It’s hard to believe but today marks the beginning of my fifth week in Peru. I can hardly believe I’ve been here 4 weeks already, the time has simply flown by – a sure sign I’m having fun!

I haven’t written a great deal about what I’ve actually been getting up to and to be honest that’s because I haven’t yet done a great deal that’s worth writing about. I found out about 10 days ago  that a friend of mine from the UK wants to come out and join me for nearly a month (she arrives 10th June) so I’ve decided to wait until she arrives before I do all the touristy sight-seeing stuff like trekking to Machu Picchu and visiting the jungle etc.

Anyway, I can’t wait for my friend to arrive because I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun and adventures together, and also it’ll be nice having regular company for awhile because there have been occassions lately when I’ve felt a bit lonely. One of the downsides of living in Cusco is that most of the people you meet here are travellers passing through so they don’t usually hang around long enough to form any real kind of friendship.

Anyway, most of the last few weeks I’ve just been settling into Cusco and getting to know the city better. I’ve also been quite busy with client work so I’ve spent a lot of hours on my computer working although I usually work from a couple of pubs I like because they have much better wifi connection and a better atmosphere too.

I’ve had two trips to Pisac in the sacred valley where I’ve taken part in Ayahuasca ceremonies and they’ve both been amazing experiences. The place where I stayed, Paz y Luz, is just in the most incredibly beautiful and tranquil location surrounded by mountains. I would love to spend more time there but there isn’t a good internet connection unfortunately so I can’t really stay for more than a few days right now.

This morning I finally got around to enrolling at a Spanish school and I have my first class tomorrow morning. I must admit I should have done this much earlier and it’s pretty shameful of me that I’ve now been here 4 weeks and I’ve made very little attempt to learn the language. Better late than never I guess. I’ll let you know how I get on!

If I were to ask you to think of a Canadian province then chances are that you would say Ontario, Quebec or British Columbia. And if I were to ask you to think of a Canadian city then first to mind would probably be Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.

Not many people would say Nova Scotia or Halifax. It’s a fairly small part of Canada that seems hidden away on the eastern coast, a place that even most Canadians haven’t visited! It’s also where I was living for six months before I arrived in Peru.

It’s fair to say that there’s nothing flash about Nova Scotia. It doesn’t have the incredible lakes, mountains and views that you can find in Alberta and BC. And Halifax will never be quite as interesting as the likes of Montreal and Vancouver.

But what you will find is a great many warm, friendly and amazing people. And isn’t that the only thing that really matters?

I must admit I didn’t pick the best time of year to live in Canada. Canadian winters can be brutal and the one I experienced was apparently the worst in quite some time. I’ve now seen enough snow to last me a lifetime!

If you’re going to put yourself through a harsh experience like that then you definitely need to surround yourself with great people, and I was very blessed to be surround by many great people. Winter? I hardly noticed it!

So I just want to take this opportunity to thank all the amazing people I met in Nova Scotia who made me feel so welcome and at home.

That includes, but is certainly not limited to (and big apologies if I miss your name):

The great people I met in and around Wolfville – Kimberly, Beverley, Steve, Mia, Angela, Jason, Kaitlyn, Mike, Joe, Aundrea and everyone I ever played poker with, or had a beer with at Paddy’s or Joes! And not to forget Glen and Mary who were awesome landlords!

The wonderful people of The Lighthouse – Robbie, Anke, Phil, Leandra and Tim. You guys are amazing, and thanks for always providing me with a bed in Halifax when I needed one.

All the beautiful souls I met through Art of Living – Joanna, Adam, Keren, Wylie, Kira, Jane, Heather, Al, Antoine, Gwyn, Molly and many more whose names I can’t think of right now. The world definitely needs more people like you!

Other amazing people in Halifax – Navjeet, France, Michel, Strewan, D’Arcy, Angela, Eli, Robie, Selah and the other Ukeladies. Plus countless others I met at parties and events.

All the great people of the Halifax farmers market who I had the pleasure of seeing every Saturday morning, particularly Elizabeth, Rae and Megan. And the big gay guy who makes the most incredible breakfast wraps I’ve ever tasted. Without a doubt the best breakfast in the world! That alone makes Halifax worth a visit!

And last, but certainly not least, my amazing and beautiful soulmates Reynard and Chandra who I had the infinite pleasure of seeing on an almost daily basis during my whole stay in Canada, and who somehow managed to put up with me ‘not talking very much!’ for 6 months! I really hope I see you guys again soon – in Peru hopefully

Thanks again to you all. You made my stay in Canada very special and a period of my life I shall certainly never forget.

Canada rocks! Nova Scotia rocks harder! Now go pay these amazing people a visit.

Well, I’ve been in Peru just over a week now and so far everything has gone as well as I could ever have expected! I apologise for the lack of updates for the few people who are following this blog.

So what have I been up to so far?

Well, after arriving in Cusco last Tuesday I found my way to Casa de la Gringa, a really nice little travellers hostel. I spent 6 nights there in total and really enjoyed my stay there.

My first few days were spent mostly exploring Cusco and getting used to the high altitude (over 11,000ft!!) . I suffered mild altitude sickness for the first 48 hours which resulted in me feeling a little light headed and some very mild flu-like symptoms. Or perhaps I caught swine-flu on the way!? Either way, I got over it in a few days.

Cusco is a wonderful city to explore. It’s a huge labyrinth of small cobbled-stoned streets, alley-ways and squares, with hundreds of little stores that sell some of the most incredible Peruvian art and clothing. I’m sure the novelty will wear off after awhile, but even after a week here I still love to walk around browsing the stores and making new discoveries.

There’s also a huge amount of restaurants and cafes, offering a wide variety of food, most of which are very reasonably priced – at least to someone with an average western sized income. You can eat well for about £5 and eat like a king for about £20.

A street in the San Blas area of Cusco

A street in Cusco

Last Thursday I visited the main market for the first time. In fact there are two main markets. One is predominantly for food and the other for electrical, clothing and household goods. Fruit and veg is amazingly cheap and you can probably buy almost all the fruit and veg you can eat in a week for about £5 (and that assumes that, like me, you eat quite a lot of fruit and veg!).

Entrance to Cusco's main market

On friday night I participated in my first Ayahuasca ceremony here in Peru. The friday ceremony was unplanned and fairly spur of the moment and I have to be honest definitely wasn’t one of the best ceremonies I’ve experienced. I’ll write a lot more about ayahuasca in future posts.

The friday ceremony took place in Lesley’s house who is the owner of the hostel I was staying in. About 15 people took part in the ceremony and it was conducted by a young female shaman from the sacred valley.

Leyley's house

A couple of days previous I had made plans to go to Pisac, a small town in the sacred valley to do an ayahuasca ceremony with Javier at a small healing resort called Paz Y Luz (Peace & Light). I hardly slept on friday night after the ceremony and almost decided not to go to Pisac, but an intuition told me I should go. So after we walked back down to Cusco from Leyley’s house I got on the bus to Pisac because I knew Javier wanted me there by around midday.

Walking back down to Cusco

View over Cusco

The bus was an interesting experience. It was just leaving the bus station when I got there but I flagged it down and got on board just in the nick of time. However the small bus was completely full with even two passengers in the front passenger seat. I was going to try and stand (not easy on these kinds of roads) but the bus driver insisted I sat on this small makeshift seat right in the middle between him and the two front passengers. It wasn’t the comfiest seat in the world but way better than trying to stand and I got a fantastic view of the journey ahead.

The bus journey was about 45 minutes. The first half is mostly uphill as the bus ascends up the mountainous terrain, and then the second half is all downhill as the road descends into the sacred valley towards Pisac.

View from the front of the bus to Pisac

Upon arriving at Pisac I went straight to Paz y Luz where I met and spoke to Javier for awhile. Then I booked myself into a room and got myself some much needed sleep before we met for the ceremony at 5.30pm.

The ceremony with Javier was awesome. He’s created a really safe and sacred space in his ceremony room at the back of his house. I don’t want to write too much about my experience but I felt tremendous love and energy for the full length of the ceremony. As stated above I will write more about ayahuasca in future posts because it’s played an important role in my spiritual journey so far.

View from the sacred valley

On the Sunday morning I caught the bus back to Cusco and got some much needed rest and begin the process of integrating what I had learnt the previous two nights.

On the Sunday evening I went to see a guy who had a spare room in a house he managed. The room was perfect and I moved in the following morning. It’s costing me 600 soles a month (about £135) and as I write this I’ve spent two nights there. It feels like one of the most perfect houses I could have found. In fact I didn’t really find it – it found me – just like I knew it would. More information and pictures coming soon.

Anyway, that’s my summary of my first week so far. It’s been a wonderful week and I’m feeling really high on life right now. If every other week is as good as this then I’m going to have an amazing experience here.

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