Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Nasca and nasty Alpacas...

A bit weary, but having fun. Have never seen anywhere as dry or desolate as Peru - last rain here in Nasca was 1998 and was el nino, which flooded the place. 1996 was the earthquake of 7.2 on the richter scale which destroyed most of the place...its hard living here. Saw something cool today though - cochineal beetles from which the red dye is made being grown on fields of cactii where they are deliberatly ´seeded´.

Amazing how life starts to become timed around access to food and toilet facilities too...had forgotten that.

One of the women on the tour got jumped on by an Alpaca today...nasty, nasty beasts. Mind you she was also just evacuated out of Ecuador after a volcano eruption, so she´ll have good stories. Went and saw ancient Nasca tombs today too which where pretty amazing and flew over the Nasca lines which would have been amazing except I felt so nauseous from the flight that I didnt care if I lived or died.

Into the swing though and a free day all to ourselves tomorrow which will be a blessing...hope you are all well, life on the road is challenging but rewarding!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Peruvian Pandamonium - Lima

Lima is quite different to Santiago - no spectacular backdrop but cleaner, fewer dogs and amazing architecture. Pisco sours aren't as good (you Chileans were right). We're pretty much over the jet lag now and getting into the swing of travel - our Spanish is still crap but blank stares and big smiles (and gracias) tends to work. Had lunch yesterday at the Bolivar Hotel on Plaza San Martin - much better than the name (and the equivalent location at home) would imply. Paul wanted to go to a place called Norky's but they only served chicken breast - though today we did find Hooter's Peru, would you believe! Tonight we met up with some people we will travel around with ... an interesting cross-section of the world... Brits, Canadian, Kiwis and a couple who live ten minutes down the road from us in Adelaide. Jobs vary from beer delivery man, nurses (mental health and critical care, both of which could come in handy), yoga teacher, fisherman ... and who knows what else.
We have heard a lot about safety in Lima but haven't had any dramas - the streets looked pretty threatening on the way in from the airport (and the traffic is crazy) but we feel quite comfortable now.
Tomorrow we head to Pisco and finally out of the big cities for which Paul will be grateful.
By the way, Sally's global roaming is not working here so email is the best option for now.
Not a single yeti yet - we've asked for our money back but it's not going well for us...

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Chile, Pisco Sours and dogs everywhere!

Hola from Chile! Heck, what a few days we've had...the flight was non eventful and we landed in Chile flying in past the spectcular backdrop of the Andes all the way down. Cristian met us at the airport which is always a blessing and dropped us at the hotel. Then out into the chaos! Anyway eventually we had a watch battery, cash, food and had amused alot of locals with our gringo-ness. Spent Tuesday walking the city with Cristian, seeing the highlights, like the central markets (built by one of Eiffels proteges) and eating fish and drinking pisco sour and visiting great museums and the palacio which Pinochet bombed when he took over in 1973. Can{t even begin to imagine what it must have been like during his reign...A curious detour through a 'coffee with legs' venue - think crazy corse but only with coffee and full of businessmen! Wednesday we drove west to the coast through La costa cordillera (the coastal ranges) and down through Valparaiso (sp) to stay by the seaside (thanks Claudia!). Finished today off with a visit to one of the houses of Pablo Nerruda (sp) the Nobel prize poet of Chile, a great eccentric house with portholes and goofy stuff everywhere...now back to home sweet home Hotel monte carlo. Tomorrow we head into Peru (4 30 am start...nice) and start in Lima. We have been advised by Chileans that nothing in Peru is as good as Chle, particularly not their Pisco sour the drink of choice here, 2 parts wine distillate and 1 part lemon juice and they sure do sneak up on you after 5. Lots of dogs everywhere too, many seem to be siamese with six legs, 2 heads and only one back...Anyway, that's all I have time for, hi to all, hope all's well and see you on the flipside.
PS - I haven't seen a single yeti yet, but hold high hopes for Peru.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Here..we.....gooooo!

Right, its some ungodly hour of the morning and we're farewelling Adelaide for 3 months. Shame we don't get to walk across the tarmac these days, but oh well. Thanks everyone for the offers of lifts to the airport, it was hilarious to see the relief on your faces when we said we'd catch a cab! Adios...