Valparaiso, Chile

During our long period in Santiago, we decided to go for a 'weekend away.' We left on Friday morning for Valparaiso. It is a small coastal city located about 90 minutes northwest of Santiago. We woke up, jumped on a bus and enjoyed the ride through lush forests before coming to the coast. The ride was a huge change from our rides through the deserts of northern Chile. It has been wonderful to see such different landscapes throughout our time in Chile.

We spent the afternoon walking around the city. The weather was very cold and windy. After a few hours we stopped for coffee and a chance to warm up. We continued walking and stumbled upon a great happy hour at a B&B overlooking the ocean. After some pisco sours we went back to the hostel. For dinner we headed to a good sushi restaurant. It was not as good as the sushi places in Asia, but it satisfied our wasabi craving.












On Saturday we headed to a local area that is known for its street art. We walked along this path that goes up a small hill near the water. We saw walls covered in graffiti art, colorful signs and decorated street lights and poles. We spent the afternoon going around the city and taking in the sites. For dinner we stopped at a small restaurant for pizza and beer. It was a great way to end the day after walking around for hours.












On Sunday we headed back to Santiago. We bused back and checked back into our hostel. We then stocked up on groceries for the week and relaxed all night.

We spent the next few days in Santiago. Fred had added pages to his passport while we were in Korea but I had not. I realized that I was down to only a few pages so on Monday we headed to the embassy. I simply had to hand over my passport, a piece of paperwork and money and come back on Tuesday. On Tuesday we headed back to the embassy and waited for night to come. We had tickets to the Chile vs. Paraguay World Cup Qualifying soccer match. Our tickets were general admission so we arrived at the stadium an hour early (around 7pm). To our surprise, there were no seats left. We ended up sitting on the steps in the very last row of our section. The seats turned out to be great, as we could see the entire field even when people below were standing. Everyone was dressed in red and crazy about soccer. The field was in the center of a track however between the track and the stands there was a eight foot 'moat' area. This keeps the fans from charging the field. To help keep this from happening, the stadium was filled with at least 200 police officers in full gear including helmets, face masks, and shields. After a 2-0 win, full of cheers, flags and road flares, we made our way back to our hostel.












On Wednesday we headed to a city lookout point. We took a funicular (an elevator/cable car mix) to the top of a large hill. From here we were able to see all of Santiago surrounded by mountains. The weather was hazy so we could not see as far as we had hoped. It was great to get an idea of how expansive Santiago truly is.









Thursday was our final day in Santiago. We spent the afternoon in the Plaza de Armas (city center) and walked around seeing all of Santiago's important buildings. We had lunch at a sandwich shop where we enjoyed a massive meal. After stuffing our faces we headed back to our hostel. We spent the evening talking with a Canadian couple and packing up our things. We left early on Friday morning for a flight to the Lake District!
























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Santiago: Week 1

We have spent the last few days in Santiago and are enjoying our time here. The capital city is much different than Peru and cities in northern Chile. There are huge skyscrapers, distinct neighborhoods, tons of colorful street art and outdoor cafes everywhere. The only problem is that there seem to be fewer people who speak English.








The first couple days we spent bumming around, exploring the city. We found the usual things: a main square, a cathedral, and an area full of museums. We also wandered onto a pedestrian street FULL of stands selling massive hot dogs and head-sized sandwiches. We spent one afternoon at the Museo Artes Visuales. The exhibits were really cool, but there wasn't a lot of space to put them in. We also picked up a pair of tickets to the Chile v. Paraguay World Cup Qualifier this Monday evening. A guy explained that the stadium was recently renovated. The usual (at least in South America) security measure of a huge fence topped with barbed wire between the fans and field was taken out and replaced with a massive pit. Now a lot more seats have an unobstructed view and the stadium is "more safe." We were kind of hoping to get the old experience. Oh, well.










The past couple days we ventured out into different parts of the Maipo Valley for tours of vineyards. Yesterday we went to Vina Undurraga. It was a bit hard to get to, but it was good to be outside of the city. Our tour guide was a university student that was about our age. We were the only ones on the English tour, so it was nice to talk to him about the way they make wine and things to do or see in Santiago. We walked around a small part of the fields and found out a lot about their pinot noir grapes. He told us that some parts of the vineyard were damaged by the earthquake last year, including a couple of huge vats that broke open. He said there was partially fermented wine everywhere for a couple weeks, but everything was almost back to normal now. After our tour of the fields and wine cellar, we sampled four of their wines. The two reds were alright, but the two whites were way too sweet.









Patagonian lamb roast. Unfortunately it wasn't for us.

Today we went to Vina Aquitania. It is a smaller vineyard that produces 10% of what Vina Undurraga produces (around 15,000 cases per year). Right away we knew that this place was a step up from many others in the area. The grounds were beautiful and everything was well taken care of. Our tour guide was very informational and we learned a lot about the processes of making different types of wine. The tasting at this place was a lot better than the previous day's. We only got to try three different kinds, but they were all really good. We picked up a few parting gifts at their shop, then headed back to the city center.












Tomorrow morning we are heading to Valparaiso for the weekend. We are excited to eat fresh seafood and relax by the ocean for a few days.

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Location:Gral Jofre,Santiago,Chile

Crossing into Chile

After enjoying our last couple days in Cusco, we hopped on a bus to Arequipa, Peru to begin our journey into Chile. The bus was very nice and we were able to sleep comfortably for a few hours on our way. We arrived in Arequipa just after sunrise (about 6 AM...ugh). Arequipa is the third largest city in Peru, but if you visit this place, you probably would not realize it. There are very few buildings that are taller than three stories and the usual sounds of car horns and people yelling were missing. We knew that it was going to be a fun place to celebrate the fall holidays.

Our first day in Arequipa was fairly relaxed. We spent a few hours resting up in our hostel before venturing out into the city. The owner of the hostel, Jose, recommended a great place for breakfast and lunch that was just around the corner. We headed there for some much needed coffee and snacks. After that, we headed to the Plaza de Armas. We sat in the park for a while and people-watched before trying to find a few of the city's attractions. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so almost everything was closed. So we grabbed some lunch at one of the patio restaurants then spent the afternoon/evening planning the next steps of our journey.



Plaza de Armas







The next two days were Halloween and the Day of the Dead, so we were very excited to see how people in Peru celebrated these holidays. On Halloween most families dressed their children up and headed to the main square to take pictures. We decided to head to a museum to see an Incan mummy. The mummy came from one of the nearby mountains and was originally a sacrificed girl from Cusco. What made this mummy special, though, was that most of its organs and tissue were still intact. She had been frozen shortly after she was sacrificed, which kept her body safe. We could see the entire body (including teeth, skin, and hair), which was creepy, but also really interesting. After the museum we headed back out to the main square. By that time some older people wore costumes, but they were usually heading to the bars for the festivities. The Day of the Dead turned out to be a day where almost nothing went on. The city was pretty much dead, so maybe that was their way of celebrating. We were a little disappointed because Cusco had all kinds of events leading up to the big day, but there was nothing in Arequipa. I guess we will have to try to celebrate it somewhere else sometime.

The following morning we woke up early to catch a bus to Tacna, Peru. Tacna is a small town in the south that is famous mostly for its border runs. They have a ton of cabbies who will escort small groups across the border, so we decided that would be the best option for us. We met up with a man on our bus named Ian from Manhattan, who helped us get through the whole process of picking a driver and filling out the necessary paperwork. The process was pretty easy for the three of us. The two Bolivians in our car were not so lucky, though. They were turned away because one of them did not have a valid excuse to enter the country. Bummer.

We have spent the last few days in Arica, Chile. It is a small coastal town that is a good stop on the way to Santiago. There is not much to see in the city, but we have enjoyed our time here. We met a few people here and were finally able to purchase some cheap flights that we had been eying for a while. Later today we will hop on a flight to Santiago. We have been very anxious to get there and cannot believe we are already going to be there!












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Location:Arequipa and Tacna Peru - Arica, Chile

Cusco and Machu Picchu

After a few wonderful days in Lima, Peru we headed to Cusco, Peru. We had an afternoon flight that was canceled due to maintenance issues. After rescheduling our flight for the next morning, getting a ticket voucher and staying in a hotel, we were off on a 7am flight. We landed in Cusco on Monday morning and were immediately struck by the altitude. We had never been to a place so far above sea level (over 3,000 meters). We checked into our hostel and began planning our days. We booked a 2 day/1 night Machu Picchu tour and we booked our bus tickets out of Cusco. In the afternoon we went on a great walking tour. We were able to explore markets, churches, learn about good places to eat and visit a city lookout point. After walking around for three hours we relaxed before heading to dinner. We found a great Peruvian/Australian restaurant.































Fred trying frog soup in the market






Vicuna

On Tuesday we started Spanish class. We booked lessons for ten hours while we were visiting Cusco. We spent the afternoon walking around the main downtown area, taking pictures of the beautiful buildings and browsing for souvenirs. At 3:30 we headed to Spanish. Our teacher was very nice, however she didn't speak any English. This was good in terms of being fully immersed in the language, but it was hard to follow her at times. At one point she held up a cup and started to teach us adjectives. We thought that she telling us the cup was white, small, and smooth. We later found out that she was saying the cup was white, small, and clean. After three hours we were ready for dinner. We headed back to our hostel for dinner and drinks.
























On Wednesday we woke up and headed to Machu Picchu. We took a taxi, along with one other girl from our hostel, to a city about 90 minutes from Cusco. After our arrival, we had two hours to explore the small mountain community. From there we took a train for 90 minutes to the city at the base of Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes. We checked into our hotel and went to explore. We found a nice market and stocked up on food for the next day. We then walked around the town. It was so beautiful. The city was surrounded by mountains. Although it was very touristy, it was magical. We then had dinner, met up with our guide and headed to bed so that we would be ready for our early morning wake up call.



















On Thursday we woke up at 4am and headed to the bus line. Luckily, we were in line early so we made the first bus to Machu Picchu at 5:30 am. The bus ride up the mountain took about 20 minutes. The turns were terrifying as we could look right off the side of the mountain. Finally, we made it to the top. We entered into Machu Picchu and were full of anticipation for what we were going to see. In reality all we saw as fog. The fog was so thick that it was hard to see a few feet in front of you. We sat around for a while catching glimpses of Machu Picchu as the fog rolled in and out. At 7am we had a two hour guided tour. As the tour started most of the fog started lifting. To our surprise, our friends Sam and Neil from England (that we had met in Lima) were on our tour! What a small world! Our guide was great. He pointed out lots of things that we wouldn't have seen or known the significance of on our own. There are no signs pointing things out or giving information so a guide is needed to fully experience Machu Picchu. Once the tour was over we had one hour before we were scheduled to climb Waynapicchu, a mountain overlooking all of Machu Picchu. After a 40 minute climb we were at the top. The climb was very hard and would probably be an insurance nightmare if it were anywhere in the States. The path was not always clear, so you sometimes had to guess which direction to go. There were no ropes or barriers and one wrong step would have sent your tumbling off the mountain. At some points the path seemed to be vertical. Although it was hard, the view made it all worthwhile. After exploring the top for about an hour we headed down. Going down the mountain was much more terrifying. When we finally made it down to solid, horizontal ground we were very grateful. We walked around some more and took tons of pictures without the fog. In the afternoon we headed back to the city to catch our train back. Fred was on a train 15 minutes before mine. When we were both off the trains we jumped into a small bus for the 90 minute ride back to Cusco. We once again checked into our hostel and went straight to bed.






Our first view of Machu Picchu. It is a good thing that we woke up at 4am!
























The sun was a bit bright.



















View from the top of Waynapicchu.













Climbing down. It was horrifying.













On Friday we slept in and walked around the city before having three more hours of Spanish class. After our class, we met up with Sam and Neil for dinner and drinks. After a fun night out, we headed to bed.

On Saturday we woke up early for four more hours of Spanish beginning at 9am. Our lesson went fast and we found them all helpful. I was reminded of what I had learned in high school and Fred was fascinated with learning another new language. We spent the afternoon with Sam and Neil, having lunch and seeing the sites. We even stumbled upon a parade in honor of Day of the Dead (November 1st). We then headed to a market before catching a night bus to Arequipa, Peru at 8pm. The bus was very comfortable and we felt very at ease for the entire ten hour journey. We had plush seats, we were able to watch English movies, we were served dinner and tea and the seats reclined to 160 degrees. Although we didn't sleep too well, the bus was perfect for such a long journey. We are now excited to explore our last large city in Peru before heading to Chile.












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