Paddington Bear
To be honest, I don’t know a whole lot about Peru. So when Trish told me that she was sending me on BikeHike Adventure’s Trek the Inca Trail this May, one of my first thoughts was “deepest darkest Peru is where Paddington is from!” 
It’s amazing what memories stick in your head and which ones just zip right through one ear and out the other.
I was in Grade 1 when Ms. Staple, our Monday (fun day) teacher would sub for our regular teacher (who shall remain nameless because she wasn’t very nice) and we’d do fun activities like make jello, crafts, and read stories. I loved Mondays! As a child who wasn’t allowed into the backyard without supervision or (heaven forbid) to play in the kitchen, any day where I was given the task of pouring hot (and therefore potentially dangerous) water into a bowl of jello powder was pretty darn spectacular! 
One day Ms. Staple introduced us to Paddington Bear and she asked us who had tried marmalade before. I’d never heard of the stuff. “Well” she declared, she was just going to have to change that! The next week, she brought in a jar of marmalade and we each got a taste as we listened to the adventures of Paddington the bear. I remember liking the sweet sticky jam immensely, but after trying it several other times later in life, I think it must’ve been the memory I liked more than the marmalade.
As much as I like Paddington, I think he’d agree it’s about time I added some new memories to the Peru folder. Stay tuned!
PS Did you know that Paddington is a spectacled bear? I think he’s a lot cuter than most spectacled bears though.
Looking forward to your Machu Picchu Picchas!
You’re going to Peru? Awesome!
I like marmalade a lot, with butter on toast. But I wouldn’t describe it as “sweet”. And North Americans have such a sweet tooth.
Yessiree Leaving May 7th at an ungodly hour (in other words before 8am). Marmalade is sweet-ish; it’s like jam but you know, orange.
hey Anny,
have fun in peru! I was there last summer, and I must say I had the best time of my life. I can see myself heading back there a couple more times hiking the incan trail. And lucky you. You guys get to rest after the 4 days hike, and head back to machu pichu. I was sooo tired after the 4 day hike to bother climbing up wayna pichu. A couple tips you might need: if you possibly could, stay in cuzco for a couple more days; try as much food as you possibly can, try not to get too addicted to coca tea ( I did for sure), diarrhea pills ( if your taking high altitude sickness pills, just in case), there are some beautiful canvas paintings, wool clothing and lots to shop around in cuzco. And there are lots of outdoor activities you can sign up at cuzco. And watch out for your pockets. I got my snapshot camera stolen on my second day, but I had my dslr with me. Who would dare put their hands on my baby…
Btw, where was that coffee place that had the Peruvian coffee?
Soo jealous your going. I miss my peru.
Gimme a shout if you need any last minutes details!
ciao!
oh forgot to mention, while on the incan trail, keep your eyes open on the 3rd day. You might spot a spectacled bear. I did =)
Thanks for the tips Stephen!
I’ve heard that the tea is addictive. I’m really curious to try it. And yes, I bought a pack of Gravol the other day for the trip. I won’t be bringing Diamox though so I hope the altitude won’t be an issue.
I was thinking about buying something made of wool but I’ve been advised that *everything* made of wool there has moth larvae that will eventually eat through it and the rest of your clothes (whatever it’s stored with) so I think I’ll just stick with other decorative souvenirs — perhaps jewelry.
The Peruvian coffee was at Mon Ami (I think that’s the name — definitely something Ami) in the Granville Island market. I think they change the types they serve on a regular basis, but we just went today so they’ll probably have the Peru blend for the rest of the week. I heard of another place that serves Peruvian cuisine called Mochikas that I want to try in Vancouver: http://dinehere.ca/vancouver/mochikas-peruvian-cafe
I hope I see a spectacled bear too!
Hey Anny,
I’ll guarantee that you’ll love it. Me and couple others went to the supermarket looking for coca tea bags. We were tempted, but were also afraid we might get caught at the customs. Knowing that there are traces of cocain in them, we eventually decided not to take the risk. But, that just us. You on the other hand, have an option. And if you do happen to bring some back, I’ll owe you big time =P. I did bring diamox and took a few before reaching cuzco. It eventually become an issue by the time we reached the top on day 2 of the trail. Things got bad. I won’t get into details. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one haha. Good time though. Makes things more memorable.….I think.
I bought a couple wool material back. We went with Gap adventures, and we stopped by the Gap’s community shelter near the sacred valley, where they showed us how they made wool and dyed its color. Another place was near Sacsayhuaman ( they told us it’s pronounced Sexy women), where it was a huge store that sold authentic wool clothing. A couple people bought bags and sweaters, price ranging upto 100USD. These places seemed pretty safe, and the wool clothing that I brought back haven’t eaten my other clothings yet. You can always wash them in cold water. Lots of jewelries can be purchased in lima, beads, masks, but everything is cheaper in cuzco. And don’t forget to try to classic peruvian dish, the ceviche. Be warned, you might want a drink to add with that, and forget about their inka cola coke. It’s yellow, and it doesn’t really taste that great.
Hopefully you’ll make some vlogs of your trip!