Alyssa and Jose

Alyssa and Jose

Alyssa and Jose




South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu July 5th 2010

The train system to Machu Picchu was still running differently due to the mudslides in February the day we left. We had to take a bus for about an hour and a half to the part of the railroad that was completely repaired. We got to go through a lot of different little towns so it wasn´t too bad. Though there were some parts of the road that were unpaved or paved with stones so it got to be a pretty bumpy ride. We rode the ¨New Backpacker¨ train which was the old vistadome which means it was way nicer than it should have been. There were windows on the ceiling of the train so you could see the mountains as you passed. We were able to see some of the damage caused by the mudslides ... read more

South America » Peru » Puno » Puno June 29th 2010

We began our journey back from Chile with a collectivo to Tacna, Peru. The driver was so funny, once he found out we spoke English he asked us to translate a lot of useful sayings (ie. going to Arica? Have a safe trip!) and then he had me write them all on a piece of paper for future reference. Some people here go crazy when they get to meet Americans first hand. The ride back to Arequipa though was much less enjoyable. The bus company that we had taken to Tacna wasn´t going back to Arequipa for 2 weeks (I have no idea why!) so we booked tickets with Flores, a bus company we had found online. Bigggggg mistake! They promised us that it was an express bus with no stops but we stopped constantly. Turns ... read more

South America » Peru » Puno » Puno June 25th 2010

I posted some pictures from previous entries. Not too many though because it takes each one like 5 minutes to upload!... read more

South America » Chile » Arica & Parinacota » Arica June 22nd 2010

Thanks again for the comments, I laughed out loud reading some of them! Now to try to finish summing up our time in and around Arica... The next morning we woke up in the hotel for breakfast at 8am. I drank tea which I typically hate but I was freezing! We were so lucky to be able to have a hot shower there though. That morning we headed to the Salt Lake. As we began to ascend from Putre up higher into the mountains the views began to change and the mountains around us were incredible. There are 7 active volcanoes that can be seen from the area and they are just hugeeee. The tops of 6 of them are the border of Bolivia and one of them is completely in Bolivia. Some of them were ... read more
Vicuñas
Vizcacha

South America » Chile » Arica & Parinacota » Arica June 21st 2010

First off, thanks to everyone who commented on our last blog entry! The comments were so fun to read and showed us that everyone likes that we´re writing this blog. Two addendums from the last entry that I forgot to write about. For one, when the ram head-butted my leg and I ran into the van he continued to attack the van two or three times because he was still so angry. Second, when we were travelling in the Colca canyon area we only saw women working. They were working with the animals, carrying the bundles, working the fields and selling the souvenirs. So I was wondering where all of the men were. We finally found out, apparently the men in that culture are lazy. The women do all of the work from tending the fields, ... read more
Mummies
Old Lady

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon June 15th 2010

We began our tour at 8:30am on Monday morning. We were picked up from our hostel in a van. As we were heading out of Arequipa, the tour guide was telling us interesting facts about the ciy. For example, there are 1.5 million people in Arequipa and they live right below an active volcano. According to her, if the volcano erupts, 60-70% of the people in the city will die. Pretty scary fact! Along the outskirts of the city were the poor areas where the houses were constructed by hand. There were tons of stray dogs. I saw a stray dog way out of even the poor area of the city going through trash :( poor little guy. We purchased coca leaves and coca candy to use on the tour. The coca candy was grosssss. It ... read more
The ram!
Colca canyon
Pepe!

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Arequipa June 13th 2010

We are finally awake in Arequipa. The traveling here was really rough. We left Miami at 7:15pm and arrived in Lima, Peru at 1:00am. Needless to say we were absolutely exhausted! Líma´s airport is pretty cool, it´s open 24 hours a day for flights like ours. So at like 2am I got Papa Johns and Jose got a dish called Lomo Saltado which is a Peruvian dish with beef. We then went into the terminal and tried to sleep but between all of the announcements and the workers making sure we were waiting for the correct flight, it was pretty difficult. It´s amazing how different security is in third world countries. They didn´t care if we were wearing our shoes, didn´t check for liquids at all, in fact we brought water bottles (the reusable ones filled ... read more

North America » United States » Florida » Miami June 11th 2010

Jose and I are finishing some last minute packing before we leave for Peru. We're very excited to go! Jose shaved his head today in preparation for the trip...I'm not so sure what I think of him without hair!... read more




Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.005s; cc: 10; qc: 74; dbt: 0.0787s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb