Salta - Machu Picchu (9)

ENGLISH VERSION BELOW:

Mae cymaint wedi digwydd yn y mis ddwiethaf, mae`n mynd i gymryd oes i sgwennu`r cyfan - felly sori os ydy ychydig yn hir wyntog!

Roedd Salta yn le hyfryd i ymlacio ar ol tair noson ar fws o Brazil (wedi cymryd mor hir gan fod llufogydd a protestio ar bron pob ffordd roedd angen arnom ni).   Fe llogon ni gar am ddiwrnod a mynd am dro ir mynyddoedd a gweld yr holl bentrefi bach.  Diben y daith oedd dilyn y taith tren "I`r Cymylau" a cyrraedd uchelder o 4460metr uchben lefel y mor, ac roedd y ffordd yn droellog ac yn fwdlyd.  Ar y ffordd nol, rhoddon ni lifft i hen ddynes oedd am gerdded dros 15k yn y glaw - doedd dim dannedd genddi ond roedd hi`n hoff iawn o siarad, ond doedd John na fi yn deall gair roedd hi`n ei ddwud!

Wedi penderfynnu nad oedd digon o amser gennym ni i groesi nol i mewn i Chile i fynd i Anialwch yr Atacama, dyma ni`n neidio ar fws i Bolivia, ac er iddo gymryd ddwywaith yr amser y dyai wedi oherwydd tirlithriad, dyma ni`n cyrraedd y border, cael ein stamp a cherdded dros y bont i mewn i Bolivia!  Roedd yr olygfa yn wych.  Hen fenywod mewn sgertiau melfed a bowler hats du yn cario plant neu nwyddau mewn sioliau lliwgar ar eu cefnau.  Wrth gwrs, roedd y border yn ceos llwyr, a dim ond 10 munud gyda ni i gyrraedd yr orsaf tren.  Ond ar ol talu bachgen 1 Boliviano (tua 7 ceiniog) dyma fe`n ffeindio taxi i ni a bant a ni ar wyb i`r orsaf tren.  Bron i John methu`r tren wrth feddwl fod digon o amser ganoddo i ol potel o ddwr, a fi`n sgrechain or ffenest yn dweud wrtho frysio!

Roedd y daith yn hyfryd, pasio trwy sawl pentref bach gyda adeuladau wedi eu gwneud o gerrig a mwd syml.  Ar ol 4 awr, cyrraed Tupiza, i beth roedden ni yn meddwl oedd yn dref mawr - ond yr un adeuladau mwd oedd yno, a anodd iawn oedd credu fod 20,000 o bobl yn byw yno. Empanadas i swper (pasties bach caws) a noson cynnar gan fod braidd dim Bolivianos gennym ni a`r banc ar gau tan y bore.

Dranoeth, neidio i gefn 4x4 gyda 3 arall a dechrau ar ein taith 4 niwyrnod drwy mynyddoedd de Bolivia i fyny tuagat Salar de Uyuni.  Teithio am ychydig ar hyd yr un llwybr a fu Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid yn ystod eu diwrnodau olaf, a hawdd oedd gallu eu dychmygu nhw yn diawlio`r tirlun anghroesawgar yma!  Roedd y tirlun yn hyfryd i ni, creigiau mawr coch ym mhob man, ond roedd fy llygaid i ar gau rhanfwyaf wrth i ni deithio i fyny ochrau mynyddoedd serth creigiog!  Stopio am ginio mewn cae llawn llamas a dysgu fod y pethau lliw yn eu clustaiau yn dynodi pa mor hen oeddent.  Anifeiliaid pert iawn, a ges i pang o gywilydd pan sylweddoles i ein mod ni`n bwyta humitas llama (sef corn wedi ei masho i mewn i pwlp wedi ei stwffio gyda llama), ond blasus dros ben.

Aros mewn pentref bach bron 5000mulm y noson hono mewn stafell syml.  Roedd cur pen ofnadwy gan bawb erbyn hyn orherwydd yr uchelder, ond dyma ni´n cael cynnig matte coca (math o de gyda dail coca) a dyma cur pen yn diflannu`n llwyr.  Roedd hi`n ofnadwy o oer y noson hono, sach gysgu + 4 blanced gwlan llama!  Roedd yr uchledler yn effeithio gymaint ar ein cyrff fel ein bod ni allan o wynt jyst yn troi yn y gwely!

Codi am 5 dranoeth a parau ar ein taith. Dros y 2 ddiwyrnod nesaf, fe welon ni llwyth o lynoedd, rhai gwyn, gwyrdd, glas a choch, miloedd o flamingos a sawl pentref bach wedi eu cuddio ar ochr mynydd. Anhygoel i weld pobl yn byw mor bell o unman mewn amgylchiadau annodd.

Ar y pedwaredd diwrnod, cyrraedd Salar de Uyuni, y llyn halen mwyaf yn y byd, yr un maint a Gwlad Belg! Gethon ni ychydig o sioc i weld ei fod o dan 2 fodfedd o ddwr, ond reodd yr olygfa yn anhygoel. Reodd hi`n annodd gweld lle reodd yr awyr yn dechrau, ac fe gethon ni lot o hwyl yn tynnu lluniau dwl a mwynhau yr unigrwydd ar y llyn.

Y noson hono, ar ol cwpwl o ddiodydd ffarwel, dyma ni`n dal y tren 1.45 y bore i Oruro er mwyn cyrradd La Paz erbyn amser cinio.  Ein bwriad oedd teithio yn syth i Rurrenbaque, er mwyn mynd ir jwngl, ond gan ei bod hi`n glawio, cafodd ein awyren ni ei orhurio 3 gwaith. Ar y pedwerydd diwyrnod, dyma ni´n cael hedfan or diwedd gyda cwmni`r fyddin, a glanio mewn cae yng nghanol y jwngl!  I mewn i 4x4 arall ar gyfer ein taith 4 awr i`r Amazon, ond ar ol awr o deithio dod ar draws sawl lori yn sownd yn y mwd! Roedd ein gyrrwr ni yn meddwl y byddai`n boisib i ni fynd drwy´r mwd, ond bu rhaid i ni dalu tractor lleol i`n tynnu ni allan.  Am y 3 awr nesaf, fuon ni`n gwthio`r 4x4 yn fwy nag oedden ni ynddo, ac ar ol iddi dywyllu dyma`r gyrwr yn rhoi i fyny a cherdded bant i chwilio am help.  Reodd tipyn bach o ofn arnyn ni erbyn hyn a roedden ni yn fwd i gyd! Ond allan o dimunman, dyma cwch yn ymddangos - doedden ni ddim hyd yn oed yn sylweddoli ein bod ni`n agos at y dwr!  Felly mewn a ni i`r cwch a dechrau padlo i lawr beth all ond gael ei ddisgrifio yn `swamp`, yn y tywyllwch, yn cael ein pigo´n ddiddiwedd gan mosquitos, a`n tywyswr ni`n gweiddi allan am "Edwardo" - pwy bynnag oedd e!!!  Ta waeth, ar ol awr, dyma ni`n dod ar draws golau, a diolch byth ein man cysgu, ac Edwardo (a oedd yn cysgu!!)  Felly ar ol 8 awr, dyma ni`n cyrraedd pen y daith gyda mwy na 500 o gnoiadau mosquitos rhyngom ni!

Roedd ein tridau yn y jwngl yn hyfryd ar ol hyny, llwyth o anifeiliad yn cynnws dolphins pinc, kapuarra, crocodeils, toucans, mwnciod a llwyth mwy.  Diolch byth, roedd ein taith yn ol ir Rurrenbaque ychydig yn haws ac fe gadawodd ein flight ni yn ol i La Paz ar amser!

Yn syth ar fws lleol gyda pawb a`i frawd a`i llama i Copacobana ar lan llyn Titicaca, y llyn hwylio uchaf yn y byd.  Ymweld a Isla del Sol, man gannwyd yr Incas. Croesi i mewn i Peru wedyn ac ymweld a Ynsyoedd Uros - ysydoedd `reed`ar lyn Titicaca gyda pobl dal yn byw arnynt - pobl difyr dros ben!  Aros dros nos gyda teulu ar ynys fach Amaranti ar y llyn, lle mae nhw dal yn byw bywyd traddodiadol dros ben - dim trydan ac yn byw oddi ar y tir yn hollol.  Fues i`n helpu merch hynaf y ty gydaì gwaith cartref mathemateg - tipyn o sialens gan mae Quechua yn unig oedd hi`n siarad a fi ond gyda ychydig o Sbaeneg!  Y noson hono gethon ni ein rhoi mewn gwisg traddodiadol a`n cymryd i ddawns yn neuadd y dref - roedd yn borfiad ychydig yn `touristy`ond lot fawr o hwyl, a roedd mamgu ein teulu ni rili yn mwynhau ac yn dawnsio yn fwy egniol na neb!

Ymlaen yn wedyn i Cuzco, Prifddinas yr Incas, ac i ddechrau ein taith 4 niwyrnod drwy mynyddoedd Peru ar hyd yr Inca Trail i Machu Picchu.  Reodden ni yn nerfus dros ben cyn dechrau`r daith, yn poeni os oedden ni`n ddigon ffit, ond roedd y diwrnod cyntaf yn weddol hawdd, ond yr ail yn hunllef! Codi am 6 er mwyn cerdded i fyny "Dead Woman`s Pass" i uchder o 4200 erbyn 1 or gloch!  Doedd y tywydd ddim yn arbennig a welon ni ddim byd ond ein traed a niwl yr holl fordd, ac erbyn i ni lusgo ein hun i`r top, roedd hi`n glawio`n wael, felly nethon ni ddim hyd yn oed stopio, a dechrau ar ein taith dwy awr i lawr steps Inca yr holl ffordd i`n man gorffwys!  Roedd y tywydd y trydydd diwrnod yn waeth ac erbyn i ni gerdded i fyny ac i lawr dau mynydd arall, roedden ni wedi ymladd ac yn lyb i`n croen!  Diolch byth, fe gliriodd hi erbyn y prynhawn a dyma ni`n gweld y mynyddoedd gwych on amgylch am y tro cyntaf!

Codi am 4 ar ein diwrnod olaf er mwyn cyrraedd y Sungate erbyn torriad gwawr a chael ein croesawi yno gan heulwen braf a gweld Machu Picchu am y tro cyntaf!  Teimlad eitha emosiynniol i ddweud y gwir, gweld y dref anhygoel yma ar ben y mynydd a meddwl sut oedd yr Incas yn gweud bywyd yn annodd iawn iddyn nhw eu hun!!

Gethon ni grwydro`r safle cyn i`r bysiau tourist gyrraedd, ond i fod yn onest, roedd pawb wedi ymladd gymait fel roedd hi`n annodd gwerthfawrogi`r profiad a pawb yn chiwlio am gornel bach er mwyn tynnu esgudiau a chael nap bach!!

Cinio gyda`r criw i gyd, y staff a`r proters, dynion anhygoel oedd wedi cario`r pebyll, bwyd ayyb ar hyd y daith!  Roedd John a fi yn stryglo gyda´n bagiau bach, a`r dynion yma yn cario hyd at 25kg yr holl fordd, a rhanfwyaf mewn sandals!  Does dim geiriau i ddisgrifio pa mor anhygoel o ffit oedd y dynion yma!  Yn anffodus, fe fwyton ni rhywbeth nad oedd yn cytuno a ni, a ry`n ni`n dau wedi bod yn gwely am ddau niwyrnod yn dioddef.  Ond ymlaen heno ar y bws nos i Araquipa.  Dim ond pythefnos ar ol, a ry`n ni mewn panic i weld yr holl bethau sydd ar ol i`w gweld.

Gobeithio fod pawb yn iawn - ry`n ni`n edrych ymlaen yn fawr at weld chi eto!  Hwyl am nawr!

ENGLISH VERSION:

Hello All,

Well its been a while so this is a long entry for you all!!.  So we arrived in Salta in Northwest Argentina, it tooks us 3 days to get there due to knee deep water and a protest so we found a comfy hotel and relaxed.  The town is very close to the Chilean and Bolivian borders and we spent our time visiting the interesting Inka and pre-Inka attractions, these included child Mummies in the town museum that were almost totally intact including hair and clothes.  We also hired a car for the day and followed a dirt road that went along the side of a old railway line to a point 4500m above sea level.  The driving was exciting to say the least-a bit grand theft auto, luckily Ffi slept most of the way.

After Salta we crossed the border into Bolivia, well we walked across the bridge and got our passports stamped on the other side!.  We then got a train to a place called Tupiza, we planned to do our tour of the worlds largest salt lake from there.  I nearly missed the train as i was sent out to find ice cream for Ffi, the conductor told me i had 5mins then shut the door and the train started to pull away-I managed to get on as it was moving, the conductor thought it was funny, all Ffi had to say was "where´s my ice cream", honestly.  The train journey was very picturesque, we were travelling through the area that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had ended their days-I was beginning wish they would show up on the train and finish the conductor off.

We got to Tupiza and the next morning started our 3 night tour to the Salt lake.  We travelled through the surrounding valleys and got to see some amazing lagoons, geysers and lots of wildlife, maybe one too many Llamas.  It seems that if we weren´t seeing the Llamas we were eating or wearing them!!.  Our group of 5 was made up of Helen, Cath and Ben.  The girls were from England while Ben was Canadian, with a guitar.  We spent our nights in some tradional Bolivian accomadation whilst singing some un-Bolivian songs!.  The highlight was the salt lake, in parts you can´t see where the sky meets the earth.  The trip was loads of fun and we had a bit of a farewell party in Uyuni, see pics and the effects of a drink named after llamas!, before Ffi and I stumbled onto a train at 1.45am to La Paz.

Needless to say when we got to La Paz we were pretty tired.  We met a nice bloke called Gavin who was staying at a hostel called the Brew house and we decided to tag along.  We didn´t get much sleep that night as the hostel was so loud you could hardly speak to each other in the bar, the rooms weren´t much better and we moved to a place down the road called Arthy´s, previewed above.  We explored La Paz, a very interesting city with a witches market selling Llama feotus amongst other things and booked our tour to the Pampas area of the Amazon.  Unfortunately the landing strip we needed to fly to turned out to be a strip of grass and as it was raining our flight got cancelled 3 times.  We eventually got there, but with a different airline, which prompted our travel agent to say, "i´m glad we changed, the other airline isn´t that safe anyway", thanks for telling us before love.

Once we arrived in the small town of Rurrenbaque, our leaving place for the Pampas, we were quickly hearded into the back of a jeep for a supposed 4 hour trip into the jungle.  It had been raining alot and after about an hour we came across about 7 lorries stuck in mud.  Our driver tried to go around and got stuck, this was the 1st of many times we got out in knee deep mud and pushed the 4wd truck.  It was starting to get late and we were pushing the truck more than we were riding in it, our guide kept re-assuring us that we only had 2 km to go.  So, it was pitch black and the mosquitos were out in force when our guide and our driver decided to wonder off, leaving us with Hilda the cook(poor woman had fallen flat on her face in the mud).  After about half an hour a boat slid up beside us, we didn´t even know we were by a river or a swamp as it turned out to be, and we were transferred into it.  We spent the next hour paddling through the swamp whilst our guide called out somebodies name, turned out to be the person who was supposed to meet us, he had obviously given us up for dead as we were 4 hours late!.  We banged into trees and reeds and good knows what whilst getting eating alive by mossies, see pics.  In fairness to our guide, Norman, he got us to the camp and we had cold showers and amazingly Hilda cooked for us...she washed first thankfully.  The mossie bites were too many to count, Ffi got biten through the pocket of her jeans....on her bum, picture not included.

The next few days in the Pampas made up for the journey, the scenery was amazing and we got to see loads of wildlife including pink Dolphins (yes they do exist),Caymans, Kaipawaru (a huge kind of rodent that looks like a guinea pig on steriods), vultures, owls, parrots and 4 different kinds of monkeys, these proved to me that evolution must be the true way of the world as they seem to recognise Ffi as one of there own and thus proceeded to throw food at her and pee on her.  We also went piranha fishing in the same swamp we paddled down in the dark on our first night which was abit strange.  Thankfully it didn´t rain whilst we were there and the journey back did take 4 hours.

After flying back to La Paz we got a local bus to a place called Copacabana on lake Titicaca.  It turned out to be a great town with very good trout on offer, we decided to take what turned out to be a quick tour to Isla del Sol from here before crossing the border into Peru and doing a 2 day tour to Amatani and Taquille islands also on lake Titicaca (its massive).  This 2nd tour included us staying with a family on Amatani island.  This was a great experience as it was a total change from the normal trips available.  We stayed with a family of 7 who fed us and took us to the fiesta at night, they also lent us the tradional clothing needed for the fiesta, see pics.  Ffi looked very fetching in her skirt, blouse and belt, whereas i looked kind of like a comedy Clint Eastwood in a poncho and a wolley hat.  We got back early and blew the candle out for a very good night s sleep, must have been all the dancing.

Next it was onto Cusco our starting place for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  We had knowhere booked and fluked a great hotel, the Kamila Lodge for those of you still travelling, before checking in with Peru Treks our tour guide for the 4 day hike.  On the first day of the trek we got a bit of rain but it wasn´t too bad and the trek was fairly easy going.  They next day was the killer, it was a almost constant 6 hour up hill trek over Dead Womans Pass, reaching an altitude of 4200m (approx 13000ft), it was getting harder to breathe the more we climbed.  The next day was slightly easier although we were definately feeling the tiredness, our sleeping conditions were tents with huge sleeping bags which was okay but we were pretty stiff in the mornings.  The rain was pretty bad as well so everything was damp and dirty, the blessing was the food which was great and plentiful, we had a very good team of guides and porters.  On the last day the 2 hour climb to the sun gate was very challenging but the view of Machu Picchu was worth it, see pics.  Overall it was a tough trek and I was glad we made it, thank god I have given up smoking, alot of people struggled although there was one lady of 79 years doing it at the same time as us and she finished it-not bad 50km in 4 days mostly up hill at 79.

We are now in Cusco waiting to set off to Colca Canyon than we make our way up to Lima to fly home.

We hope you enjoy this latest installment, not sure if it will be our last, but we are sure we will see you all soon,

Take care

John and Ffixx