My right foot and Zihuatanejo

For those that recall the movie ´The Shawshank Redemption´ you might remember Andy Dufrane meeting his mate red on a beach in mexico at the end. That beach is on the central pasific coast and is called Zihuatanejo.

The reason for our 10 hour over night bus from mexico city to Zihuatanejo was surf and relaxing in the sun.

Our first stop was tronconnes beach or la playa tronconnes, a one street town where everyone is on the water and the weather and waves are good. After sorting bungalow accomodation for only 45usd we headed to the local surf shop in search of boards, eager to get some waves and escape from the heat. The waves at our doorstep were not all that great, very little peel mucho close out. After lunch our waiter commented on us being surfers, i guess dining in your board shorts gives a bit away. He directed us 3km up the beach to a nice point break called manzanillo bay which, after navigating the local, what´s a timetable, bus service we surfed the rocky point break for the next 2 mornings. Until, we heard about salidita, and well i road one to many waves over the reef and collected a family of kina spikes in my foot. Theres something not right about dropping down a wave and noticing the rocks emerge as the waves sucks up the water in front of you, then realising that there is only 2 foot of water and its getting shallower. This was all much to the amusement of the resturanter who assisted in removing most of the spikes from my foot using boiling water and lemon juice to scald and soften my foot, it was about this time i started to make some noise, and was sternly told ´not to cry´. After the boiling water came the small piece of wood that he, well, beat my foot with. Im not sure if that was a, lets see if the gringo puts up with this, or a legitimate remedy. This was followed by the needle from a near by tree for removing the embedded spikes.


Later on in the day simon had a hack at my foot. This caught the attention of our alaskan friends in the bungaloo next to us. One of the occupants was able to give some advice, she suggested that i need to soak my foot in an acid juice to neutralize the poison in the spikes, after that the calcuim hard parts will slowly be rejected and fall out. The alternative was to ask simon to continue with the foot surgery, so i opted for the juice technique.

(getting kicked out of the internet cafe...)

(continuing in next blog from a cafe in Ixtapa)

3 days in Mexico City

Thanks to simons good friend´s anna and joaquin we had a great 3 days in mexico city. We stayed at their place in st angel a very nice part of the city, with cobble streets and solid gold a quality gentlemens club.

Arriving from peru after 5 days of a stomach bug and about 8kgs lighter i had a new found hunger. The amazing mexican food we had over the 3 days solved my weight loss problem. Anna´s cooks tina and lucy introduced me to my new favourite breakfast dish; chillaquillas. The dish consists of fried tortia´s grilled with a special spicy sauce, cream and cheese then served with an over easy fried egg.

We spent the first day visiting the aztec pyramids just outside the mexican city limits, which to those that have been to mexico is quite a drive. Its not hard to see that 30 million reside in mexico city.

Over the next few days we dined at some amazing restaurants including a mexican chinese place and anna´s sisters place orsai. To fill the day we found contructive activities like drinking bear and shooting a slug rifle in the backyard.



On the last night we were up for some action, possibly to meet the locals. So with a bar in mind we ended up at a gentlemens club. I ended up talking to one of the dancers for most of the night, and so did what anyone would do in my situation, got her number and took her out the next night. No alex and or kevin and or jason, we went out for beers and a few games of pool.

Ok well i have to get to the point of the mexico trip so will start a chapter on surfing sweet point breaks and staying in bungalows on the beach.

i almost climbed a mountain

Our first day in huaraz saw us meeting with the tour guides Cesar and Hiaso and arranging our flash climbing gear. You dont quite feel like a climber until you have a pair of ice axe's in each hand. With gear packed in the van we headed up the mountain spotting a few inca relics on the way.


We took some time at the start of the hike to have some lunch, which was made interesting by a peruvian army company streaming down the mountian we were heading up.


I figured i would be partly prepared for the hike from the salkantay trek. This was not the case. This hike was hard work, made even harder by the onset of a skittery gut that had me eyeing up possible spots to ease my stomach over the 2 hour vertical hike at 5000 meters above sea level. It was the altitude that had us beat, you would take 10 steps and need twice as long to recover from them. I took the picture on one of the rest stops, i call it tired chris on rock.



Finally at base camp we each found a spot and rested while the porters setup the camp. The warm food was welcome as the sun disapeared behind the mountains. The air temperature was very cold and with the wind picking up there was very little to do to keep warm. Despite wearing all my warm gear as we ate dinner i had to retire to the tent for warmth. I realised, once in my sleeping bag that the money was well spent. The horizontal ice covering our tent in the moring suggested it had been a very cold night.








The next day we took a quick breakfast though my skitter guts had gotten worse and i was unable to hold any food. The lack of calories and altitue were conspiring against me but i was determined to have a go at ice climbing.

We accended further up the mountain to an area where the rock meets the ice. There was a perfect 30 meter ice face for us to test our ice climbing skills on. First we had Cesar 's school of knott's and caribena's. This went along way given our climbing knowledge didnt extend beyond tree's in the back yard.

Cesar Climbs the ice face like its horizontal, using 2 ice axes and his crampons. Setting up the rope for us to follow, he then absails back down. While simon and chris climb the face i keep having to say 'hey guys, be back in a minute' while i retire to a comfortable rock. After a while i realise that im pretty sick and its not getting better. So make the painful decision to return to huaraz and seek medical help.





Heading back down seemed simple in theory but it took a 2 hour hike and 1 hour taxi ride down a road that was really ment for a four wheel drive. Hiaso the other guide from andean adventures was amazing, he took me to the doctor's, the pharmacy then arranged for a hotel. So back in civalisation i was able to relax and drink my pink peptobizmal, electrolytes and pills.

getting to huraz...

Apparanlty the boarding call for our seats had been broadcast several times already. So when we approached the counter with our boarding passes we got a stern look and were pointed to the direction where we should be. After boarding we took our seats at opposite ends of the plane, thanks again adventure world.

Mid flight i went from slightly hung over to 'holy crap im going to be sick all over the person infront if i dont find a bag'. I managed to last out the flight though later i would realise this was the start of something very ugly. Chris, on the other hand almost didnt make his flight. He had an arguement over seating with one of the flight attendants, who insisted that the man with a hand written seat number on his boarding pass had more right to chris's seat than he did.

The delays of out flight ment that we had little over 20 minutes to make the 35 minute taxi ride to the bus station before our bus departed. we told our driver of the situation who raised his hand and in broken english said 'yes, i micheal schumacker'. While i didnt doubt his abilities it was the car that i was worried about as we drove around lima like a bat out of hell.

True to his word he was a great driver but we were sill 10 mintues late. Now, once at the bus station our the next challenge was to find our bus. After asking around we found a girl who spoke a bit of english, who told us that our bus would be here soon. This was good news as the tickets were 30us each and i didn't want to inquire about a refund.

The bus rolled in and we were directed, to our surprise and amusement, to the first class cabin where we found large leather loungers and our home for the next 8 hours.

Last night in cusco

After the white water rafting we went out drinking with the cali guys and their sorority mates. Chris stayed in, recovering from the chicken lunch he had on the white water trip.

We started at an american bar called the crows nest or something similar. With a big group and several tables pulled together we quickly went through a few pitchers of beer. This was accelerated when we started the boat races, where to my amazement and embarrasment i got beaten by a girl. All be it a very tallented one.

Once all the beer was drunk we headed to mythology where we all danced up a storm till about 2am.

Urumbuma white water rafting

While we had our sights on the 5+ rapids of the Apurimac river 3 day excustion our limited time in cusco ment we had to settle for the 3+ rapids of the Urumbuma river day trip. There was six of us on the trip; graham from our trek, racheal and jen, and of course the core 3.

We had a quick intro to paddle this jump this way when i say this and we were paddling down stream. One thing that was realised really quickly was the water temp, it was bloody freezing.

Our guide was quite tame, the other guide was insane he boarded our boat, lined me up and took me into the water. My team, apparanlty, could not get me out of his gorrila grip and decided that to get him in the water i was going to have to go too.

Another overboard was graham, who ended up in the water at the roughest part, i got a hand to him but was unable to pull him in given the weight difference. Hes not a huge guy just comparitivly theres quite a difference. So with the help from chris we got or star paddler back on board and headed for some salmanalla chicken at the rest stop.

Once we reached shore i realised i could no longer feel my feet. This was not just a 'hey its so cold i cant feel me feet' kinda comment. I actually could not feel the rockes under my feet. The constant puddle in the raft and cold water had seen to removing the circulation.

Once out of the water we were directed to the very welcoming steam room were the 3 boat teams defrosted there vitals parts and dressed for lunch.

The bus trip home some realising that the chicken wasnt up to par. Chris threw his out the window of the bus at a busy roundabout getting a few cars and a good portion of the bus.


The team

Grayham








Simon aka Smule aka Gbear








Adam aka chippy aka zippy aka ezip true hollywood story
Racheal








Chris aka smule
Jen









The river

Rest day in cusco

Rest day !

After the trek we decided a rest day was well overdue. So we spent the day as most men would. Doing laundry and catching up with the girls.











Later that night we meet up with our fellow trekkers at the cross keys and had a huge night out. The night weighed in at aoubt 150 soles. Those went to good use making me almost blind on pisco sour drinks, i dont recall ever noticing my speach slurring after just one glass.











We went to a few places but i recall starting at the cross keys. Where we played some pool on a very challenging table. Then a few of us went to uptown for some salsa then finished up much worse for wear at mumma Africa's.

Sweet mountain biking day trip

Its like learning to ride a bike, you never forget!

Well within 20 minutes of racing through a small village somewhere far from cusco i felt like it had slipped my memory for at least few seconds. I found myself flying over the handle bars of my mountain bike due to a depression in the road that changed direction and took my front wheel with it. Landing on my shoulder and arm the crash wasnt to bad and i was able to altert the group and catch up in a few minutes looking like i had been dragged behind a car for a while.

The group was just our guide cesar then simon, chris and myself. The tour provided lunch, helmets and nice bikes with suspension, not sure if that is for show or a pro, but it seemed to help.

We started riding at about 10am visiting moray, the salt mines and the lost valley. Travelling through farmlands, small villages and down some very cool technical decents. Once you realise that all your weight whould be at the back of the bike you can really give it death!


While riding through the farmlands on our way to the first historical site we came across a small settlement. As we approached a small child walked out from one of the farms, he said something that was later explained to be in an incan dialect, we was asking for candy. We stopped and went through our packs hoping for something candy like. Luckely i had some mexicana chocolate cookies from our last flight. The little dude was pretty happy when he saw that they were about as big as his hand.






Moray was spectacular, bascically a large ampitheare for growing and drying crops. The entire system had irrigation and would generate a great heat from the centre that in inca times was considered like a energising area.












At the risk of repeating myself the salt mines were spectacular ! Hundreds of terraced pools for harvesting salt. One of the high lights of the bike tour was meeting the salt miners. They had never seen a digital camera before so were amazed when they saw their image on the display screen. We were offered inca beer, known as chicha. Simon and chris tried the beer before me and from their vinigar faces i assumed it to be high in alcholoe. No, it was about 5% and just tasted bad.

After the salt mines we traversed down the more technical part of the trip into the sacred valley, known as urumbumba.

After a quick road section we arrived back at the bus station where we loaded our bikes and headed back to cusco.




























The trip back seemed considerably shorter due to conversation with a french tourist. She had been hiking in the area with friends and dispite some language issues we were able to share our days events.

The day ended with a mad dash from the bus station to the tour operators premisis in the plasa de armas. It was like running with the bulls at night. We made it back safley and had our briefing for the salkantay trek we had planned for the following day.

First night in cusco

If i have learnt one thing from this trip it is DONT DRINK BIG WHEN ON YOUR FIRST NIGHT AT ALTITUDE !

We arrived at cusco in the morning to fantastic weather, clear skies and have found that its the sort of place you could spend a few months exploring.



We got to our hostal, which was more like a hotel could not ignore the chears and yelling from outside. We then realised, after figuring the time difference that the world cup final was on. So we went to rosies and irish pub directally across from our place to drink a few tallies and enjoy the game. Man that Zinedine Zidane has a mean headbut, I cant believe he flawed a guy with a shot to the chest.




After drinking to much beer for our new altitude we crashed back at our place for a few hours then headed out for more punishment. After visiting a few average bars we found our new local; a gringo salsa bar called mythology. After some salsa lessons from the locals and drinking with english exchange students we ambled home at about 4am.


(drunken haka)



The next morning we were left with the question is the headache from the previous night or the altitude here.

Today, we managed, against the thin air, to get up to the cusco outlook where a large jesus statue lives. The weather here is like auckland at the moment on the best of days, about 12 degress with clear skies.



Tomorrow we are mountian biking to some ruins and a big amptheatre thing that looks kinda cool. After that we have the inca trail and white water rafting.

Lima...what a hole

We had a stopover at lima on our way to cusco and i was very glad it was only for one night. We emerged from customs after experiencing the random ´will we search your baggage button´. They have this large button on a pole as you exit the baggage claim area that you push, if its green you proceed if its red they search your bag. Chris and i were lucky, simon was not.

Once out of the airport area we were faced with what seemed like hundreds of loud hawkers trying to get us to use their taxi service. Luckily we had the forthought to arrange transport through our hostel. Our transport makes my 87 corrola look like a porshe. It was more of a worry that he drove it like a porshe. I had long since forgotten the driving experience i had in KL a few years back, but the high speed, no indication, no attention to lanes, single inch misses brought it all back quickly.

On the 30 minute 10 soles trip to our hostel we, with enthusiasim for learning spanish, that has since expired, practiced a few phrases. Much to the amusement of our driver. It was only when he tried some some english that we realised how we must have sounded.

If i was going to characterise what the planners where considering when they went about their work, post war iraq springs to mind. Most of the areas within 20 minutes of the airport are very shanty town. Then as you get to the nicer areas, and by nicer areas i mean nicer than crappy, its very relative here, the houses and hotels improve though they are all lined with high walls with either razor wire or very painfull looking metal spikes. Regardless at this point i was thinking lets get the f&%k out of dodge as quick as possible.


[Photos from our hostel, Sami Wasi]

We got to our accomodation and learnt something that is common with all south american accomodation. The tiolet paper goes in the waste paper basket not the tiolet after use.

The next morning we had our complementary bread and jam breakfast and gladly exited lima, taking a few pictures on the way. We noticed the low cloud and according to our driver it descended on the sity for months of the year. Giving a really poluted and dreary feel to the city. I commend any travel agent who could find good points to sell this place.