From Peru to Ecuador

Once again it has been a busy week while we started the second part of our tour from Lima via Trujillo/Huanchaco and Mancora to Cuenca, Ecuador.

To summarize: the week has included Peru's primary beach/surfing spots, 30 hours of different kind of buses, one day of overwhelming stomach issues and a border cross to Ecuador.

Right after Lima we spend two day (including Christmas) at Huanchaco which is a small surfing/fishing village just outside Trujillo. Unless you surf there is not much to do in Huanchaco. Sightseeing around the area includes  Huaca de la Luna (The temple of the moon) and Chan Chan which were build by Moche and Chimu cultures. Both are quite nice, Chan Chan museum, however, is not.
Try also the Cheviche at restaurant Cartagena at Huanchaco - the promoter is great as is the service for Peruvian standards.

After Trujillo we took yet another night bus to Mancora, where we arrived around 4 am. This is when we started having some serious doubts about our current tour leader's capabilities since we almost missed our stop.  The 10 hour waiting session at the hotel (no free rooms!?) just continued this same story. On top of that something that I had eaten earlier came forcefully out, so needless to say, it wasn't the best experience.
Surely there is something good in Mancora too? Definitely, if you are a surfer or interested to see the best bodies in Peru, this is the place to be.

From Mancora we took long bus ride first to Tumbes at the border and then changed bus to finally get to Cuenca late last night. Today I did a daytrip to National Park of Cajas which is just half an hour out of the city. Views are great and so was the service. Totally recommended although it is the altitude (3100-4000m) again that might give you some problems.

First impressions about Ecuador are really positive, everything seems to be little bit easier and better than in Peru. Tomorrow bus to Banos.

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From Cuzco to Arequipa, Colca, Nazca, Paracas and finally Lima

It has been a while since my last post because I have not been able to access sufficient internet connection. Anyway, here are the happenings in a nutshell:

We took a nightbus from Cuzco to Arequipa which was a totally different kind of city compared to Cuzco since the Gringos were playing only supporting role there. So, actually quite nice when everyone is not trying to sell you something you don't need. Nightbuses here have somewhat questionable security measures as passengers need to show their passports and additionally everyone is also photographed and fingerprinted. Of course it is nice to know that probably they will be able to identify you after an accident, but I'm not quite sure how this advances security overall.

From Arequipa we did a two day excursion to colca canyon which is said to be the deepest in South-America. Views were definitely nice and we even saw some Condors so Colca can be clasiified as success although the canyon itself is maybe not so great as you would expect - it is more like a big valley.

After Colca we returned to Arequipa to catch another nightbus to Nazca which is famous for its mysterious lines. Flyover with Cessna cost 95 USD and takes 30-40 minutes during which you will be able to see all the  figures. The lines are clearly visible from the plane but I have to say that it was more difficult to spot them than I expected.

Finally from Nazca we moved on to Lima via Ica, Pisco and Paracas.

In Ica we had lunch and tried sandbording which I can totally recommend - especially if you get motorised help to get you on those dunes like we did. In Pisco we had a short introduction to making Pisco which is the alcohol of choice in Peru.

At Paracas we did a boat trip to Ballestas Islands which can be described as poor man's Galapagos. I can totally recommend the trip as the price-quality ratio is quite good. We saw huge amount of different birds, hundreds of sealions, some penquins and also a few dolphins on our way back.

Yesterday afternoon we then arrived Lima, the metropolitan city of around 10 million people. We are staying in bohemian district of Barranco. Yesterday evening we had our last dinner at Miraflores district as some of our group members are ending their journey here at Lima. Today we went to see Lima old town and the interesting catacombs. In the evening we will have a meeting with the new group that is going all the way to Quito.

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Inca trail

So we did the famous Inca trail. Here is a short summary.

Day 1 (8.12.2011): Easy hike from so called Km82 (2600m) via Llactapata to Wayllabamba (3000m). Distance about 12km and time around 4 hrs. Nice warm weather.

Day 2 (9.12.2011): Challenging hike from Wayllabamba (3000m) via Warmiwanusca (4200m, dead woman's pass) to Pacamayo (3600m) and finally to Runkurakay (3800m). Distance about 12km and time 6 hrs. Mixed weather.

Day 3 (10.12.2011): Mostly downhill hike from Runkurakay (3800m) via Sayacmarca (3600m) and Phuyupatamarca (3600m) to Winay Wayna (2700m). Distance 15km, time 8hrs. Mixed weather.

 Day 4 (11.12.2011): Easy hike from Winay Wayna (2700m) to Machu Picchu (2400m). Distance 6km, time 2 hrs. Mixed weather. Overall, not the most physically challenging hike, great views (weather allowing), very basic camping sites (bad toilets & freezing showers); amazing end.

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Back at Cuzco, paragliding at Sacred Valley

Here we are back at Cuzco. Last time I had some troubles with my credit card so I did not actually say anything about the Inca capital. Well, now I will. Cuzco is basically a tourist trap with all the western services. Certainly Cuzco has also long and impressive traditions and some sights but since the tourist business in Peru is built around Machu Picchu and the Incas, Cuzco has inevitably become just one city with all kinds of salesmen harrassing people with non-local face. On the other hand - if you really need something, you can get it here. Our hotel is cuzco Plaza 1 and it is quite ok with all the basic services. One thing that is a little bit of a mystery here are the toilets. Most of them are dirty, without paper or water and/or out of order. Additionally a smallest amount of toilet paper clogs the toilet so that is why you have a smelly rubbish bin beside you. Same goes with all the Bolivia and Peru so far.

This morning we tried paragliding just outside Cuzco (Sacred Valley) which was also a little bit of a disappointment. We paid 85 USD for 5 hours of waiting and 10 minutes of flying which was not really an experience of a lifetime. Also the instructions given by our salesman were not quite accurate. We will still have one night at Cuzco after which we take the bus to Arequipa tomorrow evening.

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From Puno (Lake Titikaka) to Cuzco

Hello. So, after my last post from La Paz we have travelled from Bolivia to Peru and visited Puno (by Lake Titikaka) and currently Cuzco.

Lake Titikaka certainly offered some great views as well as some new experiences as we stayed one night in one of the lake´s communities. Some features of our visit reminded me greatly of the visit to Masai-village in Africa. Although tourism might have some positive influence on the development of these communities, it certainly also has negative ones when asking money or selling some crap is the most important part of our visit.

In Taquile and Chucuito our visits were quite nice but Uros was just a total tourist trap. I have had some minor symptoms of altitude sickness but nothing more than annoying little headaches. Oh, and of course I also inrured my ankle/achilles at Chucuito while playing football with the locals. It seemed bad in the beginning since I could not get ice on it, but now after couple of days I think it will be just fine for the 45 km Inca-trail which we are starting on thursday.

Fortunately (and keeping my fingers crossed) I have not had stomach problems as some of our group members. Also the jetlag is finally starting to fade away since I had my first good night sleep here at Cuzco last night. Of course this positive development meant that something negative had to happen for the overall situation to stay in balance so I just lost my credit card to one ATM. I´m on my way to the main office of the bank right now but our guide told me that my card is probably gone for good. Well, I will find out soon.

Oh, almost forgot - there is somekind of "day of Peruvian Police forces" going on here and when I was walking around the central area of Cuzco this morning, I witnessed a small riot that ended Police shooting some gas towards the protesters. Well, that is just a regular day around here but also a good reminder that in South-America expecting the unexpected is a wise thing to do. Ok, I´ll go to the bank now to settle this issue with my card.

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Hola de La Paz

Hello, hello. So, it takes something like 40 hours to get to one of the worlds highest cities. La Paz is a city of two million people and it is located in the valley of Andean mountains. Habitation here goes from 3000 m to 4100 m and currently I´m staying at the middle.

Streets here are full of street vendors of all sorts - what you can not find here, you don´t need. Traffic is a bit chaotic but nothing compared to the worst places I have seen. Needless to say you are either going uphill or downhill here. To get back where you came from, you don´t really need a map if you just remember are you going up or down. Last time I went over 3300 m I got strong headaches as the AMS was kicking in. This time I took the Diamox medication to reduce the pressure in the brain and I have to say that I´m feeling comfortable although my current activities have not been really physically demanding which is also a big factor for the lack of oxygen to get to you. Another thing for the gringos to remember is the sun. UV-index goes regularly to maximum 16 that you never get anywhere in Europe. So, other white boys - 50 is just a minimum number what comes to sun lotions.

My hotel Las Brisas is quite nice and it has all the necessities and also very helpfull staff. If they don´t have all the services, you are guaranteed to find that within 10 min walk from the hotel. Last night I went out for dinner and place called Sol y Luna had one of the best chicken cuisines I have ever had. This place has deserved its popularity. This morning I went for short city tour and the highlight for me was Killi Killi viewpoint which offers great views to the valley and surrounding mountains - you can also see the controversial Estadio Hernando Siles where home advantage is not just talk. Just ask anyone who has played in this altitude.

Tonight I will meet the other 14 travellers from all around the world and tomorrow we will leave La Paz and head to famous Lake Titicaca and Peru.

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Latvia tour 2011

So I did a short Baltic road trip last week. I flew to Latvia on 18th and spend some time in Riga getting to know some Latvian grassroots football after which we drove to Ventava for the night. On Sunday we continued our trip to Ventspils where we participated the 2nd Ventspils Adventure park half Marathon. The night after the marathon I enjoyed a nice BBQ & sauna organised by my excellent hosts. On Monday we had a tour around Ventspils including a river cruise. The next day we got on a car and did a little Latvian road trip along the coast from Ventspils to Liepaja through two stops at Jurkalne and Pavilosta. After doing a little city at Liepaja, we continued our way back to Ventava for the last night after checking out old Soviet military base just outside Liepaja and Venta waterfall at Kuldiga (the widest in Europe - ?). On Wednesday I was forced to return home for some football of my own. Thanks to Andris&Andris&family.

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

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St. Petersburg - sightseeing

Today I did the obligatory sights of St. Petersburg including Saint Isaac's Cathedral, The Bronze Horseman, The State Hermitage/Winter Palace, Church of the Savior on Blood and Kazan Cathedral among some other things while walking along the Nevski Prospekt. Hermitage was closed so I was not able to go inside which could be considered also a good thing since the collections there would require/deserve several hours/days/weeks/years of investigation depending on one's level of interest and expertise.
As a Finn I must take credit for the pillars of Saint Isaac's Cathedral which are Finnish granite. As is the granite on which the Bronze Horseman is standing. I thank my guidebook for these honorable details.
Dinner today added one more ethnic food to my list: Shawarma - fast food a la Arab world.

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St. Petersburg - initial Russia

Hello.

I flew to Pulkovo international airport on Friday evening to visit my friend here in St. Petersburg. We had a first night out at Nevski Prospekt area where we enjoyed sushi and couple of beers. On Saturday we did a day trip to central park at Jelagin island and today we were watching Zenit-Krylia Sovetov Russian league game. After the game we had nice dinner at Cat -restaurant.
Ok. So how is it here? (I admit that my expectations and conceptions towards Russian things have always been somewhat negatively charged.) The most difficult thing is clearly the language. And since English is not so commonly used you'll find yourself in challenging communication situations unless you have your personal interpreter. Food? Good, whatever you want - tried solyanka, saslik, blini, pelmeni, khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread).. Public transportation? Ok. Services? All you need. So what is different? I'd say that the level of comfort and certainty of the level of service are the things that are the most different compared to Finland for example. Especially alarming have been the examples that I have heard about the level of medical treatment here - even in international medical centers.
So far - no big surprises one way or another. I think Russia is probably a lot easier for a Finn than for a number of other western guests because the mentality and some customs that are found strange in middle-Europe for example are more familiar to us Finns. Tomorrow I'm going to do the usual sightseeing tour and then I still have a good 1,5 days to absorb more of St. Petersburg.

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Where is the Monza track?

On our way to the airport, we decided to visit shortly the famous Monza F1-circuit since it was almost on the way and it was supposed to be easy to get there. After spending one hour of searching for it, we did not, however, have the time to actually go in to the Monza park where the circuit is located. Although some guidebooks tell that it is really easy to find, I have to disagree and claim that signposts are not consistent enough to show you the way to the circuit if you only have a limited time frame like we did.

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Inter - the European champions in selling tickets; NOT

Today we started once again early to get back to Italy to catch our football games. The plan was to go over the mountains but around 2000 m of altitude our rental Lancia proved to be too poorly equipped for icy roads. So we actually got stuck. After a while of NASA-level reasoning we managed to turn our car around and return back to KG for regular autostrada travelling to Milan.

There was a serious accident on the highway and as we got to Giuseppe Meazza it was about 45 minutes to kick off. This proved to be at least 45 min too late as the Inter ticket sales happened to be absolutely SHIT. Since their internet ticket sales was the same, I have to say that as one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Inter lives in the stone age of ticket selling. Some organised system and additional resources at the stadium would be essential to be able to serve the audience (who are paying the ridiculous wages of the players). So, the result was that after 90 minutes of fighting in the queue we got 3 tickets to catch the end of the first half. And to complete our initial feeling about Italian organising capabilities, we learned that the Juventus game we were supposed go and watch was played at the same time with ongoing Inter-game as we had information that implied Juventus game would have started only 2045hrs in the evening. So the main day of our trip did not quite match up with our plans. Well, now we are heading for Turin for some dinner and relaxing since there is no more pressure with the schedule.

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From Italy to Slovenia and back

We were following the Planica ski jumping competition yesterday which was Austrian show as expected. Matti Hautamäki from Finland played a small supporting role but was left to 4th place.

After the jumps we had a nice evening at Kranjska (We are staying in Livada guesthouse, which seems to be quite ok.) After the competition there was an overwhelming need for a transportation back to KG so we decided to get cheated by a Ljubljana taxi driver who was more than happy to separate us from unhealthy amount of money for 5 km ride. On the way to our hotel we made a pit stop at Papa Joe's where my friend offered some traditional finnish music (Popeda, Erotomania) for the Europeans to enjoy. And needless to say, it was a huge hit. Then a quick change at the hotel before joining the national team of our jumpers at a local pizzeria. Somehow our sportmen did not respond to my friends inquiries and comments about their performance and future ambitions but were kind enough to leave immediately and leave the table for us. Following morning we headed to Ljubljana for Olympia football game. On the way we made two stops. One at the beautiful Bohinj lake and another in Bled (Grill restaurant - very good Cevapcici) for lunch.

Later we saw the game in Ljubljana but I have to say that the level of the play was little bit of a disappointment. Then we had dinner in Ljubljana - thanks to Sini - before heading back for KG for an early start back to Italy tomorrow.

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Milan/Venice

We started bright and early in Milan and enjoyed some breakfast at the Duomo watching a small parade for Italian unification (150 years celebration).

Then we visited San Siro museum (which in my opinion is not a must) and took the tour at the stadium. We also made a short visit to A.C. Milan training centre Milanello where we witnessed what it is to be be a world class star and have your every move watched. On the way to Venice we made also a short lunch stop at the beautifull and crowded Lake Garda (More specifically in Sirmione). After that we headed for Venice where we arrived later in the evening. We parked at Plaza del Roma and took the water bus to San Marcos where we first had couple of Bellinis at Harry's bar. Then we quickly checked out the Bridge of Sighs which was under construction and framed with something ugly. Later that night we enjoyed an excellent dinner at Osteria Doge Morosini (San Marco 2958-2967) before heading back to our hotel Citta de Milano for some sleep.

Next morning I got up early and made early morning run at the waterside. After breakfast we had a little walkabout before turning our car towards Slovenia, Kranjska Gora and FIS Ski jumping world cup finals. Venice somehow had a little bit of a same wibe as Zansibar with narrow alleys, rich history and overpriced services. Venice is a treat for history and antiques enthusiasts but for more active sort of a traveller like myself more than two days in a place like this would be too much.

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Hello from Italy

Ok, after one day of travelling, here we are at Milan. From sunny Finland to rainy Italy by Ryanair and rental car from Bergamo airport. Locauto has to be one of the slowest car rental services ever. We had filled out an internet form and paid beforehand and still it took a good 30 minutes for all kinds of confusing forms and signatures all over the place. I have to say that driving by San Siro at nighttime was kind of impressive - although everyone has seen it in TV. Tonight we are staying in Hotel San Siro Fierra which seems to be quite nicely run place just outside Milan. Tomorrow we are going to take a closer look as we go for a stadium tour. We are also going to Milan training centre Milanello before we head for Venice. From Venice we will continue our tour to Kranjska Gora (KG) and Planica where we are going to cheer for ski jumping world cup on friday. On saturday the plan is to go to Ljubljana for Slovenian league game NK Olimpija-Koper. Then we'll turn our car back to KG for night to start driving bright and early on Sunday back to Milan and Turin for Serie A games Inter-Lecce and Juventus-Brescia. And on Monday it is time to return home.

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-Ville ( &Sune & Janne )

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Skiing in Lapland

I just spend a week skiing in Lapland with couple of my friends. We managed to do more than 100km cross country in excellent conditions while temperature was between +2 and -10 (Celsius). Even the wind was very mild except for the last two days when it was windy as I witnessed when going downhill skiing on friday at Ylläs fjeld. Overall I would say that this short trip was a great success it being only my second time in Lapland.

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