French Polynesia: Tahiti, Tikehau, Rangiroa :)

Right now, we are sitting behind a computer in a very rainy and cold Sydney.
How different, the past week was! Wanna go back :)

French Polynesia is like we imagined, but then 3 times better! We started of with a day on Tahiti, French Polynesia's main island. The capital Papeete is bustling in a relaxed tropicalway, and everything oozes France: baguette for breakfast, Orangina on the menu everywhere,French cars, French fashion, and of coursethe language, mais oui, bien s^ur!
SpeakingFrench again after 3 months Spanish was really hard. But we managed!

Werented a car anddrove around the island of Tahiti. All guidebooks say that Tahiti is not that beautiful, but thatis so not true! It is absolutelygorgeous. Maybe not in apicture-perfect way of white sandy beaches and blue water, but it has mountains, tropical vegetation,many,many flowers, waterfalls,archeological sites (looks a bit like Easter Island's Ahus and moai), and small villages. We smelled the national flower: the tiare! Somethingbetweenjasmin and ylang ylang. Nice:) And of course the vanilla! I had for lunch a semi cooked tuna steak with vanilla oil and papaya! Downright heaven, I'm telling you!

Next day, we flew toone of the archipelagosof FP, the Tuamotu Islands.We first landed forafew days onTikehau and were welcomed with a tiare flowe necklace. All Ican say about Tikehau,take a look at the pictures! Blue and turquoise water, white and pink beaches, snorkling that blows you off your socks, really beautiful all those tropical fishes!We did a tourof the atoll, and visited an island(motu)packed with birds and afterwards snorkeled and had a BBQ lunch on anothermotu, with pink sand :) To top things of, Joost saw a manta ray in the pass of Tikehau. We collected some very nice shells, and no, we of course left the coral alone.In the garden of ourguesthouse were many palmtrees, and we cracked some coconuts open that just had fallen offthe tree. We felt so Robinson Crusoe......

FP glossary:
motu = small or big island
Atoll = circle of islands (motus) and coral, with a lagoonin the middle
pass = hole in the atoll coral reef, open connectionto the sea

After a few days of doing almost nothing on Tikehau, we flew to the neighbouring atoll of Rangiroa. Rangiroais world-famous for its diving and snorkeling, so we couldn't refuse! We did a tour to the Blue Lagoon, which is a lagoon within the main lagoon of Rangiroa. Wehave swum withreef sharks, which varied in size from 30 cm to3 meter. Cool, hay? We also saw some lemon sharks, which are 4 meters long. (our tourguide was feeding the sharks, but only after we had returned into the boat).Next day, wedid a snorkeling tripin the main pass ofRangiroa.Again, very impressive. We saw some 3 m black eel, lotsand lots of tropical small fishes, a Napoleon, baracudas,sharks and the most beautiful: a turtle! How elegantly itmoved through the water.

FP is also worldfamous for its black pearls. On Rangiroa we visiteda pearl farm where these pearls are cultivated. Technicians place a nucleus in theoisters, which isa kind of pearl from a sweet water oister in the Mississippi. The black pearl oister in FP coat these Mississippi pearls with theirblack materials, thuscreating a beautiful item, which can range in colour from black, to green,to blue, to rose or gold andcan have crazy shapes or perfectly round shapes.

After Rangiroa we returned to Tahiti andleft FPfrom there. We flew via Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney.

Next story will be about this great city!

We arrived in paradise!

Easter Island !

Iorana!

We have arrived at Rapa Nui (Easter Island)!

Although it belongs to the territory of Chile, ithas absolutely nothing to do with mainland Chile or South America. Itis downright Polynesian and Pacific.
And it is even more beautiful and impressive than we thought beforehand.

The moai, the statues, in all their different sizes and shapes, very impressive and beautiful. To realize that we know so little about these moai and their makers adds to the mystery the moai are already oozing. We were in the quarry or pit they used to cut the moai, where we saw a moai of 21 m high. We also saw unfinished moai that were waiting for transportto other parts of the island, that were in the ground up to their necks. We sawsets of moai (4, 7, or even 15 in a row) that had been restored, and also somefallen-down moai, that were facedown.Yesterday, during a 6 hour walk over the island, we saw a moai laying around, face down, almost randomly, between horses and cows.They are really everywhere!

Secondly, the cult of the Tangata Manu (Birdman) in which the tribes determined which one of them was to rule the island the next year, is quite impressivetoo. These representatives of thetribeshad to swim for 2 km in between sharks and deadly currents to pick up anegg of a stern at a small island off the coast of RapaNui. Everywhere on the island, petrogliefs of the Birdman and its cult can be found.

The island itself is gorgeous too. Three volcanoes, all dead, butone with a big crater and another one with several small ones. Yesterday, we climbed the highest volcanoe, and had a 360-degrees view of the island. Lovely! Because the island is volcanic, the coastline is rugged and wild, but gorgeous, and there is 1 picture-perfect beach with palmtrees, white sand and blue water :) And of course the flowers! Never saw so many different flowersin such an abundance!We even got a flower-necklace when we first arrived at the airport.

Furthermore, the people. Everyone is very friendly and super relaxed. Since this morning, we understand why, because our host explained us the following:Rapa Nui people do not pay taxes :) Everyone makes good money because of tourism and the fishing business, people work only 20 hours per week max, and spend a lot of time with family and friends. And of course, the sun is always shining. Hey, who wouldn´t be friendly and relaxed in those circumstances ?

In short, Rapa Nui has it all and we are going´ to stay here :)

No, just kidding, we will continue to the even more beautiful (according to our host) group of islands, French-Polynesia!!! First to the main island of Tahiti and afterwards toa piece of paradise called Tikehau and onwards to coral-bliss + tropical fish heaven Rangiroa. Man, travelling the world is really, really hard!! :)

We love Lima :)

Lima is GREAT!!!! We love Lima :)

Why? Well, better ask why not!

Beautiful buildings, colonial and new ones, very different barrios, each with a totally different atmosphere. From very posh to quiet middle classto avibrant citycentre.

We stayed a few days enjoying shopping, movies, bars, and of course the food!!!! Really, the food is something special in Lima. Endless choices, tastes, ingredients, all fresh and perfectly combining Peruvian cuisine with international cuisine. The Peruvian topchefGaston Acurio has found a way totake Peruvian ingredients and combine them with topquality international quisine. And yeah, of course, we had to check it outfor ourselves, so we had lunch at his famous restaurant Astrid y Gaston, together with my parents, who we met for a farewell lunch,before they were heading back to Holland. Really lovely and gorgeous :) We would have liked to taste everything on the menu.... !

As a last sidetrip in Peru, Nazca was still on our wishlist. So we arranged a trip to Nazca for the world famous Nazca-lines.

We flew over the lines in a small Cesna , with only 5 passengers, turning left, turning right, turning left, turning right, turning left, turning right......... to see the figures at their best angle. A real experience for our eyes (beautiful kolibris and monkeys) and our stomaches.........

Nazca itself isn´t that interesting so we decidedto move on tothe oasis town of Huacachina in the desert, near Ica, a former spa resort for the rich and famous, and now a party meccafor backpackers. We had a lovely hotel with a pool and enormous sanddunessurroundingus. We went on a tour for wine- and pisco tasting :) And afterwardssandsurfingon the sanddunes and crossing the sanddunes with monstrous sandbuggies. Think rollercoster, excillerating!

Back in Lima we had two more days of lovely food, a museum visit, some more shopping and things you do when you´re in a great city.

Unfortunately, we couldn´t swim at the beaches of Lima, because they are too much polluted.

Lima, Nazca and Huacachina were a perfect way to conclude our 3 months in South America. On the one hand, we were sad to be leaving, on the other, there is so much more to discover and experience in the next part of our trip!! We had a fantastic timein South America and definitely will come back some day.

So, Easter Island and Pacific, here we come!

La Paz

During the busride to La Paz we had to cross a lake by boat. The passengers had to go out of the bus and into a little boat, but the bus itself also had to crossover. They´ve got special barges of wood for this. They just drive the busses on and one guy with to normal engines tries to get the barge over the lake. Look at the photos and you´ll see what I mean :)

La Paz really is a different world compared to the cities in Peru. Everything happens on the streets. La Paz is build in a big valley, but before you reach the valley, you drive through El Alto. El Alto is the city where all the people from the countryside of Bolivia end up looking for a better life. This is a real beehive and a big mess. And then just out of nowhere the valley of La Paz appears with the huge mountains in the back. Impressive.

We had our hostal in the old neighbourhood with all the markets and lots of women still dressed in traditional cloths. These women are called cholitas. Really everything happens on the streets. Shops, sidewalk, marketstalls, traffic. There was one square, not too big, which looked as follows from the outer rows to the inner : two rows of marketstalls, pedestrians in many rows, and then in the remaining space, which was very little: busses, cars and motorbikes. Bustling and impossible!

But the city has more to offer. A very big diversity in people, colours, smells, views and ways of life and everyone is living right next to eachother. Incredible poor and filthy rich, indigena, criolla, meztizos, caucasian, etc. If you walk down even further into the valley you end up in beautiful almost European city style parts of La Paz with beautiful parks and beautiful buildings, chique restaurants,etc. Because La Paz is in a valley there are some speculations about the actual height, but the highest point (El Alto) is 4100 meters. Try walking up steep streets at this height! We really came to appreciate oxygen :)

It really was a treat walking through La Paz. The shops, the people, the markets, the food. Yeah, the Witches´ Market, with all kinds of amulets, beans for good luck, small gods in mini-size that carry all kinds of goods, also in mini size, to bring you all these items in real life, etc. And of course (see photos) the llama foetus. If you build a new house, you have to burry this llama foetus in the ground as an offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth), because you first have to give something to her, before you take space from her. All a matter of balance! If you don´t do so, your house will be jinxed.

The food, by the way, Joost had¨the world most dangerous Vindaloo¨ (exceptionally, ridiculously hot Indian curry) and afterwards could not talk for a half hour. Crazy! The dish is named afterThe World Most Dangerous Road, which is close to LaPaz. Many people cycle thisroad. We didn´t because oftime, buttherefore we had this insane curry :) If you finished the whole curry, you would get a T-shirt saying you survived the world´s most dangerous Vindaloo. Unfortunately, we didn´t finish it.....

Close to LaPaz is the archeological site of Tiwanaku. The Tiwanaku civilization was just as big and well-developed as the Inca civilization but is less-known because it was pre-Inca, and therefore is hardly mentionedin the historical records of the Spanish. This site is in its early stages of archeological work, and thereforemore important finds are to be expected in thecoming 20 years. But already plenty to see now and the landscape is beautiful.

A last geek-fact about La Paz: because the airport is at 4100m, the air is so thin, airplanes need twice the length of a normal runway to land and take-off and twice the speed to compensate for the low atmospherical pressure. Planes are even equiped with special tires. So off we were after this looooooooooooong runway, to Lima!

Lago Titicaca

From Cusco we took a bus to Lago Titicaca. The busride itself was already nice and partially breathtaking, literally again. Man, those heights! The altiplano was full of gorgeous landscape, alpacas, little villages, big mountainsand lots of small lakes.

We stayed in the town of Puno, which in itself is ugly, but hey, lake Titicacais justdown in the bay, so nothing to complain about.

Our B&B was really nice, think French countryside house meets English cottage. (See photos)

We took a trip to Sillustani, where they have Inca and pre-Inca funeral towers. The place also has beautiful views of the surrounding lake.

Next day, we went on our own private tour toCapachica peninsula to experience true Peruvian countryside life, where they are not really used to tourists yet. The views of Lake Titicaca were beautiful again, as were the littlevillages and the countryside life. At lunchtime, we just knocked on a door of reatuarant that seemed to be closed, but after some negotiation of our driver, we were servedthe best Titicaca trout we have tastedin ourtravels.

Trout is not indigenous to Lake Titicaca but was introduced about 100 years ago, to improve the proteineintake ofthelocal people.

Next day, we finally crossed the border into Bolivia to visit the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca. Copacabana, Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna: ajajaj, caramba!

Well, there is beautiful and there is beautiful, but this was absolutely beautiful :)

Copacabana lies in a beautiful natural bay, overlooking Tititcaca, with sand beaches. We took a boat to Isla del Sol and stayed 1 night at the island. We got up early to walk over the island from south to north, and were treated with a beautiful sunrise and outside breakfast with gorgeous views of Lago Titicaca, Isla de la Luna, and the Cordillera. Man, the life of a traveller is soooooooo hard :) Walking over the rim of the island: the viewss, the light, the earth, the landscape, the heights: this is something you can not explain, you have to experience it to know what we are talking about!

At the northern end of the island, we visited the Titi Khar´ka (rock of the puma). This is how Titicaca got its name. According to the Inca legends, their Sungod was born here. We also saw the footstepsof the sunjust after birth. At the northtip, we took a boat to Isla de la Luna. Well, if you thought Isla del Sol was nice, meet Isla de la Luna. Even more tranquil and an impressive Inca temple.

We really would have liked to stay longer here, but we want to see La Paz. La Paz here we come!

Queensnight in Holland and us in La Paz!

Hola chicos !!

Well, because we changed our itinerary since we left San Pedro de Atacama (Chile),we decided to take things a little bit slower. Not only because we wanted to, but also because our health forced us to. Apparently, our stomaches were not made for Peruvian food the first couple of days......

After Arequipa,we took the night busto Cusco. Busses of the company Cruz del Sur are really something special.It´s like checking in into an airplane. First your online booking voucheris turned into a real ticket. You hand in yourluggage, and getyour luggage receipts. Then you buy a special tax-ticket to be able to leave the bus terminal. Then you check in to the waiting lounge. Luggage that is too big has to be checked in as well. You and your luggage are searched and scanned with a hand scanner. When you board the bus your ticket is checked again including your passport. When seated you are filmed with a hand-held camera and have to face the camera. Then you get a safety video. You get airplane food. Seats recline as far as business class airplane seat. You get movies, bingo, and a real bushostess of course ;-)
And after 10 hours you´ll arrive in Cusco :) Our hostalwas built on the mountain slopes, so we had a wonderful view of the city. The only downside was walking up the hill to reach the hostal. You try that at an altitude of 3300 meters! It simply leaves you breathless!
We stayed only one night in Cusco, because we went to Machu Picchu the next day. We didn´t ´do´ the Inka trail, because of the altitude and also because everyone does it, because you should. So we didn´t.
We just jumped into a collectivo (private van that drives when full) that took us to Ollantaytambo, halfway to MP,in 2 hours for 2,50 euro per person.
Ollantaytambo is a beautiful village,wehad time to lunch and walk around for 30 minutes before jumping in our prebooked ridiculously expensive train to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu pueblo). The trainride through the canyon was really spectacular! You could see the landscape change fromhigh mountain vegetation into subtropical jungle as we went down. Aguas Calientes is at 2000 meters. Machu Picchu itself at 2400 meters.

Aguas Calientes is really a tourist trap and ugly on top ofthat. But the surroundings are fantastic. Lush tropical plants and majestic mountains!
The next morning we went up to Machu Picchu around 6 am. We first climbed Machu Picchu mountain, which has fantastic and mystical views onto Machu Picchu proper, which was partly surrounded by clowds and mist. Also the fauna was beautiful on the way up with loads of orchids! Afterwards we backtracked a part of the Inka trail until the Sungate, Intipunku. Unfortunately Machu Picchu was onlyvisible for a few seconds from here because of the clowds, but we really could experience themagical surroundings of MP. Then we hiked down and visited the ruins. It really gives you a good idea how the Inkas must have lived. All in all a beautiful day, and well,you simply have to block out all the American and Japanese tour groups. You can´t have it all!
We got down to Aguas Calientes around 1 pm, had lunch and got back to Cusco around 9 pm.

After being down at 2000 meters, we had to get used to the altitude of 3300 meters again. This was OK, because Suzan´s parents arrived to Cusco the next day straight from Santiago, Chile at sealevel! So their adaptation symptoms were even worse than ours.

We spent some very nice days together. Visiting all kinds of churches in Cusco (they have a lot of them) and on monday of the Holy Week, we saw the procession of the Señor de los Temblores, commemorating an earthquake in Cusco in the 17th century. It started at 2 pm and finished at 9 pm. A beautiful mix of religion and local culture,with a black Jesus, which was carried arround in the procession and showered with local red flowers, and old guilds and fraternities taking turns carrying the massively heavy statue of Jesus. During the evening hours, the procession got more solemn,withcollective prayers and expressions of deep religious belief. Peoplecried whenthe statue of Jesus passed by them, or kneeled down in prayer.

Pretty impressive to stand betweenthe Cusceños and experience this with them.

The next day, we had a more earthly experience. We rented a car and drove through the Sacred Valley (Machu Picchu lies at the end of the Sacred Valley), and visited a coupleof the Inca ruins and sacred places that areequallyimpressive as MP. Beautiful Inca terraces, salt pansand ruins, and Quechua villages. And last but not least, again Ollantaytambo, which we all 4 enjoyed very much!

Of course, we did some shopping inCusco, you simply have to. Very beautiful cloth, scarves,musical instruments, paintings etc. So we were very good tourists :)

The next day, after some very nice and ´gezellige´ days, our ways seperated. Suzan´s parents left for Machu Picchu and we continued onwards to Puno, atLagoTiticaca.

Our next story will be about Lago Titicaca.In the meantime, take care and adios!

Colca Canyon and Arequipa, Arequipa, Arequiuiuiuiupááááá

And suddenly, it is 22 april! So many things to do and see in Peru, incredible!

WeleftNorthChile and headed viathe ever-so-exciting city of Tacna in Peruto the 2nd biggest city ofPeru: Arequipa!The hostel we stayed had a garden-of- Eden-like garden andthe wheather was great most of the time. In this garden, there was a pet-tortoise, which guests could feed. Ever seen a tortoise eat a banana? Well, it takes awhile......... :)

Arequipa (2450m) is a beautiful city, the town centre is completely made of white sandstone, hence its nickname ¨La ciudadblanca¨! Very nice colonial buildings, churches, and a city-in-a-city convent. The city is surrounded by majestic mountains like the El Misti volcanoe.

We went to the Juanita museum, which displays sacred rituals of the Incas and where the mummy ofthe sacrificed Inca girl Juanitacan be seen.

The other main attraction around Arequipa is theColca Canyon, 3100m deep, and the 2nd deepest canyon in the world. (In case you are wondering, the deepest canyon, El Cotahuasiis also in Peru, close to Arequipa, and is 150 m deeper than the Colca Canyon).Beat that Grand Canyon!We did a 3-day tour and combined travelling by bus and hiking. A short impression: Small indigena villages, with people still living in a traditionalway, as farmersor shepherds,jaw-dropping views of the canyonand the high mountain scenery, plains with vicuñas, shepherds with herds of llamas and alpacas, crossing a mountain pass at 4820 m, hotsprings :), and of course, claro que si: El condor!

Late afternoon we were on the top of the deepest part of the canyon, the wheather was cloudy, foggy, but wewere very lucky: at least 20 condorsflying aroundand above us! Very impressive! Beautiful, majesticanimals and they flew pretty close, so we got some very nice pics!

The next day we hiked 1200m down into the canyon, towards the river and stayed in a kind of bamboohuts. Pretty rustic and soothing :) Our guide Carlos told us lots and lots about the flora and fauna. For instance, did you know that the red pigments/dyes for lipstick and nailpolish are the blood of some lice that live on certain species of cacti? These lice live in many places around Arequipa and Arequipeños are making a decent living of it.

Carlos also told us about the presidential elections in Peru, which were on the last day of our trip. Peruvians have to vote, if they don´t, they have to pay a tax which is of course very high. Fingerprints are made and everything is very official. When Carlos went inside a school to vote, and invited us in, we weren´t allowed on the premises, actually we were kicked out. The guard shouted at us, that this was an official and serious voting procedure, and we -foreigners- had no business there!

But before our guides could vote , we hadto hike back uphill the final day :1200m uphill, which was a very, verysteep climb. By the way, did I already mention that it was a very steep climb? ;) Breathing above 3000m becomes pretty difficult!

All in all some very beautiful days and we learned a lot about Peru and Peruvians from our guide.

Next post will be about Cusco!

Take care, and ciao!