Peru: Summer 2004

The summer of 2004 saw 11 members of UBES flew into Peru (in 24hr extreme plane boredom), courtesy of Lufthansa and AeroPostal (don't ask), who between them promptly lost our luggage.

A Tale of Peru (by Felicity Agnes)

Eleven of us went off to Peru
To Frankfurt, Caracus and Lima we flew.
The airports were boring, the flights were so long,
And to top it all off ourluggage was gone!

Cuzco was lovely, we stopped there a week,
The Tulamayo hostel was very unique
But it served us well as somewhere to sleep;
Until Alice’s bed collapsed in a heap.

Next was the Inca Trail – a highlight for all,
Through forests and valleys and up mountains so tall.
We had seventeen porters, two guides and a cook,
Stoves and tables and food they all took.

The food was amazing; we ate far too much,
Three course meals, cooked breakfasts and such.
The weather was varied, the trail was rough,
The views were spectacular, the altitude tough.

The lost Inca city was an amazing sight;
We walked in the dark, saw the ruins at first light.
Tourists and lamas wandered around,
Up steep stone steps and over manicured ground.

We returned to the city and chilled for a while,
We shopped and we ate and we drank in great style.
We left town on a bus and drove through the night,
We arrived in Puno – a dump at first sight!

Lake Titicaca was beautiful though,
So we booked a boat tour and were raring to go.
We stayed with the locals and used candles for light,
The boys were lent ponchos and we danced through the night.

Next was Arequipa and hope for my rucksack,
I went to the airport and at last got it back!
We ate pancakes, drank milkshakes and wore silly hats,
We bought panpipes and jewellery and bright table mats.

A canyon we trekked in, an oasis we slept in,
We still ate like kings, and swam in hot springs .
Our trek up the canyon was slowed down by Flick,
Who continually stopped to be very sick!

All those who wanted; and were crazy enough
Climbed a volcano, although it was tough.
The rest went riding and white water rafting,
The horses were wild, randy and terrifying!

We moved on to Ica to sand board and chill;
We went dune buggying which was such a thrill!
We then went to Pisco where there’s not much to do -
Except visit the islands white with bird poo.

We went back to Lima and had a massive Chinese,
The hostel served bacon, egg and foods such as these.
We flew back to England and the rain set in -
A far cry from the wonders of the lands we were in.

Peruvian Shopping (By Big Nancy)

A random assortment of things you can buy in Peru for 10 sol or £1.74

• 2 chart CDs e.g. 'the killers' & 'the streets'
• 1 whole roast chicken and a pile of chips
• 4 rum and cokes
• 1/3 of a dominoes pizza
• 10 bags of coca leaves
• a bed for the night
• a day in a country club
• a two course meal for three with a healthy tip at the local's eatery
• at least one and a half crazy hats
• 4 walking sticks
• 10 woven belts
• 2 days sandboard hire
• at least 3 randomly priced taxi journeys of arbitutary length
• a scarily near death experience of a night bus journey from Cusco to Puno
• an afternoon lazing in hot springs with half a pina colada
• 10 hours internet access
• 1/2 a donkey ride to see the 'Sexywoman'

The Other 'Hardcore' Group (by Sarah)

It was evident from the start that some crazy members of the Peru team were keen on the idea of traipsing up El Misti, a live Volcano with stunning views. Me, being a geologist felt this to be a time-wasting task as I knew I was bound to stumble across another live volcano in my life time!! (YEAH RIGHT!) In fact it was because I didn't want to put my body through HELL and instead I had the urge to something a little different. And so the REAL Extreme crew (Ed: ahem...) was formed, and two days of fun followed! Pony trekking and white water rafting were on the agenda and having never done rafting before I was a little worried! Looking back on it now, I should have been more concerned about the pony trekking, because by God, what an experience!!

Mounting was interesting as it became apparent that Phillipa, the tallest girl, was going to end up on the midget Pony, her feet inches from the ground. My horse decided it didn't want to do anything and so would randomly stop, causing pile ups behind. On one of these occasions, the randy horse that Felicity was trying to ride took it upon itself to mount my horse!!!
And so swapping of horses began, and Ellie ended up on the guide's horse, disappearing off into the sunset like a right little cowgirl. And then somehow, Phillipa ended up sliding off her pony! (I say sliding off, because you can't really fall from that height!) And all along we were envious of Mark's horse who hadn't stepped out of line at all.

But all in all, a good couple of days indeed. Rafting was great and I'd recommend it to everyone. And to be fair, I've never done horse riding as extreme as that before!