And so starts the end of our journey. We are actually writing this in Australia having returned safe and sound. Some of our friends find it amusing to be receiving travel blogs from Peru when they know we are in their livingroom but we would really like to finish them, as much for us as for you. We estimate that there are only two more blogs after this one. So all of you that we see regularly, just sit back and pretend that we are still overseas. We are sure that is a relaxing thought! So after returning safely from the [View Full Entry]

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So we sadly said goodbye to Home Sweet Home and the beautiful city of Cusco. Our luggage was a little heavier after all our shopping, and Rachel and Delia also had ornate walking sticks that helped them through the Inca Trail. Mine (Ana's) reeked of vomit and Chas and I were too cheap to buy a prettily designed one (thank goodness Chas says) so I decided to leave it behind. A brief stopover in Lima with the wonderful Pedro and Emma to repack all the stuff we left there before heading to Cusco (a deeply horrible process that Chas and I [View Full Entry]

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A selfish decision When we first started this blog, I (Chas) made a decision to be honest about what happened to us and what we were feeling. I wanted the blog to be more than just an update on the beautiful places we were visiting but actually letting you, the readers, know about us personally. Notice all the 'I's in this paragraph; this was an arrogant and selfish decision. It has drawn much criticism from friends, family and strangers alike for being cynical and negative whereas the live action version has nearly always been joyful. I feel I should not write [View Full Entry]

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Enforced vacation… health reasons you understand Our time in Cusco started off pleasantly. We had planned to have two days of r&r without much sightseeing before embarking on the Inca Trail, despite Cusco being the former capital of the Incan Empire (Qosco meaning bellybutton of the world) and jampacked with sites of extreme historical interest and beauty. This is because within two days we were going on the famous Inca Trail, the religious pilgrimage undertaken by the Inca and his family from Cusco to Machu Picchu, the lost Incan city. We arrived in Cusco aft [View Full Entry]

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We began our voyage south with a seven hour bus ride. I tell you Australian bus companies, if both Argentina and Peru can have 10 times better service at a tenth of the price, you had better shape up! More movies, more food, more service... and we played bingo! It was a great way for the spanish learners to practice their numbers and you had a chance to win a bottle of Pisco (the national grape spirit; let me warn you right now: never ever mention that the Chileans may even have the remotest connection with the creation Pisco. Never!). So [View Full Entry]

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everyone! Lots of love from Ana and Chas! Sorry about the lack of blogs but we have been really busy (by lax Chasanaski standards anyway) and have not had enough time to go into all we have been doing. This month in Peru has had us explore the capital city, the coastal desert region, the Southern Andes and the deepest canyon in the world, the capital of the Incan empire and a lost city followed up by Christmas in the Amzon jungle with the most exposed camping we have ever done. Basically, there are lots [View Full Entry]

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Rachel arrives so we get off our fat bottoms and do something The second half of our trip to Argentina was marked by Rachel’s arrival. Ana and I had done a lot of the tourist side of Argentina last time we visited together and so stored up all the trips and sights for Rach. We were to start with a cracker, one of the "eight natural wonders of the world" and something I had never seen before: the Iguazu waterfalls. My feeble excuse at not having seen them in the six years I lived there is that we always used our [View Full Entry]

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Fear of Arrival This month in Argentina has been a truly welcome mix of homecoming and new experiences. When Ana and I started planning this trip, it was to be a combination of volunteer work, visiting exciting new places but also to visit old friends and family around the world for the first time as a married couple. So coming back to Argentina, where my family (Chas) lived for 6 years and where I left when I was 16 years old, after some of the best times of my life, was frightening in many ways. After the economic crisis in 2001 [View Full Entry]

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Ana and I arrived in Rio having begun the journey without pause 30 hours before. We left Lisbon on the overnight train to Madrid, said goodbye to Rachel (who we will see in a few weeks in Buenos Aires) and went straight to the airport to check in for our flight. Then flew to Brazil. Iberian air is a bit of a misery. I do not want to use this blog as an endorsement or name and shame forum but this flight was funny. We are absolutely convinced that after the first meal, the captain turned on the seatbelts sign just [View Full Entry]

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Sorry guys, we are writing this from Argentina and are catching up on a pretty hectic month. So this is going to be a long blog but please give it a read and check out the photos, it's worth it I promise. Leaving Alicante (sob) Our return to sightseeing in Spain after beach-bumming was becoming addictive had a tough start. We had to catch the bus to Alicante to then catch the train to Madrid. So we hoisted our packs, locked up the house (which had about 5 padlocks as well as the locks on the door)and then trundled off as [View Full Entry]

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