Days 67 - 72: La Serena and Santiago

Not sure what to report on La Serena, it was very pretty, still great to be in Chile, but the purpose of stopping there was definitely to break up our long journey. We went for a huge 15km walk along the beach from La Serena to Coquimbo to go up the huge concrete cross on the headland - built to commemorate 2000 years of little baby Jesus. It was pretty, and the view from the cross was spectacular, but it was not as bustling as we had expected.

But we weren't there long before heading to Santiago the next day.

We have absolutely loved Santiago, the first SA city we could live in. The city is picturesque, nestled in among huge snow-capped mountains. Only one negative, which is the smog. The people have a lot of character, it is a very pleasant warm dry heat, there are beautiful parks and reserves and the city is modern and organised!

So we arrived on mayoral election day, we read about it on Stuff so you guys should know about it too!! Chile has just changed from optional enrollment and enforced voting to automatic enrollment and unenforced voting, hope that makes sense! At the same time, the president will be elected soon, so there was a lot of interest in the outcome. Everything shut on election day, so our first meal in Santiago was trusty McDonalds. But the next day we were able to explore. We took the subway (civilisation!!) to the brand new biggest mall in SA, decided we didn't like malls, and walked home on the scenic route through the city. This included up the hill reserve to the huge statue of the Virgin Mary, and up the little hill by our hotel which has been a convent and a fortress in the past, but is now a very pretty park. That evening we said goodbye to a few of our number and our guide, in anticipation for the next leg, Santiago to Buenos Aires!! the second to last with one month until home!

The next day we went on another wee mission to the neighbouring seaside towns of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. Viña del Mar is a popular beach holiday destination for the people of Santiago, but seemed a bit quiet and run down out of season. Valparaiso is more bohemian, with great views and amazing street art! So we spent the day exploring before returning to meet our new guide Mark, our first native English guide.

Sadly we are leaving Santiago tonight on the night bus, so our last explore today.

A lot of travelling ahead, through the north of Patagonia, bit looks like there will be some awesome outdoorsy stuff to do on the way!!

One month to go xoxoxo

Days 61 - 66: The Salt Flats and Chile

Hola Amigos!! Sorry it's been a while, the Bolivian desert has no wifi!!

We spent a night in Uyuni before heading into the desert. We were travelling in old land cruisers, not the really old ones, but a few generations ago. Our first stop was a train cemetery, where many old trains have been turned into a playground. Was great fun!!

Next we stopped in Colchani, where we learnt how the local people collect, grind and package the salt from the salt flats for consumption in Bolivia. From there we visited the salt flats themselves!! We had to take some of the typical photos playing with perspective of course. The scale of the flats was absolutely mind blowing, just white salt and blue sky for miles!! The tour company provided an awesome picnic lunch, by the end of which most of us were sunburned, like being in the snow!

We stopped at an 'island' on the flats, which was bizarre - covered in cacti and rising up out of the salt. On the way, our driver realised we had a leak in our transmission fluid. Sam tried to help him fix it, getting back into the car saying "don't look under the bonnet, none of the parts are original". We had definitely experienced the Bolivian culture of patching things up rather than thoroughly fixing them!!

We stayed the night in a salt hostel on the edge of the salt flats, which was also completely made of salt!

The next day we continued travelling south, stopping at lagoons and volcanoes along the way, the lagoons were all different colours, and we saw many flamingoes. The last lagoon was red due to iron-containing plankton, which was pretty crazy!!

Our final day in Bolivia, we visited the Solar de Mañana geysers, which were steam funnels similar to Rotorua, some with mud bubbling. We headed off to a natural hot spring, but on the way our poor land cruiser had a flat tyre. So we had a dance party in the desert with the car radio while they fixed it. It was surreal. One of the spares was the wrong size, another was flat also, but luckily the third space saver tyre got us to the pools!! The pools were very scenic, it was awesome to get in the warm water in the freezing desert!

We then crossed the border from the Bolivian side (a wee hut in the desert) and traveled for a few kms to the Chilean side (a much more respectable border office where they even have a border patrol!!). Another stamp in the passport!!

In the border town San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, we felt like we had reached civilisation again. Especially because they have proper milk, no more lumpy powdered milk!

The next day we walked to the Quitor ruins, which also had a great view, nice to get some exercise!! In the afternoon we went on a tour to the valley of the moon. The landscapes in this area have been spectacular. We watched the sun set over the valley.

Today we have our longest night bus yet, 17 hours from S.P. de Atacama to La Serena. Painful!! But still glad to be in Chile.

Take it easy everyone, lots of love xoxo

Sam Facts Days 61 - 66: The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth. The Uyuni salt flat is the largest on earth, and the Atacama salt flat is the third. The north of Chile also used to be part of Bolivia, then Chile confiscated it in a bloody war in the late 1800s, leaving Bolivia land-locked. Still a sore point to this day.

Days 57 - 60: Dinosaur Footprints and Silver Mines

We arrived in Sucre after a long night bus and set out to explore the city. Sucre is a pretty university town that once was the countries capital but has recently been stripped of all but it's judicial responsibilities (to La Paz).

On our second day we headed to the outskirts of town to Cretaceous park where hundreds of footprints of multiple dinosaur species can be seen along a 1.5 kilometer wall. They were only discovered due to cement mining and can now only be viewed from a distance due to erosion.

The next day we hiked to some lesser known footprints in the hills. While not as expansive as Cretaceous park, it was really cool to touch the places where dinosaurs once stood!

Next we headed back to the altiplano to Potosi, the highest city in the world and the location of one the worlds most significant silver mines. First up we headed to the old Spanish Imperial and National mint, where we saw how they made coins from the local silver.

Today we headed up Cerro Rico, to see first hand the working conditions of the cooperative mines. After suiting up and being instructed to buy dynamite, coca leaves and alcohol for the miners, we drove up the mountain to one of the mine entrances.

The group spent over an hour exploring and learning about the mines and the unique culture of the miners. Except for Sarah and a couple of others, who preferred safety and fresh air, and didn't go too far past the entrance!

Tomorrow we are off to Uyuni for a 4WD tour of the salt flats and national parks. So the next time you will hear from us will be in the north of Chile! Ciao for now!

Sam Fact for Potosi: The ridges on the circumference of a coin were originally designed to prevent people from trimming the coins and stealing the silver.

Days 52 - 56: Bolivia and the World's Most Dangerous Road!!

Don't get scared by the title, this is a good story!

We arrived in La Paz after a very long day, on a bus to the border between Peru and Bolivia, getting passports stamped, getting back on the bus to Copacabana, a new bus to the narrowest part of Lake Titicaca, crossing the lake by ferry, waiting for the bus to cross by ferry also, then back on the bus to La Paz. Phew!!

The next day in La Paz we spent the morning exploring, then our guide for the Lima to La Paz leg, Arturo, had organised for us to go to the football Rio 2014 qualifiers Bolivia vs Peru game with him and some of his mates. Was good fun deciding who to support and getting our faces painted (sitting on the fence with one flag on each side!), but the atmosphere wasn't as crazy there as we had expected! We think it turned out for the best as it was a 1-1 draw and everyone was happy. That night we met our new tour leader, Karina, our first female, which has been different! We also sadly said goodbye to Peter, David, Sarah and Jess, but hello to some new group members!

The next day, as the result of MUCH discussion and debate, eleven of our group set out to mountain bike the World's Most Dangerous Road! Mums, before you freak out, the road is no longer open to traffic, as a new road has been built, and so it's now exclusively a mountain bike track. We went with the guide company who started the mountain biking, Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, which was founded by a Kiwi, so of course they have all the best gear and guides! The bikes we were on were way better than our bikes at home, with back suspension to save your behind. A little nervous to start, we set off on the first section which is tar-sealed. So far so good, we moved onto the real 'Death Road', the gravel. The road is about three meters across in it's narrowest section, with sheer cliff on one side. So we didn't look over the side, and found it was a really enjoyable ride, definitely not dangerous at all as we listened carefully to the guide. At the town at the bottom, there is a animal sanctuary in the rainforest, where we had lunch and went on a monkey tour. Here in this sanctuary is where Paddington the spectacled bear is hiding, not in Peru after all!! Though unfortunately we didn't see him as he only comes out in the morning when he is fed.

We then caught our guide bus back up the road and home safely again. Sarah has been proudly wearing her 'I survived the worlds most dangerous road' T-shirt since!

On our final day in La Paz, Sam decided he hadn't had enough of an adrenaline rush, so going with the partner company of Gravity, abseiled down the side of one of the buildings face first wearing a spiderman suit. Needless to say, Sarah took photos. So enough for a wee while we think!!

After that we had a night bus to Sucre. Five down, four to go now! In Sucre, we have three days to explore before we move on again, so watch this space!

Over halfway through now, the rest will go quickly!!

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

A Sam Fact (because we haven't had one in ages): The World's Most Dangerous Road goes from around nearly 5000 to 1500 meters in altitude over roughly 60 km. While it was a road, they used to lose a vehicle over the edge about once every two weeks, while trying to use the road in both directions. Eek!!

Days 49 - 51: Homestay at Lake Titicaca

Hola amigos!

Before we tell you about our homestay, let us tell you about the guinea pig we had for dinner in Puno before we left! We had finally drummed up the courage, so we ordered - one between two of course. We were the only people game enough from our group. It was in a nice restaurant, not quite like the roadside stall in Intrepid Journeys! When our guinea pig or 'cuy' roasted with andean herbs arrived, it looked pretty vulgar and we didn't know where to start. We started by covering its eyes with a lettuce leaf, so we didn't feel so bad. But apart from the very high work-to-meat ratio, it was pretty good, tastes like duck! So that might be our last guinea pig experience for this trip!

So to Lake Titicaca! We caught a middle-sized boat on a beautiful day to the floating islands, Uros. The islands are made out of reeds, and it felt like walking on a giant sponge! The women were really friendly, and invited us into their tiny houses for a look around, but then tried to sell us their wares, and got pretty grumpy when we wouldn't buy them. We felt bad, but we have seen the same market goods everywhere!

We jumped back on the boat, and after lunch on Taquile Island, we landed on Laquina peninsula. Here we played a game of soccer against the locals (we lost :() then our host families dressed us up in traditional dress for a dancing ceremony! We were then led up the hill in the dark to our home for the night! The houses were made from mud bricks, and were very simple, only one room, with a mud brick house for us, one for the kitchen, etc. Our dinner was cooked in a corner of the room on a fire, but was very tasty! The family was very quiet at dinner, until Sam asked 'do you talk at dinner time?' in his best Spanish! We then had a great conversation comparing life on the lake to life in NZ, using the NZ tea towel we took for them as a present for inspiration! We then went straight to bed, around 7:45 pm, and slept like logs until our wake up call at 7 am! We were then employed for the morning, helping muster their 15 sheep (no fences, all tied around their feet), carry new topsoil for the garden from down the road, and then went for a scenic walk. It was then time to jump back on the boat to Puno! A very cool experience, we learnt so much more than staying in a hotel! So our last day in Peru today, we have a bus ride over the border to La Paz in Bolivia tomorrow!

Photos to come!

Also a wee update in general info, Sarah's nails are long and beautiful now after 50 days stress-free, Sam's beard is getting hideously long (and we are only halfway!), and Sam's Spanish is coming along too!

Hope all good back home!! Hasta luego!! Xoxoxoxo

Days 44 - 48: The Inca Trail

Well we made it! The Inca Trail was hard, really hard. Well Sam found it easier than Sarah did. The first day we had to start really early as there was a public transport strike where they planned to block roads in and out of Cusco, so the guide and van driver had to get up in the middle of the night to get to the start point for us. But day one of the Inca trail was very do-able, as we passed through small villages and some Incan ruins. At the end of the day Sam played goalie in a six a side soccer match against the locals where he helped hustle them out of two Nuevo Soles each!

Day two of the Inca trail was not easy. We had to climb from 3000m to 4200m over 8km in a part of the trek called Dead Woman's Pass, so it was very steep and the effects of the altitude started to take its toll on Sarah. But after a wee tantrum 80m from the top due to lack of breath, we made it! The view was spectacular, very hard to believe we had just climbed so far up! Then we had to endure nearly 2 hours of down to get to lunch, arriving at camp very weary, but in the leading pack of six. Our arrival time was 1:15 pm, with the last girl coming in at 4:30 - a very long day for her.

That night it rained. Sam's bag was under a drip leak in the tent and Sarah's sleeping bag cover was saturated. But we were well off compared to others! Because of the rain, we had cloudy misty weather on day three of the trail, so despite the gentler walking we were a little disappointed not to be able to see the view from the top of the mountain ranges. However we did get to see a number of impressive ruins clinging to the side of the cliffs!

On day four we woke up at 3:45 full of anticipation, ready to race from the line at the check point to the sun gate. The view Macchu Picchu from the sun gate was awesome, and we were there in plenty of time to see the sun rise and beat some of the crowd!

We spent a few hours exploring Macchu Picchu, which was definitely the most spectacular of the ruins to date, due to size, remote location and completeness. We felt a pretty big sense of accomplishment! We also couldn't wait to get back to Cusco for the first shower in five days! So you can imagine the disappointment when the hotel ran out of hot water!

Days 40 - 43: Cusco

Hola amigos!

After the Colca Canyon, we had a day back in Arequipa before a night bus to Cusco. We have both really enjoyed Cusco, exploring the city and preparing for the Inca trail. There was so much history in the city's monuments, ruins and temples - its like a living museum! Sam managed to find a giant sleeping bag to hire, so we think we're all set!

Today we travelled to Ollaytantambo in the Sacred Valley, which is just 1 hour from the start of the Inca trail. It is an amazing town surrounded by mountains and impressive Incan ruins. We spent the afternoon climbing cliff faces and exploring the ruins. Looking forward to doing the trek now!

Will let you know how it went when we get back to Cusco! Xo