Peruvian George... he came, we saw, we conquered.

Well it’s been a great last couple of weeks with the Mighty George in Peru.
After a long journey he finally made it to Lima after a six-hour delay. It did not end there as I had booked a flight from Lima to Cuzco giving George a few hours sleep and some breakfast before heading back to the airport.
Welcome to Peru George.
Cuzco was a well nice spot with some good cafes and bars so we soon put them to the test. After a day kicking around Cuzco we went north of Cuzco to some Inca sites which were well impressive especially Sacsayhuman which had some massive stones built into a wall. The workmanship in the wall was amazing - them Incas had some bloody good brickies in their time, the stones fit together so well there was no compo or pointing up let me tell ya!
The views from the area were well worth the trip with Cuzco below and the valley with snow peaked mountains. A good day had by all.
We also did a trip to the Sacred Valley in a private vehicle for the day. Again the Inca sites and surrounding area was amazing. Nice to have a private guide giving us all the spiel on the Incas. Even managed to even fit some football in, watching the Copa America and George thought there would be no football!
On Thursday morning we started the Inca trail, which, I have to say now was on the whole a major highlight. The trek was four days and at times hard work especially the second day as it was all uphill. The highest point we climbed to was at Dead Woman’s Pass – at 4200 metres, it’s nearly as high as base camp Werrington! I think George will agree that the second day was the hardest but the third day had the best scenery. Oh and camping is shit, I’m sorry but it just is. Mind you without the ropey camping there would have been no comedy moments from George and The Bear. Some of the comments are not printable but they made the fellow trekkers smile. There was a good group of people on the trek, apart from the rude Polish women - mind you if I looked like them I would have a monk on to. On the last morning of the trek we were woken at the rude hour of 3.30am but after you your first view of Machu Picchu all the hard work is worth it. The place really lives up to the hype one of the places you must see before you die, awesome. The weather was a little cloudy but clear at first so that was all good then to top it all off the sun came out and the surrounding mountains and valleys were all in view.
It was good to almost have the place to yourself at first before the muppets come up on the train. Christ by midday it was like Butlins - time for the trekkers to head down to the nearby town and have a few well earned beers.
After the highs of the Inca trail and a day relaxing in Cuzco we headed south to Arequipa on a nightmare bus journey. Should have been nine hours turning into thirteen after the delays. My mate was struggling due to a late night out with some fellow trekkers. I went home like a good boy should, early, ready for the 06.30 start, my mate staggered in at 2am oh the smile I had when I woke him at 05.45. I will let him tell you all what he was up to till 2am bless him.
Arequipa was a bit of a nightmare due to the locals striking and putting rocks all over the surrounding roads. Not helpful when you want to do a tour to Copa Canyon. Still we managed to do it and got to see the giant condors which was cool, Christ they are big uns.
All in all it was great couple of weeks and brill to have my mate come over see me. It made me realise how much I miss the crack and the laughs - so nice one George it was a good un.
How was the Mighty George?
Well he kicked ass - I was impressed and to quote one of the fellow trekkers saying goodbye to George…
‘I will miss the comedy moments’
...the bear