Topping up the levels with a hearty dinner in Jacks cafe in Cusco we’re in both in an apprehensive mood; it’s the night before our 5 day / 4 night, Salkantay Trek to the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. We’ll be camping for most of the trek, and although the rainy season is supposed to be petering out, every night for the last three, has seen massive thunderstorms and huge downpours. It’s been cold too. We’ve shivered ourselves to sleep, after gasping for breath in this high altitude city following the nightly climb up to our hostel on the hillside of San Blas neighbourhood. These factors, combined with the feeling that walking for 5 days just to see one of the new 7 wonders of the world could be an anti-climax, Machu Picchu can’t be that good can it? Well happily, it turns out, that it can..
Girl (and boy) Interrupted.
13 Feb
Dear all
Our netbook broke. Despite our attempts to have it fixed, it needs a new motherboard and given it’s European origins, it is not possible to be replaced. We are, however, so determined to keep in touch with you all that we purchased another – albeit terribly cheaply and Windows is in Portugese – but slowly, slowly, we will bring you back up to date with our news.
Apologies for the inconvenience, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
x Matt + Kel
Colonial beginnings…
28 Jan
Salta to Buenos Aires is 20 hours on a bus. Usually dreaded, this time we enthusiastically bound up the stairs and sink into our leather seats (faux no doubt, but comfy so who cares), flipping the switch to swing out flat. Roaring along in the setting afternoon sun, I note the typically freezing air conditioner seems to be non-existent. About an hour after take-off we pull into a bus mechanic. Hmm, signs aren’t good, but we soon smile again when, after a bit of a tinker, we chug away. Dinner is lasagne, too bad for me, but I eagerly await the drinks tray arrival as my pre-trip planning told me el vino tinto is available. As he shows me the expanse of coke and lemonade, I turn back to Fidel’s autobiography (see birthday presents referenced in Mendoza post), cursing the fake promises made to lure tourists. Then, in a blink and you’ll miss it moment, I spot the bus attendant carrying a suspiciously un-fizzy dark liquid to a fellow passenger.
‘Tu tienes vino tinto..?’, I tentatively say.
‘Si, si’.
Success. Sniffed out faster than the banana dog at Perth airport.
And of course, Oliver Twist makes an appearance… ‘please sir, can I ‘ave sum more?’.
Topping up the levels in Santiago.
6 JanI like to think of myself as a glass half-full kinda girl, but rolling into our hostel in the hip Melbourne-vibed suburb of Barrio Bellavista saw the energy levels gasping for air and MC fighting back the beginnings of the flu – bets are on as to whether it was caught from the seaside swim or the hostel’s dog blankets. Wanting fresh air (and almost getting it through Santiago’s smog), we decided to take the closest tourist attraction – a cable car up Cerro San Cristobal – and spent the afternoon lounging on the stone wall, eating helados and soaking up the view.
A fair ol’ hike to Bariloche.
17 Dec
What’s black and white and red all over? Kelly rae – the chinstrap penguin getting sunburnt all the way to Bariloche.
Jumping off the MS Expedition ship and the humps poking out front a clear sign we’d been a little heavy handed at the ship’s buffet dinners (never mind about the vodka), we yearned to get the legs moving again.
Happy Birthday Nana & Pa
16 DecToday, December 16, my Nana turns 85. The excitement of this continues with my Pa celebrating his on December 24. To my beautiful grandparents, a small blog post all for you…
Ushuaia. About as far south as you can get. Or perhaps not…
30 Nov
Aaagh, ooh, aaaghhh. This, bloody, hurts. Am painfully tottering through B.A´s domestic airport, in women´s shoes, as you do, and I´m beginning to wonder whether this really was such a good idea…
Words from The View 