After the panic of getting there in time, the two days before the Inca Trail were spent organising ourselves and generally chiling out and knocking about Cusco. We were very impressed with Cusco, a lot nicer than we expected it to be, touristy yes but not in a tacky way. Plus it had a fair few decent bars and places to eat which was well appreciated after a few weeks of Bolivian food! We especially enjoyed Paddy Flahertys pub which was the first proper Irish bar we´d been in, as in it looked like an Irish bar, served decent Irish food and the staff were even Irish (Compared to some of the kips we had seen calling themselves Irish bars in BA and Mendoza). So we did the very cultured thing and ate fries for breakfast, sheppards pies, drank bottles of Guinness and watched a few Premiership games.
We had a 4.30am start the morning of the Inca Trail. After the usual few hours of faffing about we finally got going at mid morning for the first day which we had been told would be a gentle introduction before an extremely tough 2nd and 3rd day. The first day was more or less that, around 4hrs hiking broken up by the first of many huge (and gorgeous) meals laid on for us. The group consisted of 16 of us, mainly couples from UK, Oz, Canada with a few other randomers thrown in. We set off with 2 guides, 20 porters and a cook. The porters were something else, carrying all our gear (tents, seats, kitchen equipment, food etc) on their backs as they practically ran (and did a lot of the time) from point to point to be ready for us arriving...it was unbelievable to see them fly past us carrying such a load.
We enjoyed the novelty of sleeping in a tent for the first tine in years and slept pretty well most nights after all the exercise and early starts. The 2nd day we started out at 6am after being up at 5am for the long days uphill hike to Dead Womans Pass. We were hiking 1200m straight uphill for around 5hrs. It was tough going with the sun blazing but the two of us fared a lot better than we thought, following the good advice we got to take it slowly at all times . The other great advice we got was the I-Pods, a godsend when your going up steps for 5hrs, music pumping to keep ya going. Anyway, guess who were the first two up Dead Womans Pass at 4215m above sea level? We were pleasantly surprised to say the least. And what did I say at the top? "Told ya the hill in Isla Del Sol would help us"! It went down better this time. In reality, it probably did help, plus the fact we´d been at altitude for over 2 weeks and the hostel in La PAz was four blocks uphill which was killing us the first few days we were there.
The rest of the day was a killer. Down the steps in the other side for 2 hrs, and these were Inca steps laid hundreds of years ago so not exactly even. Every step you risked going over badly on your ankle. The third day was similar, a few uphills but mainly downhill, except it was also bucketing rain all day. We had to go down what the locals refer to as "Gringo Killer", over three thousand steps downhill for 3-4 hrs. Not as tough physically as going up but very monotonous and sore on the already very stiff joints. We definitely deserved the few beers we had that evening after we made it, knowing the hard part was over.
The folowing morning we were up at 4am and queuing to get onto the Trail from 5am. Our group was first in line which menat that everyone was mad anxious to get to the Sun Gate first (first glimpse of Machu Picchu)...which meant that any ideas of a gentle 2hr stroll to finish off went out the window. We ended up practically running there and the two of us struggled, nothing left in the tank after the previous two days. We got there before the other groups anyway so had the spot to ourselves for 10-15mins in the end.
The first glimpse of Machu Picchu was pretty class but a bit of an anti-climax after a couple of minutes. We certainly werent brought to tears like other people we saw. It turns out we were very lucky though as it started to bucket rain just as other groups were arriving and the view was very quickly almost gone with the clouds. Out with those bloody ponchos again! At least the sun came back out when we got down there and the ruins themselves were actually far more impressive than we expected them to be. The place was way bigger than it looks and was like a proper city. We took a tour around for two hrs with our guide to round it off which was enjoyable and then it was off to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes for lunch, beer and hot springs. The hot springs were a huge disappointment, bit of a dump really. Like sitting in swimming pools of warm dirty smelly water. Had we known we certainly wouldve given them a skip but hot springs just sound very appealing when your stiff and sore after 4 days hiking. All in all though the trek itself was incredible experience, we re both delighted we did it and pleasantly surprised at how well we got through it. Definitley better than just getting the train up with all the middle aged Americans decked out in all the latest hiking and safari gear (absolutely hilarious). We were all full of contempt for all the lovely well dressed, clean smelling tourists rolling up in buses that morning, they just didnt deserve to be there!
After the trek we planned to take it easy for three or four days in Cusco but ended up going out the following night (Halloween night) with most of the group from the trek which turned into a pretty messy night. At that stage we had moved from our very quiet pre Inca Trail guesthouse to Loki s Cusco branch which meant three days of sauce and the two of us pretty shook by the time we were leaving for Lima the following Monday. An excellent week or so in the Cusco area though and just a week to go before we left South America to head to Fiji!
The next morning we left for Puno on the Peruvian side of the Lake where we intended to visit the (in)famous floating reed islands. We had heard mixed reports on these, a lot of people saying they were exploitative and like human zoos, but we thought there´s only one way to find out. Unfortunately, we never made it to the islands as our plans were thrown in the air totally on arrival in Puno to the news that the road to Cusco had been blocked for the previous 4 days by disgruntled farmers. Considering we had two days to get to Cusco this was a bit of a disaster. Straight to the train station we went, trains also not running. Into LAN airlines office, all flights booked out. Panic stations. Eventually we had to take a chance on the bus. We were told that Wednesdays bus left at 8am and eventually got through the road block and to Cusco in 16hrs (usually a 6hr journey!). We arrived in the bus station on the Friday morning to hear the bad news that Thursday´s 8am bus was still at the road block 24hrs later. Eventually the bus company decided to take an alternative route over the mountains. We were warned it would be a rough ride and there was no guarantee this road wouldnt be blocked either, in which case we´d have had to simply turn back. Cue the most anxious, rough and uncomfortable bus journey ever. Every time the bus stopped every head on the bus shot up expecting bad news. We took dirt tracks and mountain roads similar to those we cycled the week before, stopping loads of times to remove rocks and boulders from the road so at all times we were fearing having to turn back. Finally though, we made it to Cusco, 13 anxious and uncomfortable hours later. Wrecked but happy to have made it in time for the following days deadline to pay off and sort our Inca Trail. And more good news, the Bolivians are getting their referendum, looks like the marches served their purpose after all!
Anyway, it was an unbelieveably thrilling and enjoyable day, once we got used to it everyone got a lot more confident and started to rip it. Even Louise was well tucked into the middle of the group by the end after being mostly at the back during a very nervous beginning. The day was capped off with a few well deserved beers before we drove back up the road in our minivan which was almost as bad as cycling down it! 
A disgustingly hot 3 hour train trip took us to our first Bolivian destination- Tupiza. Lets just say, the look of horror on my face as we pulled into the train station said it all. It was dirty, smelly, windy, noisy and certainly didn´t look like the quaint little backpacker spot that Lonely Planet described it as!!
The town itself, although very run down and primitive had a lot of character and the people were very friendly. We didn´t do an awful lot here, just explored the place and chilled out. But overall it was an enjoyable few days and a nice introduction to crazy Bolivia!!
The following morning we made it to the start of the route, were given our bikes and maps and off we went. Our first stop was a big commercial winery called "La Rural" were we were given a tour of the place and detailed explanations as to how the wine is produced. All very interesting but we were there for one thing and one thing only! Finally, we got our first free glass of wine at midday and off we were to our next stop. We decided to cycle to the end of the route while we were fresh and make our way back from there. Turns out cycling 12km is harder than it sounds. When we finally got there we were treated to a lovely tiny winery and were given the special treatment as we (Shane,Louise,Zoe,Rosanna,Vicky & Marcus) were the only people there. We tasted 4/5 of their wines for the equivalent of 4euro. 
We decided to have lunch at the next stop as the day was flying by. As we waited for lunch we tasted another 4/5 wines (at that stage we told them we were fine for the tours,we´ll go straight for the tasting). Another 2 bottles between the 6 of us during lunch as the sun shone, things could have been a lot worse. By the time we left, there was only time for one more stop,the chocolate liquor factory. Guess whose favourite stop this was?! We tasted the gorgeous chocolate and liquors and finally had to call it a day. Great fun all round, despite the rather sore rears. Topped off by more ridiculously cheap supermarket wine in the hostel that night.
The next few days were spent chilling and doing very little, a number of these days due to serious hangovers, a bottle of cheap red wine each before heading out is not good for the head. Mendoza itself was a very nice spot, lovely small city centre with a lovely square and park. A fair few more steaks were had as our time in Argentina counted down. Hostel Lao was really class, up there with Pudu and America Del Sur in Bariloche and Calafate, met some great people there and the cable tv helped when hungover (even got to see a live Premiership game on the Sunday morn live on Fox Argentina!). In the end, we had spent 5 nights (2 more than planned) there so were ready to leave when the time came and head to our last Argentine destination, Salta.
Of course, the only reason everyone was there was the Perito Moreno Glacier which did not disappoint. There´s not much you can say about it, the photos tend to do the trick. Apparantly its around 3km wide and 26km long, bigger than Buenos Aires which has a population of 11million people to give an indicationof the scale of it. And we were told it is one of the only ones in the world that is not reducing in size. In addition to walking around the glacier and seeing huge chunks fall off and crash into the water (a lot more spectacular than it sounds), we did a pretty expensive 3hr afternoon trek on the glacier. Worth every penny, Louise´s highlight of trip so far.
We got a ferry to the far side of the glacier and right up to it before being dropped off at the starting point for our trek. We had a bit of a crash course in the history and safety matters, put on our ice crampons and off we went. It was class, walking up almost vertical parts off it with the grips of the huge spikes holding us in. We saw stunning deep crevaces and mini lakes all over the glacier. You could even drink the water from the pools which was handy given it was tough going at times. The trek was finished on a very classy note, scotch on the rocks. As in, a generous glass of Famous Grouse with ice the guide had hacked off the glacier in front of us, nice! Our time in America Del Sur was capped off on the best possible note, an all you can eat BBQ.
The following day we decided to go skiing in Cerro Castor, Louise´s first time ever. On reflection the day would be best described as a mixed bag. The first half was not so good, something akin to my first attempts in Bulgaria as we decided to head down the first slope we saw without knowing what was in store and no lessons for Louise. Between that, the fact that both our boots were far too tight (the lack of spanish as usual) and the surprisingly warm weather which meant we were passing out with the heat with all our layers....Not good, it was far too difficult even tho it was a green slope. In my defence the start was very gentle but it did have a steep enough drop around the corner from where we started. Cue the inevitable first morning skiing "this is awful, never doing it again" (a bit the like the ole Sunday morning "never again" hungover talk). However, after a long lunch, we regrouped, found the proper beginners slope and Louise got very good for someone with no lessons and only a cowboy skiier to listen to. At the end of the day we did the first slope again three or four times no bother so it all ended well, phew!
The Falls were pretty spectacular in any event, as expected. The first day it was p#ssing rain again so visibilty wasnt great but it was still a great sight. We were on the Brazilain side which gets the far off panoramic view of the Falls. After the first day the two of us began to feel pretty crap and this ended up lasting for almost a week. As a result, we just about made it to the Argentine side the following day and only stayed for a couple of hours. On that side you could literally walk to the edge of all the Falls so you really got to appreciate the sheer force of them. The few nights spent in Foz de Iguazu and Puerto Iguazu didnt happen for us so not much else to report from the 3 days there except that the towns themselves surprised us, because both were such kips. We thought that with a major tourist attraction on the doorstep they´d be nice but no, definitely not. We stayed the extra night of the Argentine side rather than get the hell out of there for one reason and one reason only, to get on a Super Cama bus.
We got to the last path before Lopes Mendes, about 20mins away from it when disaster struck and a couple of locals told us the path was flooded after a landslide and it was too dangerous to try it. Now on a scale of nought to gutted, how gutted were we? Very. Soaked to the skin after hiking for hours (and you know we dont do hiking, although we were well impressed with ourselves) and we didnt even get to see what we set out to. Instead, we got lunch on a very strange floating restaurant and waited an hour for a ferry back to our port. Now, what about that all you can eat BBQ I hear you say, well worth the extra night I can assure you. We filled up on a months stock of protein. We also have realised why the Irish and EU farmers are so anti Brazilian Beef, its unbelieveably good and would have then out of business in a flash. Here s hoping the Argentinian steaks are even nicer given their repuation but they ll have their work cut out. Anyway, of course the bloody sun was out as we left the next morning but what can ya do, cant win em all I suppose. Onto the long road to Iguazu Falls we went.
We took in the main tourist sites such as Christ Redeemer Statue, cable car to Sugar Loaf mountain etc which were all great. Went to a match in the Maracana with a group of English lads and girl from our hostel. The atmosphere was incredible even though the game itself (Fluimenese .v. Gremio) was a rather tame nil all draw. To be honest, we hardly saw a thing of the first half as we were up behind the goal in the thick of the home support and they sang and waved huge flags the entire time. The match seemed to be a secondary concern to the priority of singing your heart out and having a bit of craic. Anyway, we were loving it after having a few cans of Skol outside the ground. The most controversial moment in the match came with a few minutes to go when Gremio were time wasting and the Fluimenese centre forward gave the goalie an incredibly tame shove, with which the goalie proceeded to perform his best Aidan O Mahony impression and go down like he was shot. The home support obviously went ballistic when the red was shown and we thought we might get a riot! No such luck and the game petered out for the last few minutes.
However, the highlight of our time in Rio had to be the Favella Tour. We had been a bit concerned beforehand at the thought of us tourists paying to go basically look at poor people living in a shanty town, a bit akin to a human zoo. Anyway, we took a tour and as usual there was a giddy atmosphere in the tour van as we took off. This, however, was very shortlived when the guide explained the process to everyone. In particular, he told us to feel free to take photos only that we are under no circumstances to take photos if we see guys carrying machine guns as they are drug dealers and dont want their photos taken! Needless to say there wasnt a peep out of the van for the next few minutes. In Louise's case though the apprehension was more to do with the fact we were told we were to be dropped at the end of the hill up to the Favella and the locals would ferry us up on their scooters. The good news is she survived and loved the thrill of flying up a windy hill dodging in and out of pedestrians, oncoming vehicles etc. Her driver was also very pleased with his luck and openly rubbed it into Shane's driver who was making no effort to hide his disappointment when he drawed the short straw.
The guide advised us that 1 million of Rio s 8 millon people now live in Favellas and that the number of them has increased from 20 in 1960 to 500 in 2000 and now there are approximately 750 Favellas. The one we visited, Favella Rochina, has 200,000 inhabitants and 4 schools. After the talk of machine guns, we were advised that we would be 100% safe up there even with all our valuables. The reason for this is that the mafia/gang who control the Favella see the benefit brought to the community from these tours and have guaranteed the safety of all tourists. What we noticed straight away was that the locals took very little notice of us, some ignored us, some said hello and some were clearly bemused by the sight of stupid looking tourists with their cameras etc. That eased our minds that it may have all been a bit of a charade and all put on for our benefit. We were also pleasantly surprised to see how they had their own self sufficient community there with every type of shop that you d find in any other town rather than what you might imagine with people hanging around the streets with nothing there. We were taken throughout the streets and narrow alleys and saw the abject poverty in the Favella at first hand, open sewers, lots of rubbish, shacks without roofs etc. The guide was very convincing about the benefits brought to the community from the tours (although we knew his spin had to be taken with a pinch of salt). To keep the community and mafia happy, the tour company contributes a proportion of its revenue each month to local projects for building schools, putting roofs on houses etc. We all saw clearly how all the little shops benefit as everyone on the tour would've bought cakes, drinks, some people bought bracelets or paintings and so on, paying downtown Rio prices (which are by no means dirt cheap) but no one minded in the slightest. Of course all the girls in the group were almost in tears when we visited the school and creche at the cuteness of the children.
On a side note, the guide really reminded me of Denzel Washngtons character in Training Day when he was going into the hoods throwing shapes to all the locals. Anyone who has seen it will know what I mean, anyway it kept me mildly amused all morning.
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