http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/The-adventures-of-TJ-and-the-Beej-in-South-America/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from The adventures of TJ and the Beej in South America en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:37:07 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:37:07 +0000 Hello allI thought I would write some final words to close the blog and draw the curtain on my travels. As I have told some of my friends taking time off is the best thing I did for myself. At the risk of sounding zen it has been an immensely rewarding experience. My travels have allowed me to rediscover myself and the values I hold dear and it was a good test of my mettle. There were times http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mauritius/Quatre-Bornes/blog-437015.html This was not a planned hike. We met a lovely couple Tim and Nancy when we were doing Salkantay and they suggested that we would like Colca Canyon. We organised the trip from Arequipa and went for the twonight and threeday hike option. We also decided to do the off the track i.e. harder hike which is called Llahuar.It was another 3.30 a.m. start. On the way to the start of the hike we s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-434071.html After all our adventures in Manu Salkantay and Puno it was time to bid farewell to Cuzco and head to Arequipa which was the second city in Peru after Lima there is some dispute with Cuzco about that.... The sky was blue when we landed and we immediately fell in love with this colourful city. It is surrounded by snow capped mountains and volcanoes.Apperently when one of the Inca chiefs saw t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-434049.html After Salkantay we gave ourselves a few hours of rest and then set off for our next adventure Manu Biosphere. Rest is overrated anyway and we were really excited at the thought of spending eight days in the jungle. Having been born and bred in the tropics I thought that the insect factor would not really faze me I was going to be proved very wrong indeed. Read on reader...We left at 4.30 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Manu-National-Park/blog-433510.html We sadly bid farewell to Rupal when we came back from Titicaca. I forgot to mention that Rupal has a better sense of direction than me and that I was relying on her to get around Cuzco... Annu and I wanted to do the Inca trail but it requires booking months ahead. So we did the alternative Inca trail Salkantay which is one of the hardest trek to get to Machu Picchu we didn't really know th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Salkantay-Trail/blog-431156.html When Rupal and I came back from Machu Picchu we met up with Annu. There is no rest for the wicked so the next day we took the bus to Puno which is on the shores of Lake Titicaca the highest navigable lake in the world. It is shared by Peru and Bolivia and there is a Peruvian joke that says the Peruvians got the titi side whilst the Bolivians go the caca side.The trip to Puno itself was int http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/blog-431151.html OK I went to Machu Picchu twice once with Rupal and once with Annu. Rupal and Annu did not overlap very much so we only managed to have one trip to Lake Titicaca together.The first visit was definitely chilled out as we took the taxitrainbus option. The second much more hardcore as it involved camping and hiking. More on these adventures later.OllantaytamboThe train leaves from a town ca http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-431137.html Rupal and I really loved Cusco. It was a welcome change from Lima although much much colder. It is also quite high up so the altitude does require some getting used to. It is also quite hilly so by the time you walk from your hostel to the Plaza you are quite out of breath.Cusco is the ancient Inca capital and a lot of the new buildings are built on the original inca settlements. The Inca s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-430826.html Hello hello hello.Long time no write. I have been in Peru for longer than I thought I would be. Seven weeks if my maths serve me right. I was only supposed to be there for a month and then make my way to Ecuador. But it was not meant to be. Peru is a fabulous country and in seven weeks you barely scratch the surface. Nevertheless we managed to fit quite a lot in the time we were there. We http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/blog-430821.html I saved the best for last. San Pedro de Aacama is a small town in the middle of the desert close to the Bolivian and Argentian borders and is rightly considered the archeological capital of Chile. It used to be the centre of the Atacameo culture before the arrival of the Spaniards. It does look very indigenous with all the construction made from adobe. It is a great base to explore this side http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/blog-417512.html So then to continue my voyages I hoped on a bus to La Serena. which is the capital of the Coquimbo region. It was a very spectacular busride as the landscape changes dramatically when you go further North. The Pan American highway hugs the Pacific coast on one side and rocky mountains on the other. The green gives way to small coastal villages sandy beaches with great waves for surfing and sm http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-417499.html So we move on to Part 2 of the Chilean adventure. By the by Chileno is very difficult to understand. I have to retune my ears to that particular accent of Spanish but Im not doing too badly. Anyway I digress.So I spent a couple of days in Valparaiso or Valpo as the locals call it. There is a stark difference with Santiago. The latter is serene whilst Valpo is more edgy. Difficult to s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-415494.html Hola todosSo its been a bit of an absence. Did you miss me Well I have been travelling in Chile and Im here for a couple of days more. Then it is off to Lima to meet up with my friend Rupal. My other friend Annu will hopefully join us in a couple of days.So what I have been up to these past three weeks I guess you could say that this trip has been a voyage of four quarters. I landed http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-415151.html Hello allSo I have lost one travel companion and decided to treat myself by going to Tortuguero National Park. So what if it was expensive and not tortoise season but I figured that I didnt know when next I would be in Costa Rica. And we only live onceit's only money etc...I am glad I did it. It was a long trek from San Jose with an overnight stay in a nature lodge. What is a nature lo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Limon/Tortuguero-National-Park/blog-411250.html Hola chicos y chicasLong time no blog. Yeah we have been completely chilling out in Costa Rica and these two weeks have gone so quickly Taruna is now headed back to Houston as I type. I guess I will have to change the name of the blog but that will involve sending you all new links which might be a bit of a pain So I have taken the executive decision to retain the title as is although I http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-408886.html Costa Rica is not in South America so the blog should really have been the adventures of TJ and the Beej in Latin America but youll forgive us this poetic licence...So continue our adventures after a week of Level 2 Spanish courses in Buenos Aires for me and a week at home for her mothers 60th for Taruna. We arrived in San Jose on the last day of May and managed to arrive within half an hou http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/San-Jose/San-Jose/blog-405040.html This is going to be a very short blog We arrived in a lush tropical paradise and stayed in a hotel which overlooked Brasil. We spent two days at the Parque and one day walking around Puerto Iguazu. We didnt have the opportunity to make it to the other side as US residents need visas to entre BrasilSo instead of words we leave you with a set of amazing pictures and videos... http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Iguazu-National-Park/blog-402027.html Mendoza Mendoza malbecs desert food and cheese. This is such a chilled out town I feel so relaxed that I wouldnt know if I was missing a spine. We got there by the night bus after 16 hours from Buenos Aires. After El Calafate it was hot hot hot at least the first day was... Unfortunately TJ was a bit under the weather at the beginning and it was my turn at the end so we didnt go a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-398771.html So I am on my own for a week or so. TJ has gone back to the US to celebrate her mums 60th and probably get a new set of cothes for Costa Rica I decided to go to Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay for a day trip. Its only one hour by ferry from Buenos Aires and it was the chance of gettin another stamp on my passport. The weather was superb in Colonia and I have an amazing set of pictures t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/West/Colonia-del-Sacramento/blog-402034.html The next day started again early and we set off in the cold dark morning to Perito Moreno. This was the trip I was most looking forward to as we were actually going to trek on the glacier with crampons and guides.We arrived at the entrance of the park and boy it was cold It was snowing properly and again we were glad that we had our thermals on. We took a little boat to the bay went up the m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/Perito-Moreno-Glacier/blog-397790.html