A Week With Levi

En route to entering Peru, me and my fellow travelling gringos stopped to change busses in Ecuador and went for a bite to eat. For a change, I had Rice and Chicken. It smelt of cheesy feet and battery acid, but the hunger won and I ate most of it. That was the last time I remember my bowels being normal.

First stop in Peru was the Surf town of Mancora, tucked up in the North. This is where my old pal Joe Levi came to join us. He´s half English, half Peruvian and lives in Lima. Taking some time off from work he joined us for a few days in the sun and water. Following Mancora, we hopped on what turned out to be a 20 hour bus ride into the Mountains. To Huaraz. An amzing spot over 3000 metres high. At this height we needed to aclimatise, as I believe above 2500 metres there are 40% less Oxygen particles in the air, so we had to take it steady. This was highlighted by Will fainted at Lunch. The next day we did a glacier hike at 4500 metres, which was tough work, but very impressive. The mountains here are epic. The next was mountain biking, another breathtaking day in terms of altitude and scenery. Well worth the effort.

Next stop was Lima, now the group was down to myslef & Joe and James & Will, my aussie travel buddies. On arrival, Joes Mum was in town and she very kindly cooked us an excellent Roast Lamb lunch, the first we´d all had in months. Throughout this time my guts had been getting progressivly worse, and after the night of boozing that followed the Roast Lunch, I think I pushed my insides too far.

The next 4 days were a bit of a blur and were spent either at Joe´s house or in Hospital. Thankfully him and his Mum were kind enough to take me in and get me back to health. All in all an interesting week in Peru, with lots of memories, both good and bad.

Now i`m on the move again, heading South, to hike Machu Pichu.

Crossing The Equator

Upon leaving the Orphanage in Otovalo, we headed South. Crossing the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere. Although the large structure that has been erected to signify the equatorial line about an hour north of Quito wasn't too impressive, nor was the 'Equatorial Line' (because due to the earths core shifting the actual line is now about 100 metres to the South), nor the tourist theme park of restaurants and shops that surrounded it. It was still quite a significant step in my travels and was worth a photo opporunity. So here's a photo.

Helping Out

Last week I cleansed my soul with a spot of volunteering at a great little project out in the sticks of Northern Ecuador. Set in an old convent, in stunning grounds, with a huge Volcano as a backdrop, Juvilus is an Orphanage for kids with HIV.

It`s an amazingly well set up place, run by a Catholic Priest who spends every hour dedicated to these kids and giving them a good, healthy life. It`s incredibly well funded, the kids are surrounded by games, toys, fresh food, computers with internet connections and much more. They are a really amazing bunch of kids with ages ranging from 6 months to 17 years old. They put Western kids to shame in terms of manners and how they look after each other, clean up, help out and generally by having consistently positive attitudes, it was pretty amazing to see at times.

My role for the week was just to help out as and where necessary, so there was lots of cleaning, washing, folding clothes, helping out with cooking and playing football/basketball. It was a tough week with early starts, long days and some difficult times where being a Gringo within such a tight group was challenging to say the least, but i`m glad I stopped and helped out. The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye at the end of the week.

Mountain Bikin´ Some Mountains

James and I took a morning off from our volunteering to enjoy a spot of Mountain Biking in the epic countryside of the Avenue of Volcanoes, in Ecuador. Starting at Lago Majanda in the shadow of the snow-capped Volcan Cotacachi, we descended from 3,500m to around 2,500 metres over a tough 40km ride.

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Volcan Imbabura, Ecuador. The past two weeks i´ve spent living in it´s shadow in the foothills. Surrounded by 3 other Volcanoes. Makes a good billboard.

Festival De Yamor

Whilst staying in Otavalo, we timed it to be here for the annual Festival De Yamour. A celebration of Maize and a pretty grim fermented drink, made from Maize, called Chicha. The Festivities last for two weeks, but the opening weekend is the big party, so on Friday night a crowd of us headed into town to join in. The streets were packed with parades, stalls, bands and people, focused around the central square, Plaza De Bolivar. It was a great night and it felt really Ecuadorian as we were some of the very few Gringo`s in town.

Saturday was also a big day, we spent it trying the local cuisine in the food market, betting on CockFights and relaxing over a few beers at the Bull Fighting. Another great Latin American Festival sampled and enjoyed.

Otovalo, Ecuador

2,800 metres high in the Andes Mountains is my current base for a couple of weeks more studying. Otovalo is an old town and a centre of indigenous culture in Ecuador. Most famed for being home to the largest market in South America, which ocurrs every Saturday, the town is surrounded by 4 volcanoes and some of the most amazing countryside i`ve ever seen.

This Friday sees the opening ceremony of the annual Festival De Yamour, then the celebrations and events carry on for a couple of weeks, so it´s a good time to be here. The Hostel i´m in is in an amazing location, just out of town. My days are currently spent wandering around with my teacher, trying the local food and drinks and trying to get my Spanish conversation flowing... tough times.