Cusco, Sunday

1430 At Yakumama restaurant, bit shitly confusing menu but I am losing plot and think need food. I could swear phone alarm didn't go off. Got up 1310, had look at onward travel, Skyped parents, came out to go buy bus ticket to Ica before much needed lunch but woman in office was eating so I felt compelled to offer to come back in an hour. Couldn't find any other places which claimed to be authorised Cruz del Sur agents so forced to go for food then will go back. Bit worried will sell out but can't help it. Prob be OK.

Ica sounds quite horrible, nearby Huachachina (sp) sounds sort of interesting (dune buggies/sandboarding) but sounds like a Peruvian San Pedro de Atacama and I'm not in the mood. Also you apparently have to go by taxi to/from Ica which would be awkward for booking onward bus. Somehow my slight rush mitigates against an SPdA type place, and not really in mood for hordes of SYTs. So I've booked a hotel in Pisco, will get an onward from Ica (fingers crossed, only about 1.5-2h) then after couple of nights there can get bus from there to Lima, only 4hish. In Pisco there is some bird island you can go out to on a boat and not much more.

1514 Lomo saltado pretty good, reasonable portion. Orange juice good, oddly zesty, perhaps this is fresh squeezed and I'm not used to it. Bill 30 (I had mineral water as well, slightly pricey but not too bad), make it 33.

Place is in Procuradores. My legs are shot after yesterday, seriously stiff, stumbled as came out of restaurant. I suspect the downhill bit from MP to AC was the real killer but who knows?

0139 Was going to go to Museo Quijote but shut Sun. Went to Museo de Arte Precolombino instead. Some of the exhibit text almost ridiculously precious but I enjoyed some of the ceramics.

Not packed yet. Uploaded some photos and about 30% fiddled around with MP photos. Been drafting an itinerary. I spent about two hours (this is why I am up so late, really) looking into visiting the Galapagos Islands. I came within a gnat's whisker of booking flights (about GBP220, to spend about five or six nights on the two islands with associated airports - San Cristobal and Santa Cruz - flying into one from Guayaquil and out ofthe other to Quito). But then I thought I'd have a little check on the spider situation. The web is surprisingly unhelpful, and I can't believe the guide books make no mention of it.

But (after firing up w3m to avoid seeing all the images) we can find a few gems such as:

"Two of the most frequently encountered hunting spiders are the giant crab spider... Both of these species live in houses and other buildings where they chase around at night after insects. Despite their formidable size..." (a personal site on ic.ac.uk)

and

"Another feature in these isles is their emphatic uninhabitableness.. immense spiders" (Hermann Melville)

and

"The crab spiders... Heteropoda venatoria to the Sparassidae family. Heteropoda venatoria are often seen in hotel rooms on..." (Google Books extract from "Galapagos Wildlife" by David Horwell and Pete Oxford, I cannot get any more text in w3m, possibly a search in firefox would reveal a page image but my skin is already crawling so I'm not chancing it - aha, searching for that string allows me to extend the quote) "the islands, and occasionally on boats. They are harmless hunters and should be welcomed as expert..."

"Heteropoda venatoria...body size: female to 30mm; male to 22mm... At night, it emerges from its hiding place to wander over walls. Adults occur throughout the year." (www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online...)

(I am retyping these on phone from w3m on netbook, so can't copy and paste text or URLs.)

Proving itself as reliable as ever, Yahoo! Answers had one person say with a straight face there were no large spiders on the Galapagos Islands, which nearly took me in.

Am I letting my fear prevent me from doing something I would otherwise enjoy? Damn straight. Yes it is irrational but I have this fear and it would be fucking stupid to put myself in (mental) harm's way just because it's irrational and "shouldn't" bother me. I am a bit surprised there are fewer random blog entries (or hotel reviews, based on trying to use Google to search tripadvisor and booking.com reviews) mentioning anything like this, given how relatively common fear of spiders is, but still, the above sources seem fairly authoritative. Most blog entries re fucking enormous bastard spiders are from people who have spent time in cabins in the jungle etc, which is a) what I'd expect and b) consistent with my normal strategy of not going to really rural spots and considering myself safe. I just cannot help but find it ultra reprehensible the guide book offers not even the slightest warning. Maybe it really isn't that common, despite the above sources, but I'm really not feeling like taking a chance.

Ooh, continuing to search (it's now 0209 and checkout is at 9 but fuck it):

"Heteropoda venatoria (Banana Spider), inside a house, Santa Cruz" (photo caption - thank fuck for w3m - on www.darwinfoundation.com)

"The hunstman spider, Heteropoda venatoria... leg span of 7 to 12cm (3 to 5 inches)" (entnemdept.ufl.edu) [I assume that is the whole thing from side to side, not the leg length, but that's damn well large enough for me]"

Trying to assess the risk from such things in urban environments, a chance mention of Guayaquil in a blog turns this up:

"Galapagos Islands Days 23-30... the speedboat to Puerta Villami, Isabela... I'm staying at Coral Blanco Lodging...I have the pleasure of a gigantic huntsman spider in my room tonight, the biggest I've ever seen!" (pjclementson.travellerspoint.com)

I'm not super confident but I haven't been able to turn up any mention of the things in Guayaquil and I might assume Quito would be the same. I obviously need to be careful (eg if I go anywhere remotely rural), but to a limited extent it's different if I encounter a fucker like that "out and about"; what I think would really fuck me up would be having one *in my room* and/or the continual fear of such a thing.

Can't help feeling I've dodged a bit of a bullet by finding this out before going to the Galapagos Islands. I doubt the shock would cure me of my phobia. It is a shame but equally it's not as if I've had a lifelong dream to visit the islands; FFS, until tonight I was well aware they were an option (as the Ecuador guidebook mentions them in its title) but without having any spider-related thoughts I was kind of dismissive of the possibility of going.

0310 FFS. Not packed properly yet but as washed combats sort of hard to pack until they're dry and shit all over bed can be put away. Don't attach much weight to possible responses as my limited experience suggests the place is populated by arrogant travel bores, but have posted on the Thorn Tree forum to see what people say.

Need to have a quick shower and clean teeth and bed. Lack of sleep not great but I slept a lot last night and if I am tired maybe I'm more likely to sleep on the bus.

0336 Finally in bed.