http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/madcowinsam/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from madcowinsam en-us Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:08:23 BST Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:08:23 BST Having spent Earth Day on the rather environmentally unfriendly activity of flying back from the USA to Peru sorry planet our final destination before Lima and the flight home was the desert oasis of Huacachina where our friend Beth owns the cafe Casa de Bamboo.Huacachina is in a sand bowl surrounded by imposing dunes perfect for sand boarding and Mad Max style sand buggy rides. It is an oasi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-270955.html Thanks to the marvel of frequent flyer award flights we managed to build in a little side trip from the South to North America to visit our lovely friends Tanya and Dav in Denver. Not sure whether it was good fortune on our part or magnificent planning on their part but we were lucky to catch them just before they moved back to Sydney. Not sure we would have been half as accommodating and we c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-268460.html After the excitement and inspirational tour of the Salar de Uyuni the town of Uyuni itself with the exception of the quite exceptional MinuteMan pizza restaurant was rather well dull and uninspiring. So much so that after updating our blog we were quite keen to leave on the first train bus or donkey. Our next destination was to be Tupiza Bolivia's 'Wild West' less than 200 km to the S http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-266823.html The classic Inca trail is 4 days of trekking 45km starting at 2720m altitude crossing over 3 passes at 4200m 4000m and 3680m before arriving at Machu Picchu at 2730m.We decided to do the Inca trail towards the end of our trip to avoid the rainy season. Unfortunately the rainy season waited for us with the exception of day 1 it rained every day. Best laid plans. PahI Mad had done the Inca http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-266787.html How exciting We were headed to the birthplace of the Incas on the mystical Isla del Sol a spiritual experience awaited us no doubt. We set out along the shores of Lake Titicaca from Copacabana to Yampupata where we planned to catch a small motor boat across to the island. Enroute Paul helped out a little old lady by carrying her ridiculously heavy bag for her for about half a km to delive http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-261006.html After 2 months moving up Chile and Argentina the next destination was Bolivia. We took a 3 day tour from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile across the Bolivian border to the National Park and Salar de Uyuni. This has got to be one of the highlights of the trip thanks Pip for your recommendation. After being promised a tour consisting of a maximum of six people and an English speaking guide we were http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-253465.html Moving on from Valparaiso we spent a couple of days in the surprisingly relaxing and diverting town of La Serena. We originally only stopped there to break up the journey North to San Pedro but we squeezed in an excellent visit to the observatory at Vicuna can never seem to get too much of the clear night skies and were treated to a couple of very relaxing days at Casa Maria. Maria is a lovel http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/San-Pedro-de-Atacama/blog-252070.html Just finished reading The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy which has inspired us to follow his style for our latest offering. Few sentences longer than five words. A bit unorthodox but it gets the message across. Quite fitting for Valparaiso... Valpo Gritty. Seedy. Edgy. Colourful. Bus station heaving. The bald gringo caught the dudes eye. Hospedaje Amigo Si possiblemente. Quanto Cue http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-251994.html After nearly 2 months without a surf it was time to get wet. We picked Pichilemu as our location due to its reknowned long left hand break. However our first impressions of the town were a bit underwhelming. Wed imagined sparsely populated golden sands the creak of swinging hammocks and the odd straw beach umbrella. The reality was grey sands grey skies grey sea sunbathers in coats a la UK http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/O-Higgins/Pichilemu/blog-251992.html So Bariloche whats it got that other places havent An enormous crystal clear snowmelt fed lake lots of mountains with the prospect of skiing in the winter or mountain biking in the summer beaches albeit rocky and a little chilly curranto well come back to that chocolate shops locally brewed beer crazy Swiss alpine villages Oliver Reid lookalikes OK only one a friendly lai http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-246015.html After walking in El Chalten our next destination was Chonchi on Chiloe Island Chile chosen for its comedy name Nic we were particularly thinking of you with this one and the local mythology of pirates and witches. The guidebook was a bit vague on the area between El Chalten and Chonchi so we werent entirely sure that we would get there.The first leg was a 24 hour bus journey to Esquel thr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Los-Lagos/Chiloe-Island/blog-245250.html The guidebook says If the sun is out El Chalten is heaven on earth. My idea of heaven doesnt include trucks and coaches whipping up dust storms along the gravel high street leaving you with a gritty lining to your mouth a campsite that we confused for a refugee camp and constant construction works however we had a wonderful time there with constant sunshine and blue skies for the full 4 da http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Chalten/blog-245239.html Located at the extreme southern end of the American Continent Ushuaia might rightly lay claim to being the last resort. Its something of a wild frontier town though given its location you might wonder a frontier to where Well the Antarctic for one. Its a major staging post for visitors hopping onto or off of cruises to view the Southern Ice Cap. This is probably what gives the city its sl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-241555.html We spent five days in the Torres del Paine National Park in the southern part of Patagonia Chile. The Torres del Paine circuit is a pretty well trodden route and we went at peak time so it was busy. Little fear of forgetting the Spanish for Hi we used our Hola on average every five minutes.We checked the weather beforehand the forecast was good apart from the 50kmh winds. The night before http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-239118.html Our first port of call was Buenos Aires principally to learn some Spanish before venturing out into the wilder parts of SAm but also to stock up on protein weve so far consumed the best part of half a cow each before we get into trekking in the cold of Tierra del Fuego Torres del Paine and Patagonia.We initially had a few difficulties with the Argentinian Spanish accent swallowed esses and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-235201.html New Year's Eve Eve and we're getting ready to go off on the Big Trip.The furniture is being shipped we've packed our back packs taken our cholera drink and Paul has even started his malaria tablets.Only 4 days to go now.... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Manly/blog-231400.html