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16
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 7: Arequipa

Buses in South America seem to be the way. Back home using National Express is truly an awful way to travel but a 12 hour bus ride from Nazca to Arequipa really wasn´t that bad at all. Especially when the seats recline like beds and are as wide as a first class seat on a plane. We paid for an expensive bus, I think as we just shelled out for the Nazca lines we were in $$ mood. It was worth it. We pulled into the beautiful city of Arequipa which is Peru´s true gem. This is really where the breath taking views have began for Rob and I.

So far Lima and the west coast all the way down to Nazca has offered little in terms of mountains but here it is. Two thousand meters above sea level which is only the beginning I am told. Anyone who travels with me knows I sleep everywhere so I pull up to the town fast asleep. I am woken up to a Mike Tyson spin out of Altitude sickness. Being a city boy I feel it straight away. Rob who is more outdoors these days due to his new life in Vancouver adjusts quickly. I feel sick as a dog and I have taken pills to ease it which are kicking in.

The views are amazing the mountains in the background and in front of us a beautiful colonial city.

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16
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 5: Sand Boarding in Huacachina

After a fairly uneventful day at Paracas and Pisco we made our way to a place called Huacachina by bus. It is here we would get involved in the Ica desert and partake in sand boarding which was something I had been told we should not miss here in Peru.

Wow what a fantastic day. Huacachina is a satellite tourist spot close to the centre town of Ica which is desert country really. You go and stay there just to set yourself up for the sand boarding and you accept the mild tourist trap that comes with it. You book yourself on a sand boarding trip into the desert and away you go.

You and your brave team mates get into desert buggies and are whisked away into the desert at high speed and it turn into a high speed chase into the sunset. Its all very dramatic (as is this description I know) but its like a fun fair ride and not for the faint hearted. The adrenalin rush and sense of danger is nuts as you wonder if the driver knows where he is going or if he is going to hit another buggy as these things top probably close to 70mph in the desert going up and down steeps.
Then you are dropped off at the top of a desert mountain and passed often make shift snowboard. The more experienced ones strap themselves in and take off upright while the beginners like me attempt their first down hill dive on a board on their front.

Its the most fun I have had in years and our Peru trip has suddenly taken off with a bang.

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14
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 4: Nature Reserves in Paracas near Pisco

Well it is day four and as you can see there are plenty of internet connections to feed my sad addiction to twitter and blogging in the hostels we are staying at. Daniel the guy we just met from San Fran last night is still kicking it with us after a day out in Paracas which is near Pisco and pretty much why we are here.

Paracas is a nature reserve and coastal region near Pisco that we visited today. It was kind of dissapointing wild life wise. Penguins and Sea Lions are not exactly exclusive to Peru. While we didn´t see anything we hadn´t seen back in Europe,  the terrain was amazing. As my photos will show later the mountains and desert scenary are just stunning.

It was a decent day out and if you can spare the day before the Nazca lines then its worth the stop off just to soak up the terrain alone. The people are really nice and as we have experienced everywhere (except the airport taxi drivers of course). But Pisco is no major stop off  and we are getting out of here now.

Rob is now running around trying to sort out his missing passport and travellers cheques as it finally sets in that they are gone and he will not be seeing that red booklet any time soon.

Daniel and I have crashed and burnt with desert sickness like true city boys after inhaling a tonne of desert dust. Sneezing and snotting like little boys with heavy colds on the sofas of the lounge of the hostel looking “real war ready”! lol!

I think Daniel will be leaving us tonight it has been good to meet him and thats the fun of traveling, the meeting randoms and making new friends for the short or long haul. We are off to the Police station to make out a Police report for Robby the Rob then its off to Nazca to see the Lines.

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14
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 3: Arriving in Pisco and our first dose of petty crime

So we got up and left Lima today and after scramberling to change money and get a bus ticket we headed out of Lima city south on the pacific coast to Pisco. It is a 5 hour bus journey to this sleepy town that was hit by an earthquake in 2007.

We were on the bus pulling up to the Pisco and Rob realises that his bag has been stolen. It was snatched from under his seat and as the night has drawn in the theif has taken off with his passport and $750 of travelers cheques! Not to mention his iPod touch. So between us both that is three MP3 players gone in 2 months! The passport is the most important of course and that needs serious attention as he can´t get home without it.

Its a bad start and if it was anyone else other than Rob we would be in a real bad way right now, he is handeling it amazingly. We have met a really nice American guy called Daniel from San Fran here and the jokes have taken our minds off the loss and the impact has not yet set in. I am worried about how Rob will get home at the end of the holiday as he is passportless. In most instances one would be scramberling for embassy phone numbers but there is an acute feeling that we do not want anything to spoil our trip so we are almost acting like it hasn´t happened.

Pisco seems dead really, not much going on and pretty edgy also as the guide books warn. We are going to take a trip to some nature reserves tomorrow which will be interesting which are on an island. Then we will head to Nazca to the famous Nazca lines.

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12
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 2: Lima

After meeting up with Robby the Rob for the first time in seven months which has been really nice, we went out for the night after I finally made it out of bed. Going back on your self west across the atlantic is hard jetlag wise. I have been travelling to south east asia and stuff in more recent trips which is easy. I got to Lima and within 8 hours of being on the ground I hit the deck. Rob on the other hand was on Vancouver, Canada time so was ready to go shake it in town. I had to sleep it off. Last night was pretty chilled really and while we met some nice women the language barrier hit us once again in the ass, just like when we were in Morroco together. This time it was Spanish instead of French! Not letting that get the better of us we still had fun and enjoyed the night and soaked up the vibes of central Lima over a few beers.

The hostel here is cool, with your obvious travelers from the US, Isreal and the UK. Frank is still knocking around here smoking like a tree and bitching about the messy young Isrealis in his dorm. I think the Malerone tablets my doctor has given me for maleria have began to trip me out some what but its all good. I feel good now, I am gonna go be a real tourist and get my Lonely planet guide out and go walking around Lima before we kick out of here tomorrow for Pisco.

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11
Jul 09

Peru 2009 – Day 1: Arriving in Lima

So I finally get away from my life in Stoke Newington, away from clients and agents and the fast pace of London life. Its been 18 months since I have had time off and it´s time for a different continent. Where better place than South America. And where better place to start than Peru. Home of the once mighty  Incas and Lake Titicaca, the Andes mountains and the Pacific ocean. I just finished working a deliberate short contract so now it´s an open road.

I got to Heathrow on time and while there was a hairy moment in Yo Sushi where various people were reminding me that they close the gates early sometimes I still managed to get my BA flight to Madrid on time which took off at 19:40 on 10/7/09. Don´t worry peeps not a repeat of the missed flights again! :) But you always get a close feeling you could be there again at any moment.

As usual I have met some very cool people from the moment I sat down on the plane which is always the joy of travelling. Christina, a 17 year old young lady from Norway who sat next to me on the way to Madrid making her way to Equidore alone would you beleive. Taking part in some sort of youth camp. I would have been petrofied to travel all the way to South America at her age.

Then there is Frank who is with me right now. He sat next to me on the flight. Funny guy. Lives in Amsterdam but from Germany. Travelling alone doing the travelling thing. Best way I think. I have spent 12 hours cracking up with this dude.

Well as usual we did the traditional thing of getting ripped off by a taxi driver but its almost as much of a tradition as a straw hat I guess so here I am in my hostel by a beach in Lima. Frank has joined me as he had no where to put his head and Robby the Rob who is my travel buddy for the next 3 weeks is about to get woken up as he arrived yesterday.

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12
Jun 09

So much for life stats – just got my credit card bumped!

So here I am minding my own as usual. I get a voicemail and its Barclaycard. Its a automated voice message saying that basically some theives have raided my account. This happened to me only a year back and with the whole karma thing I thought I wasn’t due for a while. So they read it out to me. £400 for a flight, £200 for some sneaks (hey guys I have never spent that on trainers don’t even go there)!

Actually I have to say I was really impressed that Barcleycard seemed to have caught them in the act and declined them. Which was pretty cool. With a 16% APR yield so they should I guess.  I mean these guys make crazy money from us so the least they can do is catch the gangsters robbing us blind I guess. Now I am left wondering where and how. I am thinking it is the petrol stations again like my brother in law. It may seem like a cheap allegation but I know many people who have been done at their local petrol station for hundreds on their cards. That is the main place I use the card really and perhaps for the odd retail purchase. Then there is the Internet!!

In fact when I think about it I have had more cash stolen from me via credit cards than via notes. So what does that tell us all about the safety of them compared to traditional cash???

Karma please, you owe me at least 10 years of credit card bliss now.

Music — No comments
15
Dec 08

The end of The End

Well if you have hit the club scene over the last ten years here in London then you will have been to the End at some point. The club part owned by DJ Mr C (yes the guy from that 90′s group the Shamen amongst many more musical bits) has decided to shut up shop. Along with most of club land in London at the moment, the End is being swept away.

I am no music journalist but I am pretty gutted about it really, even though my clubbing days are pretty much over. The End was a serious vein for house music and drum n bass alike. I spent many a great night there and it really is sad news. Derrick Carters Classic parties as well as Layo and Bushwaka’s All Night Long gave me many night of musical fun on a regular basis. But now nothing! Yes the credit crunch is real and it is not just your local Woolworths feeling the cold!

It is only a club I hear you say. Well if you don’t care much about music and all you go to a club for is a bit of fun then you are right. But places like the End are where those at the cutting edge of the music you love try new things out and experiment. It was clubs like the End and the also recently demised Turnmills that attract the big names from across the world.

For many it is just another expensive space in the centre of London that charges a lot on the door and at the bar that is closing. But to many of us the End was reassurance that we were in the best city in the world for music. I am writing this blog as a pre-blog to my final visit there on Friday 12th December 2007. I don’t even really know what the night is going to be about, apparently my house mate tells me its hip hop. Crazy really as usually most trips to the End are to go hear a favourite DJ spin now here I am actually more concerned about the club itself! Sad state of affairs people. I am going there to say my goodbyes as in two weeks the End night club reaches its final conclusion.

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