El fin

Hola todos!

Well, after 8 plane rides, 3 boats, 1 train, countless hours on a bus, and millions of steps, we have finally made it back to our humble home. Our flight from Santiago to Auckland was very long, although we slept through most of it, and then after a short flight from Auckland to Sydney, we hired a car at the airport and drove back to Canberra.

Although our trip is over, and we must now move on with our lives (i.e. work, mortgage, life in general), we absolutely loved our time in Latin America (especially Peru). For those people who have thought about traveling to Latin America, feel free to give us a call and we can do lunch/coffee!! This blog has only been a tip of the ice berg!!

Love to you all!! Thanks for reading!!

PS. I will be posting the best of the pictures on Facebook over the next few days. For those who don't have access to Facebook and would like to see some pictures, let me know, and I will arrange a private screening :-)

Último día en América del Sur

Hola Todos

This is it!! Our final day in South America!! After a years worth of saving and planning, and after an unimaginable number of steps (Dad - should have worn a pedomitor) we have finally reached our final day here!!

We lounged around the apartment for a while this morning, finally checking out at 11:30am (lazy I know). We decided to walk down to the market again for some last minute shopping. The weather, however, had other ideas!! It was pouring!!!! After walking around in the rain for a bit, hopeing that it would stop, we finally decided to cut our losses and walk to Bella Vista for lunch. On the way, a driver thought it would be really funny to drive through a big puddle while we were walking on the sidewalk, and we got drenched!!!!!! When we finally made it to Bella Vista, we were just glad for a warm place to sit and dry off!!!

We had a great lunch at a local resturant, which served all the locals favourites (anything deep fried and with no green veggies is a winner here). I had a beef casserole and Steve had a steak (naturally!). After lunch, we walked back to downtown Sanitago in the rain, grabbing some ice cream on the way (when in Rome), and yep, you guessed it, we decided to go see another movie at the theatre. The rain really put a dampener on our day. The movie was good though (Hambres de negro..... figure it out ;-)).

When we left the theatre we went in search of a light dinner, but since the Chileans eat their dinner at 9-10pm everynight, and it was only 6, there were very slim pickings! We settled for Pizza at the local joint. Nothing spectacular, but am starting to think that there is no way to try real Chilean quisine in Santiago.... we need to go further south for that!

We are now sitting in the hotel office waiting for our taxi to the airport. All in all, have loved Santiago (besides the rain) and would have loved the opportunity to see more of Chile! Next time!!

Will write my final post when I am back at home!!

Until then, see you all VERY VERY soon!!

No mucho tiempo

Hola todos,

Today we were up and about early, because we wanted to catch a tour at 10am. After making breakfast in our appartment, we headed out to find some coffee. We ended up walking unknowingly into a local coffee shop legend. This coffee shop, known to the locals as "Coffee with Legs", has no seats, and after paying for your coffee with a cashier, you walk over to the bar and hand over your reciept to a "hot" Chiliean lady in a very short skirt who will make your coffee. If you are a man, she will flirt with you a bit while she makes your coffee, and when its ready, you drink it quickly and go. An interesting way to sell coffee, but it seems to work here, and there are no feminists protesting out the front.

After our coffee (cuppacinos here are made up of a shot of coffee with whipped cream on top! Not great after breakfast. Have made a mental note to not order that again) we went to the main square where we joined a local tour group. Two things caught our eyes when we decided to take this tour: it was free (if you dont count tips) and it was in English. A double win in my opinion. Franco, our tour leader, lead us through the main square to the Presidential palace and the Opera Hourse, and along the way explainined the history of Chile up until the overthrow of the military dictatorship rule in 1990.  We then continued the tour on a lighter note, stopping at local stalls such as "Nuts 4 Nuts" and a local hotdog stand, which sells the best hotdogs in the entire city.  After crossing what Franco called the ugliest river in the world (he was not far off), we walked into Bella Vista, the restaurant/university district of Santiago, and concluded our tour at a local museum. All in all, it was a really great tour, with a great mix of history and funny local stories. And dont worry, Franco got a good tip!

After the tour, we walked back to downtown Santiago, stopping at a coffee shop along the way, and then decided to catch a movie at the local theatre! Such a Julie and Steve thing to do! We saw Los Vengadores (The Avengers). Good film!!

After the movie, we wanted to walk back to Bella Vista for some dinner, however, it had started raining while we were in the movie (according to Franco, it never rains in Sanitago. He mustnt have known that there was a Dwyer in town). Instead, we grabbed some more takeaway, and spent the night enjoying Latin American Television. The perfect last night in SA!! 

Estoy muy cansado

Hola todos. Today was our first day in Santiago Chile. A few things you must know about Santiago before I continue with my storey: firstly, smoking is everywhere, including in restaurants and cafes. We had to make sure we were put in the non smoking section to ensure that we wouldn't breath in the filth. Secondly, driving, although much better than in Peru, is still very hectic, and there is nothing wrong with waiting for the green light to walk, even though the locals dont and instead face the inevitable honks from cars. Finally, although I can understand the Chileans better than the Argentinians, they still speak very fast and have found myself just agreeing with them even though I have no idea what they said. Not always the best tactic, but has worked well so far. Ok, on with the storey of our day. We woke up late due to the time difference (I think we are now 14 hours behind Canberra), and after making breakfast in our awsome apartment, we went out wandering. After getting very lost (I still blame the maps for being very bad) we found the plaza de armas (the main square) and the tourist info office, where we got a better map. We then walked to Santa Lucia Park, which is full of very old colonial buildings and cannons, then wandered around the craft market for a while. Really cool stuff, but we didnt buy anything yet. We grabbed lunch at a restaurant near the university, then went in search of the archeological museum, which turned out to be one room within another museum! what a disappointment. On the way back to the main square, we stopped in at our apartment to check trip advisor on the iPad, but ended up falling asleep for several hours. Apparently all of the sleep deprivation we have encountered during the tour of Peru has caught up with us, as we are so exhausted! After we woke up, we ventured down to the national theatre to see if there were any shows on on the next couple of nights (there wasn't) then walked back to Santa Lucia for some dinner. Our dinner was so amazing!!!! A lot of restaurants here sell a lot of really basic dishes, like chicken and chips, but this restaurant had fancy Chilean quisine, which was so so good. After dinner we headed back to our room for an early night. I wish we were more interesting today, but alas, am just to tired and am ready to come home. 2 sleeps left!

Beinvenidos a Santiago, Chile

Hola todos. I write to you from Santiago Chile! After catching a 3 hour flight from Lima, we arrived here and caught a taxi to our hotel at around 6:30pm. Our hotel is in Centro Santiago! The plaza de armas ( the main square) is just around the corner, as well as all the museums/monuments we would want to visit. Talk about prime location! Our one bedroom apartment is on the 11th floor (Katy- no way am I climbing all of those stairs!) and is so stunning!! We were so jazzed when we opened our door and saw how much $100 a night costs in central Santiago. A lot apparently. And this place is apparently expensive. After dropping off our bags, we went to the supermarket downstairs to buy some breakfast makings for the next few days and grabbed some Chinese takeaway for dinner. We are looking forward to exploring tomorrow. There is a free tour around the square tomorrow morn that we are thinking of catching. Sounds like fun to me. Stay tuned. Hasta pronto!

Secondo tiempo en Lima

Hola! The day we left the jungle was just a boring travel day. Boat, plane, bus to the hotel! When we got back, we were able to have a good shower for once, then headed out to dinner with the group for our last night together. Dinner was at the same restaurant we were at for our first night of the tour (the annoying woman strikes again with her complaining), which was really nice, then the majority of us caught a public bus with our tour leader (now that was an experience) down to the Miraflores district for ice cream and a drink at a local pub (dad - the best band was playing at this pub. You would have loved this guys guitar!). It was a nice ending to a fantastic tour through Peru. We are sad to be saying bye to our tour group (well most of them) but I'm sure we will stay in touch with a couple of them at least. We are off to Santiago, Chile in the arvo. Don't know much about what to expect, but am excited to be seeing yet another new city. Will write again when we are there. Until then, Hasta pronto!

Refugio amazonas

Hola todos. I'm back in the world of electricity! After my last blog we caught a plane from Cusco airport to spend two nights in the Amazon Jungle! Catching a plane with 11 other people was a real pain, and by the time we had all checked in we were just in time for boarding. When we arrived in the jungle, we were taken to the office of Rainforest Expeditions, our local guides for the next couple of days, and had to quickly pack a small bag with everything we needed for the next few days. We then left our giant backpacks (which are getting heavier by the day) and caught an electric canoe out to the Refugio Amazonas, our lodge. This was about a 3 hour boat ride up the river, and Along the way we were stopping to looking at a myriad of different wildlife. Was getting so exhausted though, as the jungle is very warm with 90% humidity! When we got there we got told our room number and got to drop off our stuff. When we were given our room number I was a bit concerned that we didn't get given the key, however when we got to the room we understood why... The door was a curtain, and there was only three walls!! One wall was completely open to the jungle, complete with our own hammock set up, looking out into the trees. This room also had no electricity what so ever, instead utilizing primitive things like candles for light, and a very cold shower. It was by far the best room we had stayed in since arriving. Just amazing. After a bit of down time, we went out to climb this giant tower to see the jungle canopy and some birds, then went back to the lodge for dinner and then ventured out on a small boat to go Cayman spotting in the dark, which are practically South American alligators. Very cool. The next day was made up of a combination of walks through the jungle, where we ended up getting very wet (Then don't call it the rainforest for nothing. Lucky they supplied gum boots!), and naps in my hammock. In the arvo we took the boat out to a plantation across the river, where they grow all of this amazing fruit and veg. We also got the chance to see several exotic birds (our local guide was crazy about the birds). Really fun day. After dinner, we also went for a night time walk with our torches to find some wildlife. We were not successful unfortunatley! The next day we got another boat to the office, picked up our bags then caught a plane back to Lima, and the real world. I really loved the jungle! Need much more time to explore!

Cusco!

Hola. So today, after those jam packed last few days we had, Steve and I decided to have a relaxing day. We slept in a bit ( well as much as I could) then went out shopping!! Cusco is famous for its silver, so I set myself a task of finding the perfect piece of jewelry to add to my collection. Let's just say I was successful. After shopping, we met some of the other Intrepedians to watch the futbal final at an Irish pub (the majority of our tour group are from Europe and are therefore obsessed with futbal). At the end of the first half however we bailed and went to a local restaurant for a Peruvian cooking class (Mum and Dad- prepare to try some amazing food when we get home). The class began with a trip to the local food market, where we were lead around and talked about local Peruvian food and food practices. It was such an eye opener from Australia, where there are such strict guidelines for food hygiene. After our tour of the market, we went back to the restaurant and made two entrees and two mains, which we got to eat! So so so so yummy! Can't wait to make them back home, if I can find all of the ingredients!! After our class, we went back to the hotel and packed. We are off to the Amazon tomorrow!! It will be nice to be somewhere hot for a change! Wifi may once again be an issue, so if I can't write while I'm there, I will when we get back to Lima in a couple of nights! Until then, Hasta pronto!

El Camino Inca

Hola todos. As promised, I said I would give you a more detailed recount of mine and Steve's adventures on the Inca Trail, so here it is. After waking up at 4am in Cusco, getting picked up by bus at 530, and driving for several hours, we arrived at km 82, the start of the Inca trail (82kms from Cusco). At this point we had to cross a check point, where we had to show our inca permit and our passports, then we hiking up the mountain. The first day of the hike is known at the training day, where our tour leader Miguel could seen how we hike. It's an interesting home the first day, as people actually live along the first part of the trail, so we had the opportunity to buy drinks/snacks along the way. It also meant that we were continually dodging a variety of different animal poos, including lama, horse and donkey. This first day of hiking was reasonably easy (compared to the other days), however, as an inexperienced hiker I found it a bit difficult, and was psyched when we finally made it to camp. Accompanying us on this hike was two guides, 17 porters who carried our bags and other things, and a chef and an assistant chef! The chef was so good at his job, and every meal was made up of three courses. The first night we were simply stunned by the amount of food they were giving us, all of exceptional quality. We realized early that there was no way were were going to go hungry this trek... Or loose any weight! The first night in a tent passed without incident, however, I was shocked to learn the horrors of the toilets that I would have to be using for the entire trek... Squatters!!!! Let's just say that I was never able to get used to them, and the smell and cleanliness were both appalling. Steve just kept telling me to grow up, but my inner girl kept objecting!! Anyway, on with the story. The second day of hiking was by far the hardest. After an excellent breakfast of pancakes, we started to climb to the infamouse Dead Woman's Pass. This took several hours, and by the time I reached the top of the pass, I was coughing so violently (the altitude was over 4000m) that my fellow hikers were a bit concerned. I recovered quickly though, and started our decent down the other side. This took another couple of hours, and we were getting so tired but yet the meeting point for lunch always seemed so far away! We made it in the end though. After lunch we started climbing to our second mountain pass of the day, which took less time but was so so so much steeper! We were getting so tired at one point that steve and i were setting goals, for example if we make it to that tree we can stop and take a breath! This seemed to work, and we got to the pass in the end and finished our descent and got into camp ahead of schedule. We all slept very well that night! The third days was by far the best. It was all down hill, through the Cloud Forest, and because we had done so much hiking the day before we got into camp at 1pm. Before we reached camp however, we sat, legs dangling, over some Incan terrace ruins. The view was exceptional. I will made sure I publish the photos ASAP. After lunch at the camp, we were allowed to take a 2 hour nap, then we hiked to another Incan ruin, and got to explore for a while, before dinner. After dinner, we were sent to bed early, and the next day we were woken at 330am! The reason for this is that there is only one train per day the porters can take to get back to Cusco with all of the tents and stuff, which leaves at 530am. This meant that we had to vacate our tents very early also! From camp, we walked 10 minutes to another check point, and waited in line for an hour with the rest of the tourists until 530 when they opened the gates so we could start our final hike to the Sun Gate, where we would get our first look at Macchu Picchu! The hike was a good one, and we made it to the Sun Gate at around 7ish. My first impression of Macchu Picchu I must admit was "is that it?", however, as we started making our descent towards it and the sun began to rise over it I finally understood what people had been saying to me this whole time: seeing a wonder of the world like this is truly breathtaking. Machu Picchu is massive, very beautiful and a testament to the brilliance of the Incas! It is well looked after my the national park rangers (they were even weeding the foot path) and 70% of it is completely original. Also, due to very stict rules, there is no trash around or anything! Its amazing! The funny thing was that after walking into Macchu Picchu, we had to actually exit it, and then come back in and show our passes and passports before we were able to explore it!! Freaking crazy! After this, we had a tour of Macchu Picchu, from out tour leader, then were given a few hours to explore ourselves. It is massive, and a complete maze! We ran into several dead ends! It is also packed to the brim with tourists... The annoying kind!!! We walked around for a bit, followed the lamas around, then got a bus to the town near by to meet our Intrepid group for lunch! After lunch, we cought the train back to another small town, then a bus back to Cusco. Grabbed some dinner then headed to bed at around 11pn. Other fellow hikers went out to celebrate our success, but this old bag was to exhausted!

Machu Picchu

Hola todos!!!!! We made it!!! After 4 days of treking we made it to the Sun Gate and had our first viewing of Machu Picchu this morning. I am currently sitting in a resturant writing to you, so I will give you a more complete run down of the trek when I get back to my hotel, but here are the highlights: the first day of treking was the training day and was reasonably hard, but nothing compared to the second day!! It was either a steep uphill or a steep downhill the whole day! Really REALLY hard, but so rewarding when it was over. The third day was by far the best, as we walked through the Cloud Forest to our final camp! This morning we woke up at 330am to be in line at the check point by 4:30. The gates opened at 5:30am and from there, we had a two hour trek toMachu Picchu. Machu Picchu is AMAZING!! I can´t beleive that I got the chance to visit one of the seven wonders of the world today! Truly breathtaking!! Steve and I spent most of our time wandering around the maze of MP, and chasing llamas (not kidding, they are everywhere around the ruins).

As I said before, I will give a more detailed account of the trek soon, this is just a taste! Just know that we made it in one piece (execpt for my poor feet which are still not talking to me!).

Love to you all!

Jules and Steve

Uno mas sueno

Hola todos. We stared our free day in Cusco with an early visit to the Inca Museum. We hired a tour guide, who was a young guy who needed to practice his English (even though his English was far superior to my Spanish), and he lead us around the museum, explaining the evolution of the Incan empire, up until the invasion of the Spaniards. For such an amazingly intelligent empire, I am surprised that they only lasted a bit over 100 years. The whole museum was fascinating though. After the tour, we wandered around the streets looking at the local markets. Cusco is famous for its silver, and there are many shops I would like to stop at when we get our next free day. Ater buying some souvenirs, and a quick lunch, we met some of the group at the hotel and joined a half day tour of the city and the nearby inca ruins. It was like we were back in school, with the flag being held up by the tour leader as we were led around the cathedral and the Temple of the Sun ( which is right outside our hotel). It was so busy with tourists doing similar tours to us, in a variety of different languages, and when we walked around the Temple of the Sun, it was just making us frustrated how the Incans had made such beautiful temples to their gods, only to have the Spaniards destroy them and steal all the gold and jewels! Poor incas! When we finally made it to our tour bus ( there were millions of them) and drove out to see the ruins which are 15 mins outside of town, we had all had enough of the crowds, and by the 4th ruin, which was actually the most interesting, it was getting very dark! We were also forced to stop at an alpaca shop on the way back to town, conveniently aimed at stinging the tourists! After finally reaching our hotel after this tour (believe me, we were all glad when it was over) we collected our laundry, sleeping bags and walking poles, and started packing for the trek tomorrow. We are each allowed to bring 1 6kg duffle bag, which is carried by porters, and one day bag which we obviously carry. Steve and I had no probs with the weight restriction, but some of the others were a bit stressed out. We went to dinner at a great Peruvian restaurant, where I tried a local cuisine with duck. Steve had a steak ( typical!) then after a quick stop off at the supermarket, we headed home to finish packing. The air is full of excitement for the trek tomorrow. We are being picked up at 5:20am sharp,and tomorrow is a 12km walk, which they call the training day so they can see how good we can walk. The second day however is around 14kms, practically all up hill. Hard core. The third day is a 10 km walk all down hill, and we are expected to arrive at the campsite at 1pm. after that we have a free arvo to relax! The final day we wake at around 3:40am and will walk the remaining distace into Machu Pitchu, through the infamous sun gate! There, we will have a guided tour for 2 hours, then will have a lot of spare time to explore! Very exciting! Obviously, I will not be blogging until I arrive back in Cusco of Friday, so wish us luck on our great Incan adventure!!! Better get some sleep now, got a long few days ahead!

Bienvenidos de Cusco

Hola todos. Today was mostly a travel day. Got onto the bus at 8am and drove the 6 hours from Puno to Cusco, the Inca capital of Peru. On the bus, which was two stories, our seats were right at the front, so we got to watch the beautiful scenery as we drove. Much better than a movie, even though they didn't even put one on. My seat was also broken, so I couldn't lean back to sleep properly. When we arrived in Cusco, we quickly checked in to our hotel, which is right behind the Incan Sun Temple (Best.. Location.. Ever), then our tour leader gave us our orientation tour around the city. It seems really cool and am looking forward to exploring the city more on our free day tomorrow! After a coffee stop, we got back to the hotel to meet our local guide for the Inca Trek!! Miguel seems really nice, and the trek seems really exciting!!! Am getting a bit anxious though. Just want to start and get it over with! 2 more sleeps!! Am about to head to dinner, so will blog tomorrow night! Hasta pronto!

De regression a Puno

Hola. After we left Llachon, we travelled by boat for another hour to Taquile Island, a beautiful island in the middle of lake Titicaca. From the dock we walked for an hour with our local guide, Joven, up over the island (it was so steep) to the local village. Along the way he told us many stories about Lake Titicaca, from the mysterious city found under the water, to the giant frogs and sea horses that inhabit it. I would happily spend my life exploring this lake, and discovering the wonders below. The village itself was very small, so we were given 20mins to look around, before we headed to lunch. Lunch was served on the top of a roof overlooking the lake. It was amazingly beautiful. Just wait until you see the photos! Lunch was a veggie soup and I had the local trout, and Steve had an omelette. At lunch we also learnt about the marriage rituals of the island, which involves different kinds of hats and a wedding belt rather than a ring. It seems so fun! Apparently in order to let a girl know that your interested you use a small mirror to reflect the sun in her eye. If the girl likes him back, she uses her mirror to reflect the sun back to him. Also, once married, they are married for life. There is no divorce on Taquile Island! It was really cute to listen to these stories. After lunch we walked down millions of stairs (ok, maybe an exaggeration) to another dock and boarded our boat back to Puno, a three hour trip. When we got to Puno, we got a shuttle back to our hotel, and then after a shower went out to a local coffee shop to try a local Peruvian coffee, which has actually won an international award! Needless to say it was amazing, especially after this long without a coffee. We even bought a bag of coffee beans to take home (dad- will make sure we save you a cup!). After coffee, we met the group for a debrief about tomorrow, then went to dinner at a local restaurant, where we got to try what I had been waiting for: guinea pig!!! And let me tell you it did not disappoint! It tastes kind of like chicken, but the only downside was that there wasn't really a lot of meat. After watching the local traditional dances, which were awesome, we headed back to the hotel for a semi early night. Off to Cuzco tomorrow... 3 sleeps til the Inca trail!!! The excitement is growing!

Lago Titicaca

Hola todos. I am back in the real world after my second night in a home stay. Here's what happened yesterday: we started the day reasonably late (830am) and caught the local transport, a three wheel bicycle (known here as a tuk tuk) with two seats on the front, to the local dock. Our tuk tuk driver was really chatty, and happily pointed out local landmarks. Once at the dock, we caught our private boat, which took us out onto Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, and the largest in South America. Lake Titicaca is absolutely massive, and 60% of the lake is in Peru and the rest is actually in Bolivia. Very cool and incredibly beautiful. After a short boat ride we arrived at the floating islands of Uros, build on reeds from the lake. This place is amazing, and the culture was untouched up until 35 years ago, when tourism took off. Because of this, and after a quick demonstration on how the islands are put together, we were lead into one of their house and pushed to buy a number of different embroidered fabrics. I did however succumb to buying some pillowcases, as I liked that they used the profits from these tourist visits to buy useful things such as solar panels (much safer than using candles around all of those reeds). I also found it interesting that due to the natural degradation of the lake reeds they have to renovate their houses every 3 months. Crazy!! After our quick visit, we traveled on our boat for another hour until we reached Llachon, on the Peninsula of the Lake, where we would be staying the night with a local family. We were au quickly introduced to our house papa, Juaquine, and led to his house where we were able to drop off our stuff. After a nice lunch of veggie soup and fish with rice (which I loved but Steve didn't) we played futbal with our house papas son, Royir, for ages (not really fair since he was used to the altitude, currently at 3800m). Then we helped our house mama, Camilla, harvest some corn and beans. After harvesting we were told that we could rest, but Royir wouldn't have it and proceeded to lead us on a walk to the lake. He was so lovely! At 4 we met our group and the rest of the house mamas and papas for a game or two of volleyball, a local pastime in the town. Man it was so much fun, but unfortunately my skills acquired from year 10 PE weren't really on par! After volleyball, we went back up to the house to change into the traditional clothes of the region, me in the married woman's version of skirt, jacket and hat, and Steve again in a poncho. I asked our house papa if he would be wearing a poncho also, and he replied (in Spanish) no its hot at the moment for me. I on the other hand was wearing a long sleeve top, cardi, big jacket and gloves! Crazy Peruvians! Before dinner, the group played a round of a card game (the Canadians are very big on their card games) then had dinner of veggie soup and a veggie curry with rice. It was really nice, but was so tired by that stage that I couldn't eat a lot. It was 8pm after all! After dinner we were lead back to our house (in the dark) and fell asleep in our comfy beds. Unfortunately, I was suffering an effect of the altitude, that is my feet would not stop tingling, which woke me up several times during the night! Not much fun! In the morning, we were greeted with some hot water to wash our faces and hands, then had breakfast with out new family of pan fried bread and pancakes with home made jam! It was to die for!! When we were getting ready to leave and meet our group, our house mama thanked us for coming to stay with her and her family. Unfortunately my Spanish vocabulary didn't include the phrase "the pleasure was ours" so a pointed "muchas gracias" had to suffice. We were then lead down to the dock and boarded our boat for our next adventure.

Puno es no muy bonito

Hola. After departing from Sibayo, we drove for a little while to a lama farm, and then took a 30 minute hike up to some caves that had cave man drawings engraved on the walls. These depicted images of lamas, pumas and the cave men themselves, from 7000-8000 years ago. It also has an old inca tomb, but the resident of this tomb has long since been removed. This was so cool, and since i am now feeling less of the effects of the altitude, it was a nice walk. After this stop, we made a quick stop to take pictures of these mountains and some flamingoes, and then changed buses and got some lunch and snacks at Patahuosi, where we got the coca tea the other day. We then boarded our much bigger and more comfortable bus, and drove the 5 hours to Puno. At a first glance, Puno is not particularly appealing. All of the houses are really run down, and it seems a bit shoddy. Our tour leader explained to us that once your house is finished in peru, the Owner must pay taxes. So what do they do, they keep their houses in a state of incompleteness, thus avoiding taxes for good. No wonder the health care system here sucks! The main attraction near here is Lake Titicaca (Ant - stop sniggering!), which we are visiting tomorrow. Lake Titicaca is said to be the birthplace of the first Incas, and is said to be a very spiritual lake. As you can tell, today was more of a travel day, so not much interesting news to report. Tomorrow we will be staying at our second home stay, at Lake Titicaca, so again will be incognito for another night. Will write again in a couple of days! Hasta pronto!

Trabajando por mi cena

Hola todos! I am back in the real world of cars and wifi, and am happy to give you a recap of our last couple of days. AfteR blogging in Chivay, we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and saw the local native dances and music with our dinner. After dinner I even got pull up to dance with one of the Peruvian gents, which resulted in me having to hit him with a long bit of rope, and concluded with him hoisting me over his shoulder and spinning me around. I should not be laughing that hard at that altitude! The next morning we woke up early and got on out bus to go and visit Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world (in the words of one of my fellow travelers "take that, Nevada"). On the way we stopped at a look out to have our first look are some Inca terraces, which are basically levels cut out of mountain sides which are used for irrigation (google it if you are confused!). They are so amazing! It made me even more excited to see Machu Pitchu, as the terraces are everywhere there. When we got to the Colca Canyon, we were just in time to see the resident Condors (a species of vulture with a wing span of 3m) take their morning flights into the canyon!! For a vulture, they really are an amazing bird, and it seems that they were more than happy to fly directly over us in order the get the best shot! We also saw the resident finch, which made this sound that I will never forget. I'll describe it as a sort of vibrational humming. After an hour watching the Condors, we took a hike along the canyon. Wow... Just wow. The scenery alone made up for the fact that I couldn't breath for most of the hike (we were at over 3000m). We then hoped back on the bus, and after a couple of stops to see an Inca tomb and a church at a small town called Maca, we arrived in Sibayo, where we would stay the night with one of the local families. Firstly, I want to be clear on the nature of these home stays. The families we stay with have some form of tourism qualifications, and are paid to have us come and stay. We are also not the first group of people to stay with them. Ok, on with my story, When we disembarked the bus, we got introduced to our house mama Julia, then we walked to her house to drop off our things. Our room was so nice! We then got all dresses up in the traditional clothing, me a skirt, jacket and hat, and Steve a poncho and hat, and then walked a few kms to help her hack up some of this shrub, which she dries out and uses for fire wood. One other thing, Julia only speaks Spanish and Quechua, the native inca language, so this put my Spanish to the test. Luckily, and I don't know how, we happened to communicate quite well!! I was pretty psyched! When we got back from getting fire wood, we headed over to one of Julia's friends houses and met the rest of the group for a traditional dinner. Ok... Wow! Firstly it was the healthiest dinner we have had since we got here (Peruvian food has a lot of carbs and since we are not allowed to eat salad for fear of a stomach bug, not a lot of veggies), secondly it was perfect, utilizing all of the ingredients the group collected during the afternoon. To start we had a soup with a nice grain and veggies, and for the main we had veggie omelette and rice! It was really great. After dinner we were escorted back to Julia's house, and feel asleep in our single beds. It was a pretty cold night, so we had to go to bed in jumpers and socks, but unlike what I feared, there was electricity, and let me tell you, awsome phone reception. I find that very amusing since I have poor phone reception at my house in belconnen!! We woke up early and had breakfast with Julia (rice and veggies with potato and alpaca meat. Julias husband is an alpaca farmer) then met the rest of the group in the main square for a photo with our house mamas. Then back on the bus for our next adventure!

Mal de altura es muy malo

Hold todos I am writing to you from the Peruvian highlands from a small town called Chivay. This town is around 3500m above sea level, and believe me you can tell. But more on that later. After blogging to you last night we went downstairs and learned how to mix a Pisco Sour! Very fun but we were a little tipsy afterwards (its strong stuff!). After pre dinner drinks, we went to a local resturant, where i got to try the local cuisine: and alpaca steak! It looked alot like beef, but was a lot sweeter! I really loved it! I wonder where i can buy it in Canberra?! We started today with breakfast at our hotel in Arequipa, then checked out and met our tour guide for the next 3 days, Ever. We then boarded a little minibus and started making our way through the Peruvian country side, stopping frequently along the way to take photos of the amazing scenery (it really is breathtaking), as well as the main attraction for me, the lamas, alpacas and vecunas, all members of the Latin American camel family (Dad - couldn't get close enough yet to get a Horrible Histories photo yet, but the lama song was sung frequently!). Along the way we also stopped at a very small town called Patahuosi, where we tried the local beverage that is said to cure altitude sickness (which we were starting to feel the further we went), the main ingredient of which is the coca leaf! Don't mistake this for cocaine, as a lot of chemicals go in with the coca leaf in order to make that drug, but the leaf itself is frequently consumed by Peruvians as an energy boost. No Red Bull here! We shared a coca tea, as well as purchased some coca leaf caramel lollies. They are quite good, but I didn't really fancy the tea. From there we drove a bit further to the highest altitude we will reach during this trip, a whopping 4900m above sea level. The look out where you stop is really amazing, and is scatter with these piles of rocks that Peruvians have constructed for good luck, but let me tell you walking faster than snails pace was a real effort. It was like I was having an anxiety attack, that is my chest was really tight and sore, and I was puffing so hard! We were glad to leave that place and start our descent. From the look out we drove down to Chivay, where I made a quick dash (well, as quick as I could at this altitude) to the local market to buy some swimmers for Steve and I, then we made the 3km hike to the hot springs here in Chivay! It was slow going to get there, but when we made it the hot springs were so nice! Very warm, and you could order drinks! No Pisco Sour for me though! After an hour swim we were driven back to the hotel for a shower, and we are about to head out for dinner and a native dance performance! Am so excited. The altitude is definatly making it harder for us, for instance i have trouble walking up the stairs, and i have to forget about my usual fast stride and just walk slowly. A alot harder than it sounds. We are not feeling particularly sick though, so hopefull we will aclimatise fast and be ready for the Macchu Pitchu trek in a week! We will be staying in our first home stay tomorrow night, and we will be lucky to have electricity let alone wifi, so I'll will write to your again in two days time! Until next time, Hasta pronto!

Me encantan alpaca!!

Hola todos. After a few hours of sleep in the comfiest bed we have been in since we got here, we woke up early in Arequipa, and had some breakfast. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru, after Lima, but is so much more pretty!! We are now at 2500m, which is the highest altitude either of us has ever been at, so I was feeling a bit tummy sick from the moment I woke up. This however did not stop me from taking the walking tour with the group early this morning! We started off walking down Mercaderes street, which is the only pedestrian street in the city. We then stopped in at the local market, which a sells not only fruit, veg, and meat, but also has Sharman stalls, which sells numerous items for good luck, prosperity and even fertility! We got a picture with a dried out fetus alpaca, which, if buried in the front of your house, will ensure a good harvest for the year. Crazy! We also were introduced to a drink that locals drink for energy. The main ingredient of this drink is, however, two frogs, which they kill in front of you, boil and then blend with a number of other things. Steve tried it, but didn't think much of the taste. After the market, our tour leader showed us the main square and where the main museums were, then we had some spare time to explore. We wandered around with the two British boys, Chris and David, and the German Klaus. All really nice guys (I am only one of 4 girls on this tour out of 12). We ended up going to the Museo Monasterio Santa Teresa and took a guided tour. This monastery is still a working nunnery, but the majority of the convent has now been turned into a museum, to showcase the convent during colonial times. This place was so interesting, however I am glad that I was not born during these times, as second borns were expected to join the convent as a nun at 14. I'm not to keen on self fladulation! After our tour, we walked up and had ice creams at a local business, then met our tour leader back at the hotel to go to a alpaca cloth factory for a tour! Only the 6 of us went, which was really fun, and we toured the factory before being shown the shop where you could buy alpaca clothes (jumpers, scalfs, ponchos etc) at factory price! Let's just say, my bank account suffered a bit today! We are now about to meet our tour group for our meeting about tomorrow,and then we will be heading out to dinner, location unknown. We are heading to Colca Canyon tomorrow, which is even deeper than the Grand Canyon. Will write soon. Hasta pronto!

Mucho pollo!!

Hola todos. We started off today with a tour of Chanchilla cemetery, which is just outside of Nazca. Unfortunately, after Speaking to my dad when we woke up this morning, we were hoping for an Indiana Jones style cemetery, minus the little men firing the poison darts. Unfortunately, what we found was a wide open desert, with tombs exposed that were buried under ground. Although the first couple of tombs were interesting, after 12, we were all quite bored! After the cemetery tour we were taken to a mining and ancient pottery demonstration, both of which were interesting. After we got back to the hotel, and with most of our tour group taking part in a flight over the Nazca dessert (we had decided that once you saw a few, you had seen them all), we walked to Nazca's plaza major, then to a grocery store to buy supplies for our bus trip, more on that later. We got a bit of the hunger grumps waiting for the group to arrive back, but when they did, we went to a restaurant nearby and had a local speciality: a quarter chicken, with chips and salad! Although I would have loved the salad, our tour leader made us take the cooked salad instead, fearing that our weak western stomachs couldn't handle the cold salads, which are washed in local water. It was a HUGE lunch as usual, but very very nice. We also got to try a local drink, whose name escapes me by is made up of a red corn juice mixed with pineapple and other things. It was ok, but wouldn't have it again. After lunch we boarded a bus to Alequipa, our first stop in the highlands of Peru and therefore the first stop at a higher altitude (2500m). This bus is amazing, in that it has fully reclinable chairs, including foot rests, movies playing non stop (some in English, some with English subs), and get this, free wifi(hence being able to blog right now). How wifi on a bus works, I don't know, but am loving it. We boarded at 245pm our time and are expected to make it to Alequipa (will have to check the spelling because I'm not sure) at midnight! It's been a long ride, but we have slept for most of it! Looking forward to getting my alpaca jumper! I will write soon! Hasta pronto.

Santuarios, arena y espiritus

Hola todos Today we were up and ready to go at 7:30, to catch a shuttle to visit the Ballestas Islands. The Ballestas Islands is known at the Gallapogos of Peru, and is located just off the coast of Pisco via boat. It is home to 11 species of birds, including Humboldt penguins and Peruvian boobies, as well as South American sea lions. We caught a boat out to the islands (unfortunately we were unlucky enough to get the seats right up the front so it was extra bumpy for us) and got plenty of opportunities for pictures while the guide talked about the native wildlife. It was so beautiful! Interesting enough, this island is also used for the collection of guano, which the Peruvians use as fertilizer. It is an essential resource for them to remain self sufficient as a country! After the boat ride, we caught our private bus to Huacachina, an amazing place in Peru located in the Ica district. Surrounded by sand dunes, Huacachine is an amazing oasis with a lake in the middle, surrounded by great restaurants and places to stay. It also offers tours to go sand bugging/boarding, which Steve and I couldn't resist taking part in. Like a roller coaster, we flew threw the sand dunes on these great buggies, stopping at three locations where we could try our hands at sand boarding. As the name suggests, on our tummies head first, we clung to these boards as we're pushed down these HUGE sand hills. It was amazing fun, but I will never get all of the sand off me! The sand is so soft and fine! After a celebratory lunch to toast our success at the dunes, we were back on the bus and taken for a tour of a Pisco distillery. After the tour, we were treated with being able to try several different kinds of Pisco spirit, from the 40% alcohol one to the nice creamy ones. Let's just say that we were all very sleepy when we got back on the bus afterwards! After driving for a bit longer, we arrived at the desert of Nazca! For those of you who don't know, on the dessert of Nazca is carved a number of lines and figures by the ancients. These figures are several kms big, and can only be viewed from the sky. If you haven't seen them, I suggest you google them after reading this blog! They are fascinating. In order to see a couple of them today we pulled over at a small tower and climbed to the top! From there we could see the tree and the hands! They were so amazing, and I kept wishing that they would build more of these towers so we could see more like this, rather than having to take a plane to see them. We could also see part of the lizard, but it has actually been cut in half when the highway was put in. The highway was put in before they were discovered! We finally got back on the bus and arrived at our hotel in Nazca. After a quick shower, we went and listened to a lecture on the Nazca lines, then went for dinner at a great restaurant in town. As it is our last night on the coast before we start heading into the mountains, fish was a must. We start to make our asent in altitude tomorrow. I'll will keep you posted how our altitude sickness goes! Until next time, hasta luego.

Necessito un Pisco Sour!

Hola todos Just got hold of some Internet so here is a recount of our day yesterday: We started the day with a walking tour of downtown Lima. As Steve and I had already visited most of the places already, we ventured on our own for a bit and grabbed a coffee. We wanted to try the Limanos mocchacino... I can't safely say we will never do it again. Better to stick with the cafe con leche! We grabbed a sangga at a local bar to take away, then caught a shuttle to the bus station, to catch our bus to Pisco, home to the Pisco Sour! Driving out of the city of Lima was a real eye opener. Lima is deceiving in that while you are there you wonder how Peru can be so poor, with such a rich and vibrant city, but driving down the coast line to Pisco will open your eyes to the level of poverty experienced by most Peruvians! I really feel for my sponsor child here! We arrived in Pisco after 6pm, so it was already dark. What once was nice town, Pisco was devestated by a 8.0 earthquake in 2007, and the majority of the town was destroyed and is not yet rebuilt. Because of this devastation, the people who live there are quite poor, and crime rates are apparently very high. Apparently the plan is to have the whole city rebuilt within 20 years. Sounds like a public service time frame to me!! Due to our late arrival, our tour leader decided it probably wasn't a good idea to venture far from the hotel, so we did a lap of the main square, then went back to the hotel for dinner and a Pisco Sour, and extremely potent cocktail that is famous in Peru. We went to bed early after dinner, but a circus was going on next door (literally) so it was a bit noisy for a while. I swear I heard a lion roar though. Or maybe I'm crazy. Next stop Nazca!

Tenemos un refriado

Hola todos After all of the vaccinations and medications we are packing, you will all be interested to know that we have succumb to sickness here in SA. With what you may ask, well the common cold obviously! The only thing you cant vaccinate aggainst! We both woke up very sniffly and were feeling very sorry for ourselves. We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel, as well as dropped off our first round of clothes to be laundered by the hotel. Even though we were sick, we decided that we would still venture out and see more of the city, however, everything that we wanted to see was over an hour walk away and public transport isn't really that great here. Instead we did a bit of shopping and walked around for a bit, then we had lunch at a local restaurant where I got to try my first local delicacy, ceviche. Ceviche is pretty much raw fish in lemon juice and chilli, served with corn and yams! Very acidic but so so yummy. Steve opted for the grilled chicken instead, less adventurous in my opinion! The serving sizes were once again huge, and I again wasn't able to finish it. After lunch we wandered back to the hotel and decided that it would be best for both of us if we just rested. After watching animal planet in Spanish for a few hours (all the tv programs are dubbed in Spanish here and you are lucky to find one that isn't) We wandered down to the reception to meet our tour group and leader!! Our tour leader is called Carol, and she is a born and bread Limanos!! Her english is perfect with that wonderful Peruvian accent and I took an instant liking to her! I'm sure we will get along just fine. She has already encouraged me to practice my Spanish with her, which I fully intend to do in every opportunity, that is if I am not to embarrassed to!! The rest of the tour group seem really good, except for one lady who has already gotten on my nerves!! I already foresee that she is gonna be a right pain in the bum the whole time. Lucky that there is 12 of us(I only met 6 of them tonight ) otherwise it would be hell. Interestingly enough, only 4 of us on the whole tour got the permits to do the Inca trail (only 500 people can start the trail on any one day by law) the rest are either doing the quarry pass tail, which is a day shorter, or just staying in cuzco for the whole time (the annoying woman didn't get an inca permit. Woohoo!!!). Machu picchu seems to be the highlight for most of us in this trip. After our meeting Carol took us to a local restaurant for dinner. Since we had had a large lunch, Steve and I only had a small meal, but it's was so good. Like spring rolls with a chicken curry in them. Yummy. After dinner we just wandered back to the hotel. We ventured into the pharmacy with Carol before we went to bed, so she could help us get some cold and flu stuff (Steve is in so much pain around his sinuses) and now, tired and sniffly I'm going to bed! Tomorrow we leave for Pisco. Am looking forward to trying the regions signature drink, the Pisco Sour, which apparently can be quite strong! Looking forward to it. Escribo pronto!

Nos encanta el Peru

Hola todos, and bienvenido to our first post in the lovely Peru. After the tango show last night I think we had a grand total of 2 hours sleep before we had to wake up and get ready to get to the airport to catch our flight to Lima, capital of Peru! As usual, we got to the airport WAY to early, and I had a minor disagreement with the electronic check in machine (apparently I couldn't get one of the lovely ladies behind the desk to check me in) at which time I had to pull out the pathetic "I'm a tourist" face to get the attention of a local airport employee to help me solve the riddle! We made it on the plane though with no major problems. It was an awful flight though. It was full of people, and after the flight attendants Plonked down our meal of a ham and cheese sanga and a softie (known as gaseosas in SA) we didn't see them again until the end of the flight, even when I put my call attendant light on to get some water. Bad form. Also, as we were pulling in to Lima airport the people on the plane practically bowled each other over in order to get to their bags first.... Did I mention that the plane haven't even gotten to the disembarkation gate yet!!! Bloody idiots. Got through immigration easy enough and found a fancy taxi company to take us to our hotel. Our hotel, the Hotel Inka Path, is in central Lima, with the Plaza Major 5 mins walk away! A great spot, close to a whole range of shops and places to eat, but alas, we will again be plagued by street noise tonight! We thought we had left that in Argentina! Can't wait for the day where our room is nice and quite at night! For lunch we went to a restaurant named Nankys and ordered the waiters recommendation, which ended up being a HUGE plate filled with all kinds of meat, including steak, 1/4 chicken, more chicken, pork, beef kabab and some other things that we decided not to ask what they were. This meal was also accompanied by a large plate of fries, a salad and a 1.5 liter coke.i can tell you right now we did not finish it. And all for the price of 66 sol, which is around $30 aus. When we asked the lady at the reception about the portion size of the meal, she said in Peru it's always large meals. I then asked her if they always finished these largue meals, to which she replied no and looked at me as if I was crazy! What a waste!! After lunch we visited Limas monestary and the catecomb. It was by far the best experience so far in SA! The monestary was beautiful, with amazing pieces of art, and the eary by fascinating catacombs were amazing. Am so glad I forced Steve to go with me today. Both of us are suffering from a bit of the sniffles, which we are hoping to clear up before the tour starts tomorrow!it will be an early night! I hope everyone at home is going well. We are thinking of you! Jules and Steve

Ultimo dia en Buenos Aires

Hola todos Today was our final day in BA before we fly out to Peru! So excited. We walked down to Recoletta today, the cultural centre of BA, and then down to Palermo. What we were not aware of, however, was that it is a public holiday in Argentina, and therefore everything we wanted to see was closed (cerrado), including the zoo we walked for an hour to see!!!!! Very disappointed. Palermo is a really great place though, completely different from where we have been staying. We are staying just up from the Plaza Major, where you are always waking past beggars and people sleeping in doorways and are constantly having to skip over questionable looking fluids on the pavement. In Palermo, the roads are beautiful and clean, the cafes are amazing, car shops, including bmw and Audi, line the street and everyone is exercising. I swear, every second person we passed was either running, cycling or roller blading!!! Definitely the place to stay next time. To make up for our lack of zoo adventures, we went tO a small cafe in Palermo where I had a slice of cake that I had been admiring in every cafe window in BA. It was three layers, the bottom being brownie, the middle being this thick caramel stuff, and the top covered with an inch of cream!!! So good going down but regretted it for hours!!! After walking the million blocks back to our hostel we ended up having a nap until 5, then got ready and was picked up to go to a Tango night. The night started with a 1 hour tango lesson!!!! I can now die happy after Stevie pulling his "sexy" face as part of our dance finale! Will have to give a performance when we get back. After the tango lesson, we got a three course meal, and got to sit back and watch the pros show us how tango is done!! In my honest Aussie opinion, it was a bloody good night. Our flight tomorrow leaves at 8am which means we will be waking at 3ish to get ready in time! Crazy. It is currently 10 past 12, so should probably be hitting the bed for 3hours of sleep. Will try to keep up the blog when we get to Peru, but by the looks of the trip itinerary there will probably be several days between posts/Internet connection! Stay tuned!!! We are sending you our love xoxo Chao!

Secondo dia en Buenos Aires

Hola

Today we spent the morning walking around the Plaza de Mayo, and having a look at a few monuments, i.e. the metropolitan cathedral and Government House.

Had a pizza lunch at a nice cafe near the hostel. Am starting to realise that having access to an English menu is a privilege and by no means a requirement of any restaurant here. I tend to just pick out the words I know in Spanish, and go from there. Haven't had any misshaps yet so not bad at all. In BA, there are a lot of Italian influences when it comes to food, so there is no shortage of piazza/pasta places around... not that i'm objecting!

After lunch we took a bike tour of San Telmo and La Boca, two of the major neighbourhoods of BA.  The bikes themselves would make my Aunty Deb and Uncle Ian cringe! They were single speeds with rusted chains and breaks that needed 10 seconds notice in order for us to stop in time! No helmets either! You also needed no fear in order to enjoy this ride, as you had to weave in and out of traffic to reach each destination!! All in all a GREAT afternoon!

Within San Telmo is the Plaza Major, where we stopped and the tour guide talked about the significance of the paintings of scarves on the ground in the square.  These scarves represent the resistance of Argentina's people against a dictatorship rule in the 1970s (I think I am getting my history right). Just at the moment the tour guide was talking about it, the last remaining survivors from that era actually walked onto the square, to attend a political thing that was going down there. It made the story so much more real!

After San Telmo we stopped at the old harbour, rode through the richest past of town and stopped for a sausage at the coast. We then rode to La Boca, the heart of Tango in BA. This was the area where sailors originally visited, to enjoy the company of women while they were ashore.  It has multi coloured buildings, and is full of people, including several Tango dancers who would love to have a picture with you (for a price!).

Rode back past the Futball stadium at La Boca, and then back to the starting point.

Had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and are now off to bed!

Heading back to Recoletta tomorrow for some more good food and to go in search of the zoo!! Tomorrow will be our last day in Argentina! On Wednesday Morning we fly to Peru!

Chao!