Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

Strap on a sun visor y'all! Pop in to 7-Eleven and get yourself a 64oz big gulp (That's nearly 2 litres if anyone is interested - a frankly obscene size for an individual drink.) Store some junk in your trunk and get yourself a dozen donuts. We are in the US of A.
First stop is Chicago and the first event is Segway riding. It's about halfway between cycling and walking and luckily requires you to expend almost no energy other than that required for standing up.

Rhod had been fortunate enough to have ridden a segway before in Paris last Christmas. I however had no idea whether I would take to it or not. My only hope for the tour was that I did not fall off it or ride it into anything. I achieved my goals! It was fantastic and I did not want to get off. I even managed to balance on just one foot and with no hands. We were fortunate enough to be with some nervous americans to add an element of comedy to the day. One lady would jump off in terror everytime we came to a stop and watch as the segway kept on going and rammed into the person in front. Another man had his shoulders hunched up so high for the entire 3 hours I imagine he headed straight for a massage afterwards.

I can't recommend this event highly enough. It's so much fun that I think everyone should try it. Worry not those who fear long distance travel. You needn't cross thousands of miles of water to take part. You could pop over to Paris and cruise the Louvre and the Champs Elysees. Or you could bomb on down to Budapest and....I've not been to Budapest so I've no idea what you will see but I am pretty sure it will be fun if you see it on a segway. Click on the link below and sign yourselves up.

It's a small segwaying world. When I did my tour in Paris last December we were checked in for our trip by a heavily pregnant American lady named Kelly. She wasn't the tour guide. That would be a ridiculous job for a lady so pregnant. Well 8 months on Kelly, her husband and her now 8 month old son Weston happened to be working in the Chicago office. (The baby wasn't working in case anyone was thinking of reporting them for child labour.) She said she remembered us from the tour in Paris. It was nice of her to say so even if she was making it up.

www.citysegwaytours.com

We celebrated our last night in Peru by going to a very posh seafood restaurant looking out over the seafront in Lima's Miraflores. ( The meal only cost as much as 4 mains and a drink each in Pizza Express though!) I knew it was posh when I opened my menu to find that it had no prices in it. Well mine didn't and nor did Roberta's. And do you know why? Because we're ladies and we had a ladies menu for ladies! John and Rhod's menu had the prices in and they also informed us that there was a 1000 pound bottle of wine on the list.We weren't allowed to order that one though.

Peru has been very interesting. So many amazing sights to see in just 2 weeks and so many different doctors. Pasturised food is an amazing thing. It's only when you don't have it that you realise how much you appreciate it. The final day in Lima was spent becoming the proud owner of the required items to attend any fancy dress party as a Peruvian. I expect the invites will come flocking.

We made it! The climax of our 14 day tour of Peru came in the form of Machu Picchu. We managed to drag ourselves away from peruvian doctors and hospitals to visit these spectacular inca remains. If you arrive at Machu Picchu at the right spot you feel part of a living postcard. It really lives up to all the hype.

Oh and see that mountain in the background? The tall one? Well Rhod and I can proudly say that we have climbed to the top of that!!! It is called Wayna Picchu and it took us 1 hour to climb the endless stone steps once trodden by the incas. We were joined by Karen from our group was also mad enough to attempt it and fortunately our fantastic guide Jose came with us. He told us that his record for climbing it was 22 minutes but this is nothing compared to the porters on the Inca Trail who have races and regularly hit 9 minute ascents! The view from the top was incomparable and we spent about an hour just taking in the panoramic views (and catching our breath!)

But that wasn´t enough for the three thrill-seekers. Oh no. We had heard that the view from the sun gate was also amazing so after a further 45 minutes trekking in the midday sun we finally arrived. The Machu Picchu double had been completed.

We are about to let my Mother write an entry in our blog site. I have no idea what to expect but she is a primary school teacher so I expect it will be gramatically correct at the very least. So from the italics is my Mum:

Having spent 5 months following their exploits in this blog I feel highly honoured to be given this moment of glory. Our arrival did not go as planned as you can read in the blog but I think Rhodri forgets that he must have got his sense of direction from one of us (definitely me) so our trials and tribulations with Continental were not really our fault. Anyhow, the high spot of the trip was of course seeing Rhod and Anna waving at us from the roof of the airport at Arequipa and being able to give both of them a BIG hug one each from me and on strict instructions, one each from Julia, Anna's mum. We seem to have coped quite well wth the altitude although walking anywhere at first made you feel about 90 as we got out of breath. We have bounced our way along some pretty dreadful roads to see the most amazing condors in flight. They are so majestic but sadly not very attractive close up. At Puno I had my first ride in a limousine, I had been saving that treat for my 60th birthday but I have done it now??? I should maybe tell you that a limousine is a tricycle with 2 passengers at the front and a hard working man pedalling at the back. However, later, Jose, our tour guide, told us that he had to tell them to observe the traffic lights and stop at road junctions so it was not wise to take one on our own. The floating reed islands were a sight to see and riding in a reed boat is definitely to be recommended. It was a lovely sunny day when we went so they looked delightful, but it must be a hard life. The train from Puno to Cusco went through wonderful scenery but it took us a few hours to find our land legs when we got off. To add a bit of excitement to our boring humdrum lives we decided to go white water rafting in the Sacred Valley. As we set off in the bus I noticed that there was a small Welsh flag near the driver. The rafting was enormous fun, although I think I could have paddled a bit harder. I did at one point nearly go overboard and I did lose my paddle but managed to grab it before it floated away. Juan Carlos was, I think, impressed with my efforts and he was certainly surprised to find that I can whistle loudly by putting my fingers in my mouth?? all very grown-up and motherly you will agree. After the rafting when we were having lunch on the riverbank I showed the driver my Welsh flag towel and one of the raft drivers rushed up and said 'Iechyd Da' to me. He was most impressed by my Welsh origins as most people would be?? and later when he was giving out sweets I got an extra one, which I managed to say thank you for in Welsh. Machu Picchu was sadly not a high spot for me although I did get to see it. WOW!! I was not well but had some very interesting conversations with 2 very attentive Peruvian doctors. Today in Cusco I found the office of the Peruvian Primary Teachers Union but unfortunately did not have my NASUWT card on me so I could not go and greet my brothers and sisters??? The town square in Cusco is very attractive and we finally got to taste Guinea Pig. Yuk! It was very difficult to find any meat and I know my class will never forgive me if they find out I have been eating guinea pig. Arriving back in Lima we had a ride in a collectivo which is a sort of large mini-bus and you just jump on and it costs one Sol(17p) and you can travel as far as you like. The amazing thing was that when you stop for any reason people jump on trying to sell you chocolates or water or anything else you might fancy. It is not at all like the B15 but it was more interesting and a lot cheaper. We are going to the Nazca lines and the Ballestos Islands tomorrow and I'm sure we will be just as amazed as we have been by everything else on this trip. It is a truly fantastic country, the history and the ruins are awesome and the people we have met very friendly and helpful. I am so pleased that we decided to take the plunge and set off on this adventure to meet Rhodri and Anna because it has been magical. However the difficult bit is yet to come when we have to say goodbye to them both. I will probably shed a few tears and as usual John will tell me not to be so silly because they are doing what they want to do and thoroughly enjoying themselves. John and I are off to New York for a few days before flying home and I'm sure that will be an adventure too albeit much more modern. I am now planning to have a gap year when I retire so watch out World and keep a look out for a blogspot of my travels in a couple of years time.

It`s a free day in the Sacred Valley and after a few days of seeing inca sights and museums and markets and generally taking lots of photos it was time for a change. Maybe a little extreme sports in the fashion of grade 3 white water rafting.

The happy band of rafters in this shot are me, Anna, my mum, my dad and Karen who is part of our tour group. The guy at the back shouting instructions and steering is Juan Carlos.

Grade 3 may not seem to extreme to some people but for a family who 18 years ago spent a particularly unpleasant day canoeing the Ardeche Gorge in France, grade 3 was a comfortable re-introduction to white water.

It was an excellent couple of hours on the Urubamba river including messing around in the rapids to make the boat fill up with water by all jumping in the front. We are very proud to say that none of us fell in. It´s not difficult really. When an experienced guide gives you an instruction that is for the benefit of your safety, you follow it immediately!

Not sure that my brother would be entirely happy knowing the other 3 members of his immediate family were sat in a rubber dingy floating down a river in Peru. Don`t worry Stu, we have all returned safely.

I knew islands floated. Australia, Ireland, UK and even the Isle of Wight are all just floating in the sea, right?

We`ve recently visited Puno where you can find Lake Titicaca, situated at 3810m above sea level and is deemed the world´s highest navigable lake. As an aside it`s a bit shy on oxygen when you are staying at 3810m above sea level. This is not to hard to deal with if you take it slowly but when you are given a hotel room on the 4th floor with no lift getting back and forth to the room is a challenge!

Lake Titicaca is home to the Uros people who for the last 80 years have lived on floating reed islands in the shelter of Puno Bay. The base of the islands is made from reed roots tied together and then tied to stakes in the lake bed to hold them in place on the lake. The surface is then made from layers and layers of reeds. The houses are made from reeds. The boats to get from island to island are made of reeds and the people even eat...have you guessed...reeds! All in all it`s a little bit reed-y. It`s a strange way to live. The area we vistited consists of 34 islands and is the section closest to Puno town. There is a floating medical centre and a floating school for the kids. Once a week the families go to the mainland and trade the goods they have such as reeds and fish for stuff they need like rice and fruit. Further out in to the lake there are many more islands that are not visited by the tourists.

They have an excellent way of dealing with neighbourhood disputes. If you fall out with the other families living on your island it`s very simple. Take a saw, cut off the section you want and float off and live somewhere else. That`s simple living. I wondered why you never see "Reed Islands Neighbours from Hell" on Sky.

Flight of the Condor is the name of the tour we are on. Regular readers will know that we have a habit of not seeing wildlife when we are supposed to. Lucky, to the joy of us, our travelling companions and hundreds of other tour groups we did see some Condors.

They have a wing span of up to 3 metres and a standing height of up to 1 meters 40 cms. They soar on the thermals and you could feel the intake of breath from the crowd every time they flew by. Unfortunately we were not the only tour group there. We were joined by people shouting to family members (despite the `Please Be Silent´ notice) and people edging closer to the edge of the 1.2 km drop canyon (despite the ´Keep Away From The Edge´ notice.) After an hour most people left which gave the canyon back some of its awe and wonder and the condors were able to put on a private show just for us.

Now Peru didn´t start quite as planned. I knew it was a risk to trust my parents to arrive unaided in the southern hemisphere and sure enough I was right. Thanks to Continental Airlines and their over-booking policy they didn`t get a seat on their flight from Houston and arrived in Lima one day late for the tour after a journey via Costa Rica. Luckily out tour guide Jose took this all in his stride and made arrangements for them to be collected, taken to a hotel and then get a flight to Arequipa the following moring to catch up with the group. So the grand family reunion actually took place 36 hours later than planned but they are here safe and well now. I`m not sure that they will get home un-aided but they have sometime before they need to go back to work.

Peru is a magical holiday destination but there is always the nagging worry of suffering from altitude sickness. We were feeling pretty confident that having travelled for 5 months on our own needing no more than a plaster and a paracetamol we would be fine health-wise. Wrong! I´ll spare you the details right now but if any of you would like to know more on our return we´ll be more than happy to fill you in on the gory details. Basic details Anna throat infection, Rhod food poisoning but we got the same antibiotics.

First to visit the Peruvian hospital in a small town called Chivay was me followed by Rhod 2 days later. Most people have a horrendous experience in hospital however on both occasions we were the only people in A&E and hence were seen immediately by the most friendly doctor and nurses you could hope to meet. The place was clean, airy and we were in and out in a maximum of 20 minutes, antibiotics in hand. Britain, you have a lot to learn!