Leaving the luxury of Cancun we visited the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Rather than piling in with the masses on a tour we headed over the night before to visit early the following morning. With the weather still cool and all the hawkers too busy setting up their stalls to bother us we spent a couple of peaceful hours wandering around the empty complex trying to imagine the heads of sacrificed enemies bouncing down the pyramid’s steps. The pyramid itself is a giant representation of the Mayan calendar with the levels and steps representing the number of months and days in a Mayan year. The hoop shown below is part of an enormous ball court where losing a game often meant losing your head in yet more sacrifices.
From Chichen Itza we headed back to the coast to Tulum for more time on the incredible beaches and to swim in nearby cenotes; cave systems filled with crystal clear freshwater pools. The visibility was amazing though diving down under stalagmite formations into the deeper and darker water was pretty creepy at first, especially when you surfaced to colonies of bats. Scuba diving here looks unreal though, something for our next trip.
To finish off our time in the Yucatan Peninsula in style we checked into another all-inclusive hotel in Playa Del Carmen for two more days of cocktails and sun loungers. We managed to take time out of our hectic Mojito drinking schedule to take a lesson in Catamaran sailing. Skipping along the waves in the Caribbean sea was a wonderful experience, though Helen and her notorious sea-legs may beg to differ.
Landing in the concrete jungle of Cancun we hot-footed it straight out of there by bus, taxi, and boat to the beautiful Isla Mujeres. The beach here was one of the best we have seen anywhere in the world, with it’s white sand and incredible blue Caribbean sea. Coupled with a easy-going atmosphere and free flowing Corona it was the perfect chill out spot. We returned to our backpacking roots and rented a studio so we could self cater and after all that grease in Orlando, cheese sandwiches have never tasted so good.
We had luckily arrived in the last few weeks of the whale shark season and took a boat trip out to snorkel with them during their plankton feeding frenzy. Our friends Caz & Asa had recommended the experience but even their descriptions did not prepare us for what was in store. There were hundreds of these things ranging in size from estate cars to buses. They swim around with their enormous mouths wide open sucking up the microscopic plankton, quite a sight to behold when they’re heading straight at you. Although whale-like in size they are actually sharks but are the most docile, beautiful creatures ever and aside for the one that swam directly into me when I was looking the other way they are totally harmless. There were only four of us on the trip and our crew prepared gorgeous food and muchas cervezas, unfortunately with Mark’s sudden attack of Montezuma’s revenge that morning and my usual wobbly sea legs we didn’t consume quite as much as you’d expect of the Shiptons. A little however was sampled and needless to say I left the whale sharks with a little more than plankton to suck up!
Finding it hard to leave we decided the only thing that could drag us away was a few nights in one of Cancun’s many all-inclusive resorts. The luxurious room, amazing food, as many beers and cocktails as you care to drink and the biggest pool in Cancun made for an amazing two days. All the other guests seemed to do a double take as we arrived with our grubby backpacks, but once on pool side with a row of drinks and an enormous plate of food from the snack bar we soon blended in with all the other holiday makers.
At the end of three amazing months in South America we had a brief rest from habla Español with a short spell in Orlando en-route to Mexico. The change-over was quite peculiar because many of the staff we spoke to were Latinos speaking English and often we’d start slipping Spanish words into our conversations.
After just two days of air-con, swimming pools, flushing toilet paper and all-you-can-eat buffets we were almost ready to call off the rest of our backpacking trip and relocate to International Drive. Since we were still very much on a backpacker’s budget we rode the bus around town, made sure every trip to the all-you-can-eats was on an empty stomach and abstained from the many theme parks. We did treat ourselves to a great night of blues at B.B. King’s before flying out to Cancun, slightly worried how we’d re-adapt to a life of lumpy pillows and baño compartido.
Cali in Colombia is still known for its cocaine cartels and understandably has a bit of a sketchy reputation. Since problems still occur between the border with Ecuador so we decided to fly across instead of another day on a bus. When we landed at almost 1am with no money, no ATMs and our lift was a no-show we didn’t feel too relaxed in the last of our South American countries. People however were very friendly and we were soon safely transported to our hostel. The weather here was hot and sticky and after a night of disturbed aircon-less sleep we caught a bus and headed off to Armenia - the centre of the zona Cafeteria, Colombia’s coffee growing region. Seeing a few people smoking crack-pipes along the way was a little disconcerting, though the gorgeous countryside and our final resort of Salento eradicated all of our negative views of this country. A small village set high up amongst the coffee fincas (farms) it was a delightful place to chill for a few nights. Our B&B was wonderful, run by a lovely lady and her dog, with great breakfasts and cozy patchwork quilts, a very welcome break from skanky hostels.
We took a brilliant tour with Jesus and his daughter Sarah, acting as translator, around their family finca and coffee processing factory. They showed us the whole process from bean to cup and we drank so much espresso we were wired for the rest of the day. The following day, propelled by more superb coffee we rode Willy’s JEEPs out to the Cocora valley to walk amongst the amazing wax palms. At up 60m high, Colombia’s national tree was quite a sight. For some scale, look for Mark standing at the foot of one.
From Salento we headed onto Bogota, our last destination in South America. We both really loved the old quarter which is packed full of galleries, museums and restaurants. We paid visits to Andy Warhol and Fernando Botero exhibits and the national police museum which had a special section dedicated to the downfall of Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel. For our last meal we finally managed to track down Colombia’s signature dish. Covering all food groups and containing three different meat varieties it’s a real gutbuster.
After our recent crop of tedious bus journeys we were pleased to finally be on a short three hour ride from Baños to Quito. The bus gods had a further test for me however, when merely 30 minutes into the journey a rather weak-stomached passenger puked all over my shoulder whilst they got off the bus. This greatly amused the conductor till he realised the extent of the carnage he’d have to clean up off the seats and floor. I meanwhile was forced to have an impromptu baby-wipe dry bath, lucky to have a replacement top to change into. When we rolled into Quito we were so pre-occupied with trying to find a same day laundry service we put aside our concerns about its extremely dodgy reputation for crime and our guide book’s stern warnings. Despite all the hype we had no problems there even on the packed, allegedly pickpocket riddled metro buses and had a great time enjoying the amazing architecture of the old quarter and more delicious Ecuadorian food.
With the mystical cloud forest a few hours away we didn’t want to spend too much time lingering in the city, so after stowing our luggage at the hotel for a couple of days we snuck off for a quick visit to Mindo before our flight to Colombia. The tropical forest was almost as dense as the Peruvian jungle but much cooler due to the higher altitude. Amazingly it actually had more biting insects than the jungle and they took full advantage of my lower legs after wading up to a waterfall washed off the DEET I’d smothered on.
The forest walks and waterfalls were accessed via a 500m crossing of forest valley in a vary ropey looking ‘tarabita’ cable car. Hanging precariously above the forest must be addictive because straight after we spent an amazing hour whizzing around the canopy along zip lines. Some of the valley crossings were huge and especially exhilarating when crossed hanging upside down, ‘mariposa’ style.
After 12 hours on a variety of buses we crossed from Punta Sal to Cuenca in Ecuador. Due to a very recent armed robbery of a night bus on the same route we chose the much safer day option, soon discovering that South America’s luxury road travel hadn’t yet reached Ecuador. Thankfully Cuenca’s beautiful colonial streets were the perfect places to re-stretch our legs . As a main commercial centre for straw ‘Panama’ hats we tried to sniff out a bargain at a few workshops where these Ecuadorian creations are made. After trying on most of the hats in Cuenca and even a few $500 Monticristi superfinos we finally picked one that is currently flying back to England ready for some summertime posing.
Back on the buses for a measly 9 hours we reached Baños. Known to be heaving at the weekends, when we arrived on Sunday we couldn’t help feeling it was a bit like Blackpool, with loads of shops selling sweets, inflatable toys and crappy souvenirs. This version however is set in lush forests on the side of a towering and still very active volcano. In the week things went a bit quieter and we rented some bikes for a great 25km downhill ride. We realised our driving skills could be getting a bit rusty after we rode through an enormous one-way, pitch black tunnel. The place was momentarily illuminated with each on-coming juggernaut only to leave us blinded by the light after it left. After a lot of very cautious pedalling we finally got to the other end only to see the exit of another adjacent tunnel for our correct lane of traffic. The route actually goes on for 60km all the way to the edge of the Amazon jungle but our arses gave up after we reached some nice waterfalls and were offered a lift back to Baños in the back of a truck.
All the volcanic activity around Baños gives it plenty of natural hot springs and we spent the evening soaking in them along with half of the town. The sequence was laid out in the beginning; a burning hot bath to start, follow with an icy plunge pool and complete in a high pressure freezing cold shower to massage your muscles. When sufficiently frozen you can repeat the process. After a few goes we decided a few of the colder steps could probably be left out and after storing up as much heat as we were able we legged it back to the hotel.
After finishing our trek we caught the night bus straight out of Huaraz, heading up to Trujillo in the direction of Peru’s northern beaches. Walking the Santa Cruz was so knackering we slept like babies for most of the 12 hour journey, right up until we rolled into a very dismal looking Trujillo. With fears of soggy beach resorts ahead we were reassured to hear that the best were still over 12 hours away by bus and the climate would be completely different. In the meantime we visited Chan Chan, ruins of the world’s largest adobe city, then onto Huanchaco to see fisherman use reed surf boards and to eat ceviche, raw fish marinated in citrus and chili. Our favourite meal in Trujillo however was breakfast; turkey and chive rolls washed down with hot chocolate. Trust us, it’s the perfect combination!
From Trujillo we spent a night in Piura to break up the journey before reaching Punta Sal, our last stop in Peru. Arriving to blue skies and sunshine, we were glad to see the long stretch of cold weather bought on by the South American winter and the time spent high up in the Altiplano was finally over. Punta Sal is a sleepy seaside village with extremely quiet beaches and little to do but relax and watch the amazing show of wildlife taking place out on the waves. With plenty of beer and suntan lotion we chilled out for a few days only venturing out when we needed to visit the nearest town to buy bus tickets to Ecuador. Returning back to Punta Sal via a 40 minute tuk-tuk ride made us wish we’d planned an extra day to recover!
The flight out of the jungle took us directly to Lima and the next day we were on a bus to Huaraz in the north of Peru. Set in a valley between the Cordillera Blanca and Negra, Huaraz is the Peru’s trekking capital and where people come to take on the highest mountain range in the world outside of the Himalayas. Due to the amount of snow in Patagonia we’d managed to dodge any serious treks in South America so far, but with perfect conditions in Peru the 4 day Santa Cruz trek through the Huscaran national park was a must.
We looked a rag-tag pair in our knackered trainers and worn-out clothes compared with the rest of our group but we covered the 58km between 2900 and 4750m above sea level without a hitch. With small day bags for water, snacks and waterproofs our camping gear was sped off by donkey express and erected for our arrival. The nights were freezing cold and we piled on the thermals despite having cosy down sleeping bags. The wonderful cook woke us each morning with a cup of coca tea to help with the altitude which we chased down with an enormous breakfast to set us up for the day.
Our guide Abel was really great and helped make the trip one of the highlights of our honeymoon. The scenery throughout was absolutely incredible and words don’t really do it justice, so check out the pictures and see if you recognise Artesonraju, the peak used at the start of a Paramount Pictures film.
We took two more days in Cusco to recover from all the early mornings before flying out to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon Basin. After a brief visit to a local market to stock up on some essentials we travelled down the Madre de Dios river to the Tambo Lodge leaving the town far behind us. The next 4 days were spent exploring the jungle by foot and boat, both day and night in search of animals, birds and insects. During the nights we saw capybaras, caiman, plenty of spiders, frogs, caterpillars and even a tarantula. In the days we saw a lots of different monkeys, some turtles, snakes, macaws, cormorants, piranha, birds of prey and enough parrots at a clay lick to last a life time. As usual the mosquitoes were out in force so we we drenched ourselves in DEET to keep them at bay.
Our third day was spent visiting a eco-project with an amazing canopy walk 45m up to the top of the jungle. Unlike similar canopy walks we’ve been on in Malaysia this one felt like it was held together by the sheer will of the brave souls using it and due to a sharp incline it gave us a massive dose of vertigo on the way down. The views at the top of the tree however were awesome and whilst we ate our picnics up there a group of vultures came to perch on the adjacent branches.
Back on the ground we looked in on the project’s animal rehabilitation centre where we saw a jaguar, tapirs, toucans and lots of other weird and wonderful jungle creatures that are usually too timid to be easily seen in the wild. After a long and sweaty day we took a dip in the murky brown river. Despite assurances from our guide that the water was piranha free after 15 minutes everyone seemed pretty relieved to get back in the boat.
When we weren’t out in the jungle or stuffing ourselves stupid on the delicious food they served we relaxed in our cabin until we fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.
From Cusco we visited the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Due to the exorbitantly high cost of taking a train directly from Cusco we opted for the cheapskates route through the Sacred Valley by bus and then onto Aguas Calientes using the late night backpacker train. These days Machu Picchu is far from lost, especially in the peak season. To avoid thousands of day trippers arriving from Cusco we got up at 4:30am to make sure we got one of the first buses up to the site so we could experience the ruins in relative quiet for a few hours at least. If was definitely worth making the effort as the place is magical at dawn before the huge tour groups arrive. By walking the marked routes in reverse we felt like we had the place to ourselves at times and even found a quiet grassy spot for some sun-bathing when the queues began to form. The ruins and the mountain-top setting are both incredible and like Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu certainly lived up to the hype in our eyes and we didn’t even mind getting up at 4:30am again to catch the train back to Cusco.
