Cusco

It was a terribly long flight from Miami to Lima. It didn't help that our flight was a couple of hours delayed. Arriving slightly dazed in Lima, we took the next flight out to Cusco.

Even though we were well aware on effects of the altitude sickness since Cusco was over 3,000m above sea level - we were pretty confident that we would have no problems. After all, we used to frequent the Alps and have never suffered from altitude sickness. And, boy were we wrong!!! KL and I were sick the first few days - we were confined mostly in the hostal. That said, those knowing KL - we did still managed to get some nice chinese takeaway nearby to compensate for the pain and suffering.

Plaza de Armas - at the main square of the city.

Houses perched on the slopes of the hills.

Locals adorned in their traditional attire are especially for the tourists. You see them on the streets stopping tourists for photo oppurtunity for 1 Peruvian Sol. It's either that or kids trying to sell you postcards or constant harrasment by touts attempting to sell you travel packages to Machu Picchu etc... I guess tourism comes with a cost.

We ventured out on the local bus to a nearby town called Pisac. There wasn't much to do there except for the archealogical ruins and the local market.
KL having a go at llama herding.
An elderly selling powdered dye. The colourful embroidered shawls.

Many varieties of corn found in the market.


A statue of Jesus watching over the city.
One of my many favourite photos taken by KL.

Since we were not up for the 4 day trek up to the Lost City - blaming it on the altitude sickness and the heavy rain season, we cheekily took the comfortable and easy way up instead - the mountain train. Signs of old age (KL was suprsingly quick to agree this time - probably due to the delapitating effects of the altitude we experienced days earlier)! And so we joined the throngs of people queueing up to get tickets to get into the ruin. And, to think this is not even peak season!

The map outlining the layout of the Inca ruins - it's huge!

Locals hawking their wares to passengers in the train. If we were not backpacking for the next few months, I'd definitely be tempted to buy!

The terraces use for planting crops.

The llama happily posing for the classic postcard shot.

The magnificient Inca ruin, Machu Picchu.

The sun dial. If you look closely at the right-hand corner of a sun dial (that's the block of stone on the bottom right), you will see that it's slightly chipped. Apparently, a beer company thought it was a good idea to bring a crane up to film for an advertisment. The crane swung the wrong way mid filming and knocked a chunk off the block.

It was so hard to get so close to a llama - we struck gold when we came upon this friendly fellow sitting pretty on the terrace. We managed to get this shot, though as you can see I was slightly apprehensive - taking into consideration my big brother's advice (fan of the comic Tin Tin) not to get too close less you want to get spit on you.

Patagonian Range

Seven more days before I officially end my travelling-bum days and rejoin the rat-race (oh yes, got the job offer last Friday). Thought I'd better get on with organising our photos from our Round-the-world trip. KL and I have been meaning to do it for so long since we returned to London but, somehow we've managed to keep putting it off.

Anyway, as I plonk myself on the sofa, sifting through the many many photos (a shocking 40GB!) we took - I have ( yet again) managed to get myelf distracted; ending up on my blog site instead. So, here you go - some shots from Patagonia, Argentina.

El Chalten, a small remote village located at the foot of the Fitz Roy Mountain Range. It really reminded me of a cowboy town that you see on tv - unpaved roads, full of dust and a place where you see more horses than people.

A view of the mountains from the Mirador.
The magical sky of Patagonia. The sunsets are like none we have ever seen - a different display every evening.

Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the world's natural wonders.

The vastness of the glacier in comparison to a cruise ship.

The flora and fauna of the Patagonian... a fox enjoying the view.

... the Ilamas, well, the Llamas were keeping themselves occupied. Mind you the big guys was still at it even with a bus load full of wide-eyed tourists filming and snapping away.

Stunning sceneries in the National Park.

Parilla - succulent barbecued patagonian lamb. A meal we had practically every day - we've never eaten so much red meat in our lives.

Artois Championship

Being a housewife (or, as KL likes to call it - the datin lifestyle) is definitely not for me. I have to admit, I really enjoyed it the first few weeks but the novelty has since worn off as there is so much you can watch on tv and clean.

So, I'm now actively looking for a job - I reckon KL will be pleased. He's probably stressed up with my daily persistent phone calls asking him when he will be home from work! Haha.. ;)

I was at the Artois Championships last week. Got to see the British players Murray, Bogdanovic, the Chilean Gonzalez (to name a few). The seats were pretty limited, the atmosphere was not as great ... well, to put it lightly, it wasn't Wimbledon.

Some shots from the championships..

Gonzalez in action.

Chinese Junk

Apparently, according to a friend of ours this is a rare sight in Hong Kong - clear skies and a chinese junk in sight. So, we were really lucky considering we just spent a night there en-route back to Malaysia.

Happy Birthday to me!!

Aston Martin DB7 as my birthday present! ........I wish! Well, a girl can dream can't she?

We had a couple of gift vouchers to be used at Drivers Dreamdays. These guys are the organisers of a fun day at the race track where you can test drive the supercar of your choice. And so I chose the super-sleek and uber-sexy Aston while KL pitted his strength against the wild and bucking-bull of a Lamborghini.

After a few laps with a qualified race intructor, we were let loose on the track. Nothing, believe you me, nothing prepared me for the exhiliration as I eased down on the pedals and heard the engine revving up! The scenery simply flew past me in a flash and the din from the engine somehow tranformed into a soothing symphony of power. These cars were certainly made for the race course as we thrashed it around corners at high speed and slammed down the accelarators on the straight stretches. I mean, what else can you say when you are hitting 0 to 100km/h in less than 5 seconds?? Well, KL said he "peed a little".

All in all, a wonderful day out as we watched other dream-drivers have their go at other supercars (Ferrari, Porsche etc).

KL posing with the Lamborghini.

Catch me with if you can!

The Great White Zambezi

We were contemplating long and hard whether to go for the rafting trip after hearing so many horror stories from fellow rafters who've been. Every single rafting trip has been accompanied with an accident - a guy air-lifted from the ravine after hurting his back, a girl in a neck brace, a girl who lost her basketball shorts and was left with her bikini bottoms! Honest to goodness!

Anyway, after weighing the pros and cons - we thought what the heck! Who knows when we'll be back again - so we went. (Mum - if you are reading this KL put me up to it! :p )

We signed up with SAFPAR (http://whitewater.safpar.com/) for the full day trip with our hostel. Drinks, snacks and transportation were included. Had 30 minutes worth of introduction and safety advice before we ventured down the river.

The guides were amazingly good and very impressive especially the way they manouvered the kayaks & rafts, and efficient and quick in pulling up the casualties who had fallen in. There were 12 rafts out that day, and KL and I were with a group of students from the States led by Babyface, our guide.


We were very fortunate that out of the 23 rapids, we fell in only twice. Once on a Class 4 and another on a Class 5 rapid! We knew we were going down when Babyface 'parked' us at the side of the river before attempting the rapid by checking our vest and helmets were securely fastened! It was an exhilarating experience - a real treat for an adrenalin junkie! We were knocked over then swept away by the massive rapids, struggling to catch our breaths in between the rapids - sucking in more water than air.

Going... going..

GONE....!

Do give it a try - though not recommended for the faint hearted!

Ps: We stayed at Jollyboys Backpacker in Livingstone, Zambia (http://www.backpackzambia.com/) - highly recommended. Though, if you are thinking of getting the private huts - make sure you book before hand.

Latest update from London

Well, I'm back! Finally got myself a brand-spanking-new Dell laptop last week and got connected today. Yooohooo...!!

After our 10 month travel, KL is back at work (he had only 2 days of rest before starting work - poor thing) while I'm still at home bumming around. A proper rest is definitely required after all the travelling we've done ie. lugging our heavy rucksacs, planning our next destination, looking for accomodation for the night. Don't get me wrong. The trip was excellent, had a excellent companion (who did most of the planning! hehehe..), met a lot of people, had lovely experiences, saw lots of places, ate a lot good food and wine - definitely wouldn't have missed it for the world!

That said, it's really nice to be back in the comforts of our home. Oh well, back to reality... now that I'm connected to the internet - I'd better start looking for a job. No excuses this time! ;)

Below is a photo (taken by Noel who's visiting) in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which runs under the River Thames and is 1217ft in length and about 50ft deep. It's a pretty touristy place, jam packed with people especially over the weekend and quite often you encounter some idiots who cycle along the tunnel when you are not supposed to. On one end of the tunnel is the Island Garden Park which has a great view of the Royal Observatory and the green GMT line (only visible at night). And on the other end is the Greenwich village. A quaint place - with its weekend markets, plenty of pubs & cafes and a huge park to boast. KL and I usually spend our weekends there when the weather is good, and if we're not playing tennis - he'll be there oogling at the bikini-clad ladies tanning under the sun!