Peru part 1 (Cusco) Odyssey 2014

Arriving in a foreign country during political protests, particularly at the airport where i was arriving at was interesting to say the least. The road blockades and subsequent diversions around the outskirts of Cusco, made for an awesome scenic tour..haaa. They were not protesting about tourists, in fact when they saw we were, they let us through. Their gripe is with the Peruvian President not delivering on election promises and the cost of living. I support their plight.
Cusco is an amazing place. My Hotel (Kenamari Hotel) went out of their way to ensure every moment of my short stay went smoothly. Even to the point of coming and collecting my bags and me from a blockade and scurrying us to the safety of the hotel on foot.

Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire which lasted until those nasty and violent Spanish conquesters came and destroyed it. Gone are the Spanish now and back is the spirit of the Incan.

As I always like to do, i walked the back streets, up the steep and steps filled roads to get lost to find my way again. The people are friendly towards us Gringos as tourism is a massive income for this relatively poor country.  The plazas around central Cusco are full of life, i recommend walking to other plazas as there are more locals there and less tourists. 

The tourism and the operations are run perfectly, and Australia should take a note of the processes and interpersonal ways that Peruvians approach their tourism. And I work in the industry back home!!

I thoroughly recommend doing the Cusco City tour, which I thought was going to be a boring tour of even more boring Spanish churches ( note previous comment about Spaniards of old). However I was mistaken 100% and was guided through the older Incan cities and temples that are in and around Cusco.

The Temple of the Sun is in central Cusco however the other temples are located above Cusco between 3500-3800 metres above sea level.  These were used for ceremonial purposes and as the gateway to the Sacred valley.

Machu Picchu was simply a must, and its easy to see why it is the signature tourist destination for Peru. Its awe inspiring and if it is not already on your bucket list, put it on it. The transit to Macchu Pichu in itself is worth the trip and I recommend paying the little bit extra for the Vistsdome.  The town at the base of the mountain is quaint and the bus ride up the 20 or so hair pin turns is a laugh ( or cry, depends on what you are like with heights)!! 

Cusco wasn't originally on my itinerary as my focus was the Amazon, and clearly my thinking in this department was wrong.  Thanks to my Boss (Dom) for info and insight from his travels here. I already want to return, ill put my leave application in asap ;) 

Off to Lima and then into the Amazon Jungle on Saturday morning!!! 

Europe part 6 UK ( The Finale) Odyssey 2014

After another easy journey travelling from the North of England back to London, i arrived on the doorstep of my good mate from Aussie, Jonno. What proceeded was an evening, night and morning of nothing less than Shenanigans...yes Shenanigans...his house in Clapham was filled to the brim with Aussies all on their own Odyssys, and we shared our stories, drank and were merry.

I then had the good fortune to have to pick up my daughter from London Victoria train station who had finished her own UK boarding school adventure and had been holidaying with a school friend in Brighton. After meeting up we travelled back to Essex for a rest and to collect ourselves for our final week in London.

Monday was spent in Central London and we went to Maddam Tussauds wax museam. Wow, the place had changed quite a bit since Zoes mum and I were there 20 years earlier, many new exhibits and setups..and the "Spirit of London" ride that we both really enjoyed. There was a massive lineup for the One Direction exhibit, of which we lined up and Zoe got her picture taken with them. Another notable exhibit was the Dungeon, which included Live actors, well done indeed, i did get scared, which is quite rare, i usually just giggle a lot :).

Tuesday was a rest day spent organising ourselves for the rest of the week.

Wednesday we saw "The Book of Mormon"... Wow x 1000. What a hoot from start to finish. We had awesome seats and Zoe got to meet the stars at the stage door after the show. We then went out for dinner in Soho with Jonno and enjoyed the ambience of Leiscter square, one of my favourite parts of London.

Thursday we travelled to North Tawnton in Devonshire to visit some old friends who knew me and Zoes mum when we lived in the UK nearly 20 years ago. I really loved the countryside, the hills and dales..and was told that is where the play and subsequent movie "Warhorse" was set...we really enjoyed the company of Abby and Barry and their dog Jordie.

After a lightning trip back to London, we organised our bags and on Monday 24 Feb both traveled to Heathrow airport, with Zoe getting on her Big bird back to Oz and me on my own to Miami in the states en route to Peru for the final leg of this amazingly comprehensive awesome trip of a lifetime :) #grateful.

Europe part 5 UK (Yorkshire) - Odyssey 2014

After a brief rest day at Dave and Claire's house in Essex, I took a train to the North of England to Kingston Upon Hull. I traveled there to meet with a old lost friend whom I lost contact with almost 20 years ago. When I lived in the UK in the mid 1990's I met with Boris, who was visiting his friend Max in the apartment above where I was living with my daughter's mother at the time. We instantly hit it off and went out and had many shenanigans in London way back before the Internet was common. Boris invited me to visit him in Israel which I did for a couple of weeks, and had an awesome time visiting all the historical places that one does visit in Israel. I ultimately ventured home and ended up loosing contact with Boris, and felt very strongly that something had happened to him in conflict in Israel. It was not until I randomly searched for him on Facebook in October last year and to my surprise, there he was with a profile. I sent him a friend request, which was accepted immediately and a link to his skype account. Within 30 minutes here I after almost 20 years having a video call with someone whom I thought was not with us any more. So elated with this revelation that we immediately made plans to catch up when I was in the UK. Boris, is now part of a busy household of five...yes five children in Hull. And a successful businessman and property developer. It was very interesting to hear about the path he traveled over the past 20 years that led him to being in Yorkshire for now the past 15 or so years. His English and comprehension of life is better than most, and like most of my good mates, we quickly slipped into that comradeship that we had 20 years ago....it's like the years hadn't passed. Hat's off to Boris's lovely wife Anna, who has the helm and manages the frenetic nature of her kids lives with aplomb and always with a smile. It was just beautiful to be around, little Eva, Mia, Emily..the boxer Dylan and the future Basketball star Oliver. I had a bit of trouble with the Yorkshire accent, and I'm sure they had trouble with my Aussie accent and slang words that are thrown in as a natural part of our Antipodean lingo. To be honest I really noticed my Aussie accent in Yorkshire, funny how you don't notice it in your own country. haaa. I had the privilege of traveling with Boris and Family to York to visit that lovely city again and the National Rail Museum, the old town of Beverly and experience the country village of Cottingdom, which I was always mis pronouncing with my Aussie accent..haaa. I thoroughly enjoyed travelling through Hull with Boris has he worked and managed his properties and the many discussions we had on business, his ventures and my ventures. It was cold, wet and windy, and probably a very true Yorkshire experience, the Summers are not long here, so I do feel that what I experienced was a traditional local and family experience in this part of the world. Looking forward to seeing this family again when I return in August for a wedding :)