Cuzco

On Friday, 5th of June I finally started my journey to South America. I flew from Dublin to Madrid and from there to Lima. I was worried at first that I would spend the long transatlantic flight alone, but I was fortunate to get a seat next to an Austrian guy with whom I got along well. He seemed like good-humoured, talkative and out-going person who had been travelling quite a lot. He was traveling alone, but planned to join a group of other Austrian and German tourists in Lima and travel around in Peru with them for around 3 weeks.

When I arrive to Lima a girl from the hostel was waiting for me at the airport. I was glad to see her as I was so tired after the long flight and 8 hours of time difference that I wouldn't have been able to tell any taxi driver in which hostel I was staying. It was 10 pm local time, but 6 am in Finnish time and I wasn't able to sleep much at the plane, so at that point I was barely awake. It didn't really help that I had to wake up the following day at 3 am to cath a flight to Cuzco. I met some nice people from Netherlands and the US at the hostel so I spent an hour or so in the living room with them drinking beer and watching tv before going to bed.

It was easier than I thought to wake up the following morning, but I didn't realize how tired I really was until I managed to loose my passport at the airport and not even noticing it before it was time to board the plane! Luckily I didn't miss the plane - even thought it was question of some minutes that I would have. The flight took only an hour, but if I had gone to Cuzco by bus it would have taken almost 12 hours because of the mountain roads and slow busses. The weather in Cuzco was surprisingly cold at 7 am - just around + 5 degrees or so and the wind was freezing. The airport was pretty much surrounded by eager taxi drivers and I didn't know which one to choose so I eventually took a random one to my hostel. I paid 20 soles (5 euros, but being tired and hungry I was pissed off, because I thought I was being ripped off). Now that I think of that it was quite .. a foolish reaction considering that I'm from a country where the minimum payment for taxis at daytime is 5.5 euros and even short distances cost 8 euros. Anyway, when I got to the hostel there was a young peruvian guy waiting for me. He didn't speak a word English, but spoke Spanish slowly and very clearly so that I could understand what he was saying. He also offered me a cup of coca tea and adviced which places to visit in the city.

At first I was a little worried about walking around in the city centre alone, but when I noticed that there were also other solo travelers from Australia, Europe and the US I became more confident. I was amazed how beautiful the city was! It's said to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and for a good reason. It's surrounded by six mountains and it's influenced by both inca culture (fine arts, handicrafts) and the colonial style (architecture, goldsmith's works and woodcarvings). Close to the city centre there are picturesque parks and beautiful inca ruins. There are also colourful marketplaces where one can buy fruits, colourful handicrafts, such as ponchos and hats made of alpaca wool as well as ceramics, jewelry and hand-made instruments.











Luckily I didn't have to walk around alone long as I met another solo traveler around noon. We were both sitting outside an israeli cafè and because neither of us had company I asked him if he would like some company and said yes. He was an Australian student from Sydney and had come to Cuzco, because an Australian friend of his was about to marry a Peruvian girl and the wedding was going to be held somewhere close to Cuzco. It's a pity that I didn't a picture of him .. he was very charming with his red curly hair (he has similar hair the British pop star Mika, but auburn red). All in all he looked like a guy I could imagine of meeting on bar by the beach drinking beer and listening to Jack Johnsson or simply red. I spent half a day with him and had a great time. He was easy to approach, laid-back and easy-going. By the time he went back to his hostel it was already 6 pm and time to meet the other people who going to Machu Picchu with me. It was a relatively small group (7 members)and for some peculiar reason most of them were also Australians!To be exact 4 Australian female students, a couple in their thirties from the US and me.
The Australians had recently graduated from university and took a couple of months off before getting a "real" job. For them Cuzco and Machu Picchu was the last place to visit and it was one of the highlights of the trip. My first impression of them was positive - they seemed out-going, talkative and enthustiastic about the hiking trip to Machu Picchu. Also the guide, a Peruvian student in his twenties seemed warm-hearted and friendly. The meeting was unfortunately quite short (only half an hour or so), because we were going to start our journey the following day already at 6 am and everyone in the group had loads of things to buy (hiking equipment, altitude pills etc).

Dublin

The first stop on my journey to South America is Dublin. I originally booked my Peru-Ecuador trip in an Irish travel agency USIT, which means that I had to stop in Dublin in order to catch my flight first to Madrid and from there to Lima, Peru. I came here for 5 days to meet a good friend of mine, Simon, who let me crash at his couch as well as to shop around for the hiking clothes and Spanish books.

The day when I arrived the weather was absolutely lovely - sunny and warm, we decided to go to an Italian restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant had a special lunch offer: one big plate of food that one could choose from a big selection of dishes. There were various kinds of pastas, meats, vegetarian foods, potato dishes and salads.. and it cost only 9 €. I hadn’t eaten anything since early in the morning, so I was starving and delighted that I could start my day in Dublin with such delicious food! After the lunch I went to Simon’s place to drop my stuff there and get ready for the evening’s concert in Whelans. Simon’s friend Peter had invited us to American singerRodriquez’concert, which started around 9 pm. I was first a bit suspicious as I had never heard of the singer before, but I was positively surprised. He has a soft, smoky and really charismatic voice. He sang mainly rock ballads about women, drugs and travelling without a destination. My favourite song of his is “the inner city blues” that goes: “going down a dirty inner city side road/ I plotted/ Madness passed me by, she smiled hi/I nodded /Looked up as the sky began to cry/ She shot it”. The concert place was small - there was barely any space to move around, but atmosphere was great. Everyone was dancing and singing along. After the concert we went to a couchsurfing party to the Blue goose. There seemed to be people from all over the world. I met a girl from Bulgaria, two guys from Ireland, two girls from Brazil and one guy from the US within 3 hours. It was really nice to chat with them. Other good things about the party was that there was free food (French fries, sausages, chicken wings etc) and cheap drinks. I bought a pint of Bulmers, but I couldn’t more than half of it as it tasted so bad. I did taste equally bad last time I drank it, but I had forgotten that I didn’t particularly like the it. Well.. Besides that we had craic and I’m looking forward to the next couchsurfing parties in Argentina.



These are Simon and Peter





Rodriquez


On Sunday Simon and I woke up late in the morning. It was around noon when we got out of bed and had breakfast. The weather was even warmer (26 degrees!) than the day before, so we went to have a picnic in the park close by. It was completely packed with people throwing Frisbee, sunbathing, playing with their kids and dogs etc. It was so pleasant just to lie on the grass and let the sun warm our faces. We at bread and grapes we bought from the store and chatted about Simon’s four month journey to South America. He travelled with a big group of people there and visited among others, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina. His stories were entertaining and I got plenty of good hints about places to visit and things to try. I’m looking forward especially going to Machu Picchu as Simon told so much about how beautiful the scenery is and how unforgettable the trip was for him.



This is me and Simon

Monday was a bank holiday, so it was a holiday also for Simon. We started our day by going to the Maritime festivalin the Docklands. It’s primarily a marketplace, where people sell food, clothes and art from all over the world. We saw among others sauces from Africa, clothes from South America and art from Asia. Even though the narrow streets was completely crowded with people it was nice to stop by to listen to music and taste samples of African and Australian cuisine. From there we continued our journey to Dun laoghaire (pronounced dunleary) to sunbath and take photos. The place is a small seaside town just 20 minutes away from Dublin. It’s a really picturesque place with its two massive piers, white houses by the sea and it hundreds of meters long beach. I could actually imagine of living in a town like this, where the sea is just a stone’s throw away, there are cosy and cheap restaurants to drink wine and have craic with friends and there are small live music venues, where both local up-and-coming bands and foreign bands come to perform every now and then.





This is the east pier



Tuesday and Wednesday went by quickly. I spent the days walking around in the city centre taking photos, buying stuff that I need for my trip (such as books about Argentina and Ecuador, a Spanish phrasebook and a dictionary as well as a wind-proof jacket for my hiking trip). I must have walked around 6-7 hours each day, so I was totally knackered by the time I came back to Simon’s place. Anyway, here are some photos I took in Dublin..



Temple bar



Modern art in Dublin



St. Stephen's green