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Hola Amigos!
Sorry its been so long, we´ve been busy enjoying ourselves, I think it´s been about 3 weeks! We are now in Cusco, Peru, getting ready for the Inca Trail. We´ve been here for a few days, just relaxing, shopping for Peruvian handicrafts and struggling to breathe because of the altitude. (We´re currently at 3,500m above sea level and during the Inca Trail we´ll go up to about 4,300m.) Cusco is really cool. It was originally the centre of the Incan empire so there are loads of amazing Incan built builldings and temples. We had our first fry up here since leaving the UK but it was very disappointing. Ah well, we´ll just have to wait til we´re back at Christmas.
After Santiago, we went to Valparaiso for a few days. Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is very quirky with brightly coloured buildings and colonial mansions, all mixed in with slums. It´s also completely dominated by stray dogs who try to bite taxis! While we were there, we also went to Vina del Mar for some long overdue beach time. The weather was beautiful but the sea was so cold that you actually go numb after within a minute of being in.
From Valparaiso we took a 23hr bus, (yes, 23hrs!) to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedor is high in the Andes and in the middle of the desert, so it was very hot and our first experience of being at altitude. It was the first place that we´ve been too that really felt touristy and felt busy to us, so high season must be hideous. We went on a few trips from San Pedro including trekking and caving in the desert, seeing the sunset and turn the mountains pink, floating in a salt lake and sandboarding. Sandboarding was brilliant and we´re definitely going to do it again somewhere else. Oh, and Nicky also saw some geusers which were at 4,500m above sea level. Unfortunately, Clare was so sick with the altitude that she barely got off the bus!
After San Pedro, we worked our way North through Chile to Iquique, where Nicky did some paragliding, which was a great experience but he felt a bit ill! We then travelled further North and crossed the border in Peru last Friday.
Sorry you haven´t received many postcards but it´s ridiculously expensive to send them. It cost more to send 6 postcards from Peru than it did to have an evening meal with a few drinks. So I´m afraid you´re going to have to make do with the emails until we go to South East Asia where it´ll hopefully be cheaper.
We will write again after the Inca Trail (once we´re able to walk and talk again) and we promise to do more regular updates.
We hope you´re well.
Loads of love,
Clare and Nicky
xxxx
PS
We´ve put more photos on our online album. You can see them at www.offexploring.com/nickyandclareontheirtravels
Hola Amigos! Sorry its been so long, we´ve been busy enjoying ourselves, I think it´s been about 3 weeks! We are now in Cusco, Peru, getting ready for the Inca Trail. We´ve been here for a few days, just relaxing, shopping for Peruvian handicrafts and struggling to breathe because of the altitude. (We´re currently at 3,500m above sea level and during the Inca Trail we´ll go up to about 4,300m.) Cusco is really cool. It was originally the centre of the Incan empire so there are loads of amazing Incan built builldings and temples. We had our first fry up here since leaving the UK but it was very disappointing. Ah well, we´ll just have to wait til we´re back at Christmas. After Santiago, we went to Valparaiso for a few days. Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is very quirky with brightly coloured buildings and colonial mansions, all mixed in with slums. It´s also completely dominated by stray dogs who try to bite taxis! While we were there, we also went to Vina del Mar for some long overdue beach time. The weather was beautiful but the sea was so cold that you actually go numb after within a minute of being in. From Valparaiso we took a 23hr bus, (yes, 23hrs!) to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedor is high in the Andes and in the middle of the desert, so it was very hot and our first experience of being at altitude. It was the first place that we´ve been too that really felt touristy and felt busy to us, so high season must be hideous. We went on a few trips from San Pedro including trekking and caving in the desert, seeing the sunset and turn the mountains pink, floating in a salt lake and sandboarding. Sandboarding was brilliant and we´re definitely going to do it again somewhere else. Oh, and Nicky also saw some geusers which were at 4,500m above sea level. Unfortunately, Clare was so sick with the altitude that she barely got off the bus! After San Pedro, we worked our way North through Chile to Iquique, where Nicky did some paragliding, which was a great experience but he felt a bit ill! We then travelled further North and crossed the border in Peru last Friday. Sorry you haven´t received many postcards but it´s ridiculously expensive to send them. It cost more to send 6 postcards from Peru than it did to have an evening meal with a few drinks. So I´m afraid you´re going to have to make do with the emails until we go to South East Asia where it´ll hopefully be cheaper. We will write again after the Inca Trail (once we´re able to walk and talk again) and we promise to do more regular updates. We hope you´re well. Loads of love, Clare and Nicky xxxx PS We´ve put more photos on our online album. You can see them at www.offexploring.com/nickyandclareontheirtravels- comments