END OF SALTA, CHILE and START OF PERU

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So in our last few days in Salta we managed to do quite a few things, we went to a museum for high altitude archeaology! There they had mummies that were excavated from the andes mountains. They were the bodies of Inca children who had been sacrificed on the mountain and buried alive. Because of the high altitude, cold climate and the surroundings, they were preserved and you could clearly see the mummy, it was very interesting! We then had ice cream, ate some empanadas and went to a church which was very beautiful and tranquil inside. Me and Stacey like sitting in churches, its so peaceful and quiet. Then we met up with a friend we met in Buenos Aires, called Lucy, and we had argentinian steak for the first time......it was amazing!!!! So nice, i dont really like steak but it wasnt chewy, it was perfect.

The next day we did a tour of the Andes mountains around Salta and took a look at a town called Cafayate. It was a long day on a hot bus....but it was worth it. The colours and shapes and heights of the range was beautiful. So picturesque!! My photos on facebook give you an idea of how beautiful things were, but they dont do it justice.

Then we took a bus to Calama in Chile, it was a long journey through the mountains and desert. Stacey suffered from altitude sickness. She woke up feeling ill, started to panick, and then couldnt breathe. She passed out and luckily a nice Argentinian lady helped us and brought Staccey some coca tea to help with the sicky feeling.

When we got to Calama, we managed to tag along with the Argentinian ladies to a bus terminal to try get a connecting bus to Iquique, but there were no seats available. The exchange rate aswell was very confusing, and i withdrew 15,000 chilean pesos, thinking it was alot, it works out at like 17 pounds!!! SO we met a group of young travellers from France and Argentina and tagged along with them. We missioned it to another bus station, and eventually found tickets for the next day to Iquique, so we had to look for a hostel to stay the night. In Calama there is nothing, its just a town, so we luckily found a scabby hostel that was cheap, and stayed there!

The next morning we went to Iquique. It is a beautiful beach resort on the north coast. We took a walk around to one of the main plazas, which was very quaint. it had tram lines and old trams on the lines being used as benches. We then took a walk along the coastline and watched the sun set it was so pretty. The next day we sunbathed at the beach. There were lots of surfers there and a film crew even approached us and filmed us waving and saying hola....so perhaps we are on Chilean TV!!! haha.

The next day we went to another mummy museum, again saw more mummies that had weird shaped heads that were deformed to show status. The mummies were over 6000 years old, they compared that to the age of egyptian mummies which are 3000 years old. It was crazy. We learnt about the incas even more and about the history of the area surrounding Iquique. We took a look around the theatre municipal which was old fashioned and a little victorian and eirie! We then took a bus to Arica.

In Arica, when we arrived we were greeted by a crazy Chilean host named Roberto, who gave us free Pisco Sours! He claimed he had a dog which in fact was a cat and said it was a gangster cat and ruled the roost. It was a crazy cat to be fair, ginger and jumped on your lap for a cuddle and would start biting you! So we stayed up late with Roberto and his guests.

The next day we sunbathed on the beach, which was very long and not as nice as Iquique, but it was ok. It was very windy aswell...which was good as we didnt sweat, but was bad as we kept getting mouthfuls of sand! After our day of sunbathing, the next day we walked up the Morro of Arica, which is a massive mountain with a view point. The view across the city was beautiful. There was a massive Chilean flag and canons, a statue of Jesus, a small versin of Chris the Redeemer and some monuments. Was very windy and sunny, and we caught the sun up there. After we walked around centro which was closed as it was Sunday and just chilled out.

After Arica we went to Peru!! We got a collectivo which was rather amusing. It is a shared taxi, and me and Stacey sat in the front, and there were 3 chileans in the back. So it was a bit squashy but it was faster than a bus. The driver was crazy and when someone tried to overtake him, he would speed up and loose them! So we got into Peru, which is 2 hours behind Chile, and the bus terminal was a bit shabby. We changed some money and booked a bus to Arequipa. The bus journey took 7 hours and had no air con, so we were really hot!!! Everytime the bus stopped there were street vendors trying to sell food to people on the bus, it was like a cattle market.

We arrived in Arequipa in the evening, and met some english guys in our room. We went to dinner with them and for 3 pounds we ate a two course meal, with a drink. Such amazing value. It was a restaurant in the main plaza aswell, with beautiful views of the city and we were seranaded with panpipes and guitars!

The next day we took a walk into the Plaza and started taking photos, we met some Peruvians who were celebrating a birthday and they invited us to drink with them. So we spent all afternoon trying to learn spanish and drinking beer. In the night time, we went out with the English guys.

Today we have booked a bus tour around Arequipa. We do not have time to see the Colca Canyon, you need 3 days for it and we need to get to Macchu Picchu soon, so we will see the volcanoes from this trip this afternoon, and tomorrow we will go to see the monastry and some churches around the city. Tomorrow we go to Cusco...its the final countdown for Macchu Picchu and i am getting a bit nervous. Everybody says that the 2nd day is the hardest so if i get through that then it can only get better huh!

I am realy glad that we detoured through northern Chile, as it was really nice. They do really nice fresh juices aswell, and in Iquique i had the biggest richest ice cream that was dipped in chocolate sauce!!!

Now we are in Peru and soon to be in Bolivia, we are glad things are getting cheaper, its amazing what you can get for your money here! Anyways i have to go and get on the bus for the bus tour. Ciao for now.

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