South America Finale and Greece

Hola from Athens!! Arrived from Barcelona about 3 days ago after a very busy last week or so in Peru (more later). The yacht training has been very informal with the main activities being doing yacht handovers (we're chartering yachts from a charter management co and have to basically check all the bits are on the yachts and that everything works) and spending a lot of time checking out restaurants and bars with my boss and the big boss from Spain! Must say Greek food is a nice change from latin!

I have 'Eva' for the season, a 5 year old 50ft Bavarian that is my home and office for the next 6 months. I've been lucky and scored the nicest yacht in the fleet of 3 except for a slight problem which is my berth is above the toilet holding tank! Phew! Hopefully working on a fix...Anyway she's a sloop, 2 sails one up front (Genoa) and the main sail (the main), has not one but two steering wheels, sleeps 8 maybe 9 with all the usual sailing gear. I'm going out with my German boss, Frank on Friday. My first charter is 4 candian couples on the 13th of May..

Greece is a crazy place. The traffic rivals south America in terms of speed and intensity. Unlike SA catching a cab is hard work. On average it takes about one has to stop 5 cabs(thats the ones that will stop) before finding one that wants to go where your going! Most just shrug and drive off if their not interested. Greece is also the last reprieve for smokers. Everyone smokes here and they smoke anytime anyplace! The taxi drivers, the bank tellers, the supermarket checkout people, the girl next to me here in the cafe smoking a cigar. etc...It is also extremely laid back but also can be incredibly bureaucratic. For example their is nice pool next to the marina that i want to swim at. However its not a matter of simply paying the admission fee and jumping in. If i want to swim i have to get a certificates from the dermatologist and the cardiologist, present my passport, provide them with a photo and pay a 15 euro registration fee! Think i'll stick to swimming at the beach..

So thats Greece..Before coming here i spent a couple of days in brilliant Barcelona staying with friends Sandra and Lidia. Sandra was on one of my charters last year and we have stayed friends. Lidia is her flatmate. It was great being able to chat in Spanish this time..

My last week or so in Peru was full on as i tried to do everything! In Copacabana i did a stunning 4 hour hike along the edge of lake Tittica and then got rowed in a tradition fisherman's skiff out to Isla del Sol. He had two sets of oars so i chipped in and it took us a hour or so two cover the 5 k out to the island. It was stunning being on the lake. A magic place. On the island i walked to the south end and stayed at a great little village on the shores, returning to the mainland the next day. Then bused it back into Peru to Puno, also on the lake to check out the floating reed islands before doing the overnight bus to Cuzco. The reed islands were fascinating. The villagers make them from reeds overlayed on top of each other and actually anchor them to the bottom using long poles. It was super touristy but interesting to see how these guys live.

After arriving the next day in Cuzco, i decided in true Damon style rather than doing the usual Macchu Picchu tourist thing i would hire a motorbike and go a back way to this amazing place. I had the bike for 4 days and toured through the scared valley and over a 4200m pass to drop into the jungle and a little town called St Cristobal where its a 2 hour walk to the base of Macchu Picchu along a the railway line that cuts through a spectacular gorge with the occasional magical glimpse of MP. A tough but brilliant tour. The views over the pass were spectacular with the road easily rivaling that of Boliva's most dangerous road. Coming back i had to wait 3 hours for road works and had to ride the final section in the dark. Even with a good jacket and gloves it was FREEZING! I had a friend, Kathy who runs a hostel in a great place called Ollyatambo come and join me on the back of the bike. Was great to have some company.

My Macchu Picchu experience was equally brilliant. I arrived late in the day and only got to spent a hour in the sight before it closed. However apart from a handful of other tourists the site was deserted. It is a magical place not so much for the impressive ruins but the setting on top of the mountain. Bummer but forgot to take my disposable camera so no pics, oh well the memories will remain for life!

Didn't spent a lot of time in Cuzco as i didn't arrive till after 11pm after my 3 hour delay at the roadworks and then had a 76:30 flight the next morning. But it looked like a great place and i can see why its so popular with tourists.

I spent one day checking out Lima before my 14 hour flight back to Spain. A nice city with some impressive buildings and squares. I didn't meet many travellers who like it but i thought it was ok..

Ok have to run and do a yacht handover so yasis from Greece!

Boliva the land of the worlds most everything..well almost

Hola from La Paz in Boliva!

The worlds highest capital city at almost 4ks above sea level. It literally takes your breath away! It also has the worlds smelliest trucks and buses that spew massive black clouds as they negotiate the many steep streets, that aside its a great city! Have been here now for 2 days and am heading back towards Peru to spend a few days at Copacabana on the shores of lack Tittica which borders Peru and Boliva. Its been a great couple of days here and have been busy exploring the chaotic and congested narrow cobblestone streets crammed with stalls, vendors, great gringo cafes and restaurants, markets selling loads of potions, llama fetuses and other unidentifiable objects and all set in a 5km wide valley surrounded by mountains. The people are super friendly and there is a large Indian presence that makes it feel very South American.

Yesterday i joined a cycle tour down the 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road'!!..As recently as 2 weeks ago tourist died when he went over the edge while doing a bike tour. A sobering thought.

Luckily the only traffic on the road now mainly comprises of gringos tearing down on bikes since the opening of the new paved road. There are dozens of tour company's offering trips cashing in on the scare factor...So ok i'm a sucker too! Its a 60k decent starting at 4700m and ending up at a little town at 1700m. The route starts on bitumen road that descends through spectacular mountain scenery and ends up on a steep and windy narrow dirt road, with straight 300m drops off into the cloud forest below and with the occasional waterfall trying to wash away the road. It was a awesome ride. There were 4 of us, 2 dutch girls, a English guy that i've been travelling with and me plus our guide. A backup vehicle was also following to take us back up the 3000m to La Paz at the end. It was a great deal, 35us for transport, guide, a tshirt, a photo cd, food along the way and a huge buffet lunch at the end..For bike buffs, our wheels were front suspension treks with much needed disc brakes..

What else...Border crossing from Peru to Boliva was muy tranquillo ...The quickest one i´ve been through, no computer on the Bolivan side to hold things up, just a old fashioned stamp and form! Why are all border crossings in South America over ´no mans land´ bridges, something i've been pondering? And what would happen if u accidentally dropped ur passport into the river while crossing between the two countries?????

Ok now in Lake Tittica...Nice bus ride...Interesting bit was crossing a peninsular. Bus was driven on a very rickety wooden barge powered by only 1 outboard engine then putt putted across the 500m of choppy water! Pleased to say we made it...

Copacabana is a great little town. Views of the lake are brilliant but is overcast,windy and freezing so a good night for curling up in bed with a book....Or seeking refugee in a internet cafe...

Adios, amigos!

Peru...

Hi,

Have some time to kill while waiting to catch another overnight bus. It is a busy hot night here in Nazca and everyone seems to be out on the streets and in the main square. I literally had dinner on the street tonight - rice, salad, chicken and a drink of ice tea for $1. I´m looking forward to this overnight bus. I could only get on a ´pricey´ one tonight so have a bus cama which means bus bed. Oh and i´m heading to Arequipa, a colonial town in the mountains surrounded by more volcanos. Nasca is famous for huge ancient (around 600AD) drawings of animals and shapes in the desert. The best way to appreciate them is by a 30min flight in small cessna which is exactly what i did today. Incredible. There are many theories as to why they were created but the most popular is they were used for ceremonies and are linked to constellations. They were made by digging channels through the dessert some go on for 100s of meters and all are perfectly straight and aligned. It was really mind blowing to see them from the air.

First, the day began in Hurranchincha, which is best described as a ´Lawrence of Arabia´ type place with dune buggys instead of camels. It is a little green oasis type town with a couple of hotels and hostels and restaurants around a lagoon in the middle of some impressive sand dunes. I arrived the day before from Hurraz, quickly passing through the huge metropolis that is Lima before heading 5 hours south. Içm spending a day in Lima on my way back. Anyway Hurranchincha was great, even if it was a quick stop on what now has become a hectic schedule as i try to digest as much of peru and possibly boliva in a couple of weeks. This am i took a dune buggy tour through the dessert on a machine that looked like it was straight from the mad max set. I was a little apprehensive about tearing though the desert like some bogan redneck but have to say it was a damn fun, aendraline pumping experience as we screamed up and down huge dunes. Some the drops were about 70deg so it felt like being on a roller coaster. Also got to try my hand at sand boarding (same as snowboarding but warmer) down some of the dunes and managed to get down at a decent pace without stacking it. Then i checked out of the friendly backpacker resort (complete with pool) and clocked some more bus hours to here..

Hurraz was great as well. Managed to have two spontaneous adventures. The first was mountain biking around some beautiful mountain lakes with a couple of South African girls, Gail and Nicky i meet in the hostel. One was a doctor and the other a physio so couldn't´t have been in better hands! We taxied it up some 1500ms to the lakes then later descend the 1500ms calling out ´Hola´to all the friendly locals living in the villages and dodging all the excited dogs that seemed to love chasing and trying to scare biking gringos.

The second adventure was a two day hike along the Ishinka track to a mountain of the same name. Once again i hooked up with some fellow hostellers, a nice English and Polish couple, Andy and Maltivia. The walking was brilliant as we hiked through a brilliant forest of twisted trees into a valley only a couple of 100ms wide strewn with massive bolders and enclosed with impressive rock walls. We didn't do a huge amount of walking as it was tough going at 4500m and it was Andy and Maltivias first serious hike in south america. It was a really magical place and the surrounding snow covered peaks were very impressive. Its still the rainy season so everyday at around 2 or 3pm it pours. You can almost set your clock by it. Luck was on our side as we had our camps setup by this time and on day 2 we had just returned from a hike to check out
a huge moraine when it started pelting hail. Afterwards there was about a foot of hail around our tents. Close call..

Along the way we meet lots of colorful indigenous women either driving a few cows, sheep and dogs or spinning wool dressed in brightly coloured shawls, skirts and blouses and top hats. The men were also very smartly dressed with bowler hats, vests, long pants etc. All were very friendly and stopped for a chat to ask us about where we were from and where we were going. It is really great being able to converse a little in spanish.

Peru is a great place. Not only is their unlimited adventuring, most of the people ive chatted to have been super friendly and helpful. There is also a lot of indian in the population and some of the women look stunning. I wish i could spend more time here but April the 18th is fast looming and im keen to try and get a few days in Boliva to cycle the worlds most dangerous road and get really get close and personal with the amazon jungle!