tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35214127309436940052024-02-20T10:22:55.693-08:00Angel & Ellen's Adventures in South AmericaOur travels through Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia and Chile.Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-66004224400195498082013-12-14T20:01:00.000-08:002014-04-27T02:24:02.687-07:00Bus travel in South America<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxA96cpe2lL_9C0zfg9NAosZgx_39yyH5fw5Ue4qmfV6dE3CPOpMQ9jk2jzxEhhPN9z1xojGmr1XWCtM5wgCedrKcRrTKAlmdxsW9UFm0GeRFByBX5b2nWdFNqc4hh1ixXREDeES0TWo/s1600/cruz-del-sur-bus-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxA96cpe2lL_9C0zfg9NAosZgx_39yyH5fw5Ue4qmfV6dE3CPOpMQ9jk2jzxEhhPN9z1xojGmr1XWCtM5wgCedrKcRrTKAlmdxsW9UFm0GeRFByBX5b2nWdFNqc4hh1ixXREDeES0TWo/s1600/cruz-del-sur-bus-image.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Cruz Del Sur bus (from their site)</td></tr>
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We felt we should add a post purely about bus travel in South
America and share some of our experiences. Generally it is very safe and the
companies are great. This goes for all countries except Bolivia, where many companies
are dodgy (generally) and the buses are not of a very good standard. We had a theory that
Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile sell their old buses to Bolivia when they
are run down and looking pretty tired.</div>
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In Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile the buses are like
being in business class on a flight. They have Semi-Cama (almost flat seats,
with a leg-rest) and Cama (fully –reclining beds, totally horizontal – amazing).<br />
<br />
We had great buses in Brazil, we also used a couple of private
transfer companies (listed in the links on the left), but also used <a href="http://www.catarinense.net/en/" target="_blank">Catarinense</a> & 1001. Both fine.</div>
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In Argentina we used a small company (sorry can't remember their name) where our bus was severely delayed but the company bought a ticket
with an affiliated company for us and we were fine. It was lucky we spoke
some Spanish as all announcements of the cancellation (a bloke walking along
the platform, shouting) were in Spanish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peru was probably the best for buses in the countries we
went to. We mostly used <a href="http://www.cruzdelsur.com.pe/" target="_blank">Cruz del Sur</a>. They are more expensive but very good,
efficient and great staff (apart from the surly woman we came across in
Paracus). There is a watch out in Puno; we did some research and found the
best company to book from Puno to Lima was a company called <a href="http://www.tourperu.com.pe/inicio.htm" target="_blank">TourPeru</a>, so we
went to their ticket office at the bus terminal in Puno and booked 2 tickets
for the next day, they told us their system was down and issued us a receipt for
the tickets and asked us to come back the next morning an hour before our bus
and collect the tickets – basically the bloke who sold us the tickets was
moonlighting for another company and gave us tickets for this other, cheaper bus company (to be fair it was to the correct
destination). It was all very dodgy and we were not impressed with the
company he put us on. So always check this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bolivia was by far the worst country for buses. As a rule
they do not have functioning toilets and even on 10-12 hour journeys they do not
stop for the toilet. We saw men peeing in plastic bottles and dirty nappies
being thrown out the window. Pretty much the only thing
missing from Bolivian buses was livestock. We learnt to dehydrate ourselves for
several hours (longer on longer journeys) so we did not need the toilet. </div>
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In Bolivia you can only purchase bus tickets
on the day of travel, not in advance like you can in Peru, Chile, Argentina and
Brazil. None of the buses we travelled on in Bolivia were clean or comfortable,
but if you are prepared for this you will be fine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chile is like Peru with regards to it’s buses. They are very
efficient and clean and comfortable. We used
<a href="https://www.turbus.cl/wtbus/indexCompra.jsf" target="_blank">Tur-Bus</a> and <a href="http://www.pullman.cl/" target="_blank">Pullman</a>, both were great. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-Q-aqEOIykh8r68QMKztW46jjEayriaRdqHSd9w4vwuHnQtuBoDwb1PDNKjC4qZRCgYDuBA8Ua2qaYqDRif_Fw5obux3GWgkCFUAShf8hSEGShyyBzecLA9NHb1LiHaHEfMKpOu6u6c/s1600/Full+Cama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV-Q-aqEOIykh8r68QMKztW46jjEayriaRdqHSd9w4vwuHnQtuBoDwb1PDNKjC4qZRCgYDuBA8Ua2qaYqDRif_Fw5obux3GWgkCFUAShf8hSEGShyyBzecLA9NHb1LiHaHEfMKpOu6u6c/s1600/Full+Cama.jpg" height="129" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full Cama</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tO0Y5WbcY3yEobQHUYexUVLSxtw9vmV0vQPTM368EGw3Olt0ftoOfr25PdslgGcQfdCb6qcoNT9dLdYKin0piHUlHEBmc96erxSokch3C3DsPCQMlX0Z5Bd2nbYdFZGQA3dyATGJXcw/s1600/semi+cama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tO0Y5WbcY3yEobQHUYexUVLSxtw9vmV0vQPTM368EGw3Olt0ftoOfr25PdslgGcQfdCb6qcoNT9dLdYKin0piHUlHEBmc96erxSokch3C3DsPCQMlX0Z5Bd2nbYdFZGQA3dyATGJXcw/s1600/semi+cama.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Semi Cama</td></tr>
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<o:p> </o:p>Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-28898854290437170202013-12-01T03:28:00.000-08:002014-04-07T19:07:26.207-07:00Sadly the adventure ends.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqUtd-UIwIPGXwI1SaJt9PRzeroRQZZhBvojEs4YlLh0K5y_VRW0F3ompyHXwzeQcc3ne3empDYoxPffp9ecajJwPvIJJt_zD2XKBYSoTzNat9-fT4EQ96m4F5EYTsMbtq1-bK3y3ZrY/s1600/DSC03762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Angel & Ellen Lewis" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqUtd-UIwIPGXwI1SaJt9PRzeroRQZZhBvojEs4YlLh0K5y_VRW0F3ompyHXwzeQcc3ne3empDYoxPffp9ecajJwPvIJJt_zD2XKBYSoTzNat9-fT4EQ96m4F5EYTsMbtq1-bK3y3ZrY/s1600/DSC03762.JPG" height="300" title="Angel & Ellen Lewis" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's been an adventure!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After 3 months travelling through this gorgeous continent we have come to the end of our adventure.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No more buses, no more flights. It's been an amazing trip which we know we have been extremely fortunate to do. We have met some amazing people along the way, done some crazy things and seen some of the most wonderful places on earth.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">It's now time to get back to the real world and get jobs, buy a house and settle down in our new home town of Melbourne, but first we have another 5 weeks of 'holiday' spending time with Angel's family in Sydney, </span></span><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">celebrating</span></span><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> his first Christmas and New Year with his family in 11 years. To say his mother is excited would be an understatement. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thanks for reading and we hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures as much as we have had seeing and doing these things. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Angel & Ellen x</span></span></span>Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile-33.4691199 -70.641997-35.1605294 -73.223784000000009 -31.777710400000004 -68.06021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-53297158482424423212013-11-28T06:19:00.003-08:002014-05-01T04:42:59.305-07:00Us vs The Volcano<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2XbryxHgJkzcfKxNcWbRTri0OJXuSHXHQQKWUmuw96d-iIuEqNd0Kuz9gzAWB5cqGXPQD36V3I3v3CHZI4FJe9DGxgUcCAD-gic35OhMKJcTHeGNWEbuFumcf2NFkV6iM12xMjXblgM/s640/blogger-image-1273482704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2XbryxHgJkzcfKxNcWbRTri0OJXuSHXHQQKWUmuw96d-iIuEqNd0Kuz9gzAWB5cqGXPQD36V3I3v3CHZI4FJe9DGxgUcCAD-gic35OhMKJcTHeGNWEbuFumcf2NFkV6iM12xMjXblgM/s640/blogger-image-1273482704.jpg" /></a></div>
We got off the bus in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puc%C3%B3n" target="_blank">Pucon</a> in the wee hours of the morning after the 12 hour journey from Valparaiso, we had taken posh semi-cama seats. We arrived into bus station which is not far out of town and then walked a little down the street towards the small village and looked to our left and... wow, there breaking out of the landscape is the magnificent active volcano <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villarrica_(volcano)" target="_blank">Villarrica</a> (2860m). Covered in snow (it's a glacier) the volcano dominates the entire landscape.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSHqgG8G6OWB3f3KExOpCT0xmzskL9FmzFkOgudI9GCEUe2MJMAXMqB1GMErlHWHbUp0XCqWNJoeDj-6C93VX_2bD-D6PbcgZwIkYRWFOwNZDPurXVjeUv4q4OQxYRa2nK6B3yArQKWs/s640/blogger-image-987267389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Volcano climb" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSHqgG8G6OWB3f3KExOpCT0xmzskL9FmzFkOgudI9GCEUe2MJMAXMqB1GMErlHWHbUp0XCqWNJoeDj-6C93VX_2bD-D6PbcgZwIkYRWFOwNZDPurXVjeUv4q4OQxYRa2nK6B3yArQKWs/s320/blogger-image-987267389.jpg" title="Volcano climb" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the beginning of the climb</td></tr>
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We had met a bloke in Valparaiso and got chatting and said our next stop was Pucon, 'There's nothing there but a volcano which you can climb' he said, Ellen looked and Angel and said that's what we were going for. Needless to say Angel was not aware of this volcano climbing decision, until now.<br />
So we had come here to attempt to climb an active volcano. Nice. We checked into our <a href="http://www.emalafquen.com/newsite/index.php" target="_blank">hostel</a>, it was just before 9am but Emma (the hostel owner) let us into the room anyway and we cleaned ourselves up and headed out to the Main Street, 'O'Higgins' to find somewhere for breakfast. As Pucon is one of those towns where early (like 5am) departures for adventure sports are the main attractions, hostels and hotels do not usually include breakfast, so we hoped to find a cafe open, but after all this is Sunday and this is South America (ie, very few things are open on Sundays). We did manage to find a cafe and had eggs and toast with more bad coffee (again, we do not understand the South American obsession with instant Nescafé). We then set out to find the volcano hiking company we (Ellen) had researched about. As in most tourist towns around the world, many companies in Pucon just want your money, they tell you that you will get to the summit and give you average quality gear, we went with <a href="http://en.aguaventura.com/" target="_blank">Aquaventura</a>, they have a very good safety record, they don't guarantee you will make it to the top and you do not actually pay for the adventure until you get back from the hike. They give several opportunities to back out with it costing you either nothing or just the cost of the transfer to the base of the volcano. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp42vZrIQzB6klZZj0WAxJnbCvXA_J98qPQ2AQ6PKJSCvkQF7Cl1QflVYpy12dHfPAh1IvotSPcJNN057QyiQZ41SQdAgntqePATqgkfzA_ZzPybyv9ne98zkF9vNekFaQ4FNwR8ZUrbI/s640/blogger-image--2005610557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Villarrica" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp42vZrIQzB6klZZj0WAxJnbCvXA_J98qPQ2AQ6PKJSCvkQF7Cl1QflVYpy12dHfPAh1IvotSPcJNN057QyiQZ41SQdAgntqePATqgkfzA_ZzPybyv9ne98zkF9vNekFaQ4FNwR8ZUrbI/s200/blogger-image--2005610557.jpg" title="Villarrica" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villarrica</td></tr>
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We woke at 5am to get to the hiking office by 5.30 (it was 2 blocks away), the weather was good, a nice clear day. We were told the chairlift was not working the day we went up as it was too windy, so this added another hour onto the 4 hour hike to the top. At the top of the chairlift, after hiking an hour, single-file, up the volcanic shale we all sat down to put on our crampons, hard hats, gloves and ice picks. We then headed up the glacier. It's a hard slog, not flat at any stage, you just put your head down, watch where you put your feet, single-file hiking. At approximately each hour of hiking they stop you for a rest, you carve out a seat in the snow and ice, sit down and have a snack and get up again, after 4 and a half hours of continuous 60-90 degree angle hiking we unfortunately reluctantly gave up. We were 3/4 of the way up the volcano but the remaining quarter was to take another 2 hours and it was about a 90 degree incline, Ellen's legs had given up and Angel's feet were macerated and blistered in the rented boots you have to wear (think rigid ski boots, and try hiking in them!), our guide had told us that walking down is harder as you have to concentrate more and this when a lot of accidents happen due to fatigue (a lot of hikers have died doing this trek) so we made the sensible decision to slowly walk back. We were disappointed with ourselves but there was no way we could have made it to the top in the condition we were in, if the chairlift had have been working there may have been a possibility that we might have made it further as it would have cut out the initial hour of hiking. We'll just need to come back another time and try again! The good thing about giving up was we were able to take our time and appreciate the view, it was magnificent, and as our guide said, the views from the top were the same view as where we'd got to. We sat and ate the empanadas we had brought along for our snack and took in the breathlessly beautiful view.<br />
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The next day we decided to stay in Pucon another day, mainly because we were so tired,and Angel could barely walk with the blisters and damaged feet from the boots so we took it easy, enquired about either going rafting or to the hot springs for the additional day and strolled around the town to the 2 lakes and had lunch (an awesome breakfast burrito!) and a siesta (when in Rome) and then dinner at the best steakhouse in town, <a href="http://www.lamagapucon.cl/" target="_blank">La Maga</a>. The steak was great, Angel had a 500g bife de chorizo and Ellen had the 350g one. </div>
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We also did our laundry for probably the last time as we only have 5 days left!</div>
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We had dinner with Sarah and Brian, an Australian couple who were staying in the same hostel and Brian had done the volcano hike with us, but he had made it to the top. </div>
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The following day we went rafting! It was brilliant fun, there were some straight sections of water but the guide made it interesting but either pushing us in the water or getting us to play games so we would fall in. We had wetsuits and helmets, gloves and special shoes but the water was still cold but so clear! The group was great and the Brazilian girls are going to send us photos they took with their waterproof camera. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOZPSnFQ9qvAopZl39_BiMyV7XayiT_w61BIsxHPXXGRuuSqc3I_zDtqxDaFi0wG2gOcn7UtwqUAbi9OA31CFx9W10hf7FIVKnYW4AMcDOSLpMWyoIVlpq-P86EPzgRjRZAFrYrOrylY/s640/blogger-image-528647665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOZPSnFQ9qvAopZl39_BiMyV7XayiT_w61BIsxHPXXGRuuSqc3I_zDtqxDaFi0wG2gOcn7UtwqUAbi9OA31CFx9W10hf7FIVKnYW4AMcDOSLpMWyoIVlpq-P86EPzgRjRZAFrYrOrylY/s320/blogger-image-528647665.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our temporary dog</td></tr>
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While we were in Pucon we adopted a stray dog, well she adopted us. She appeared on our first day, followed us around for a couple of hours so we bought her some dog food and she loved us more. The following day we could not find her in the evening after our hike, and the next day she found us near the market and then followed us the entire day, waiting outside stores we were in, sitting beside us when we had lunch outside, took us to the beach (she looked like she wanted to show us something and it ended up that she wanted to go for a swim), in the evening when we went back to the hostel to change for dinner she was not waiting for us when we came out, but we headed up to the Main Street and there she was, waiting at the end of our street and was so excited to see us, we walked to the restaurant and she waited outside while we had our steak, we cut the small bits of fat off and kept them for her, and she was there waiting for us when we came out. </div>
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We hope someone else sees her sweet nature and takes her in, or other travellers feed her. None of the strays look starving, they are all in quite good condition, but the problem here in Pucon according to the owner of the place we had lunch is that everyone wants puppies so around Christmas there is a new wave of puppies and then by late summer they are dumped. It's very sad. If we had been locals we would have kept her. Angel really does not like dogs and this one he really liked and grew attached to. Such a sweet natured dog. We called her Bob, like our cat. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Pucón, Araucanía Region, Chile-39.272254 -71.977628999999979-40.059223999999993 -73.268522499999975 -38.485284 -70.686735499999983tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-69626936353126688812013-11-24T06:14:00.000-08:002014-04-27T01:47:23.500-07:00Valparaiso, a city of dogs and graffiti<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtNt3XsqVJBShzEyLaj4C72a88tAiRVM00ZpOUehyfX0Jxtt_AN0cRbHudV2a1iOPuuwsjZ0jFFAP4yEwGY9anFNGNpes2dlkZ8y2hkfqUP6_DPmAQtDhZpkHQxTVx1IJIlWFdIGuwhg/s640/blogger-image--1593612597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtNt3XsqVJBShzEyLaj4C72a88tAiRVM00ZpOUehyfX0Jxtt_AN0cRbHudV2a1iOPuuwsjZ0jFFAP4yEwGY9anFNGNpes2dlkZ8y2hkfqUP6_DPmAQtDhZpkHQxTVx1IJIlWFdIGuwhg/s640/blogger-image--1593612597.jpg" /></a></div>
The first thing you notice about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara%C3%ADso" target="_blank">Valparaiso</a> is the fresh sea air, the next is all the stray dogs! We thought there were a lot in <a href="http://www.sanpedroatacama.com/ingles/home.htm" target="_blank">San Pedro de Atacama</a>, but here, they are everywhere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_PWRhI27yr7H82WWY1FbcwNZI75ipqtlKFRL8Il3FewjNlzQyxZArncoDQaAUNOSxEyt8hOUn1av4uY8JWKLH94OuzvTe-49GnDxfols4TJ15ieow9OhxiaX1_L724LFZsgNVVoCzpk/s640/blogger-image--1060125723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_PWRhI27yr7H82WWY1FbcwNZI75ipqtlKFRL8Il3FewjNlzQyxZArncoDQaAUNOSxEyt8hOUn1av4uY8JWKLH94OuzvTe-49GnDxfols4TJ15ieow9OhxiaX1_L724LFZsgNVVoCzpk/s200/blogger-image--1060125723.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dogs & Graffiti</td></tr>
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After checking into our B&B we took a 'free' 3 hour walking tour of the city and at each point there was another pack of dogs ready to follow us. The tour was great, it was the same company as the one we did in Santiago, <a href="http://tours4tips.com/index-3.html" target="_blank">tips4tours</a>, you pay what you think the tour was worth. We began the tour in the old town, which is <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/" target="_blank">UNESCO</a> listed, it's beautiful , if a bit run down and due to it's heritage listing it's difficult and expensive to renovate the buildings so many at left to deteriorate.<br />
We then headed up one of the amazing old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular" target="_blank">funiculars</a> to one of Valaparaiso's many hills to see the magnificent views of the port town (the dogs didn't come up with us in the funicular - there was the next pack waiting for us at the top). Due to the nature of the hills, the economy and the poverty (Valparaiso has the highest unemployment rate in all of Chile) the houses are built with an eclectic mix of materials and designs which makes for a very interesting landscape, also the colours are a highlight as most houses are made of corrugated iron they paint with bright colours, a bit like La Boca in Buenos Aires. We headed down many narrow cobbled streets their walls covered in graffiti, apparently it originated during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet" target="_blank">Pinochet</a> dictatorship as a form of protest but it has turned <i>Valpo</i> (as the locals call it) into an open air art gallery. In fact, so many of the worlds graffiti artists are drawn to the city and some house owners to prevent horrible 'tagging' on their properties either commission artists to paint murals on their facades or they give artists carte blanche to paint what they want if the owner can't afford to pay.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc872OMfqM8TkphjxIHUSVoxmvsuf4IJ18_0T6vpKkhNzFd63aNlzFbXgj7FSKMZ4E5cVDa5a3B4mSVGuDTledanNUDR3qdpsEizXJyAyZYUa5JsL7IXcq8Q-LVs5Ipc2IBRNBCNhRDEc/s640/blogger-image--958794537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Piano Stairs, Valparaiso" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc872OMfqM8TkphjxIHUSVoxmvsuf4IJ18_0T6vpKkhNzFd63aNlzFbXgj7FSKMZ4E5cVDa5a3B4mSVGuDTledanNUDR3qdpsEizXJyAyZYUa5JsL7IXcq8Q-LVs5Ipc2IBRNBCNhRDEc/s200/blogger-image--958794537.jpg" title="Piano Stairs, Valparaiso" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piano stairs, Valparaiso</td></tr>
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Apparently there is a code within the graffiti world where you don't mess with a other artists canvas, though there are always exceptions to this as you see around the city. </div>
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The town is beautiful and while on the walking tour we met one American guy who arrived in the town 2 years ago planning to stay a couple of days and he has never left, you can see why as the city really does grow on you.<br />
There are some brilliant restaurants in the city including <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g294306-d2319341-Reviews-Cocina_Puerto-Valparaiso_Valparaiso_Region.html" target="_blank">Cocina Puerto</a>, and some pretty good ice cream shops.</div>
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The B&B we stayed was called <a href="http://www.bblanona.com/" target="_blank">La Nona</a>, a cozy, family-run place managed by a couple who own the house which was owned by Rene's grandfather, a immigrant from England. It's always been a B&B, Rene's grandmother ran it up until a couple of years ago when she died. Rene was really helpful in telling us what to do and where do go, and he laid out a pretty mean breakfast too!</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region, Chile-33.045646 -71.620361-33.258435999999996 -71.9430845 -32.832856 -71.297637500000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-38751645409447193212013-11-21T06:08:00.000-08:002017-01-25T01:12:04.155-08:00Ah, Mendoza. Wine, beef, wine, beef...oh and some pasta.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dCofUTcBX7k1uZXvRjVUcPt06DtzCc9ok1G_Q0RLvFj15npFI4N2MqhX-F7z9mLTpWROjpLzgCvlb8bprRPcPAoONvdR4JiwMFIUznxpTvT1gmPzQWNBxRLX4vJATOCF-NBXMzNzqxU/s640/blogger-image-689431433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wine tasting" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dCofUTcBX7k1uZXvRjVUcPt06DtzCc9ok1G_Q0RLvFj15npFI4N2MqhX-F7z9mLTpWROjpLzgCvlb8bprRPcPAoONvdR4JiwMFIUznxpTvT1gmPzQWNBxRLX4vJATOCF-NBXMzNzqxU/s200/blogger-image-689431433.jpg" title="Wine tasting" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wine tasting</td></tr>
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We had planned on popping back into Argentina to come to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendoza,_Argentina" target="_blank">Mendoza</a> all along, initially it was for 2 days but we stayed another we loved it so much.<br />
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With its wide avenues and boulevards, pretty parks and many restaurants, it is hard not to love Mendoza. Our B&B is near the centre, it's run by an older couple who treat you like one of theirs, they organise breakfast around you, give you a key if you will be out late (1am, latest of put whole trip! rock on!) and want to make sure you have a great time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf4fRlQwxFhD6wHm0VIidUC8AAjEwpWVCp4T5t1mQUnLbsXpVZBJpn-TirWc8vhGc5AgyAg2fms0WktPlNg1KebZb4r85hbdJs73xZgSFUso_TATL4TghdAcyUPZljk0FS56vbdqdFyg/s640/blogger-image-30720904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wine tasting glasses" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf4fRlQwxFhD6wHm0VIidUC8AAjEwpWVCp4T5t1mQUnLbsXpVZBJpn-TirWc8vhGc5AgyAg2fms0WktPlNg1KebZb4r85hbdJs73xZgSFUso_TATL4TghdAcyUPZljk0FS56vbdqdFyg/s200/blogger-image-30720904.jpg" title="Wine tasting glasses" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Wine Tasting</td></tr>
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We booked a full day wine tour for our first day with <a href="http://www.kahuak.com.ar/" target="_blank">Kahuak</a>, pricey but it took us on a private (no one else booked so it was just us) tour of 3 wineries; <a href="http://www.ncorreas.com/" target="_blank">Navarro Correas</a>, <a href="http://trapiche.com.ar/" target="_blank">Trapiche</a> and <a href="http://www.familiazuccardi.com/" target="_blank">Familia Zuccardi</a>. All big wineries but the latter is a bit more touristy with 2 restaurants. The best tour by far was the Navarro Correas, our guide was great - the tour we booked was a driver to take us to the wineries where we would have tours with the winery staff - it was just us and her and she showed us around the place and then sat with us and poured 3 large glasses of wine. 2 red and 1 white; Chardonnay, reserve Cab Sav and a Gran Reserve Cab Sav which was awesome, definitely our favourite, and hers too. The next 2 wineries were not as intimate, big flashy entrances and impersonal tour (felt a bit like going through the motions, but the wine was good).<br />
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We finished the day with a lunch at the pasta restaurant at Familia Zuccardi. It was good but not as good as we had hoped, the wine was great, the starters great but the pasta was a little tasteless. But after all we were there for the wine!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1GLFOQXuDzp39KL6XWTDEm36V0uNKqMj1n8N86IwmvHi30JZ34luRSGYMsYhs1tp-_ViRtNurISJg2-Fw89-NHyFJRXRlu05OfNoFOXZtz8MgvD2uJ5urZON4Io8yI6pd2z8AHkWaSU/s640/blogger-image--1621368659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bife de Chorizo" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1GLFOQXuDzp39KL6XWTDEm36V0uNKqMj1n8N86IwmvHi30JZ34luRSGYMsYhs1tp-_ViRtNurISJg2-Fw89-NHyFJRXRlu05OfNoFOXZtz8MgvD2uJ5urZON4Io8yI6pd2z8AHkWaSU/s200/blogger-image--1621368659.jpg" title="Bife de Chorizo" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abi & Kayleigh with bife de chorizo</td></tr>
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The following day we decided to stay another day and just walked around the town, went to the markets and visited each of the 5 plazas in the city, interestingly built as evacuation points for earthquakes. (Plazas Chile, Italia, Espana, San Martin and the big one in the middle of town, independecia).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLJe8U17H-6C4hoKHPESMzICT8quudcTIyvba35q9aZglj0YSG-sEW8nWZqFtd7qX-VweflNzMLHqI-CBPgi99WEtcWZZQEr7fP91tMdHqp-fi7ZK5qIy8VB5Lk-_VhHOcuD3yXp-Lkw/s640/blogger-image--1430300640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bife de Chorizo" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLJe8U17H-6C4hoKHPESMzICT8quudcTIyvba35q9aZglj0YSG-sEW8nWZqFtd7qX-VweflNzMLHqI-CBPgi99WEtcWZZQEr7fP91tMdHqp-fi7ZK5qIy8VB5Lk-_VhHOcuD3yXp-Lkw/s200/blogger-image--1430300640.jpg" title="Bife de Chorizo" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bife de Chorizo</td></tr>
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A couple of months ago back in in Brazil we had met Abi and Kayleigh who we noticed on Facebook were also going to be in town for a couple of days so we met up with them for dinners 2 of the 3 nights we spent here, it was great catching up on what each of us had done, we had similar routes and travel dates and had missed them a couple of places by a day or so. One of the places we ate was <a href="http://www.laluciagrillbar.com.ar/" target="_blank">La Lucia</a> (pic right and above) AMAZING. I dreamt about this steak for days afterwards and expect to for a very long time.</div>
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We really enjoyed Mendoza. The wide boulevards and beautiful buildings - the reason the streets are so wide is due to Earthquakes - back in 1861 they had a massive one which killed thousands and most were killed by the falling rubble, so when they re-built they did so with wider streets for the people to escape into during earthquakes.<br />
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The squares are a beautiful place to sit and people watch while eating some snacks or your lunch.<br />
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The people were lovely, the wine was great and the steak was out of this world, cutting it was like cutting through butter, perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">36 hairpin turns!</td></tr>
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The border crossing back to Chile was a little crap though, and all Chile's fault. </div>
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When your bus arrives at the border, you get off the bus and queue at an Argentinian desk and get your exit stamp, then queue up at a desk beside this to get your Chilean entry stamp, then back on the bus and wait for the bus to move into the border building where your bags are removed from the bus to go through an x-ray. We had arrived at the border at lunchtime, rather than having shifts, the Chilean border staff stop for lunch. The minibus in front of us still had 5 bags on the belt to be checked, the border staff stopped, had lunch while the mini bus people had to wait. About 45 minutes later they continued checking the bags, then everyone from the minibus had to queue up to put their hand luggage through the X-ray machine. Then it was our turn. It has to be the most disorganised border entry we have been at, all in, including the bus queuing it took us about an hour and a half to get across the border. Chile is as strict as Australia in what it lets you bring into the country food wise. The main things are no fresh produce and no honey.<br />
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In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Atacama" target="_blank">San Pedro de Atacama</a> we had the same process (though remember there was a strike of these border staff) but there was a French lady who's boyfriend had his bag searched for a garlic which he had forgot in his bag and they saw it on the scanner, but during the search, while she stood beside him during the search she had an apple in her hand and the border staff did not notice. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Mendoza, Mendoza Province, Argentina-32.890183 -68.8440498-33.103432 -69.166773299999988 -32.676934 -68.5213263tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-39367309163613712712013-11-19T20:30:00.000-08:002014-05-01T04:55:46.469-07:00Santiago, the first time.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPgBL8rol962BJkUDKWchiVS1Bt1fC1fnTT4DIL9moq_9PLSMDOR7I60k2NUsrltOKZ2VskNUEFuBgdkYi2c5t0yTxSmoZWtWimmYl2YbL-Ujw6zfxuel5aQD21EmHayKkFDa6dcM6jw/s640/blogger-image--411154282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Main Plaza, Santiago" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPgBL8rol962BJkUDKWchiVS1Bt1fC1fnTT4DIL9moq_9PLSMDOR7I60k2NUsrltOKZ2VskNUEFuBgdkYi2c5t0yTxSmoZWtWimmYl2YbL-Ujw6zfxuel5aQD21EmHayKkFDa6dcM6jw/s200/blogger-image--411154282.jpg" title="Main Plaza, Santiago" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main plaza, Santiago</td></tr>
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We decided to spend 3 nights in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago" target="_blank">Santiago</a> as we had come from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Atacama" target="_blank">San Pedro de Atacama</a> on a 24 hour bus journey and we thought we deserved a few days of rest and hoping for some brilliant food.<br />
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The city is improving according to our guidebook. It's a pretty standard big non-coastal city. Big, dirty, hectic and people hassling you (dirty mainly because there is a strike by the municipal workers, yes a strike in South America, you would never believe it!).</div>
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Our hostel, <a href="http://www.happyhousehostel.com/" target="_blank">Happy House</a>, is brilliant. It's a gorgeous old converted house with high decorative ceilings, polished wood floors, a pool, massive comfortable rooms, and a pool. Did we mention they have a pool? It's located in Barrio Brazil, about 20 minutes walk from the main part of town, there are cool cafes and restaurants nearby, including an ice creamery. It's great. </div>
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We ate at a local restaurant which was recommended by the guy on reception at the hotel, it's called <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g294305-d793634-Reviews-Vacas_Gordas-Santiago_Santiago_Metropolitan_Region.html" target="_blank">Varcas Gordas</a> (the fat cow) and had the most amazing <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bife+de+chorizo&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Iv2VUoyGK9CtkAf1s4CAAw&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=474" target="_blank">bife de chorizo</a> and lomo steaks, with chips and salad, and wine, and cocktails. So amazing after so many weeks in Bolivia where pretty much the only option is pizza. We could hardly contain our excitement. </div>
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There is a great ice cream place around the corner from the hostel, very cheap with great ice cream and it's right across the street from a park where you can watch the local teenagers ride skateboards. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9HKY8upnnx6AMILoz6ge8JA8zUIsxdaRIyVmAmK3KadNcuLKFWTYhR1qpvaFPSGmYj-gLZgQJOPo0aaXRcI1dSH2F-7VKOcLaZU8IiiH24e1eeIPQWfea1_rLrOlNX38uWa0S6KUUpQ/s640/blogger-image--1490625564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Santiago Markets" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9HKY8upnnx6AMILoz6ge8JA8zUIsxdaRIyVmAmK3KadNcuLKFWTYhR1qpvaFPSGmYj-gLZgQJOPo0aaXRcI1dSH2F-7VKOcLaZU8IiiH24e1eeIPQWfea1_rLrOlNX38uWa0S6KUUpQ/s200/blogger-image--1490625564.jpg" title="Santiago Markets" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santiago Markets</td></tr>
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We bought empanadas on the street for lunch on our first day. The money in Chile is like Australian money (plastic) and when we got the change from the vendor we thought nothing of the ripped $2,000 note (£2 approx). We discovered that ripped notes in Chile are not accepted ...anywhere (not even the banks), so we threw it on the floor and within seconds it was gone - not that whoever picked it up could use it either. Lesson learned. Don't accept damaged notes in Chile. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVECKiEcCqwWQ3NPxGPDn3HzhxBreviwVxu6l_Qjl3ualmNcgSCKF2r3KtBRo2dKaTHRjssiTaR2R5OAjamlqErB8eoJvAUECjL9vRjfcsnwkm-1IdmC7vQpGhb2wcJ6qK4K_dqkgm-aE/s640/blogger-image-1705702257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Animita" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVECKiEcCqwWQ3NPxGPDn3HzhxBreviwVxu6l_Qjl3ualmNcgSCKF2r3KtBRo2dKaTHRjssiTaR2R5OAjamlqErB8eoJvAUECjL9vRjfcsnwkm-1IdmC7vQpGhb2wcJ6qK4K_dqkgm-aE/s200/blogger-image-1705702257.jpg" title="Animita" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animita</td></tr>
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We did an interesting <a href="http://tours4tips.com/index-2.html" target="_blank">free alternative walking tour</a> of Santiago (with tips), the guide, Matthew, was really informative and walked us around the several markets and some of the old areas of Santiago finishing in the cemetery where he explained <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animita" target="_blank">animitas</a>. These are a bit of a cultural/religious phenomenon where an 'innocent' is killed in a tragic way and as they were 'pure' and taken in such a way they are considered kind of like saints (note: the catholic religion does not accept these 'saints' nor condone them), people prey to them and ask for things like jobs, health, money. It's quite widespread in South America.</div>
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We have booked to come back to the same hostel for a couple of nights before we leave for Australia. All set. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile-33.4691199 -70.641997-35.1605294 -73.223784000000009 -31.777710400000004 -68.06021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-88798584169099644982013-11-18T15:55:00.002-08:002014-05-22T03:31:29.172-07:00San Pedro de Atacama<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiPxXRcppX7x0W91-tDvhhBafrjowb_kOkKrWAdjvgem7rrRQ-A-Qyzdg5QfAXaVzLIbqNIxPH4TZITCx65wSNAk3MvuLmkL5AhRQLowo3-RBmmjpcZsIUA3XisOCIu3J_5QmIEKO0kE/s640/blogger-image-122302914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiPxXRcppX7x0W91-tDvhhBafrjowb_kOkKrWAdjvgem7rrRQ-A-Qyzdg5QfAXaVzLIbqNIxPH4TZITCx65wSNAk3MvuLmkL5AhRQLowo3-RBmmjpcZsIUA3XisOCIu3J_5QmIEKO0kE/s200/blogger-image-122302914.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floating</td></tr>
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This place has to be the most expensive place in South America. Don't get me wrong it is a great place and there are some amazing things to see, but when you can get a very basic double room with shared bathroom for £58 here and a more superior room in the nations capital for £28 a night, something is very wrong. We had to watch our spending carefully here as everything is almost twice the price of Santiago, and about triple the price of Bolivia (water is £1 for 1.5 litres whereas in Bolivia it is 30 pence for the same size bottle). The restaurants are about £8 for a sandwich, compared to spending £8 on a full steak dinner for the two of us, with beer in Sucre. The food is of better quality than Bolivia though.<br />
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We arrived after a 2 day transfer from Uyuni in Bolivia, up at 4.30 am with probably the grumpiest driver in all of South America, and then arriving at the Chilean border to find (surprise, surprise) the border staff were on strike. A strike in South America? Unheard of! (Please excuse our sarcasm).<br />
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San Pedro (or San Perro as one of our tour guides called it, due to the high number of stray dogs in the town) is a small border town at the north east of Chile. It is the main base of tours to the Atacama desert. We took 2 tours, one to the salt pools and another to the luna valley. Both tours were with <a href="http://www.cosmoandino-expediciones.cl/servicios.html" target="_blank">Cosmo Andino</a> tours and were very good. Interestingly the first tour with our brilliant guide who did not speak English was a more enjoyable tour than then one with the English speaking guide!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running the dunes</td></tr>
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We spent 2 nights in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Atacama" target="_blank">San Pedro</a>, our hostel was great, a little place with 5 rooms 15 minutes walk from downtown, with free bikes and a brilliant breakfast - with home made bread, it was a bit like soda bread with grains through it. The cleaner/cook Elizabeth was lovely and helpful and carried her English/Spanish dictionary around which was sweet, she wanted to learn more English, so our conversations were with broken Spanish and English.<br />
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The first tour was out to the salt springs, where you really struggle to get your body down into the water, you practically float on the top! We spent about an hour in the water but as the salt gets into wounds, and we still had mosquito bite marks it was a bit stingy, but good fun trying all the different positions to float in.<br />
Our guide Ivan then drove us to the 'eyes' of the Atacama - 2 very deep fresh, but salty, water pools in the desert which are about 600m deep. Then he took us to a salt lake, one with water, and we drank Pisco Sours while watching the amazing sunset.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwBep4PLWEvD3ShIQsFbHyePHebbv4luya7uxdhjVUM63oxV1SK5Droj0WVbueCJPflYTPDAyuVf3jupRk8xF_k8rxSq5LokcJYbKZNeQSMTkwCgMy59TVRvuFncwWRJ2oNeoDQfAWS8/s640/blogger-image-525215531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwBep4PLWEvD3ShIQsFbHyePHebbv4luya7uxdhjVUM63oxV1SK5Droj0WVbueCJPflYTPDAyuVf3jupRk8xF_k8rxSq5LokcJYbKZNeQSMTkwCgMy59TVRvuFncwWRJ2oNeoDQfAWS8/s320/blogger-image-525215531.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing Sunset</td></tr>
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The next day we had an afternoon tour of Dead Valley and the Luna Valley. This was a larger tour group in a bigger bus. The guide was great, but just didn't have the personality like Ivan had. We did a lot more walking on this one, but it was nice to walk through the rock formations and sandy valleys - you could hear the sand cracking with movement, one section was a very steep sand dune we had to run down - Angel did it at such speed he was really enjoying himself, straight down with the sand coming up to the knees with each step. Brilliant fun.Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile-22.908707 -68.199715999999967-24.774231 -70.781502999999972 -21.043183 -65.617928999999961tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-21792379823356518302013-11-17T16:46:00.003-08:002014-05-22T03:43:53.468-07:00Boliva: Lagoons, Salt Flats, Volcanos and more<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusTCiIjlo3nat3fmKuyGJG6bhN8W_C9r1iQL1hZ5e6mp-7XSPPqTmMowqwaX3-JHc1RTj5VUc9jf9diQM7VwlM-SUuBlgr7Laz6luPGNFigGxB07fJtNbw5GUL7xsbV_exOzBEXdRE-o/s640/blogger-image--724772314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusTCiIjlo3nat3fmKuyGJG6bhN8W_C9r1iQL1hZ5e6mp-7XSPPqTmMowqwaX3-JHc1RTj5VUc9jf9diQM7VwlM-SUuBlgr7Laz6luPGNFigGxB07fJtNbw5GUL7xsbV_exOzBEXdRE-o/s200/blogger-image--724772314.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cactus Rose</td></tr>
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We booked a 4 day 'Salt Flats Tour' with <a href="http://www.latorretours-tupiza.com/uyuni.html" target="_blank">La Torre Tours</a>. Afder doing substantial research on Trip Advisor and other travel sites and reading blogs we decided that the tours are much better from Tupiza than Uyuni. In Uyuni they have very inconsistent reviews, which is mainly down to the fact there are so many tour companies there and most of the drivers and cooks are 'freelance' so someone who is a questionable driver can work for several companies. In Tupiza there are only a handful of companies and La Torre Tours are the best from what we can tell.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of Land Cruisers, and a Nissan</td></tr>
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Our tour started at 8am and we were shown to our <a href="http://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/land-cruiser" target="_blank">Land Cruiser</a> and introduced to our driver, Mario, and our cook, Isabella. Both very lovely and cheery people. We handed our stuff to Mario who was standing on top of the truck loading our gear and provisions for the trip. We also met the other couple on our tour, Sue and Tom from Switzerland. It was just the 4 of us on the tour, there is a maximum of 5 people on a La Torre Tour (from Uyuni they pack 6 people + the driver and cook in the jeep!) and we took turns in sitting in the small child seats in the back of the Land Cruiser.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjL0XBXR9ECKXROgOtiOBLrD6heLbtvpZjV9Thmgnpc4esaFBzeNUOh6pKOWxZ4efztI-0jRclA3qOqA0v9bMP1NVQb4emLLbYT83LYO7Zf4UzvFDiCHSFGt49xnM2hxBJWp9pCaUVGW8/s640/blogger-image--852411931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjL0XBXR9ECKXROgOtiOBLrD6heLbtvpZjV9Thmgnpc4esaFBzeNUOh6pKOWxZ4efztI-0jRclA3qOqA0v9bMP1NVQb4emLLbYT83LYO7Zf4UzvFDiCHSFGt49xnM2hxBJWp9pCaUVGW8/s200/blogger-image--852411931.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very cold at the lagoon</td></tr>
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Day 1 is mostly driving to get us to the first nights' hotel, we start by passing the spectacular vertical red rock formations just outside Tupiza and then travel along winding dirt roads past some pretty amazing scenery(we will run out of superlatives in in this blog). We stopped for lunch at a small mining town where we had arrived on the day of the village school's 7th anniversary and they were having a presentation. It was quite sweet as the whole town (of less than a thousand) were out in the main square to celebrate the day. The food was great, Isabella had pre-made some chicken schnitzels and we had salad and potatoes to go with it.<br />
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We drove on through the Anawanapampa desert and Mario noticed one of the back tires had a small leak so we stopped on the road (dirt track) and he changed the tire (our second flat tire in 3 months, not bad considering all the miles we have covered!) we drove on and stopped in an abandoned town which the locals call a 'Ghost Town' it is where an army of Spanish lived after the invasion when they made the Inca's work the mines, at times not letting the Inca's out of the actual mine caves for months at a time, and they had to keep everything in there with them including the livestock! After a stop at our highest point of 4,855m we stayed overnight in San Antonio de Lipez at 4,200m in a hostel (no showers), all the acommodation on this tour is very basic and all 4 of us are in one room, with Isabella and Mario in another (even more basic than ours), there are toilets but as we said, no showers, not until the 3rd night when you can pay 10 Boliviano for a shower, well this is the desert and water is precious (and 10 Boliviano is less than a Pound!). Mario repaired the hole in the tire with the help of our torches - and removed the tire from the wheel by driving the jeep over the wheel and freeing the tube from inside, luckily Mario is a mechanic.<br />
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Day 2 began with an early start. Breakfast and we headed to the Lagoons, along the road we had to drive through several frozen streams which was quite amazing to see in the desert, it does get very cold in the desert at night. The first lagoon was our first glimpse of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo" target="_blank">Flamingos</a>, they were just eating around the edges of the lagoon, some of it was still frozen and they were sliding along the surface. A little longer along the road we stopped at a lagoon we thought was covered in salt, this was in fact borax, which is used in the manufacture of ceramics. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtNK48joedsmDHY9gnNpRFzyuA-BFDwiSK-gHKYy-ourk4vukvhyphenhyphenoBiYRmyRG0sA1k7d7-v3h4cS6IuKVbOsDGXATrFSix85lEu8S8eBmQrMSatnVlYb9m76ck13KTlW5vSSonSPqyos/s640/blogger-image--479054097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtNK48joedsmDHY9gnNpRFzyuA-BFDwiSK-gHKYy-ourk4vukvhyphenhyphenoBiYRmyRG0sA1k7d7-v3h4cS6IuKVbOsDGXATrFSix85lEu8S8eBmQrMSatnVlYb9m76ck13KTlW5vSSonSPqyos/s200/blogger-image--479054097.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Any guesses?</td></tr>
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About an hour later and we were at the gorgeous Laguna Verde (green lagoon). We stopped for photos before heading to the Aguas Termales just down the road, we all put our swimmers on and jumped in the springs, though very warm in the water outside it was blowing a gale and the wind was pushing the desert sand against us which meant we came out of the baths dirtier than when we went in, but as we keep saying 'it's an adventure!' After the springs we went to see the geisers, they were spewing hot gasses into the air - very cool to see. Next stop was at the red lagoon, this is where we saw hundreds of Flamingos. At our next hostel it was even more basic than the previous and colder too, so we used our rented sleeping bags which we really only needed because the beds looked like the sheets had not been changed, there were hairs and other bits in there. So we decided to sleep in the sleeping bags with the blankets over the top. We went outside before bed into the freezing night to see the stars, unfortunately the moon was very bright and this affected the ability to see all the stars, but being away from city lights and pollution it was still magnificent to see what we could.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah no, she's stuck</td></tr>
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The first stop on day 3 is at the rock tree, it is a rock which has the form of a tree sticking out of the desert, there are other rocks around and it is quite something to see. Tom climbed on top of a few of them, while we took photos of him and stayed relatively close to the ground.<br />
We then headed off to the next lagoon where we saw a fox, it seemed quite used to people, tourists probably feed it. Here we saw many more <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo" target="_blank">Flamingos</a>, these were curiously more tame than the ones at the other lagoons. We were able to get within 2 meters of them and take some shots, it was extremely windy here and we had to really work hard to walk against the wind.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a_QS5Q1NiqF4v53KV6RVyOxtgk1RxjC7mRfnmFMpktyR4XxMGQQeeiR8CndtaCfDkfo18MEuqp8BhyP7DS71vb-B0ywkZyQH1MyJO-lJRCJNl0JxO6UWyiXoJkcscl5OaIGXVgSkmv4/s640/blogger-image-371941634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a_QS5Q1NiqF4v53KV6RVyOxtgk1RxjC7mRfnmFMpktyR4XxMGQQeeiR8CndtaCfDkfo18MEuqp8BhyP7DS71vb-B0ywkZyQH1MyJO-lJRCJNl0JxO6UWyiXoJkcscl5OaIGXVgSkmv4/s200/blogger-image-371941634.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viscacha</td></tr>
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We stopped for lunch near some rocks, where we saw <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscacha" target="_blank">Viscachas</a> (desert rabbit like animal) which were more than happy to see us as they eat all the crumbs left by the tours, probably not very good for them as you do not see carrots growing in the desert.<br />
We stopped along the road to view the two volcanos <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licancabur" target="_blank">Licancabur </a>and Zaparelli before stopping in a town for Mario to have a break after hours of driving in the desert, he told us that this section is very tiring for the drivers and they are not sure why this particular section is so bad.<br />
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That night we had nice hot showers at the hotel which was made of salt. The floor was rock salt (you have to wear shoes or it is very uncomfortable) and the walls are all salt, even the pillars for the beds are salt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4afZebUqkwgDlO3HJ2EeSti0oMI4MnoTwNjTM1YXt6XXkGEyb4fMv4f6cFRbG0cxWeAxRQgwVFbtPwQnFFtBWEsTuXyipelxTO-x4LMO3kaNon5jBr7z8yFEPJtC4uDPLK7DgGq3Oi0/s640/blogger-image-1933525617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4afZebUqkwgDlO3HJ2EeSti0oMI4MnoTwNjTM1YXt6XXkGEyb4fMv4f6cFRbG0cxWeAxRQgwVFbtPwQnFFtBWEsTuXyipelxTO-x4LMO3kaNon5jBr7z8yFEPJtC4uDPLK7DgGq3Oi0/s200/blogger-image-1933525617.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cactus Island</td></tr>
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Up the next morning for the final day, we woke up 4.30 to see the sunset on the salt lake. It was magnificent and watching our shadows shorten as the sun rose was quite fun. We then drove to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Incahuasi" target="_blank">Isla Incahuasi</a>, which is covered in Cactus plants, it is at the heart of the desert, quite amazing to see. Here we climbed the island (it is like a small mountain) and then had breakfast where Isabella had made us a cake!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkB41oUI4V30f6DuAen0R4OjFsO7iv71qUTarTpQlOA3kU1qPRhF2Z0_HwX1_q3FamvaGsOlF4kwX4bDhB-2no0cqwsjEtPHJQurcJf2tMR7dvY5WHCgyYFhCQ3hriSC_Up4capPD0xA/s640/blogger-image--16487952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkB41oUI4V30f6DuAen0R4OjFsO7iv71qUTarTpQlOA3kU1qPRhF2Z0_HwX1_q3FamvaGsOlF4kwX4bDhB-2no0cqwsjEtPHJQurcJf2tMR7dvY5WHCgyYFhCQ3hriSC_Up4capPD0xA/s200/blogger-image--16487952.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of the 'Crazy photos'</td></tr>
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It was then time for us to go to a section of the salt flats where we could take our crazy pictures. We spent 2 hours taking shots, some terrible, some quite good. Annoyingly our camera has some fluff and crap inside the lens so now all our shots have these spots. Will have to invest in photoshop when we get to Australia to clean our images. After our final lunch just on the shores of the flats, we arrived in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyuni" target="_blank">Uyuni</a> and went to see the train graveyard - Uyuni used to be the centre of all trains in Bolivia but then a new government changed the hub to another city and the trains were just left to rust.<br />
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This is where we said goodbye to Mario, Isabella, Sue and Tom and we organised our 2 day transfer across the border to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Atacama" target="_blank">San Pedro de Atacama</a> while they all headed back to Tupiza.<br />
It really was a brilliant trip, and having Sue and Tom with us was great - and not just because Sue can speak fluent Spanish and helped us out with the bits we could not understand.<br />
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<br />Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile-22.908707 -68.199715999999967-24.774231 -70.781502999999972 -21.043183 -65.617928999999961tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-34965144383344688992013-11-16T10:31:00.001-08:002013-11-16T10:31:12.966-08:00Pretending we're Gaucho's in Tupiza<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N7_DxN6DJIst59mNez4yLt9eomGDIvRFvPzBEXjVG3ZoisCaSPYETCabVxTEPi3IXqF5WRuJJ7nuHO_YneGfkE9k7EGmxN45H4OSOrgBi9cfwB4LYG46lLVuVboUmvs1WLTxytE10G4/s640/blogger-image--248886061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8N7_DxN6DJIst59mNez4yLt9eomGDIvRFvPzBEXjVG3ZoisCaSPYETCabVxTEPi3IXqF5WRuJJ7nuHO_YneGfkE9k7EGmxN45H4OSOrgBi9cfwB4LYG46lLVuVboUmvs1WLTxytE10G4/s320/blogger-image--248886061.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us on horses. Not a sneeze in sight.</td></tr>
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After yet another eventful bus journey in Bolivia, this time a toilet episode. After 4 hours driving the bus pulls into Potosi bus depot, where the driver picks up more people (more people than there are seats, so several people are standing, and will do for the next 6 hours) and taking this opportunity of a stop Ellen and some girls from the back of the bus get up to go to the toilet but are told to get back on the bus by the driver and that we will be stopping 'up there' (whilst pointing to the top of the mountain). Over an hour later the driver pulls up alongside a restaurant in a very small village and announces for us to get off for food and the toilet. All 40-odd of us on the bus pile into the restaurant and ask for the toilet, there is not one. Nice. So the driver shrugs and all of us scatter around the outside of the restaurant to find somewhere to pee - most of us go into the 'garden' (well, this is the desert) of the house next door and pee.<br />
After this there was another 6 hours to Tupiza and the driver did not stop again. Luckily we have learned to dehydrate ourselves before Bolivian bus journeys and just to sip small amounts of water.<br />
We arrived at about 6pm into Tupiza, with no map we had no idea how far the hotel was from the bus station so we just caught a taxi to the hotel (80 pence) and as soon as we got there we booked our 4 day Salt Flats tour, ending in a transfer to Chile (San Pedro de Atacama). Still within our daily budget.<br />
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We also booked a horse riding tour for the next day. Ellen has been wanting to go horse riding for a while and had read that Tupiza is one of the best places to do it. After all this is the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid allegedly met their ends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETqpE2Yw8xJ-RkAYfRdoR4nir5S_kVQpMqYdIVEFSKciYuC1q_0PWL7zb2n5rRMfaSMcR9bYI9R6LHuFsLNpABRszI-H0LsSSldosftNgvvAIkMC6POypc8JRaLKKLdT4aHXvzcAJUOk/s640/blogger-image-370518696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETqpE2Yw8xJ-RkAYfRdoR4nir5S_kVQpMqYdIVEFSKciYuC1q_0PWL7zb2n5rRMfaSMcR9bYI9R6LHuFsLNpABRszI-H0LsSSldosftNgvvAIkMC6POypc8JRaLKKLdT4aHXvzcAJUOk/s320/blogger-image-370518696.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add soundtrack here.</td></tr>
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Angel actually quite likes horse riding but is unfortunately allergic to horses, so there is a bit of preparation needed, mostly vaseline up the nostrils and antihistamines (also not being able to wear the clothes he has on on the horse again until they are washed).</div>
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We had to walk to the outskirts of town (took about 10 minutes from the centre, small town) with our 'guide' - he gave us the horses and then we followed him for 3 hours. He did point out the 'devils gate' though. We had great horses, they looked really well looked after, which was our concern, and were well behaved. Ellen even got hers to canter. She didn't know what this was but this horse did it. </div>
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The ride was 3 hours, it was about 40 degrees by about 10am and we felt sorry for the horses having to carry us to the canyon and back. It was great to just relax and let the horse do the work and look at the scenery. It really is a beautiful place, yellowy dirt with red boulders and mountains jutting out from the ground with a brilliant blue sky. Really something to see. </div>
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Dear reader, you will be happy to hear that Angel had absolutely no allergic reaction to the horse, either the antihistamine worked or he's not allergic anymore. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Tupiza, Bolivia-21.4359724 -65.719184900000016-21.5542089 -65.880546400000014 -21.317735900000002 -65.557823400000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-68293698688802479162013-11-08T10:59:00.000-08:002013-11-16T11:00:06.917-08:00How we are budgeting.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsP_Xo69hqy94FaV5ceopzJMZHA-yZZeEpTl8DnUmR7ZRjLmeXGwTKUKHOAbwauZMZkO5U7Oc8ThtKhBO57WFAF2BvDClDCmNk9AFeM63Cezvp30eMoB6JEkps9NonWEd2ANZXUidliM/s640/blogger-image-185425622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsP_Xo69hqy94FaV5ceopzJMZHA-yZZeEpTl8DnUmR7ZRjLmeXGwTKUKHOAbwauZMZkO5U7Oc8ThtKhBO57WFAF2BvDClDCmNk9AFeM63Cezvp30eMoB6JEkps9NonWEd2ANZXUidliM/s320/blogger-image-185425622.jpg" width="213" /></a>We were lucky enough to be beta testers of a new app called Trail Wallet. This great <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/trail-wallet-travel-budget/id547171665?mt=8" target="_blank">app</a> is the brainchild of <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Simon Fairbairn & <a href="http://plus.google.com/104271818324407570369/" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px, rgba(255, 0, 255, 0) 10px 10px 5px;">Erin McNeaney</a> a couple who sold everything and have been digital nomads for the past couple of years. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's a great app. You create a trip, add the dates, your daily or trip budget and then enter your expenses as you go, and break them into categories (eg accommodation, travel, sightseeing). Everything we spend is entered, from 1 Peruvian Sole for the toilet to 2.50 Bolivianos for bus departure tax. We can see how much we are spending via the graphs and it tells us our daily average.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You can even have several currencies in there at once. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAT8EPfKX0I7wRMNGF0wqNjB4u7B0BoxpsC-AAsWA99dEbV2gMsKwVZIGjvUjatEHv18GvWygJ6_RpuZIveq0cwVuqNJkgnHRg9gH8N6UxcNWuxExJFlKor_28JkrOlJ1xAflbL7avtg/s640/blogger-image-423852659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAT8EPfKX0I7wRMNGF0wqNjB4u7B0BoxpsC-AAsWA99dEbV2gMsKwVZIGjvUjatEHv18GvWygJ6_RpuZIveq0cwVuqNJkgnHRg9gH8N6UxcNWuxExJFlKor_28JkrOlJ1xAflbL7avtg/s320/blogger-image-423852659.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Without it we would be scrambling around with notebooks and calculators. No need. Just enter what you spend add the category and it's all taken care of, you can even ad expenses in advance, for example if you are doing a tour or booked your accommodation in advance.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">For example, our daily budget is £100 for the 2 of us, for all our expenses (except flights, inca trail and jungle safari, that is out of a separate budget) currently we are averaging £87.94. Under budget. It tells us how much we have spent to date in total and that we are 64% spent. </span></div>
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-46333461262077949762013-11-08T02:38:00.000-08:002014-04-26T18:56:04.702-07:00Cochabamba to Sucre<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzAIMXrzKY9HqmM0cjNjTTYUMZH8Vc3h6yMf7iLOVc51u7axx94Qk7h9WHauZ4kydz0bVF2RQ9_XlTJLWk4ug2hnWWwj8LNCfugR06XMaAOyM-7TFRsGRiuoJ1od8GgPT6oEkQmjriaI/s640/blogger-image-1579320998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzAIMXrzKY9HqmM0cjNjTTYUMZH8Vc3h6yMf7iLOVc51u7axx94Qk7h9WHauZ4kydz0bVF2RQ9_XlTJLWk4ug2hnWWwj8LNCfugR06XMaAOyM-7TFRsGRiuoJ1od8GgPT6oEkQmjriaI/s200/blogger-image-1579320998.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cochabamba's main square</td></tr>
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We stayed in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba" target="_blank">Cochabamba</a> longer than we expected for two reasons, one was we both got quite ill and wanted to stay close to a toilet, and the other was the buses were not as regular as we expected. Oh and one more reason, because Ellen is rubbish at map reading.<br />
Cochabamba itself is a very quiet place, not a lot happening, it's not really on the tourist trail but we went there after Ellen planned our route and mistook the dot on the map for Totora as the one for Cochabamba, 231 km away. So Cochabamba was supposed to be a stop to break up a 14 hour bus journey, but it added 8 hours. Not to worry, it was a great place to chill out and <a href="http://www.skype.com/en/" target="_blank">Skype</a> family and friends and catch up on the blog. Also as there is not a lot to do we didn't feel guilty for not getting out and seeing a lot of sights, as there were not many. There is a statue of Christ on a hill which you can walk to (with, according to guidebooks, a high likelihood of getting mugged) or take the cable car. After discovering there would be no toilet at the top we decided against it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dumbos? Why not!</td></tr>
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Instead we did a bit of a walk, staying close to clean-looking cafes and restaurants, just in case. </div>
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We walked through the town market, down Espana street, we ate in a place called <a href="http://www.boliviaje.com/restaurantes-cochabamba/dumbo.html" target="_blank">Dumbos</a> - an American style diner (if you squint and turn your head sideways) which sold burgers, salads and ice cream. Angel must have been ill, he didn't want any ice cream. For those readers who don't know him, this is heard of. </div>
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On Saturday morning we headed to the bus station to buy our bus tickets for that night to <a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Sucre" target="_blank">Sucre</a>. In Bolivia you cannot purchase bus tickets on any other day except the day the bus is leaving. So we bought tickets at about 9.15 am and the 8pm bus to Sucre was already full, so we got on the 8.15pm one with <a href="http://www.transcopacabanasa.com/" target="_blank">Trans Copacabana</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sucre</td></tr>
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The ride started out quite well for a Bolivian bus company, left on time, then about 45 minutes into the journey the driver pulled the huge bus over to the side of the road, and walked into a dive of a cafe and had his dinner. No announcements, no warning. Some passengers got off the bus and followed him into the cafe and others got off and relieved themselves in the bushes (there was no toilet, and as this is Bolivia, there is no toilet on the bus either). This was the only <i>intentional</i> stop in the 10 hour journey. Seriously. Lucky for us we had planned for this, done our research into Bolivian bus travel and had stopped drinking 6 hours prior so we were suitably dehydrated for the journey, knowing that Bolivian buses, though they usually have a toilet on the bus, they lock them and rarely stop for passengers to go to the loo.</div>
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At 1.32 am the bus stopped on the edge of a mountain road and after about 20 minutes of the drivers walking around outside the bus, we were all told we had to get off the bus and walk as the 'road' (read: dirt path) was muddy and we needed to lighten the bus to get it around the corner. All the passengers got off in the pitch darkness and thick fog and proceeded to walk down the steep road (the drivers had given no indication of how far we were to walk). Luckily Angel always carries a small torch for such occasions in his backpack so we could at least wee where we were going as there was no light. We walked as far as we thought we needed to walk, and then after about 10 minutes of standing about and the bus came down the hill to pick us up, some old ladies had kept on walking down the hill and we picked them up about 200m down the mountain. Despite this little adventure we were not late into Sucre. In fact we were a little early. A first for our bus trips in South America!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sucre market. look at her face!</td></tr>
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We arrived in Sucre at 6.30 and shared a taxi to our hotel with a Kiwi girl who we had met on the bus, she was travelling alone. Arriving at our hostel was a little odd. We rang the buzzer, a guy answered speaking only Spanish saying we would have to wait an hour until reception opened, but that we could wait in the courtyard, and then proceeded to stay on the intercom and not open the door. Still on the intercom a couple of minutes later, still talking to us and still not buzzing us through. Finally the door opened. Maybe he was still asleep. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dino Park, Ellen with Nessie.</td></tr>
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The hostel (<a href="http://kulturberlin.com/" target="_blank">Kultur Berlin</a>) is good, clean, very quiet, has German-themed cafe with great German apple cake (though appalling coffee!) and intermittent wifi (we are writing this from a cafe around the corner). Hot showers though, always a bonus! Also on the final day they came and told us we had overpaid by 640 Boliviano (about £64) and gave us our money back. which made it 50% cheaper than we budgeted for. Hostelworld had the wrong price. Nice!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvWW6rGBwLpMm5cxJnmg35z22f50v6Hu4grHoSzw9ihGo-ACuft_oq7BvOYWysuBxju56mRyO_Ge1UXSwgGp7Yn2uo9ZcZqZ-VoQRg5z2KIIK7JQNbZwogwWadWDZDCBdMVSE2juVX_U/s640/blogger-image-2018332270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvWW6rGBwLpMm5cxJnmg35z22f50v6Hu4grHoSzw9ihGo-ACuft_oq7BvOYWysuBxju56mRyO_Ge1UXSwgGp7Yn2uo9ZcZqZ-VoQRg5z2KIIK7JQNbZwogwWadWDZDCBdMVSE2juVX_U/s640/blogger-image-2018332270.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinosaur footprints in the wall, look carefully.</td></tr>
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In our first 2 days in Sucre, we went to the local markets then up to the Ricoleta neighbourhood and had a tour of the Franciscan monastery (the tour was only in Spanish and we impressed ourselves with how much we knew!) and then rode the 'Dinobus' out out to the very touristy site of the <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g295432-d3381575-Reviews-Cretaceous_Park-Sucre_Chuquisaca_Department.html" target="_blank">dinosaur footprints</a> discovered in a quarry just on the outskirts of town. It was interesting to see the prints, but it was all very over-the-top - with very colourful life-size statues of dinosaurs and the 'imagined' dinosaur sounds piped around the park. Our guide was great though and even asked Ellen at the end if there was anything he could do to make his information better. Bless.</div>
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On our return to the hostel we discovered there was a general transport strike in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potos%C3%AD" target="_blank">Potosi</a>, which was the town our bus to Tupiza needs to pass through, there will be road blocks and therefore no traffic can pass through Potosi for 48 hours, so we found ourselves stuck in Sucre for 2 more days, we had booked a hotel in Tupiza and they said they will move our booking to the 7th, and the bus company, we went back to the bus station to get our money back and they said we had to come back again tomorrow at 8am and get our money back. We were pretty sure it was a con and we would not get the money back in the end. Bearing in mind the tickets are 160 Boliviano for 2 (£15.80) and the taxi to the station is costing us 20 Boliviano return, and as we have been out there twice and would need one more time to go back, and at 8am, we decided to write-off the loss, and drank German beer at the hostel bar instead. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I need to buy one of these!</td></tr>
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As our room at the hostel was like a small apartment we spent most of the next day lounging around the patio outside the room in the hammock. Nice. We ate dinner at a great vegetarian place we had spotted just around the corner from the main square, very tasty, brilliant spicy salsa. </div>
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The next day we planned the morning, dropped off laundry (rare that we are somewhere long enough to do it this regularly) and headed to the Simon Boliviar park, expecting it to be a large city park, but it was just a green nature strip with a road on either side, about 50m wide. It was pretty enough but also as Sucre is quite small it only took us 20 minutes to stroll here from our hotel. So we headed back into town to eat at the <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g295432-d2560364-Reviews-El_Patio_Salteneria-Sucre_Chuquisaca_Department.html" target="_blank"><i>El Patio</i></a> saltinas restaurant again and picked us up some of their amazing saltinas and empanadas and carried them with us as we walked to the city cemetery. It reminded us of the beautiful one in Buenos Aires in Palmero. Most graves it seems are placed in concrete vaults stacked high like bunk beds, this is because it is cheaper than family plots, some are 6 or 7 stories high. </div>
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After eating our saltinas back at the hostel (we didn't eat them in the cemetery, that would be weird) we headed to what is now our local cafe, <i><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g295432-d4374421-Reviews-Metro_cafe-Sucre_Chuquisaca_Department.html" target="_blank">Metro</a></i>, and had £1.50 frappachinos and skyped Ellen's Mum. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodbxaRiaNm1tuJpneADw7YD7Mxal87pFWSUjl2x9_BgHwJXRFfFuvRrOs86VWFe3tdhaFslVw-nUuo6flqED1yGRyus-pL8dbzX0FNUh6aluGEj7fTxDsoZILH4eqHd3iHxnvuzi2NQo/s640/blogger-image--402260489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodbxaRiaNm1tuJpneADw7YD7Mxal87pFWSUjl2x9_BgHwJXRFfFuvRrOs86VWFe3tdhaFslVw-nUuo6flqED1yGRyus-pL8dbzX0FNUh6aluGEj7fTxDsoZILH4eqHd3iHxnvuzi2NQo/s200/blogger-image--402260489.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Patio's Saltinas</td></tr>
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We finished off the day with dinner at a very interesting place called <a href="http://restaurantenouvellecuisine.com/sitio/galeria-de-imagenes/category/1-sucre-chuquisaca.html?start=24" target="_blank">'<i>Nouvelle Cuisine</i>'</a> the name could not be further from the food. It's a really down-and-dirty steak house (in both senses of the word), bursting with locals and brilliant steak! The tables are covered in plastic table-cloths, the glasses were not very clean, so we drank the beer from the bottle, but it was certainly a great experience, the salad was a buffet and our steak came out undercooked but they were great when we asked them to cook it longer. It was a bargain too - we had a sirloin each, all-you-can-eat salad, a big plate of chips and a litre of beer each, all for £12 (for both of us). Brilliant. Very full, we staggered back up the hill to the hostel where we had a couple of £1.50 mojitos. Bolivias very low prices have been keeping us well within budget, in fact we are struggling to spend our daily budget - including giving money to people sitting on the street. On our 2nd day in Sucre we were walking back to the hostel after the DinoTour and saw an old lady sitting on the pavement, she was not begging but looked like she was taking charity (we find many regional down-on-their-luck Bolivians do not beg, they sit there and wait for someone to give them money) so we gave her 30 Boliviano (just under £3) and her face lit up, she started singing and thanking us, there is so much poverty in South America and for us in London £3 would barely get us a take away coffee bit 30 Boliviano would feed this lady 3-4 solid meals from the town market. It made us feel good that we made her so happy, but there is the other side of the coin that in a couple of days she will be hungry again and relying on the charity of others.</div>
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We had a great time in Sucre, quite a chilled out couple of days, taking advantage of the strike and having an opportunity to relax on this hectic adventure without actually being ill! </div>
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Tomorrow we have a bus to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupiza" target="_blank">Tupiza</a>. 10 hours through the desert on a cheapie bus (ie no reclining seats and probably includes livestock!) </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-87309612772445121812013-11-03T11:58:00.000-08:002013-11-03T11:58:25.298-08:00The Mighty Amazon<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeyKvIlnA9CDU5V75YpIDt6PebgkAy5Pi3Oj0BZzujCfHaf0pGJuahzVNCTF-qSmSYsqXoOEZVGsQJ19NZodW4xuVFlnibNopJLJ82htnMNHAX-OFSP4xhKI5LhPQTeO3-ATV41nWFIg/s640/blogger-image--328521304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeyKvIlnA9CDU5V75YpIDt6PebgkAy5Pi3Oj0BZzujCfHaf0pGJuahzVNCTF-qSmSYsqXoOEZVGsQJ19NZodW4xuVFlnibNopJLJ82htnMNHAX-OFSP4xhKI5LhPQTeO3-ATV41nWFIg/s200/blogger-image--328521304.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very very small plane</td></tr>
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Going to the Amazon was something we really wanted to do and Ellen did some research and found that is was cheaper and far less touristy to do it from Bolivia.<br />
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We booked with <a href="http://www.chalalan.com/" target="_blank">Chatalan</a>, this is a company which is highly reputable and not one of the cheapies. </div>
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We got up at 3am to get out 6.20am flight from La Paz to <a href="http://www.rurrenabaque.com.bo/" target="_blank">Rurrenabaque</a> which was in a really small plane. Angel was unfortunately terrified, it was the smallest plane he has ever been on and it was a very bumpy ride with several drops! </div>
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The flight was only 30 minutes and we were met at the Airport (read: shack) by the manager of the Chatalan Rurrenabaque office. 10 minutes later we were in the office and getting a debrief on our trip.</div>
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We met our personal guide Nilo, there was one other group of Mexicans who had their own guide. Nilo would take us up the river to the Chatalan site and take us out for walks and canoe trips to see the jungle. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The journey to Chatalan</td></tr>
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The Chatalan site is 5 hours up the river from Rurrenabaque, we stopped for a snack after about 2 hours and the arrive<br />
d at Chatalan for lunch. The river was magnificent, we saw loads of birds (mostly vultures) along the way and. Some spectacular scenery.</div>
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Our cabin was simple, we opted for a twin room as it was about US$100 cheaper, and it had its own bathroom and electricity from 6pm - 10pm. Each bed had a mosquito net. There were no blinds or curtains or glass windows, just fly screen. No one could see in as each cabin is within a secluded section of the site. The room was perfect for sleeping, in fact Ellen has had her best nights sleep of the whole trip here! The rooms are so dark as with the lights off there is no light source, no city, no cars, just jungle. Pitch black.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds on the lake</td></tr>
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Our first day Nilo took us out in a canoe (another bonus of your own guide - he did all the rowing) around the lodges lake, it's quite large, it took us about an hour and a half to get around it, slowly, we saw loads more birds and some monkeys, our first Toucan in the wild, and a couple of fish jumping out of the water. It's just so peaceful (especially away from the drunk Mexicans) </div>
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We ate our beautifully prepared dinner and went off to bed, as it's dark there is not a lot to do, it's early mornings and early bedtimes in the jungle. That night it started raining at about 1am, now this is proper Sydney rain, not London drizzle. It poured down in buckets for about 15 hours and when it finally stilled at about 4pm the next day we could venture out and see the carnage; the pathways to the cabins were ankle-deep in water, the lake had risen so high the canoe pier could not be seen, and when we did venture out for a walking trip we took a canoe to the other side of the lake and walked up a path as we knew that would be clearer, but there were still streams of water pouring down the hill. We walked up to a viewing platform they had made and stood watching the birds, mostly macaws, enjoying the respite from the rain. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_fi2O3HlYLQ8Q4gbBYg8ADY0b6Le0OaOpIGNwU1s2shbkEAU1EKMXREkJSfw6GreqW3SGQgNVyhNFlQxm1VS41bg71fx4xp2FDWRE0ANGJIP3tF7F0XmxvyeLuVgEsUc16YRrZ4Vjx0/s640/blogger-image-1256718644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_fi2O3HlYLQ8Q4gbBYg8ADY0b6Le0OaOpIGNwU1s2shbkEAU1EKMXREkJSfw6GreqW3SGQgNVyhNFlQxm1VS41bg71fx4xp2FDWRE0ANGJIP3tF7F0XmxvyeLuVgEsUc16YRrZ4Vjx0/s200/blogger-image-1256718644.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howler Monkeys</td></tr>
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The following day we woke to the sound of howler monkeys, which sounded Very eerie, Angel thought it was the plumbing! Today we decided to do one of the paths which were along the flatter areas, hoping the water had subsided. It had, a bit. After slipping and sliding through mud and rocks we arrived at the first river crossing, though the bridge had been washed away, so Nilo walked us a bit further downstream where he found a tree which had fallen yesterday over the river, and we balanced ourselves and walked over it. Along this walk we encountered several more bridges whcih had washed away, unfortunately not every river gave us a fallen tree and Nilo had to make us bridges out of whatever he could find, it certainly was an adventure. We saw loads of wild pigs, more macaws, howler monkeys, frogs, a Toucan, and even a woodpecker, which looked exactly like Woody!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuZT9Ufh6kaxMy2t2RnLqlLoekIibQtrZoqIOiquw0iYiM-Yz81V3Vq1EUVhZoDlc5fY_k6XT6xS67W4NjOIN21zwbT-87Y6V9ar0OnfPz3o2T6dwzCzXhwt6-uDBQtHKSl8F0_UFxaQ/s640/blogger-image--1126456952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuZT9Ufh6kaxMy2t2RnLqlLoekIibQtrZoqIOiquw0iYiM-Yz81V3Vq1EUVhZoDlc5fY_k6XT6xS67W4NjOIN21zwbT-87Y6V9ar0OnfPz3o2T6dwzCzXhwt6-uDBQtHKSl8F0_UFxaQ/s200/blogger-image--1126456952.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most bridges had washed away.</td></tr>
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Dinner was a local dish of trout with rice and vegetables followed by the Chatalan team band playing for us and we all danced, after we had tried 'puma milk' ( a milky alcohol dink) and chewed coco leaves. Later that night Nilo and Angel went out in the canoe on the lake, it was pitch black, with only the reflections of the stars on the lake and our torches as light we went looking for caimans. Unfortunately we only saw one with its eyes reflecting red with the torchlight, but the most magnificent thing to see were the stars. Just breathtaking. </div>
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Our final day we woke to the sound of a Toucan, we've learnt their call and easily spotted one, then two in the trees high above our cabin. We had breakfast and began the 3.5 hour boat journey back to Rurrenabaque (it's faster on the way back as you have the river flow with you), had lunch in the town and arrived at the airport to find, to Angel's relief, that there was a much larger plane for the journey back!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful scenery</td></tr>
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Angels's note on the jungle and your clothes:</div>
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Unfortunately it rained a bit on the boat on the way to the lodge and although the guides wrap your bags in tarpaulins, my bag got a bit wet, which is fine, but in the jungle nothing dries. Nothing. It's so humid and you are sweating that the clothes you have on get damp, when you take them off they don't dry unless you put them in direct sunlight. Needless to say we had wet clothes, shoes and towels. Lesson learnt. </div>
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com1Rurrenabaque, Bolivia-14.4422222 -67.528333299999986-14.5037352 -67.609014299999984 -14.3807092 -67.447652299999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-43723703567459797472013-11-01T13:39:00.001-07:002014-04-27T02:58:22.832-07:00La Paz, a little disappointing. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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To be honest we were quite disappointed with La Paz. We had been expecting a vibrant city with friendly people, but we found it was not and only stayed as long as we had to; 2 nights before our jungle adventure and one night afterwards. We even changed hotels on our return from the jungle as the beds in the first hotel <a href="http://www.hotel-berlina.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Berlina</a>, were just awful (broken metal coil jutting out of the mattress and ripped Ellen's leg, the hotel did not seem particularly surprised) But it did have an amazing rooftop view. We moved to <a href="http://www.gruporosario.com/hotels-grupo-rosario/hotel-rosario-la-paz" target="_blank">Hotel Rosario</a> and it was brilliant, great room (in fact the room we were in was the main image on their website) and great breakfast, and nice helpful staff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Llama foetus anyone?</td></tr>
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Arriving into La Paz is probably the most amazing thing about the city, you drive down hill into a spectacular valley of terracotta buildings. Its a sight to see and quite breathtaking.<br />
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After arriving into La Paz by bus (which was another adventure) from Puno via Copacabana, we did give the city a chance and set out to walk around the streets taking in the sounds and sights of this enormous metropolis. Starting at the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bolivia/la-paz/sights/markets-bazaars/mercado-de-hechiceria" target="_blank">Mercado de Hechiceria</a> (witches market) filled with herbal remedies and, disturbingly, llama foetuses (apparently it is good luck to bury one under your porch, we passed), then we went to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Francisco,_La_Paz,_Bolivia" target="_blank">Museo San Francisco</a>, which was a bit disappointing really as they did not tell us when we purchased the tickets that half of the building had been closed off - and this included the section with the brilliant views our guidebook wrote of! Not to be too disappointed we headed up to the beautiful pigeon-filled Plaza Murillo, watching the kids feed and chase the pigeons which reminded us of Trafalgar Square in London, before feeding the pigeons was illegal, and then wandered the streets around this central area, then headed back over nearer our hotel to the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bolivia/la-paz/shopping/markets-streets-arcades/mercado-negro" target="_blank">mercado negro</a>, a never-ending labyrinth of streets filled with stores selling everything and anything, here we picked up a few things we needed for our jungle adventure, including long-sleeved t-shirts. </div>
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We ate twice at a great pizza place on Llampu street called <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g294072-d3462880-Reviews-Martinni_Pizza_Pasta-La_Paz_La_Paz_Department.html" target="_blank">Martinnis</a>, we both got stomach bugs on our last day in La Paz so plain pizza was what we craved and so that is why we went back. Very friendly staff and great pizza's. We also ate at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g294072-d4497865-Reviews-Kalakitas_Food_n_Drinks-La_Paz_La_Paz_Department.html" target="_blank">Kalakitas</a>, a Mexican place which felt like we were eating in someone's living room, the food was nice but the overall experience was a little odd, but fun.<br />
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-78676318368216597302013-11-01T04:12:00.000-07:002014-05-01T04:42:41.592-07:00Puno to La Paz. An epic bus journey.With Angel sick with one of the several bugs we got in South America, we decided just to head straight to La Paz without stopping in Copacabana as we were also running out of days and had not read any great reasons to actually stay in Copacabana.<br />
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Here's where the adventure started. Ellen had read about <a href="http://www.tourperu.com.pe/inicio.htm" target="_blank">Tour Peru</a>, a reputable company to take you from Puno to La Paz, as many, many companies here are more than dodgy - some are down-right dangerous.<br />
We get to the bus station the day before we want to leave to buy our bus tickets. We get to the booth of Tour Peru and there is no one there. About 15 minutes later a bloke turns up at the booth in a Tur Peru shirt, we book 2 tickets for the 8.15 bus to La Paz, via Copacabana (there is no other way). We are told the ticket machine is not working and he gave us vouchers for the bus, and said be there at 7am to change our vouchers for tickets for the bus. Happily we walked away knowing we had been given vouchers for tickets before and everything worked out well.<br />
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7am the following day we arrived at the station, went to the booth to collect our tickets and waited for the bus. We were standing around and got chatting to a lady who was also on the 8.15 to La Paz and after a few moments the bloke who sold us the tickets came up to us and told us we were on the 'other 8.15 bus', we thought there must have been a large number of reservations so they were putting 2 busses on. No. this was not the case, we had been sold, by the Tur Peru bloke, tickets on a competitors bus which was leaving at the same time. We were annoyed as we had carefully researched the bus companies knowing they were dodgy, but we were also relieved as Angel was so ill that we were still getting to La Paz today. We got on the bus and found our seats. It wasn't too bad and we settled into the journey.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peru-Boliva border</td></tr>
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At the border of Peru and Bolivia you have to get out of the bus, take your passport to the police station, get a stamp on the card you got when you entered Peru, then take these to the border guards, who take the paper and stamp your passport, then you walk up the hill across the border crossing ant then go into the Bolivian border guard office and get an entry stamp, and another piece of paper you need to keep with your passport. Then you get back on the bus (which has come through with no passengers) and you need to pay about 40 pence in Boliviano to a man who comes on the bus and gives you a ticket. This whole process takes about 40 mins.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What the bus travels on!</td></tr>
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After this we got to Copacabana without any problems (well, nothing but a but of puking from Angel), when we booked the trip we were told there would be a 30 min stop in Copacabana, so we were a little annoyed to hear there was a 2 hour stop before the bus would continue again, and that we would be put on another bus. 2 hours later we headed back to the bus company's office to find a small coach, and that a tour of Australians had been allowed to leave their bags on the bus and reserve all the good seats, so crammed up the back of the very hot bus with no air conditioning we left Copacabana and headed to La Paz.<br />
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About half way through the 3.5 hour journey the bus stops, no one tells you this is going to happen but you are asked to get off the bus while the bus is put on a ferry, and you have to queue up at a ticket booth to pay (about 20p) to catch a small motorised boat across choppy water to the other side where you wait for the bus to arrive by it's small punt and you get back on and continue your journey.<br />
The crossing is quite an adventure.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Paz Traffic</td></tr>
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You get back on the bus and then about 2 hours later, after being stuck in an epic confusing traffic jam on the entry road to La Paz you reach the top of the hill down into La Paz. This view is amazing. You then descend into the city. Luckily Angel noticed our hotel as we passed it and when the bus stopped for the Australian tour to get off at their hotel which was just around the corner. Bonus.Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-21641727921024639832013-10-24T15:32:00.003-07:002014-04-27T02:59:48.174-07:00Arequipa and the amazing Colca CanyonAfter one full day in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puno" target="_blank">Puno</a> (which is all you really need) we booked a bus (Cruz del Sur, again) to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arequipa" target="_blank">Arequipa</a>. Arequipa has about 10 earth tremors a day (apparently) and is at the base of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misti" target="_blank">Misti</a>, an active volcano.<br />
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This was not the most pleasant bus ride we have ever had, not the bus company's fault (though the driver did get lost twice!) unfortunately Angel had either eaten something or picked up a bug as he was sick all morning, we should have cancelled the bus but we took it anyway and he was sick the whole way, it was not fun. But we arrived in the evening and shared a taxi from the bus station to our <a href="http://www.arequipacolonial.com/" target="_blank">hotel</a> near the Plaza de Armas with a Spanish girl who was on our bus, this meant it only cost us 6 Soles (about £1.50).Public transport in South America is very cheap. Average taxi within a city/town is about 3 Soles, which is about 80 pence!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monasterio Santa Catalina</td></tr>
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We had booked the hotel via the Trip Advisor app, which then took us through to the <a href="http://www.hostelworld.com/" target="_blank">Hostelworld</a> site, which must have had a glitch as it booked our room for the 20th of November instead of the 20th of October, luckily they had a vacancy. The main problem with the hotel was they had let the person who was in the room before us take the key with them on a 3 day trek, so our room had no key, we could only lock it when we were in there. This meant we had to keep all our valuables with us all day.</div>
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We dropped off our dirty clothes (Angel had puked on himself) and booked our <a href="http://www.colcatrek.com.pe/" target="_blank">Colca Canyon Tour</a> for the next day and headed to the magnificent <a href="http://www.santacatalina.org.pe/" target="_blank">Monasterio Santa Catalina</a>, just a couple of blocks from the Plaza de Armas. This was built and rebuilt several times and was opened to the public in the 1970's there are still nuns in there now, not many and they are in a section of the monastery you cannot visit. It's the best example of colonial architecture in Arequipa.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On top of the monastary</td></tr>
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After this we decided to do the free afternoon walking tour, put on by the local University and the guides are Tourism students, it was a brilliant tour and we learnt things about the city which we would have never learnt ourselves, the tour is tip-based and well worth the 2 and a half hours. By the end of the tour it was dark so we decided it was time to eat, we had been recommended a pizza place which turned out to be very tasty, as Angel had been ill we did not want anything too fancy, just some basic pizza and this place was just the ticket. It was called <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g294313-d1086558-Reviews-Los_Lenos-Arequipa_Arequipa_Region.html" target="_blank">Los Lenos</a> and was very reasonable!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">on our way to the canyon</td></tr>
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Off to bed for an early morning pick up for our tour to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon" target="_blank">Colca Canyon</a>. We booked with Colca Trek as Ellen (who has been doing all the reading) had read some really great things about them and Matt, Paul and Rachel who we met on the Inca Trail had done a tour with them and said they were great. We were not disappointed. Paul, our guide, was brilliant, really friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, our driver Willy was also great. We had another great crowd, everyone got along and no one was a pain in the arse. We drove out of Arequipa and stopped to see the active volcano Misti (5,822m), along with the other 2 Andes mountains you can see from the town <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chachani" target="_blank">Chachani</a> (6,075m) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikchu_Pikchu" target="_blank">Pichu Pichu</a> (5,571m). We stopped for Coca leaves and water and headed to the desert. After about an hour and a half of driving we stopped to see the most endangered (and expensive) of all, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicuna" target="_blank">Vicuna</a>, there are only 110,000 in Peru, their wool is worth US$800 per kilo. There were also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llama" target="_blank">Llama</a>'s and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca" target="_blank">Alpacas</a>, which are domesticated, unlike the Vicuna which is a wild animal.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forest of Stones</td></tr>
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Another hour or so along the road we came to the Forest of Stones, a section of the desert which is sandstone and has been eroded over time to leave vertical pylons of rock, apparently Colca Tours are the only group which will take you there. After a quick snack and eating some native plants (very peppery) we then climbed (in the van) to 4,910m where we saw the stone stacks left by locals as an offering as they walked from their villages to Arequipa to sell their goods. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at 4,910m</td></tr>
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Then we started to descend, the driver stopped to show us the habitat of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscacha" target="_blank">Viscacha</a>, an Andean rabbit-like animal, we were told you do not often see one and as we stopped one jumped out from behind the rock, Bonus! Along the road a bit further we were shown a cauliflower type plant (not edible) which the locals used to use to burn as there is no wood up here this high, unfortunately it became endangered and they have planted Australian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus" target="_blank">Eucalyptus </a>trees at lower levels to provide both building and fire wood to save other native species (but this has had some negative impack, gum trees suck a lot of moisture from the ground).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63zaAYHnLN2K8NhHYmeQtth83HmgB60nRo7dgbYVanL3sKhEAo37L1Jq7CY1ZqWzGCBnzkXkB8XK6rNCVwLaCTc4druTYho2ab9ehk9QaqoBJuwubJnyjT3eHfqkwdxNNuhOrj0wJaLE/s640/blogger-image-1055348653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63zaAYHnLN2K8NhHYmeQtth83HmgB60nRo7dgbYVanL3sKhEAo37L1Jq7CY1ZqWzGCBnzkXkB8XK6rNCVwLaCTc4druTYho2ab9ehk9QaqoBJuwubJnyjT3eHfqkwdxNNuhOrj0wJaLE/s200/blogger-image-1055348653.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">really did not want to leave!</td></tr>
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After a very tasty local buffet late lunch (loads of Alpaca in different forms, some trout, local soups and salads) we were shown around the local markets and tried some black corn <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha_morada" target="_blank">Chicha</a> and local fruits.<br />
We then headed to the Canyon. It was an hour to sunset so we checked into our magnificent hotel and then had a 45 minute walk down to the canyon edge where we arrived just at sunset, it was spectacular. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRH2URlSQUaJ_CYcvyoKkRoabhvs1REXVt-hAmU9Z-coJYT4f06E3oViS7Pp01qoYhSk01IRIEvMakIgkzgWXfN1rUAbLX5-Wcl6X6VqkEJLJMzJ1tebfbvq2AWQL_UxOe6uTP0q6cxps/s640/blogger-image--821027103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRH2URlSQUaJ_CYcvyoKkRoabhvs1REXVt-hAmU9Z-coJYT4f06E3oViS7Pp01qoYhSk01IRIEvMakIgkzgWXfN1rUAbLX5-Wcl6X6VqkEJLJMzJ1tebfbvq2AWQL_UxOe6uTP0q6cxps/s200/blogger-image--821027103.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset over the canyon</td></tr>
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The hotel is great, each room has a big fluffy bed, with flannel sheets, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the canyon and an amazing bathroom (well, amazing buy the standards we have had here in South America). So far the best place we have stayed. It well and truly trumps the hotel in Cartegena now.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe6JCG3or6cryqzSry89QC_igglKl-cLrgS_RXqs0FMGLoS8jmdUzfNaR5qqwyyOw2iFHOwOpWeOURQFnfnj_ZLI2S5wdDJTIl9apM8H3nfUBqdgtrFuz63s21gkcJ6U0uGbjpic52dg/s640/blogger-image-1987077642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe6JCG3or6cryqzSry89QC_igglKl-cLrgS_RXqs0FMGLoS8jmdUzfNaR5qqwyyOw2iFHOwOpWeOURQFnfnj_ZLI2S5wdDJTIl9apM8H3nfUBqdgtrFuz63s21gkcJ6U0uGbjpic52dg/s640/blogger-image-1987077642.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cruz del Condor</td></tr>
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Next morning it was a 5am wake up to get to the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/peru/arequipa-and-canyon-country/sights/other/cruz-del-condor" target="_blank">Cruz del Condor</a> (3,795m), the place within the canyon where the chance of sighting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor" target="_blank">Condors</a> is most likely, after nearly an hour and a half of waiting and watching, just as we were about to leave an adolescent Condor flew by us, it was such a magnificent creature, so elegant and huge! We were so stoked to have seen one, it would have been a disappointment to have missed out. We then had a short trek up a hill to see some more of the Andes mountains (there are 3 x short treks on this tour, it was not a 'trek'). Just before lunch we stopped off at some natural hot springs which we had to walk over a very dodgy suspension bridge to get to, no health & safety here.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEsP5DqwIFfpznXXj8_LU9IqofhyphenhyphenBqH0GjKGBX41mZbio5W11QhlWm1HXUvkwk2ndnQtisNQYMJA_R65aogR_yt1Q_Ag-P9k5KE34n7eQc2zVx7d1EnBmN5sOI6_DYPfB06XQIxAVhFQ/s640/blogger-image-2046151992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBEsP5DqwIFfpznXXj8_LU9IqofhyphenhyphenBqH0GjKGBX41mZbio5W11QhlWm1HXUvkwk2ndnQtisNQYMJA_R65aogR_yt1Q_Ag-P9k5KE34n7eQc2zVx7d1EnBmN5sOI6_DYPfB06XQIxAVhFQ/s200/blogger-image-2046151992.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot springs</td></tr>
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After lunch our tour ended and the group split - those going back to Arequipa and those heading to Puno (us), and this was a bit of an adventure in its own right. We had been told of transport strikes in Puno, we were told we were ok as our bus was a private transfer, so we headed towards Puno, about 2 hours into the drive, in the middle of the desert, we got a flat tire, the jack the van had was not strong enough to support the van so we (there were 6 of us on the transfer) had to find the driver some rocks to help support the van while he changed the tire. About 30 mins later, just as it got dark, we were done and were on our way. Just before Juliaca our driver decided to stop at a police station to check the strike situation, and came back out stating that there were road blocks and that we had to go to down a 'new road' which was a back road. New this was, like unsurfaced, rocky, dirt path. We really should have been in a 4WD. It was an adventure, and we made it, AND we got to see the milky way so clearly as we were driving down the dirt path, in the middle of nowhere, with no street lights or lights from towns. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com1Arequipa, Peru-16.3988222 -71.5368861-16.4597517 -71.6175671 -16.3378927 -71.4562051tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-47660419548223187342013-10-21T14:33:00.000-07:002013-10-24T14:35:16.853-07:00Puno & Lake Titicaca<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlHpMCDpwi9CYROeFSk8Bs013bL-0h_0V_hXBCLHnYofFbwu94mGwMkL9f3xxcTuVihiTIOtNBnWENMJGxIxHVUAtxdD7FSs1IwcWApny8l0N1Bgv2G8x_AB7jnfHiGYvC3WTF9eSUDo/s1600/DSC03869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlHpMCDpwi9CYROeFSk8Bs013bL-0h_0V_hXBCLHnYofFbwu94mGwMkL9f3xxcTuVihiTIOtNBnWENMJGxIxHVUAtxdD7FSs1IwcWApny8l0N1Bgv2G8x_AB7jnfHiGYvC3WTF9eSUDo/s640/DSC03869.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Titicaca, looking towards Puno</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM0VnLXHpKJnygoR8wJXgF-OByN3rGvgIr_DlrU62KDJBjPebfcmpb2LalWd41LItOzSSdLWozXMWKx_R2FWly-VQBmLblOXOo6MFYYwOK8Ai0KPdjeeklWBtD1FX37lAx3CdUTCcHho/s1600/DSC03880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgM0VnLXHpKJnygoR8wJXgF-OByN3rGvgIr_DlrU62KDJBjPebfcmpb2LalWd41LItOzSSdLWozXMWKx_R2FWly-VQBmLblOXOo6MFYYwOK8Ai0KPdjeeklWBtD1FX37lAx3CdUTCcHho/s200/DSC03880.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uros Island talk</td></tr>
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We arrived in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puno" target="_blank">Puno</a> from Cusco after our train journey (<a href="http://retiredbackpacker.blogspot.com/2013/10/cusco-to-puno-by-rail.html" target="_blank">see post</a>). There is not a hell of a lot to keep you here. A Plaza de Armas, a Plaza de Mayor, and Lima Street (tourist shops, banks and restaurants). That's about it. It is a gateway for tours to on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Titicaca" target="_blank">Lake Titicaca</a>.<br />
We arrived at night and booked a tour for the next day. We were picked up at 7am and taken to a 'fast' boat (we paid more for the fast boat to get back to town at 4 instead of 6pm).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94POVEBG3vVbgD-abE5IjoedLMZL1xoMDhOXlAczKRNyFU4VHubAE5LbvBTJKZ8xy9WLm-im4nTQE94BayRMAM9V2iscm4hkB2XMSYYH5rmBSUL-d71rSujVBM97_P2Ymw980Sbi-QIc/s1600/DSC03889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94POVEBG3vVbgD-abE5IjoedLMZL1xoMDhOXlAczKRNyFU4VHubAE5LbvBTJKZ8xy9WLm-im4nTQE94BayRMAM9V2iscm4hkB2XMSYYH5rmBSUL-d71rSujVBM97_P2Ymw980Sbi-QIc/s200/DSC03889.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All dressed up..</td></tr>
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The boat was comfortable and the Von Trapp lady and her husband from the train were on the tour.<br />
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First stop was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uru_people" target="_blank">Uros</a>, the floating islands just 30 mins away from Puno. The people live on these islands (or some are just here for the tourists, the wealthier ones) and pretty much everything they do revolves around the reeds, their islands are man made from the reeds and the reeds roots, their huts are reeds, their boats, their beds, their roofs, and their handicrafts are, you guessed it, reeds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwK0HTFuxUs3khSFujyyF9A9mUvT04Kt3A8QE5g0yq_7ulYdmZcnaaodVvnVl6Uule_nKn50B0CeUiTa-bOS4jp-xnuliBd7ITSageP7xBF7PcLtkhO5lMH9NEd1N4Mh5psm9k3SslF0/s1600/DSC03901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwK0HTFuxUs3khSFujyyF9A9mUvT04Kt3A8QE5g0yq_7ulYdmZcnaaodVvnVl6Uule_nKn50B0CeUiTa-bOS4jp-xnuliBd7ITSageP7xBF7PcLtkhO5lMH9NEd1N4Mh5psm9k3SslF0/s200/DSC03901.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Impressive reed boat</td></tr>
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After a 20 minute talk on their lives and meeting the 'president' of the island (each island has a president), we were taken to see their huts and how they live by a little girl. It was just the two of us who the girl took, and she decided to dress Ellen up - skirt, jacket, hat, pom poms - while Angel laughed...until the girl began to dress him up. Quite fun, but we looked hilarious.<br />
After the island tour we were put into a reed boat (quite impressive, 2 story seating area!) and two of the girls from the island rowed us down the 'river' to another island where our tour boat met us.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzzyBWKIx4XyTXzYFtHD-4ezf7AeV48es4SqBMlEAXmp9NRcwIKS_SF0SmSa7NQEOViUK-55MeVUV-9476vZ97EYa2vwpcovQV4hdSh-tkkLOXmFf_d3Eh2eAIrknTXTCr5PSVmGR_6Q/s1600/DSC03927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzzyBWKIx4XyTXzYFtHD-4ezf7AeV48es4SqBMlEAXmp9NRcwIKS_SF0SmSa7NQEOViUK-55MeVUV-9476vZ97EYa2vwpcovQV4hdSh-tkkLOXmFf_d3Eh2eAIrknTXTCr5PSVmGR_6Q/s200/DSC03927.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taquile Island, our lunch view</td></tr>
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After about 1.5 hours we arrived at the 2nd island of the tour - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taquile_Island" target="_blank">Taquile</a> - the 3rd largest island on Lake Titicaca and home to several settlements (each one has an arched gate along the path to it). Here we learned that the men knit and the women weave. We bought some stuff and then headed for a small trek to the house of the family who were going to cook us lunch. Ellen had a great trout lunch and as Angel does not eat seafood, an omlet was made, it was tasty.<br />
Then it was a 2 hour ride back to town.<br />
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Later that night we met up with Rosie & Darren who had been on our Inca Tour and Train trip and we had dinner together at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298442-d1161116-Reviews-Mojsa_Restaurant-Puno_Puno_Region.html" target="_blank">Mojsa</a> according to our hotel owner and Trip Advisor is 'the best restaurant in Puno' (which would not be hard).Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Puno, Peru-15.8433333 -70.023611099999982-15.965534799999999 -70.184972599999981 -15.7211318 -69.862249599999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-57218035790625107312013-10-19T06:42:00.000-07:002013-10-24T12:47:00.071-07:00Cusco to Puno by rail<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcOzVuh4xTrdWgWEF37p4n1d2F0bUsG48TuNAJXC9AhTrvjoGwnEKEBf46Pgwwy9gdvtIZAWttg2qtSF_qma1HkSJi_T-vdLjIAtHg1Kl3-NdFAREbz75R78IbkyMJ0G7mG4SYx0Skrc/s640/blogger-image-373506455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcOzVuh4xTrdWgWEF37p4n1d2F0bUsG48TuNAJXC9AhTrvjoGwnEKEBf46Pgwwy9gdvtIZAWttg2qtSF_qma1HkSJi_T-vdLjIAtHg1Kl3-NdFAREbz75R78IbkyMJ0G7mG4SYx0Skrc/s200/blogger-image-373506455.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
This was always going to be a highlight of our adventure, It's one of the few train journeys in South America, and this did not disappoint.<br />
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We arrived at the Peru Rail station at about 7am, we had to be there at 7.30 for the 8am train, we checked our luggage which was taken onto the train by porter, then we boarded. We had brilliant seats, just the 2 of us, facing forward, posh table cloth, lamp, and a menu, lunch and afternoon tea were included but breakfast was not. As we didn't have time for breakfast this morning we ordered the breakfast, loads of toast, eggs how you like them, orange juice, coffee and jam, all brought out on china and with silverware. </div>
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The train moves quite slowly, which is nice as you can enjoy the scenery (the same 10 hour train journey takes 6 by coach), the train had just 5 seat carriages, then a dining carriage with a glass roofed and oped backed rear. </div>
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There was an alpaca (naturally) fashion show about 4 hours into the journey with a free Pisco sour, followed by a Cusco based Peruvian band and dancers, then cocktail making lessons (Pisco sour), followed by a Puno based band with dancers. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFKhq7Ihsm-UiojW-w6DdZAH2qj2k6fFLncCBUkvVfP2MP46EsFfjzlUC1AvchFUUDzIFqx7l7KqCcX06Nte3ZWNhi6psJvAU36T9GvAVnM24jsxUErUy3Fr9eDG-6i-6Y7Z29YBLMk4/s640/blogger-image--1399377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFKhq7Ihsm-UiojW-w6DdZAH2qj2k6fFLncCBUkvVfP2MP46EsFfjzlUC1AvchFUUDzIFqx7l7KqCcX06Nte3ZWNhi6psJvAU36T9GvAVnM24jsxUErUy3Fr9eDG-6i-6Y7Z29YBLMk4/s200/blogger-image--1399377.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
It did feel like we were on a saga holiday, with the majority of the passengers over 70, but it was brilliant fun and our new friends from the Inca Trail, Rosie and Darren were also on the train. </div>
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Riding along the rails we passed villages where people were standing outside waving to us, the train stopped at a market (this is not a busy route; one train a day, 3 days a week in high season, 2 days a week in low season). </div>
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In Juliaca the train line is literally running straight through the market, the stall holders move their canopies back to let the train through, in some cases leaving their wares on the track, then moving it all back over the tracks. It took us a good 20 minutes to move about 5km, with the driver blaring the horn to get them to move out of the way. </div>
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There were some funny characters on the train, including one woman who was 83 and was Canadian (and made sure everyone knew it, including wearing a t-shirt with Canada across the front, and an older bloke, had to be in his 60's who practically stood at the back of the train the whole journey, taking photos of everything!</div>
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Finally we arrived in Puno. It was sad to leave the train, as expensive as it was (thanks VCCP for those token shares 6 years ago!) we really think it was worth it.</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Puno, Peru-15.8433333 -70.023611099999982-15.965534799999999 -70.184972599999981 -15.7211318 -69.862249599999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-90293118592800153842013-10-18T07:23:00.000-07:002014-04-27T05:11:09.634-07:00The Inca Trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7xMcWrOJDEGrdPkJvBzmoElJsxOBCgJokK9KdsKpTjR_NZqIAWxK2nnt5Wj2S6A6Ebh7_CnGv8hAETg1toddxAmmvT7m5S8gjniZ3jEMbXcCt6MtrNcduKaclx82Uaz9IRWOKXG3r1E/s640/blogger-image-1302795868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL7xMcWrOJDEGrdPkJvBzmoElJsxOBCgJokK9KdsKpTjR_NZqIAWxK2nnt5Wj2S6A6Ebh7_CnGv8hAETg1toddxAmmvT7m5S8gjniZ3jEMbXcCt6MtrNcduKaclx82Uaz9IRWOKXG3r1E/s320/blogger-image-1302795868.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The route</span></td></tr>
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We woke at 3.30am to have our last shower for 4 days, pack our stuff and leave our big backpacks in the <a href="http://www.ninoshotel.com/" target="_blank">hotel</a> storage leave the hotel and meet at Plaza Regocijo.<br />
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Our tour company was <a href="http://www.llamapath.com/4-day-private-inca-trail-itinerary.html" target="_blank">Llama Path</a> we had done loads of research and a colleague of Angel's had gone with them just a few months before. Our guides were Eddie and Marko, Marko ended up spending most of his time with Ellen at the back of the group on the hike (some of our group were extremely fit!!!). After about 2 hours the bus stopped and we had a buffet breakfast (not included in the tour but cheap) and probably the last proper toilets we would see in 4 days. Then it was time to head off for another hour of driving to the beginning of the trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUL2HJInykfsQzMSxSnYaBOwLgtMiDY4fLdZvDRGR4ENl9D8tWjiaAsWUSNrY_hIuqXy7itPUpETuHUP_I7S_HxES06o6CnBQGCp-Ryz84G1PQUteb1Ow6DyGl5FJN0gB_6OH2ga5p1c/s640/blogger-image--420076466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUL2HJInykfsQzMSxSnYaBOwLgtMiDY4fLdZvDRGR4ENl9D8tWjiaAsWUSNrY_hIuqXy7itPUpETuHUP_I7S_HxES06o6CnBQGCp-Ryz84G1PQUteb1Ow6DyGl5FJN0gB_6OH2ga5p1c/s320/blogger-image--420076466.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our group</span></td></tr>
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Our group was a fantastic crowd, the best you could have hoped for, we all had a similar sense of humour and just got along really well, there were no annoying people, no divas, it was a perfect group, and all from the UK & Ireland (except Angel, but he is now technically British, innit).<br />
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<b>Day 1</b><br />
We got off the bus at <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_Urubamba" target="_blank">Rio Urubamba</a> and put on our packs and rain gear - we bought quite heavy duty ponchos in Cusco which would also cover our packs - and packed our belongings into our red Llama Path sacks for the porters to take. These porters are <i>superhuman</i>. They each carry 30kg of stuff (our belongings, 7 tents, food for 4 days, stools, a table...) and they march ahead - some of them run - and set everything up for our arrival at lunch and then do the same again at dinner, including putting up our tents and putting our bags in them. They really are amazing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_u_tvonW5k0zOopX8bgtINE5h038Zvk5OGsgIeE3Vl7n41UV08PeNezGRl_ARZ-3yb8gkCp4rTU631fb9pTJFfYHvK01npM9uqZgLi1ax3ZtuDRhCX0IlfvK3Y-ZTD_zzwrP8wuDYPI/s640/blogger-image--501510126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_u_tvonW5k0zOopX8bgtINE5h038Zvk5OGsgIeE3Vl7n41UV08PeNezGRl_ARZ-3yb8gkCp4rTU631fb9pTJFfYHvK01npM9uqZgLi1ax3ZtuDRhCX0IlfvK3Y-ZTD_zzwrP8wuDYPI/s320/blogger-image--501510126.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our remarkable porters</span></td></tr>
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The initial section of the hike is almost flat and lulls you into a false sense of security as before long you hit a very steep section, and as we were hiking in wet weather gear there was a lot of sweat.<br />
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Along the way we stop here and there for our guides Eddie and Marko to give us some information about where we had stopped and Inca history. Wayllabamba was the first Inca site we encountered on the trek. We then walked a little longer and met up with our porters who had set up a tent, cooked our lunch and had bowls of warm water and a towel for us to wash ourselves before eating, we were all pretty amazed by the quality of the food cooked with what they had carried. After lunch we head off on the first steep section of the hike for about an hour where we stopped to try the local made beer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicha" target="_blank">Chicha</a>, it's made from maize, and the process begins by women chewing the maize in their mouths and spitting it into a vat before the fermentation process begins. It's an odd taste, quite sweet and it smelt like when Angel is making bread, very yeasty. At this point we were also were shown how to chew the cocoa leaves to help with altitude sickness. This was an acquired taste and makes your lips and the side of your mouth go numb after about 20 mins.<br />
Refreshed we headed off for about 3 hours of continuous uphill hiking to our first campsite, at Ayapata, 14 km from our starting point and at 3300m above sea level. The views from the campsite were breathtaking, we camped on a section right in the sacred valley. The tents were up and everything was ready for our arrival. These porters are amazing. Every day at about 4pm we had happy hour, which consists of Milo, tea, coffee, crackers, jam and popcorn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nPSHww544JNq0DusSzYAwuaZvhBGU43l5q49WQe7n2ryxBr3kIVyAjQ0qvw6yeokzHc0GRaQjGxKd09PFW1jtBBHjZtOm5PwTHhI6mELA9cx-vHLULhtJGK_tAgF8dC1efLBc1NQp1E/s640/blogger-image--657099845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nPSHww544JNq0DusSzYAwuaZvhBGU43l5q49WQe7n2ryxBr3kIVyAjQ0qvw6yeokzHc0GRaQjGxKd09PFW1jtBBHjZtOm5PwTHhI6mELA9cx-vHLULhtJGK_tAgF8dC1efLBc1NQp1E/s320/blogger-image--657099845.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">At Dead Woman's Pass</span></td></tr>
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<b>Day 2</b><br />
We were woken (by porters bringing us <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_tea" target="_blank">cocoa leaf tea</a>) at 5am for what is said is the hardest day of the trek, 16km of practically all uphill over steps built by the Incas to Dead Woman's Pass (no women died in the making of this name, it apparently looks like a woman laying down, dead) the pass is 4,215m high, we really struggled up this section of thousands of steps, Ellen was kept company by Marko, who stayed with Ellen through most of the trek, and who Ellen wanted to adopt by the end. Yes Angel struggled too (but we think all the spin classes back in London helped!). On the hike up we saw llamas and some sheep, but the real star was the scenery. From the top there was a very steep downhill hike for around an hour after Dead Woman's Pass followed by a stop for lunch at Pacaymaya before hiking uphill (ouch!) again passing the Inca site Runcuraccay at 3,710m before heading downhill again for about an hour to the next Inca site of Sayacmarca at 3575m. We also saw some deer, which Ellen spotted and excitedly interrupted the guides' talk at Runcuraccay to point them out. That night we camped at Chaquicocha which is at 3,600m where there were llama at the site, which was nice until Angel trod in Llama poo on the way to the bathroom in flip flops.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikb4mPM-LnTh3fcDuBEmCK3OVGt7csBSGsUM3kuJzuGUv7ITon06JkhzxZ_Luisc4yUnHpUFm1jXG80DLwZetWzwPbZTtc4cxTpLp5lAZ77OELGXrGWM5FiZMra9iUjvRghEGhNSNM1Ng/s640/blogger-image-1305259404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikb4mPM-LnTh3fcDuBEmCK3OVGt7csBSGsUM3kuJzuGUv7ITon06JkhzxZ_Luisc4yUnHpUFm1jXG80DLwZetWzwPbZTtc4cxTpLp5lAZ77OELGXrGWM5FiZMra9iUjvRghEGhNSNM1Ng/s320/blogger-image-1305259404.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Winay Wayna</span></td></tr>
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<b>Day 3 </b><br />
Today was less hiking. Up at 5am and a day consisting of up and downhill treks into the rainforest, amazing views of the Andes, and several inca sites.<br />
The path became narrow and was along the edge of some serious cliffs, and even at one point the path was chipped through a boulder in the side of the cliff to allow the pathway along the ridge. By now we were feeling more energised and knowing that the hardest section was behind us at Dead Woman's Pass we knew we could handle anything the trek threw at us.<br />
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The last inca site for the day was right next to the campsite at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi%C3%B1ay_Wayna" target="_blank">Winay Wayna</a> 2680m, which they call Machu Picchu junior. Here Marko gave us a talk about the site and the terraces and how the Inca used them to experiment with growing crops at various altitudes.<br />
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<b>Day 4</b><br />
The final morning was a bit of a shock to the system, most mornings we were up at 5, today it was 3.30am. Eddie said we had to be first to the checkpoint which was only10 mins down the track but opened at 5.30am, we were first, and just as well really, there are 500 people a day on the trail, 200 hikers and 300 porters and guides, so we wanted to be the first group to the Sun Gate, which gives you the first views of Machu Picchu, we almost were the first but after the gate opened, about 30 mins into the hike we were overtaken by 2 Americans with a death wish, this couple actually overtook us on a very narrow cliff edge and sprinted to the end, our group were all pretty cautious after hearing of an <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2013/01/02/us-tourist-dies-in-fall-while-hiking-inca-trail-near-machu-picchu/" target="_blank">American tourist who died</a> after plummeting from this section of the trail in January this year, when she was apparently rushing to be first to the sun gate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzCSoAAKi9kMKcj3LdFIG69wNaeQjMJkec2DwUsjDki2dKfSYiCYNOBU2t0_PAGzyVHi1tyPVpqHm4d-wMwCtNfUOLIduwE4H1btmy-THA4A2GMnALcnRrovBf7khmy3nlqL2i_1RDRg/s640/blogger-image-546511164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzCSoAAKi9kMKcj3LdFIG69wNaeQjMJkec2DwUsjDki2dKfSYiCYNOBU2t0_PAGzyVHi1tyPVpqHm4d-wMwCtNfUOLIduwE4H1btmy-THA4A2GMnALcnRrovBf7khmy3nlqL2i_1RDRg/s320/blogger-image-546511164.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ellen coming up the Gringo Killer</span></td></tr>
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We survived the '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZFEyXMtjs0" target="_blank">Gringo Killer</a>' which are very steep steps just before the gate, and made it to just glimpse the famous site through the mist as it formed! But as we walked down to the site, about another 30 minutes later the clouds began to clear and we were treated to the most magnificent views over Machu Picchu. One of the guys in our tour, Paul, had a sun god necklace and had rubbed it that morning in hope of good weather, now we are not believers, but we must admit the weather that day could not have been better.
After a tour of the site by Eddie and an hour of walking around the site ourselves we all took the bus down to the town of <a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Aguas_Calientes" target="_blank">Aguas Calientes</a> and enjoyed a final lunch together before going our separate ways.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We made it!</span></td></tr>
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We had opted to stay the night after the trek in the town at the end of the trek and had pre-booked a hotel stayed at a hotel, we ate at a pizza place and put our clothes in to be washed and just layed on the bed knackered. The next morning we both had massages, 1 hour for £12 each!<br />
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We really had an amazing time, made all the better by the group we had. We're all staying in touch.</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Machu Picchu, Santuario Historico Machu Picchu, Peru-13.1636223 -72.545925899999986-13.1674878 -72.550968399999988 -13.1597568 -72.540883399999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-1533881404112692862013-10-17T21:03:00.000-07:002013-10-19T21:07:31.039-07:004 days in Cusco<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfYgcPuNjpEbC50XnzAna4wnSVylGvfdxdoV5bdQPbrvQk-U_frs3JttMRY4UkO4ly8sud9VfyPqU7eazRnv1fWOM-k-_LBAKI_eqQk4ruGP3AMxme8X7fYKZT1jT3RR5lbGfqO6H89U/s640/blogger-image-448794187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfYgcPuNjpEbC50XnzAna4wnSVylGvfdxdoV5bdQPbrvQk-U_frs3JttMRY4UkO4ly8sud9VfyPqU7eazRnv1fWOM-k-_LBAKI_eqQk4ruGP3AMxme8X7fYKZT1jT3RR5lbGfqO6H89U/s200/blogger-image-448794187.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaza de Armas</td></tr>
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After the manic travelling from Lima to Cusco, we were pleased we had 3 days in Cusco to acclimatise and just generally chill out. We realise the title of this post says 4 days, the 4th was the night after we arrived back from Aguas Calientes.<br />
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Cusco is beautiful. It really is, the old town is well preserved, the streets are cobbled, there are dodgy bits but which city doesn't have these areas? </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrkEFhtaxjw9CmrjSG73IcVKz5eJI1SLf_xcVq9AzFOLUjXLKuwkfWkx9ZdiVUPG494F4A_4YDNjNHAVGNto7Hc6AOKkj41kAHBw3HXnwvB2kiYWBjTPUM8xgVsxEHOlRxu9DIQ29T-g/s640/blogger-image--421083853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrkEFhtaxjw9CmrjSG73IcVKz5eJI1SLf_xcVq9AzFOLUjXLKuwkfWkx9ZdiVUPG494F4A_4YDNjNHAVGNto7Hc6AOKkj41kAHBw3HXnwvB2kiYWBjTPUM8xgVsxEHOlRxu9DIQ29T-g/s200/blogger-image--421083853.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotel Ninos</td></tr>
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We stayed at a place called <a href="http://www.ninoshotel.com/" target="_blank">Niños II,</a> which is the 2nd hotel in Cusco run by the amazing Jolanda van den Burg who moved from The Netherlands about 15 years ago to help underprivileged kids in Cusco and has lived here ever since, Angel has bored many a fellow traveller with Jolanda's incredible story (and Ellen has had to sit through it each time). You can read about her <a href="http://www.stichtingninos.com/index-en.html" target="_blank">here</a> (so we do not bore more people), but needless to say staying in the hotel and eating at the hotels delicious restaurant contributes to this brilliant cause.</div>
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We ate at several restaurants, had some juices - no alcohol before the trek! - and did loads of browsing through the markets. </div>
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Angel did get a bit of a dodgy stomach on the second day so we took it easy and it cleared up by the following day - the day before the trek, luckily. Generally in South America antibiotics are very easy to buy without prescription so we bought some, just in case. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSxTmdXZfUR8B8X0cSphJgLtI6btub4fkQyxLoRBbwxRWHJgpnZt9DSUT1JFbLDVB-AjuC3BORLWERZzGLs7Vqe3iY01-P2HGTqs7IVNUu0MwfIpSpT0FTKzPTvLyTnDp8zBKr-G5rSao/s640/blogger-image-798380876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSxTmdXZfUR8B8X0cSphJgLtI6btub4fkQyxLoRBbwxRWHJgpnZt9DSUT1JFbLDVB-AjuC3BORLWERZzGLs7Vqe3iY01-P2HGTqs7IVNUu0MwfIpSpT0FTKzPTvLyTnDp8zBKr-G5rSao/s200/blogger-image-798380876.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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We went into the Cusco Catedral and saw the Peruvian interpretation of the last supper, complete with guinea pig as the centre piece dish! </div>
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There were a few kids selling their stuff (pens, llama key rings, prints etc) and we pretty much spent our daily budget one day buying things from the kids. </div>
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It was sad to leave Cusco, but we must travel on, next stop Puno, by posh train.</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Cusco, Peru-13.525 -71.972222199999976-13.648504 -72.133583699999974 -13.401496 -71.810860699999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-8964250466257292512013-10-12T07:19:00.000-07:002013-10-12T07:19:04.549-07:00The Nazca Lines<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhl2NUZRTAfwvvXwy_p_dfVdkM18g_qAg0z5U2iuXV7uHqf-bcAEcBPdJMy9Ta0R52YpY8HM9GoKAVkQoER9dswzPwyCkyAA2XdP1nKJHkfQzy5kvjcgEMgLVo_WNtCTAqcs0Ju9Gtic/s640/blogger-image-509431065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhl2NUZRTAfwvvXwy_p_dfVdkM18g_qAg0z5U2iuXV7uHqf-bcAEcBPdJMy9Ta0R52YpY8HM9GoKAVkQoER9dswzPwyCkyAA2XdP1nKJHkfQzy5kvjcgEMgLVo_WNtCTAqcs0Ju9Gtic/s640/blogger-image-509431065.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic of the lines from the small hill</td></tr>
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Another 5 hour bus journey brought us into<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines" target="_blank"> Nazca</a> late into the night, we were greeted at the bus station by the hostel owner. the hostel itself was very basic and actually felt a little but like it may have been a former prison, as the doors were bars covered in plywood, it isn't a former prison.<br />
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We booked a tour for the next morning to take us out to the famous Nazca Lines.</div>
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When the tour bloke turned up, at 10am, right on time, we were surprised to find it was a personal tour, so just us and the driver (who spoke English perfectly, and also spoke French, Japanese and was learning German), it was about a 20 minute drive along the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Highway" target="_blank">panamerican highway</a> to the viewing site for the lines. The panamerican highway, our guide told us, is the longest highway in the world, stretching from Alaska to Chile! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TV4Bf8wrbSIMBY-zabU2y1u05t_fdfNhJI78mddkGpFeb_YjMjS-YJmgOZoaC2bjQIaBl8BpkVR4y44ZH_ep9FPQmYdOmFAppk-vb_aFlNmkoFJkVK4X2S4LVImZrUDQEPtd8epgR3U/s640/blogger-image-1515524942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TV4Bf8wrbSIMBY-zabU2y1u05t_fdfNhJI78mddkGpFeb_YjMjS-YJmgOZoaC2bjQIaBl8BpkVR4y44ZH_ep9FPQmYdOmFAppk-vb_aFlNmkoFJkVK4X2S4LVImZrUDQEPtd8epgR3U/s200/blogger-image-1515524942.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the hill overlooking the lines</td></tr>
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We stopped at a hill which we climbed to get a better view of the lines not very high but it was still enough to give us a view of the summer and winter solstice lines, and then he drove us a little further up the highways (which cuts through the lines!) to a viewing tower which we paid 2 soles to climb, and from this platform we could see the 'Tree' and the 'Frog' - two of the thousands of line formations on these plains.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn85nRDh5QxB769B8dFIGRzJGzyf54xHngg8ZoW1_Bk48o1JQv9z-yeXIQuJEiMEn0qoAVFj89S0WOHiCDcjjyJd-Y47mfIePRTQlXTVRVrhetnFHZ0vJalwjOH61PRkVT8rTbyX-RIRA/s640/blogger-image-198846049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn85nRDh5QxB769B8dFIGRzJGzyf54xHngg8ZoW1_Bk48o1JQv9z-yeXIQuJEiMEn0qoAVFj89S0WOHiCDcjjyJd-Y47mfIePRTQlXTVRVrhetnFHZ0vJalwjOH61PRkVT8rTbyX-RIRA/s200/blogger-image-198846049.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tree</td></tr>
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It's amazing how they were made and no one knows for sure why they were made though there are many theories, and what is even more amazing is the German woman, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Reiche" target="_blank">Maria Reiche</a> who dedicated most of her life, unpaid, to clean the lines with pretty much just a broom, until her death in 1998, no one has picked up her cause and the lines are slowly covering over again with pollution and dust. According to our guide the government has no plans to restore them as they are happy enough to take the tourism money. There are no guards watching over the lines, there used to be, Maria paid them herself from the money she made talking at seminars and from proceeds of her book she wrote on her theories on the lines, though she herself lived in a very modest one room house in a village near the lines.</div>
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Nazca, Peru-14.8391 -74.940323000000035-14.9004975 -75.021004000000033 -14.7777025 -74.859642000000036tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-15156980147423690782013-10-12T07:06:00.001-07:002014-04-26T19:11:35.528-07:00Paracas, the poor mans Galapagos.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XqCMfqouY_T1wwnd2SIDieNX-TF4x_SOc4oLel0Y5t8ByawNOq7oX2R62NKpbpGO47VKGKAkDj5IT-8u22I61UfoPfvSYtLrHPoJNsVbfwnJ-NNTKp0eDyhgeGx7AF2qJzNOc0tbLrw/s640/blogger-image-1441205101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XqCMfqouY_T1wwnd2SIDieNX-TF4x_SOc4oLel0Y5t8ByawNOq7oX2R62NKpbpGO47VKGKAkDj5IT-8u22I61UfoPfvSYtLrHPoJNsVbfwnJ-NNTKp0eDyhgeGx7AF2qJzNOc0tbLrw/s200/blogger-image-1441205101.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penguins!</td></tr>
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We arrived into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracas_(municipality)" target="_blank">Paracas</a> at sunset after a 5-hour bus journey from Lima. The journey itself was quite remarkable, passing through some amazing scenery; at parts the desert was right up to the sea, and also passing through a desert town called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincha_Alta" target="_blank">Chincha Alta</a> which reminded us of something out of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/" target="_blank">Mad Max</a>!<br />
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After arriving at Paracas we disembarked the bus and walked the 600m down the street from the Cruz del Sur depot to the hostel, <a href="http://www.paracasbackpackershouse.com.pe/" target="_blank">Paracas Backpackers House</a>. Paracas is very small, it all leads off the one main street, there are loads of very cheap restaurants crammed together to the left of the beach, and to the right there are about 8 more posh restaurants and bars which front the town pier, following the other side by many hand made souvenir stalls.</div>
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We ate some dinner at one of the cheaper places, called 'El Angel' (had to be done!) which was ok, we fed a stray cat and booked our boat tour out to the islands for the morning. The old bloke who owns and runs the hostel is quite a character. When we booked the hostel he sent us an email with the picture of the hostel and told us not to speak to anyone at the bus station and ONLY walk into the hostel which was the same as the picture that he sent us - it turns out that after the success of this hostel, several other hostels in town have people that will meet the bus and tell you that it has closed or that it is dirty, or try to take you to another hostel. When we got there he gave us a 20 minute 'brief' of the town, where things were, what we could do, and told us he could organise tours for us but that we should go and compare the prices and decide for ourselves (he was very insistent of this, he would not just let us book with him). </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making fertiliser</td></tr>
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The hostel doesn't do breakfast (not many hostels here in Peru do) so we grabbed some bananas and headed to the pier and caught our boat out to the islands. It takes about 30 minutes to get out to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islas_Ballestas" target="_blank">Islas Ballestas</a> on the speed boats, it's colder than you think it will be and it rained a little on the way out. On the way to the islands the boat takes you to see the 3 pronged <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracas_Candelabra" target="_blank">Candelabro</a> which is a massive white carving in the hillside which no one knows why it was done, nor who made it. One idea is that it was maybe a sign for sailors of the day to know when they were home.</div>
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The islands themselves are home to thousands of birds including humboldt penguins and boobies (which there are thousands!) - we never saw the Chilean Flamingos or dolphins. There were also many noisy sea lions, cormorants and pelicans.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea Lions</td></tr>
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The island is farmed every 7 years for its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano" target="_blank">guano</a> (bird shit) which is sold as fertiliser, apparently the best in the world and Australia is a buyer.</div>
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As we had a bus to Nazca in the afternoon we were unable to do much else, so we had a long lunch and sat by the beach for a couple of hours before walking back to to the bus station.</div>
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The photos aren't the best as the day was overcast and the sea was quite rocky and the camera had trouble focussing. </div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Paracas, Peru-13.8409149 -76.250830399999984-13.9025869 -76.331511399999982 -13.7792429 -76.170149399999985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-30637985642997906252013-10-12T06:15:00.000-07:002014-04-27T04:25:47.720-07:00Just a day in Lima<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bsAXxOFcwHRGguTZQ9sEMXKB1F1k3706vxxaQSOAtGhyJgdK6Zdu98getvArXoPPSOlBD3U64wyvfqJQDk6VKgUfiST9YBmPqIBAfGQH-2PN_DPdu5TtdkfvcDUYDEz_xJDDDxvKJf4/s640/blogger-image--1419321348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bsAXxOFcwHRGguTZQ9sEMXKB1F1k3706vxxaQSOAtGhyJgdK6Zdu98getvArXoPPSOlBD3U64wyvfqJQDk6VKgUfiST9YBmPqIBAfGQH-2PN_DPdu5TtdkfvcDUYDEz_xJDDDxvKJf4/s200/blogger-image--1419321348.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catedral de Lima</td></tr>
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Unfortunately due to our time schedule we only had a day in Lima, which in hindsight was a bit silly as the city is amazing. We arrived from Bogota late at night and had organised for the<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g294316-d626218-Reviews-Barranco_s_Backpackers_Inn-Lima_Lima_Region.html" target="_blank"> hostel</a> to come and collect us, which was just as well as it is quite intimidating arriving at Lima airport, there is a sea of 'taxi' drivers - mostly just people who call themselves taxi drivers and have no licence and probably no insurance, and there are horror stories of muggings by drivers, so we thought it best to use the hostels taxi. There was a nice bloke, who drove like a rally car racer (this is standard South American driving) to our hostel.<br />
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The hostel itself was very basic, but cheap and in a great location in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barranco_District" target="_blank">Barranco</a>, a suburb south of the city, there is a regular and very cheap bus service, like the Transmilenio in Bogota, at only £0.44p a journey, it's a bargain. There are also several bars and restaurants around, and the sea is right across the road.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhv5R0hQUmc3e8UYpfdKQITgf01dvqbMgAzrqJBQB8FSRmkavtiF7vjEjX2E5fYa9liol96nJkYtj9D7LtkRcepyoTd9WK0gWwRpi6dssYAFTXr-Dbsha8xXRnJbqkK1z18L0YI2VIJs/s640/blogger-image--424424651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhv5R0hQUmc3e8UYpfdKQITgf01dvqbMgAzrqJBQB8FSRmkavtiF7vjEjX2E5fYa9liol96nJkYtj9D7LtkRcepyoTd9WK0gWwRpi6dssYAFTXr-Dbsha8xXRnJbqkK1z18L0YI2VIJs/s200/blogger-image--424424651.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barranco</td></tr>
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We decided as we just had one day we would cram in as much as we could, we caught the bus to the bus depot to buy our ticket to Paracas for the next day and then headed into town (very easy to get around). We got off the bus at the central station and walked up the road to the Plaza St Martin, where there is a statue of St Martin (of course) with a statue of Madre Patria below him, this statue was commissioned in Spain and instructed to give the lady a crown of flames, the Spanish (not latin american Spanish) word for flame is llama, so the hapless craftsmen put an actual llama on her head. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Llama</td></tr>
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We then walked up the pedestrian shopping street where we must have been asked to buy a map twenty times at least (even though we were holding one) up to Plaza de Armas, as it was Sunday there was a mass on in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Lima" target="_blank">La Catedral de Lima</a> and the worshippers were pouring out onto the plaza, all the roads were closed off and there were literally thousands of people, and the mass was being broadcast outside. </div>
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We saw the Palacio de Gobierno (house of the president) where we had missed the changing of the guard about guide book said it was noon but it was just over as we arrived at 12, so we walked up to the river, which was empty as they are currently in the middle of a massive project to build a <a href="http://www.lamsac.com.pe/en/" target="_blank">motorway under the river</a>! We did not head over the bridge, but it looked like the poorer part of town, with shanty houses on the hillside.</div>
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We walked back towards the central bus station and stopped at the now faded <a href="http://www.granhotelbolivar.com.pe/ingles/home.html" target="_blank">Gran Hotel Boliviar</a> as this is apparently famous for its Pisco Sour, so naturally we had to sit in the old bar and have one. From here we caught a bus to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraflores_District,_Lima" target="_blank">Miaflores</a>, one of the more affluent suburbs of the city, Lima is very clean, in fact compared to other South American capital we have been to, it's the cleanest. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYQ7AgZX3JD7LzhxQyArbGyua9BpZyjB5HcdXIyZ9qO0vcl7X2FaAhsUpg9SvR85IOgywSab4LsRhIardfzyxMxUHDfsQEHQ_teKA052gp0SES1dHAKAG0UtH3UIOgDRInVJfzH1FogE/s640/blogger-image--1703394728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYQ7AgZX3JD7LzhxQyArbGyua9BpZyjB5HcdXIyZ9qO0vcl7X2FaAhsUpg9SvR85IOgywSab4LsRhIardfzyxMxUHDfsQEHQ_teKA052gp0SES1dHAKAG0UtH3UIOgDRInVJfzH1FogE/s200/blogger-image--1703394728.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ellen with her Pisco Sour</td></tr>
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We walked to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaca_Pucllana" target="_blank">Huaca Pucllana</a>, an ancient Inca ruin, which is smack bang in the middle of the suburb of Miaflores, it's quite arresting that you have these modern houses next to this pile of inca bricks from 1,600 years ago! </div>
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We strolled around the suburb and stopped for lunch at <a href="http://www.lalucha.com.pe/" target="_blank">La Lucha</a> on Kennedy plaza, it's a great American-style sandwich place with a Latin American twist, it's huge very tasty sandwiches are so big so that we didn't eat dinner. From here we walked down to the ocean front and watched the paragliders for a while and sat in the <i>lovers park</i> before walking along the coast, with so little time and wanting to see as much as we could of Lima we decided we would walk back to the hostel along the coast as our hostel was on the coast. We stopped in the massive new shopping centre built into the cliff edge, this was full of the types you would expect (you know, the sort of people who wear sunglasses inside and wear their jumper over their shoulders) even though the shops are average UK/US stores like Gap and Starbucks, this is obviously where the well to do in Lima shop.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huaca Pucllana, Miaflores</td></tr>
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All over the Lima coastline are signs for Tsunami evacuation routes, which kind of amused us and freaked us out a little (ok, freaked Angel out). The coast of Lima is a sandy cliff edge with a motorway running along the beach below it so we assume if a tsunami hit it would slam into the cliff and bring a lot of it down, which made us think the shopping centre built into the sand of the cliff edge seemed a little reckless, especially adding the history of earthquakes too. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f_OqCd_GD3a-LqOmc0hS0wx-2nqrGvUZptB9L0MlflBudNjiLPU0IvW6gVeUcaB9oWZPzvGpEhC1i7VEuXVnHDm-AyUdi3yYiZmi-iVWVnaQ9QGs1EJjiBwFyigqZAnVDUmjBV1eJKo/s640/blogger-image--204479033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f_OqCd_GD3a-LqOmc0hS0wx-2nqrGvUZptB9L0MlflBudNjiLPU0IvW6gVeUcaB9oWZPzvGpEhC1i7VEuXVnHDm-AyUdi3yYiZmi-iVWVnaQ9QGs1EJjiBwFyigqZAnVDUmjBV1eJKo/s200/blogger-image--204479033.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tsunami evacuation?</td></tr>
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Walking along the cliff edge we watched the sun set and then wandered around the suburb where the hostel was, Barranco, it was Sunday night so not a lot was open, though we did manage to have our first Inca Kola, kind of tastes like creaming soda, but it's bright yellow.</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Lima, Peru-12.0478158 -77.062202800000023-12.1099298 -77.142883800000021 -11.985701800000001 -76.981521800000024tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-63305650889697763772013-10-04T15:27:00.000-07:002013-10-04T15:27:47.988-07:00Cartagena to Santa Marta and back<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1qC5aGxYLCAHgglBHoUZGmY8hBE6hgpG9h7hgpFZpa7q1J87qAJ7UXTonHgsYpSGEf2YR0QWtOxtlzX0Gwc4UIsMvHSmHn1CU8Yk9ihyphenhyphenyguoEWfEydhBcg49YE-GatYfRIqHDrCnESE/s640/blogger-image--1845273935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1qC5aGxYLCAHgglBHoUZGmY8hBE6hgpG9h7hgpFZpa7q1J87qAJ7UXTonHgsYpSGEf2YR0QWtOxtlzX0Gwc4UIsMvHSmHn1CU8Yk9ihyphenhyphenyguoEWfEydhBcg49YE-GatYfRIqHDrCnESE/s200/blogger-image--1845273935.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cartagena</td></tr>
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We've had a bit of beach and sun for the past 6 days, 2 nights in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartagena,_Colombia" target="_blank">Cartagena</a>, followed by 3 nights in Santa Marta and another in Cartagena before our 2 flights taking us to Lima.<br />
We arrived in Cartagena from Bogota and stepping off the plane you are instantly hit by the heat and humidity. We collected our bags and jumped in a cab (the airport is 3km from the old town, so cost us only COP9,500) to our hotel, which was probably the poshest place we have stayed so far, cooked to order breakfast, very comfy bed, 3 pillows each, and importantly air conditioned, this is a must up here; it's very muggy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2pZsgRgN60rv4e44loAvD2nI-B7YCTyrAGix57zUoObj8IV4oqLr0iHYHFBsj9sn1fke6ofpmbu0gTYh19Mvzbm_STXfV0DZiHI2mMP2jKVJb_wwas6PpzUBwJHhzDh5h2ph5poqlv4/s640/blogger-image-987495178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2pZsgRgN60rv4e44loAvD2nI-B7YCTyrAGix57zUoObj8IV4oqLr0iHYHFBsj9sn1fke6ofpmbu0gTYh19Mvzbm_STXfV0DZiHI2mMP2jKVJb_wwas6PpzUBwJHhzDh5h2ph5poqlv4/s200/blogger-image-987495178.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral, Cartagena</td></tr>
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The old town is gorgeous, colourful old colonial buildings some with balconies with bouganvillias pouring down them like waterfalls and several squares most with well kept churches. There's not a lot here as the town is within a walled fortress (built because <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake" target="_blank">Francis Drake</a> attacked the city, then many pirates), and outside the walls is pretty dodgy and not as much money put into it, though this is apparently changing.<br />
We had planned to take a boat to Playa Blanca but the weather turned (and it rained) and we decided to eat and drink and roam the town streets instead, the sun came out again in the early afternoon.<br />
We caught a bus (MiraSol) from Cartagena to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Marta" target="_blank">Santa Marta</a>, door to door service for COP42,000 each which took about 5 and a half hours. They collected us from the hotel then picked up another bloke from a hotel then took us to their office for about 30 minutes until they left for Santa Marta. The trip was a bit scary, most roads here are one lane each way, and they like, no love, to overtake. Needless to say it's not a relaxing journey, but hey it's an adventure! (And we made it!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tropical storm, Santa Marta</td></tr>
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Santa Marta is not a very pretty place, it's one of the oldest towns in Colombia and where a lot of Colombians come for holiday, but it's pretty run down, it really stinks and the the people are not as friendly as we have seen in Bogota and Cartagena. But we are here for the Tayrona National Park, not Santa Marta. We arrived at the hotel, <a href="http://www.hotelnuevagranada.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Nueva Granada</a>, which is much cheaper than the hotel in Cartagena and looks like it was built in the 70's and never renovated, but it is clean, safe and has a pool!! There is also a resident cat, Timoti (we think like the shampoo, or it could be Timothy, we weren't sure). The first thing we did was jump in the pool, then about an hour later the skies opened up and unleashed a massive tropic thunderstorm, it was actually very cool and brought the temperature down a bit. We waited for the rain to stop, or calm down at least, and then headed out for some dinner. We had read on <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/" target="_blank">Trip Advisor</a> about a great Mexican place called <a href="http://agaveazulsantamarta.com/" target="_blank">Agave Azul </a>with tasty burritos, and we have been talking about Mexican food for a few days so we went, and were not disappointed. Starving, we dove into guacamole and chips while we waited for our burritos (one chicken, one beef, shared) and washed them down with a couple of beers and margaritas (it was happy hour, you can't let one go by!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Piscina, Tayrona</td></tr>
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The park is stunning, beautiful beaches, tropical jungle, not a lot of people, millions of ants making their highways across the pathways ... This was pretty cool to see actually.<br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We had a really nice day at the park but we left on a sour note after being </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ripped off on the way out of the park - there are guys at Cabo San Juan offering a boat ride to Santa Marta, but they took us to Taganga and when we told them they had said they would take us to Santa Marta they just said 'no' and turned away, literally. This had cost us COP45,000 each which was supposed to be a treat. As a storm was brewing we decided not to hike back the way we had come (which was 2 hours via La Piscina and Arrecifes - which were stunning!) and take the boat back instead, it was pricey but we thought it </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">would be worth seeing the coast. Which is amazing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We did have a great time at the park, the walks are gorgeous - even if badly sign posted and no map is given despite if costing COP35,000 to get in (Columbians pay COP14,000), the only thing that ruined it for us was these guys on the boat. They were walking around the beach saying 'boat to Santa Marta' so it was not like we had misunderstood. It was more the attitude when we arrived at Taganga and they could not have cared less. In just over a month it is the only time we have been ripped off so we are not going too badly.</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We decided to end our day on a better note and went out for burgers. The place we went to was </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g297484-d3398913-Reviews-La_Placita_Burger_Bar-Santa_Marta_Santa_Marta_District_Magdalena_Department.html" target="_blank">La </a></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g297484-d3398913-Reviews-La_Placita_Burger_Bar-Santa_Marta_Santa_Marta_District_Magdalena_Department.html" target="_blank">Placita</a> and we had</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> a La Placita burger and a Tango Burger, both were very very tasty, made with homemade buns. </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was nice that they noticed that Ellen had pulled out the rarer part of her burger (greedily, she had a 220g patty) and put it to the side and the manager came over and asked if everything was ok and would she like it cooked. A the burger was massive she said she had eaten enough so they kindly offered Angel a free dessert! (He is always up for dessert - especially free ones!)</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Overall a really great place, a right stand-out here in Santa Marta, indeed Columbia.</span><br />
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For our final day in Santa Marta we decided to take a chill out day. By 10am it was 36 degrees so we thought best not to stray too far from the pool! There was a family from Chile staying in the hotels we had a chat (in English, we are not that good!) and they gave us some tips for Peru. We went back to the Mexican place we had been to on our first night for dinner and beers, we tried something different this time - enchiladas and tacos - and then slept in the comfort of our air conditioned room.<br />
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The final day was really just a travel day, another 5.5 hour bus ride back to Cartagena after breakfast and then a bit of street food (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arepa" target="_blank">Arepas</a>) for lunch and then back to write this blog. We are off out again for dinner tonight, Ellen is on the iPad looking for somewhere to go.<br />
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Tomorrow we fly back to Bogota to catch a connecting flight to Lima. So goodbye Colombia, we'll miss you.<br />
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Cartagena, Bolivar, Colombia10.41373 -75.53357690000001410.1638165 -75.856300400000009 10.6636435 -75.210853400000019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-60681479299785542252013-09-28T18:11:00.002-07:002014-05-01T05:18:33.875-07:00Bogota. Muy Bonita.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0J_mBNjcJlRw-clmnnsfMiHr2S5no69viNEQ6x0bk940I1_pcRGVGC1aCi7IxfA8o3NA28RilfYc3qpvN9BeYjJ1xijp6ZWb12fuMkiJ7mR2cOw0VzoK9ZaTfQZr6SqZpRUiAwHXE10/s640/blogger-image--1083486070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0J_mBNjcJlRw-clmnnsfMiHr2S5no69viNEQ6x0bk940I1_pcRGVGC1aCi7IxfA8o3NA28RilfYc3qpvN9BeYjJ1xijp6ZWb12fuMkiJ7mR2cOw0VzoK9ZaTfQZr6SqZpRUiAwHXE10/s200/blogger-image--1083486070.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flying over the Andes</td></tr>
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We have had such a brilliant time here in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogot%C3%A1" target="_blank">Bogota</a>, not counting the day we arrived when we were just too tired we had 4 days here.<br />
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<b>Day 1</b> - So after our <a href="http://retiredbackpacker.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/when-arriving-to-columbia-have-address.html" target="_blank">drama</a> of arriving we got up the next day ready to take on the city. Diosa, our Spanish teacher from London's aunt, is lovely. She lives in Villa Magdela, which is a suburb about 40 minutes north of the city centre. She has a great 3 bedroom flat in a security building. She has been so welcoming and really made us feel like this is our home away from home.<br />
On our first day sight-seeing Diosa walked us to the bus station so we knew where it was, and asked for our bus tickets for us and tried to tell us which bus to catch. Her English is pretty good, better than our Spanish, we manage to converse ok with the help of <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tabletop-translator/id576422798?mt=8" target="_blank">Table Top</a> a great translation app we can form broken sentences and use this for when neither of us know a word for something.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our host in Bogota, Diosa</td></tr>
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Bless her, Diosa is lovely but she thinks Bogota is 'muy peligroso' (very dangerous) and got a bit worried when we got home at 7.30 at night when we said we expected to be back at 7.<br />
We got on the bus, a note here, the bus system in Bogota is great but confusing, there are many buses going down the same dedicated bus lanes but only stop at certain stops and there is not a great way of knowing which stop the bus will stop at, 5 buses later, when we think we have worked it out something goes wrong.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Candelaria</td></tr>
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Bogota is beautiful, once you get out of the south west of the city - which is where got off the bus. It was full of dodgy looking people (including one who followed us), litter, loads of traffic so a lot of pollution, but walk 15 minutes east and you hit the pretty historic centre - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Candelaria" target="_blank">La Candelaria</a>. It is filled with galleries, painted colonial buildings, cobbled streets and on Wednesday it was filled with school students visiting the galleries. We went into the <a href="http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-botero" target="_blank">Museo Botero</a>, which houses 123 pieces of Botero's work as well as some from Picasso, Chagall, Dali, Monet and Klimt among others. It was a nice haven from the bustle of the town, in a beautiful old colonial building. One of the school kids had sat beside Angel on a bench and was intrigued by the english/spanish dictionary he was using to translate something he had read.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids at the Museo Botero</td></tr>
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We had a very tasty meal at a pasta and salad place in the old town called <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/bogota/restaurants/cafe/andante-ma-non" target="_blank">Andante Ma Non Troppo</a>, delicious! It is quite cheap here to eat out (with GBP as the currency of our budget), we are under budget each day, which has evened out the overspends in Brazil and Argentina.<br />
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As the day was relatively clear - note that due to the mountains and the elevation (we are at 2600 metres here) the weather is generally cloudy and occasional rain - we took the funicular up to <a href="http://www.cerromonserrate.com/" target="_blank">Cerro de Monserrate</a> which is at 3200 metres, to be honest we have noticed the altitude when we have been walking up the streets in the historic town (which are very steep), and have had to stop occasionally to catch our breaths and way up here was no different - the views are literally breathtaking. There is a church built on top of the mountain - we could not imagine how they got the materials up there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Cerro de Monserrate</td></tr>
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<b>Day 2</b> was spent other <a href="http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-del-oro" target="_blank">Museo del Oro</a>, the gold museum. The largest collection of had made gold artificacts in the world. Three hours of looking at gold, don't get us wrong it was amazing, there was just a lot of it! We then went emerald shopping, Columbia is famous for its emeralds, there must be 100 shops selling them, we didn't count them but they are in one area of about 2 streets plus the <a href="http://emeraldtradecenter.com/" target="_blank">Emerald Trade Centre</a>, and despite all these emeralds, Ellen didn't find anything she liked, she's too fussy, she wanted platinum - which is surprisingly not common here, despite Columbia having a large supply of it. We'll have to look in Cartagena.</div>
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We did see one of the most distressing and moving things we have seen on our travels, a man on the street, he didn't look more than 20, filthy - not just dirty, filthy. No shoes, thread-bare clothes and he was reaching out to a woman walking along eating something, he looked like he could hardly walk. We have seen questionable homeless people begging all over the place but this guy - both of us were fighting back tears with the sight of him, we walked into the nearest shop which was a Subway and got him a sub with a coke and added a banana we had in our bag and walked back and have it to him, he looked genuinely shocked that we were giving it to him. There is so much poverty here in South America, it's quite shocking. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt Cathedral</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zipaquira Plaza de Independencia</td></tr>
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<b>Day 3</b> we went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipaquir%C3%A1" target="_blank">Zipaquira </a>and to the <a href="http://www.catedraldesal.gov.co/" target="_blank">Salt Cathedral</a>, this is still a working mine though these days it is not mined with picks and shovels, it is water and pressure. The mines themselves are impressive, each tunnel could take a jumbo jet. Along the tunnels to the Cathedral there are the stages of the cross, which are really just salt carved crucifixes with really tacky coloured lighting. The actual Cathedral is 75m long and 18m high and can fit 8500 people, today it was just us, about 4 school groups and some German tourists. To get there we took the confusing Transmilenio and the one of the local buses, which was an adventure all on it's own - there are no stops (apart from the first at the Portal de Norte) you literally see the bus coming so you wave it down and quite often it veers across 3 lanes of motorway traffic, amidst much horn blowing, to pick you up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local bus, Columbian style</td></tr>
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Zipaquira itself is a quiet, pretty town, though we could imagine in high season it is pretty rammed as there are many restaurants. There is a very old looking church which was closed and two main town squares. We ate at a place on the Plaza de Indepencia, we have discovered the brilliant value of the plates of the day - a generous soup starter, followed by meat, rice, and a salad, a juice and a small sweet all for about £8 for the both of us. We had eaten another in the old town Bogota on day 2 which cost us only £7. Amazing value.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anniversary dinner</td></tr>
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<b>Day 4</b> we decided to have a chill out day, it is our anniversary after all. So did our laundry as there was the novelty of a washing machine and drier, and then headed to <a href="http://www.andrescarnederes.com/" target="_blank">Andres Carne de Res</a>, a Bogotan institution. It's part restaurant part night club, as our flight is early the next day we decided on lunch. It was brilliant, our best meal so far. During the day the place is buzzing but nothing like the dancing on the tables which apparently happens at night. The place is huge and has an eclectic decor of bits and bobs, most of which look like they were made specifically for the restaurant. We both had the charcoal tenderloin which was out of this world, it came rare but as it is served on a boiling hotplate we just sliced it up and it cooked as we ate it, it was so tender and delicious. We also had an avocado and parmesan salad and margaritas, Ellen had a coffee and Angel (naturally) had a dessert - Chocolate cake and ice cream. All up it was 1/3 of the price we would have paid for the same meal in London, and this was better than anything we have had there (including <a href="http://thehawksmoor.com/" target="_blank">Hawksmoor</a>!).<br />
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Next stop; Cartagena, our flight is at 8 and we have to leave at 5am. ouch.</div>
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Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Bogotá, Bogota, Colombia4.5980555999999986 -74.07583333.5847115999999986 -75.3667268 5.6113995999999986 -72.7849398tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521412730943694005.post-69808556345981854082013-09-26T06:08:00.001-07:002013-09-26T06:08:53.053-07:00When arriving to Columbia, have an address for your accommodationWe left Buenos Aires in the wee hours of the morning, arrived at the airport to have the taxi driver tell us the fare was A$220, not A$95 as quoted by the hostel, after a bit of arguing in Spanish (Angel surprised himself!) we gave him the benefit of the doubt, as it was only £10 then emailed the hostel to check and the apologised, the driver was right, the person at the hostel had quoted us wrong. Drama one dealt with.<br />
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We queued at the flight check in for about an hour for 'bag drop' as we had checked in online and printed boarding cards, and I think due to the long delay at check in they delayed the flight. (Nothing in South America happens when it is supposed to we have discovered).</div>
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The flight was ok, a bit rocky on landing, probably due to the mountains surrounding Bogota. </div>
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We disembarked the flight, walked the long walk to passport control, stood in line, our turn;</div>
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Immigration official: Buenos dias, are you here on holiday?</div>
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Us: Yes we are.</div>
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How long are you here?</div>
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12 days.</div>
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What is the address of your hotel in Bogota?</div>
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We don't have one, we are staying with our spanish teacher's aunt (yes, this sounded very dodgy to us too).</div>
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What is her address?</div>
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We don't have it, she is meeting us here at the airport.</div>
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What is her phone number?</div>
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Sorry, we don't have that either, she is meeting us.</div>
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Where else are you going?</div>
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Cartagena, on Sunday</div>
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What is your address there?</div>
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We haven't booked it yet.</div>
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So you have no hotel here in Columbia?</div>
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No....</div>
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So we got taken into one of the interview offices in the back of immigration, we were pretty nervous by this point - will they let us in? The interviewer asked us the same questions, Angel showed him all the onward flights we have, he asked if we have cash we said yes and he wanted to see it (luckily we have $US500 emergency cash on us as we had no Columbian money yet - we use ATM's). He seemed be be ok with this and was very interested in the colourful plastic Australian money we had on us. He told us he would take us back out and said to us 'your hotel in Cartegena is called Sol de Caribbean, remember that' which we guessed was how he was going to get us in, he left us with the immigration clerk and said 'Welcome to Columbia'. Phew, we were in.</div>
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Shaken, we went downstairs, picked up our bags which were now off the belt on the floor and went outside, where the lovely Diosa was waiting for us with a sign with our names. Needless to say we went to bed early that night. </div>
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In hindsight this was stupid of us to have not insisted on having an address for Diosa, we were told by our teacher ' Don't worry, it will be fine, she will be waiting for you', but I suppose as a Columbian national you are not asked this stuff so you would not know. It's the only place we had not booked accommodation for our arrival.</div>
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No doubt, more adventures in Columbia to come....</div>
Angel Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15593981566179236289noreply@blogger.com0Bogotá, Bogota, Colombia4.5980555999999986 -74.07583333.5847115999999986 -75.3667268 5.6113995999999986 -72.7849398