Em and Tom

Ah...civilisation! Still enjoying the novelty of it! We headed out last night to Zig Zag....reputedly the best restaurant in Southern Peru. So the glad rags went on (well...the nearest that we have to them) and we headed out for dinner. Their speciality is Peruvian Alpine and sizzling cuts on volcanic rock mmmm. For starters we learnt that Peru should not be famed for its cheese - their attempt at Roquefort was admirable, but the pale generic cheese was not worth it! As the mains approached we were donned with a bib...seriously. This appeared to be regardless of what you ordered and I´m not sure entirely necessary! For mains we had sizzling meat and fish on the volcanic stone. I finally caved and tried the alpaca...oh my goodness it was sensational! Think I´m a convert from now! ... read more

Have just rested down after an overly large lunch which wasn´t entirely planed! We found a tiny little restaurant which was packed full of locals so obviously went insisde. We paid for the ´menu´ which was S6 each (about 1 pound 50) and sat down to wait. 5 courses arrived! Surprisingly good food for such an absolute bargain...think that the post-prandial slump is going to be timed perfectly with getting on the bus to Arequipa - sleep time! We went to visit the floating islands on Lake Titicaca this morning which were really beautiful - brightly clad locals on floating reed islands. Little disconcerting bouncy feeling on walking on them, but really impressive quite how ingenious they have been with the reeds (they´re even edible when fresh!). We took a boat ride on a reed gondala ... read more

OK...so we´re not quite in Arequipa...but I can´t find the location on the drop down menu (probably due to my geography rather than anything else!). Today we crossed the border from Boliva to Peru. Fortunately the strikes and border closures which were blocking the roads appeared to have been settled. Think that it was based on Trout in Lake Titicaca...but fish is on the menu and the roads are open so they´ve obviously come to some form of agreement! We left the Isla de Sol this morning in the snow. Absolutely beautiful island but the views were definitely better the the blazing sunshine yesterday! The Island was bizarrely run by children - one gathered us from the port, another booked us into the hostel and two others served us dinner. Not sure if it was Take ... read more

After an unfortunate episode of illness on finishing in the Pampas (thank goodness for the fully stocked pharmacy we brought with us!), diagnosing malaria, cholera and aemobiasis (with no matching symptoms) we got ready for the jungle. We´d decided to go for the pricy jungle trip...then decided it was too expensive for not looking fancy enough (Chalalan Lodge) and went for the off-shoot Baraco del Madidi. Definitely the right decision as it was incredible! In additional to the unfortunate episode, the weather had also changed. Whilst these two incidents together saved us a good few pennies as we refrained from checking into the ´luxury´ Hotel Safari with its river side pool (and I´m sure fabulous cocktails), it did unfortunately mean that we were rather cold for our trip up the river. Jungle = cold was a ... read more

After two days recuperating in La Paz and discovering the Submarino (thank you Stan and Helen!!) which is a chocolate bar dunked in hot milk and possibly the best drink ever on a cold evening, we headed to the jungle. Now...I knew it was a small plane that we were getting...but not that small! 18 seater, could not stand up, could see the pilots having a chat, run by an elastic band! Tom was absolutely loving it....I was clenching his hand trying not to cry every time it moved. I can see why everyone gets concerned in hospital when their machines are beeping (meaning nothing most of the time)...it was terrifying hearing it on an airplane! They kindly pointed out the mountains out of the window - announcing it in Spanish first meant that I thought ... read more

The journey across from Chile to Bolivia was absolutely spectacular - three days at high altitude in a 4WD, no roads, sub zero temperatures, llama socks and a lack of hot water but a trip of a lifetime! The transfer from Chile to Bolivia was highlighted by turning onto a dirt track from a nicely tarmac-d road. We arrived at a shack which was indeed the border. Can´t complain though...there was a toilet and everything - albeit outside and behind an old broken down bus. Was a sign of the toilets to come...and given the effects of altitude on urine production, this was not fun...hmmmm! We met our group and bundled the six of us into a jeep with our mountain of luggage strapped to the top. The scenery was spectacular from the start - stopping ... read more

Finally found an internet stop after drying through some of the most barren land I´ve ever seen! We left Santiago on Saturday and have been travelling North through Chile. We initially headed through a tiny little fishing village (which happily had an artisan chocolate maker with a stall!) and ended up in the Elqui valley. We went to the observatory which was absolutely incredible. Apparently it´s the best place in the world for looking at the stars because of the low humidity, low rainfall and lack of cloud. For this reason the Europeans and Americans are funding a range of large telescopes - currently the largest is the VLT (very large telescope ingeniously enough!). Anyway, the one that we went to was for tourists so was a mere 45cm telescope. We got to see some pretty ... read more

We've arrived back in Santiago! Wow...5 days in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) was incredible! From the moment we flew over the Island after travelling 5 hours from Santiago, turned to the left and had a view of the whole island basking in the sun and turquoise waters we've had an amazing time. We were greeted with flower necklaces (to my delight and Tom's dismay) and taken to our B&B on the coast. We sought out the maoi straight away and strolled through the 'town'. This place has laid back to an art...nothing opens before 9am, shuts between 1 and 5 for siesta and gradually rolls into evening if they have guests. The sunset is a daily event and our view on day 1 did not disappoint. We ran over the hills to get their on time ... read more

Left a beautifully sunny (well..looked like it was going to be through the sunrise!) Sydney to arrive in Auckland where it has completely thrown it down with rain since I got here. Was one of those terrifying arrivals where you emerge from the clouds and all you can see is sea...and it looks as though that's where you're going to arrive. Fortunately the land arrived in time for a safe landing. Very nearly didn't get on the right plane though... In their wisdom, Quantas have two flights going to Santiago via Auckland and they both leave at 9.25 in the morning. So I turn up to check in only to be told that my flight has been cancelled and I will need to wait another few hours before I can get on a flight. Only those ... read more