Our 5th week and Chile

This week we entered Chile and it ended up being there national holiday and therefore there were many fiestas!!

Day 1 Monday - Today we got up oh so early to head down to Chile, firstyl heading down to Tacna and then on to Arica via a taxi which helped us across the Peru-Chile boarder. We then checked into a hostal called Hostal International which also goes by many other names. Immediately we were greeted by Roberto the Hostal owner and an on hte house welcoming drink. The Hostal was already our favourite and not just because of the free alcohol but also due to amazing graffiti wall and the vast array of memorabelia, games and general stuff that decorated the place. There were two other couples at the Hostal from Holland with perfect English of course. That night we went out to the city center where we visited the fair and had some drinks.

                         With Roberto and his special effects

Day 2 Tuesday - Unlike Monday we woke up to overcast so our plan for the beach was off. We had breakfast and then took a short taxi ride to the bus station where we booked our tickets for that afternoon to Iquique. Our bus left at 2:30 pm and we arrived in Iquique at 7:00 approx. We ended up in the 2nd hostal of our choice as the first one was fully booked and we had to get a dorm....sharing with two other guys which was a little awkward but not too bad. That night we went out for a meal which was a little pricey but being a holiday not much else was open.

Day 3 Wednesday - We woke up this morning to breakfast and after moving into a double room (thank god) we met some English students from bath on there year abroad and found out they were based working in Santiago (our next stop!). We spent the day with our new friends firstly buying our tickets to Santiago the following day and then at la fonda, another fair were we drank a few too many teremotos. This is a drink made from pineapple icecream, white wine and grenadine which sounds yuck, but was actually rather tasty. We all won some teddies on the games and tehn headed back to the hostal were we continued our drinking.

 With our Teremotos! ^

Day 4 Thursday - We did not feel so good today after last nights drinking and therefore slept in a tad. Our bus was at 5.30 in the afternoon and therefore we went to the plaza to try and visit some museums however due to the holiday season most things were shut. We cooked pasta for lunch at the hostal and stocked up on food for the 26hour bus journey to Santiago. When we got on the bus our seats could not be worse. We were positioned between the toilet (horrible smell) and a mother with two young children (great).

Day 5 Friday - Most of the day was spent enduring the long and endless bus journey. When we finally arrived we got a tube down to Los Dominicos and were picked up by Roxana and her husband (friends of John´s mum). We unpacked our things and were taken out for dinner were we ate the biggest sandwhiches ever!

Day 6 Saturday - Today was Kuki´s (the husband) birthday so in the morning we helped Kuki get his birthday cake, bread, eggs and ice for his party in the evening. When we arrived back we ate lunch and then set off to the center of Santiago via the tube were we visited two parks (Santa Lucia and Forestal) - it was very beautiful. When we came back we visited the market next to Los Dominicos church whicb was full of very pretty but expensive souveniers. In the evening we went with Adri and her bf Gonzalo to a friends birthday.

Day 7 Sunday - Today we climbed a supposedly easy mini mountain with Alfredo (the boyfriend of Monica one of Roxanas daughters), his brother and his Golden Retriever Roco, which when we finally reached the top uncovered a spectacular view of Santiago and the surrounding mountains. Tonight we are going to see Ted at the Cinema.

Lots of love
Vicky and John
xxx

Week 4 - the start of our travels to the rest of South America

So at the end of this week we headed off to Arequipa to start our adventure around the rest of South America! Here is our fourth week in Lima:

Day 1 Monday - We purchased our tickets for Arequipa on Friday (VIP). We taught John´s Nanny a card game called `Crazy Eights´ and now know all the suit names in spanish: Hearts = Corizons, Spades = Espades, Diamonds = Cocos and Clubs = Treboles... all the spelling is how we think its spelt. In the evening we ordered Bembos for delivery. It was not good, came cold...never again.

Day 2 Tuesday - Today was 9/11 so we had our 2 minute silence at 10AM. There was also no water until the afternoon so we had to ahve a baby wipe shower but we were used to this after the Salkantay Trek. For Lunch we went to `Pardon´s Chicken´ resturant, it was very busy but Johns Nanny managed to get us ahead of the queue.
   In the evening we went to have dinner with John´s Aunties and Cousins. We spent the evening watching Peru vs Argentina football game where the score ended in 1 all which was unexpected (Peru were expected to lose).

Day 3 Wednesday - In the morning we visited the `Mistura` festival which is the worlds second largest food festival! It was amazing and we got many free samples. I purchased some cheese however I am not sure it will last until christmas.  We couldnt indulge too much as we had to be back for lunch.
   In the evening we met with Jose and Sabastian where we discussed charity work in Decemeber. There is the possibility of working with the many stray dogs in Lima which I am personally really excited about! We had dinner at a really yummy and oh so cheap Mexican resturant.

Day 4 Thursday - I got my hair and nails done today for a mere 6.50 pounds. We then had a siesta in the afternoon and took Johns grandparents back to the yummy Mexican in the evening.

Day 5 Friday - Today we set off to Arequipa at 2.30PM arriving on Saturday morning (15hours). We travelled VIP which was so much more comfortable. We slept most of the trip.

Day 6 Saturday - Arrived in the morning and brought our bus tickets to Tacna where we got VIP again as there really wasn`t much difference in the price. We then got to our hostel (Hotel Nuñez) and showered off in our extensively furnished (4 beds) room. We then hoped into a taxi and made our way to the main Plaza which was beautiful. We learnt that Arequipa is known as the white city as a lot of the older buildings are made from volcanic rock which is white. We fed some pigeons in the main plaza and they are so friendly they were eating out of our hands. After this we got a tour of the main Cathedral where we learnt alot about the Catholic religion, which was quite difficult to understand so most of it went over my head but we got some great photographs from inside and on top of the Cathedral. Later on we walked past auditions for Peru Tiene Talento (Peru`s version of Britain has talent)! For a late lunch/early dinner we enjoyed a seafood broth from a very nice resturant! A bit pricey for Peru but worth it!

                                              Pretending to ring the bell at the cathedral...so heavy!

Today - We spent a long time this morning trying to find an outside swimming pool only to be taken to an indoor one. So we instead settled for sunbathing on the roof of our hostal. We are saving money today so bread rolls and cheese for lunch.

Love from Vicky and John

Our 3rd Week in Peru

So this week we returned from our Machu Picchu visit, recovered and set off to sunny Ica. Here is what we got up to:

Day 1 Monday- Today we returned to Lima from Cusco and immediately we felt our breath return (in being at lower altitude). As soon as we were home and showered, we set off to meet our new amigo Dave from Canada for a few drinks down in Barranco. We then took a short taxi ride to the Kennedy Park and continued our evening in yet another Kareoke bar!

Day 2 Tuesday- This was our lazy day, we slept in and spent most of the day relaxing. We downloaded a film from itunes....Rec3 and brought EXTREME butter popcorn from the supermarket down the road.

Day 3 Wednesday - Today we set off from Lima to Ica at 2:30. There was mucho traffico on the way to the bus station and we almost missed it, but luckily we arrived just on time. The bus journey was amazing, far better than some planes we have been on in the past. We even got a little food parcel. Within 4 hours we arrived in Ica. We said our 'holas' and greeted Nanny Lucha's amigo's and then found our hostal just down the road.

Day 4 Thursday - We had our desayuno at Nanny Lucha's amigos casa and then headed off to Huacachina. In Huacachina we attempted Sand Boarding were we bum boarded mostly. We then headed back to the casa and enjoyed Jorge's birthday fiesta with a lot of Pisco neat and a lot of yummy food.

 

Day 5 Friday - John and I enjoyed the sun today by the poolside . We then returned to the casa and had a taste of Jorge's home made pisco sours.... very strong! In the evening John, Nanny Lucha and I visited a Chifa resturant (Chinese) and enjoyed some rather tasty food! We are definately not going to be loosing much weight in Peru.

Day 6 Saturday - Saturday we returned to lima in the afternoon. However we firstly caught our last bits of sun by the poolside in Haucachina.

Day 7 Sunday - Today we are going to relax and possibly meet some family friends for lunch... it is yet to be decided.

Missing everyone
Lots of Love
Vicky y John

Week 2 - The Salkantay Trail and Machu Picchu

So this week John and I did the five day and four night trek to Machu Picchu. It was not however as easy as we had anticipated. Here is how it went:

Day 1 Monday- We arrived in Cusco in the afternoon and as soon as we got off the plane we could feel the sudden loss of our breath and the slight nausea of being at such high altitude! We were told to rest as soon as we got to our free hostel (courtesy of John's Auntie) and to eat very little. So we went next door to the hostel for some soup and Coca tea which is specifically for altitude sickness. However the tea was unsuccessful and as soon as I was back to the hostel I was back in bed and I no longer had the soup inside me. :(. A woman from the tour came by late in the afternoon/eve to brief us on the trip.

Day 2 Tuesday- We had to get up at 4AM for our bus ride to the start of the trail where we had to buy our first breakfast. I ordered pancakes and coca tea but this was a waste of money as again I was ill. We met our tour guide Manuel who in the days to come we found out was not so helpful. Our group consisted of two Americans from Florida called Megan and Pete, one Canadian called Dave, two other Americans from Seattle  called Josh and Duke, a few Germans  called Veronica, Stephan and Christian, a few Argentinians called Eness, Gabi and Yamilla, a few Dutch and finally a bloke Krishna from San Diego USA.
The first day was trying and John and I only just made it to the lunch spot. We soon learnt this trek was not for the faint hearted. Our first camp was the coldest camp and we slept in so many layers that night as the temperature dropped to -10 degrees Celsius.

Day 3 Wednesday - Today many of us decided that for the steepest climb we were going to pay to take a horse up to 4600m. It was pretty frightening on some of the sheer drop ledges we climbed up. When at the top we made some sort of offering to the mountain consisting of 3 coca leaves per person, and covering the leaves in a pile of stones we found scattered around the area. It was hard to understand our guide's English and so we are still unsure why this happened...

 The trek down was much better than the first day but still exhausting and both John and I this time got ill. I only managed to throw up twice which was an improvement from Tuesday!

The second campsite was much warmer as we were on the outskirts of theJungle. Now out came the bug spray, which for John did not help one bit. I finally begun to get my appetite back as we were now at lower altitude and that night was the first meal I kept down!

Day 4 Thursday - Another early start but luckily it was only a half day trek. However when our tour guide tells us "a short 3 hour walk" it turns into 5 hours! We finally reached half way point with burnt faces and took a short bus ride to the next camping site. We helped put up our tents, (which I am sure was not part of the deal) and changed into our swimming gear. We then headed off to the hot springs which was lovely after three days walking. That evening we drank and danced by a massive fire until late.

Day 5 Friday - In the morning most of us opted for the bus ride at a cost of 10 soles each, and were dropped off in the forest where we supposed to walk for no more than 3 hours to the final town Aguas Calientes. This town has a distinct feature of a rail road running straight through the middle of it.. This was our favourite place apart from obviously Machu Picchu on the trek. However due to Manuel’s ridiculous time keeping skills it was far more than 3 hours. We finally arrived at our much needed hostel and took a much needed shower! After everyone was clean we had our final dinner in a restaurant covered with dead rabbit fur (:S) not really my cup of tea. Some of us then decided to go to a karaoke bar where the most famous songs were ‘’murdered’’.

Day 6 Saturday- Today we went to Machu Picchu, the conclusion to our journey. Today we decided to ditch our tour guide and make our own way to the ancient Incan City. We took our time walking round and taking in the spectacular views. We returned to Aguas Calientes and had our lunch and waited until evening for our train and bus ride back to Cusco where we then slept for the remainder of our time there.

Hope everyone is well
Much Love
Vicky y John