sleepless night in anticipation of the start of term. In Cusco, school seemed to involve impossibly loud karaoke-style music as the children arrived into the courtyard (at 7.30am). Not what you'd expect as the view from a hostal window, run by Dominican nuns. Ah Peru.
Whilst travelling in the sierra and visiting the superb floating islandson lake Titicaca (yes, yes) we saw the most INCREDIBLE sky. (see left). Yes it is upside down, and apparently this is not called a rainbow, it is called a circumzenithal arc, and is very rare. Not only was there one. There were 2, one above the other. My camera only fitted one into the frame!
We also saw the famous Machu Picchu (pronounced mack-choo peek-choo in Quechua!) and at risk of sounding very spoilt, it is just as stunning the second time around. Peru is astounding in so many ways. The scenery is vastly different as you travel from place to place. The views are stunning. However, to me the most beautiful part will always be the sacred valley. It feels like the centre of the world and Chinchero was the first time I felt like I was "home". I could've cried with happiness!
Finally, the jungle. Ah speeding mototaxis on dusty roads, dirty puddles labelled as "lakes" in the guide book, the clamour of a city desperate for tourist trade, litter everywhere... welcome to Iquitos. And on the Eastern edge of the city, a small oasis called Hospedaje La Pascana, run by the esteemed Senor Victor. Fresh fruit for breakfast, fresh (not nescafe!! hurray!!) coffee pushed into your hands when you emerge in a morning...
When we went into the jungle proper, it was an entirely different soundscape. The distant growl of a peque-peque boat on the river, rain splashing on the palm-leaf roof, birds (so many!) chirping, howling and crying; crickets - or are they frogs? - something making a noise between a click and a squeak... you realise you are far from home. The murmur of other tourists next door. The sound here is like the stars above a desert sky. The longer you focus, the more sounds emerge. Night is noisy in the jungle.
I am aware that I have not been blogging whilst travelling, and a timely prompt has helped me to get started again. So rather than in-depth travel tales, this is a nod towards beautiful deepest darkest Peru.
1st week of September: Everyone back home is spending a sleepless night in anticipation of the start of term. In Cusco, school seemed to involve impossibly loud karaoke-style music as the children arrived into the courtyard (at 7.30am). Not what you'd expect as the view from a hostal window, run by Dominican nuns. Ah Peru.
Whilst travelling in the sierra and visiting the superb floating islandson lake Titicaca (yes, yes) we saw the most INCREDIBLE sky. (see left). Yes it is upside down, and apparently this is not called a rainbow, it is called a circumzenithal arc, and is very rare. Not only was there one. There were 2, one above the other. My camera only fitted one into the frame!
We also saw the famous Machu Picchu (pronounced mack-choo peek-choo in Quechua!) and at risk of sounding very spoilt, it is just as stunning the second time around. Peru is astounding in so many ways. The scenery is vastly different as you travel from place to place. The views are stunning. However, to me the most beautiful part will always be the sacred valley. It feels like the centre of the world and Chinchero was the first time I felt like I was "home". I could've cried with happiness!
Finally, the jungle. Ah speeding mototaxis on dusty roads, dirty puddles labelled as "lakes" in the guide book, the clamour of a city desperate for tourist trade, litter everywhere... welcome to Iquitos. And on the Eastern edge of the city, a small oasis called Hospedaje La Pascana, run by the esteemed Senor Victor. Fresh fruit for breakfast, fresh (not nescafe!! hurray!!) coffee pushed into your hands when you emerge in a morning...
When we went into the jungle proper, it was an entirely different soundscape. The distant growl of a peque-peque boat on the river, rain splashing on the palm-leaf roof, birds (so many!) chirping, howling and crying; crickets - or are they frogs? - something making a noise between a click and a squeak... you realise you are far from home. The murmur of other tourists next door. The sound here is like the stars above a desert sky. The longer you focus, the more sounds emerge. Night is noisy in the jungle.
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