We're back in San Pedro

Liz and I wanted to get up to Bolivia and the easiest way was coming back through San Pedro de Atacama. We are only back for two days but we lived it up to the fullest.
Last night we treated ourselves to a fancy dinner and then when out on the town (or village I should say). We went to the 'happeningist' bar around 6 Grado. We were shocked when the police came to shut it down because people were dancing! Apparently that is against the law here (very Footloose). The moon was shining so brightly in the Southern sky we decided that it was probably a good idea to go for a hike. So at 2 in the morning I went hiking out to Death Valley by the full moon's light. It was the most impressive thing I've seen. It was beautiful and the moon was so bright you could see everything around you. We arrived in Death Valley after about an hour of trekking and then climbed the most monstrous sand dunes. Some of the people brought sand boards along, so once we made it up, we all sand boarded back down! It was so much fun. I am still finding sand all over! Sand boarding is like snow boarding only harder. We made the trek back in the early morning. When I arrived at the hostel to sleep the sun was rising.
We had two hours to sleep and we had to get up to ride! We had booked a five hour of horseback riding tour. We were hurting, but it was worth it. It was just us two and our guide, Rodrigo. Liz was very brave on her first horse ride. She rode Poroto and I had Estrella. An Estrella (star) she was. There were several times when we got to just go for it and let them run. We did a lot of cantering and I even got Estrella up to a gallop for a bit. It was so invigorating. We loved it!

Lizzie´s note:
Yes, the horse riding was fun, and I´ve been dying to go. My horse however had a mind of his own and didn´t like to go slow. I´m pretty sure mine was galloping at some points but I was so busy holding on for dear life, I didn´t quite enjoy it like Erin did. But, now I´ve done it and can´t wait to do it again! PS We were in sand dunes when he took off, a much softer landing if needed!


Again we had a nice dinner, but called it an early night as we were leaving for Uyuni, Bolivia early the next morning. That adventure to follow shortly....

Erin Brocolli and Liz Taylor do Santiago

We loved hanging out with Katherine so much in San Pedro we decided we better head down to Santiago while she is still there. We had heard so much about the city and the wonderful family that she was staying with, we couldn't wait to get there. We arrived on September 17th, the day before the big Chilean parties. The 18th of September is their independence day and is celebrated all over. So much so that when we arrived in Santiago it seemed like a ghost town. No one was anywhere to be found on the streets and all the shops were closed.

Liz and I were lucky enough to stay at the same house as Katherine with the most amazing people ever. Ernie, Marcelo, and Carolina. Apart from that I was elated when I walked in the door and was greeted by a parade of wagging tails! Four dogs and one kitten! I am seriously in heaven to have all these pets around. All the dogs were rescued by one of their friends and adopted by Ernie and Marcelo. The three of them have made such a wonderful inviting home we were so lucky to be able to stay there. Most of our nights spent in Santiago we all sat around the dining room table eating delicious food prepared by either, Ernie, Marcelo, or Caro (I´m hoping we learned a few things in the few days because it was always AWESOME), drinking copious amounts of Chilean red wine, and playing a new card game called Carioca. We talked a lot (luckily Ernie is half American so he was able to translate for Liz, while Marcelo (of Rapa Nui decent) didn't speak as much English). The words Marcelo did speak were always hilarious as he made up english words by adding -ation to the end of any word. Much like someone who doesn't speak Spanish would add -o or -a to the end of an english word. Drinkation, Sleepation... you get the idea. Before long we were doing it too! They also gave us new nicknames in no time. Erin Brockovich was turned into Erin Brocolli and Liz quickly became Liz Taylor.

On the day of the 18th Katherine, Caro, Liz and I went to what is called a Fonda - which is basically a carnival of sorts. It really was not the rambunctious street fest we were preparing for so we decided to sit under a tent, drink cheap beer, and chat. We had fun, but decided to head back to the house and have a little party there. That was loads of fun - again eating and drinking and staying up all night.


Liz and I took a two day trip up to Valparaiso to see some more sights. Valpo is a beautiful city on the ocean with brightly painted houses on hills. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast owned by one of Marcelos friends that had an amazing terrace looking over the whole city. Beautiful! One thing every one must try in Valparasio is Chorrillana. It's this crazy mix of french fries, grilled onions, egg, and meat. I can't really explain it other than to say it was AMAZING! I may have had a small heart attack while eating it, but it was worth it!
From Valpo we went to Isla Negra, one of the homes of Pablo Neruda. Neruda is considered one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century and I recommend to all of you that you read a bit of his work. Neruda designed Isla Negra himself taking years to build. He loved all things having to do with the sea so much so that his whole house is built like a ship. The doorways are small and narrow, similar to a ships, the floors are all planks made to look like one of the decks, and windows that look like port holes. Aside from designing the house to look like a ship, he has tons of different collections in each room of the house as well most of which have a nautical theme. A huge room filled with beautiful seashells, different masks from all over the world and one of the neatest was his collections of the La Sirenas (wooden women, a few men, from the front of ships). A majority are in his living room facing the ocean. The house was also designed to have the most amazing view of the ocean. The house is built on a bit of a cliff over looking black rocks that gave Isla Negra its name. We were there on a day that was incredibly windy, but it made for the most impressive views with huge waves.
We got back to Santiago on Katherine's last night there. The family hosted a despedida, or going away party, for her. Again, more food and drinks! It was very sad to see Katherine go, but we are talking her into meeting up with us again in Buenos Aires for Thanksgiving (right, Katherine?)!

Our last day in Santiago we walked to Cerro San Cristobal. It is a big hill in the middle of the city that has been turned into a city park. We rode up on these space age looking trolleys, much like ski lifts. Heading up offers a great view of the city below. We were lucky in our timing that we were up there for the sunset. The mountains off in the distance glowed pink and peach and was just gorgeous. By the time we headed back down it was dark and we got to see all the sparkling lights of Santiago.
Santiago is much like Chicago. It's big but the neighborhoods are all really cool. The city is nestled in the mountains and it is just beautiful. Its very clean, modern and has a great public transportation system. (Better than Chicago!) We both decided we'd come back any day and stay with Ernie and Marcelo and Caro if they will have us!
Liz and I are headed back north to make our way into Bolivia! We can't wait to be back in the Andean atmosphere with high high altitudes and low low prices!

Antofagasta, Chile

After a month on the road, Erin and I have been able to chill out at my cousin Ryan´s in Antofagasta and recoup. And let´s just say that compared to places we´ve stayed at, Ryan is living like a king. He has a great apartment on the 21st floor in one of the tallest buildings in the city. The place has awesome views of the Pacific. A great suprise for us after staying a few too many days in one of the driest deserts in the world. Did I mention water? Because we really got spoiled with doing laundry, taking awesome high pressured hot showers and being able to drink the water. Ok maybe not drink it since Ryan told us it was filled with high amounts of Arsenic and Lead but at least we didn´t have to worry about parasites.

In a short time living there, Ryan has also made friends with fellow gringos teaching at an American school in the city. We met this group our first night, when we were only able to drop off our bags before Ryan whisked us down a few floors to one of their apartments and the small group of us polished off about 11 bottles of delicous chilean red wine.



The rest of the week kind of blurred together. We slept in everyday, went to the nearby grocery quite often, cooked, drank a lot of wine, salsa lessons and went sight seeing. Antofagasta is not a popular tourist spot but we still got great tours thanks to Ryan. He took us into the desert one day to show off where he´s working as a geologist for a mining company. (in case anyone is keeping track, Erin and I were the ones sleeping in. Ryan was up early and off to work everyday weekends included.) We visited the Tropic of Capricorn and the landmark of Antofagasta the Monumento Natural La Portada which is a beautiful stone arch on the coast. Other day trips included the local mall simply named ¨Shopping¨ which is identical to our malls back home but with different stores.



Our biggest adventure was one afternoon when we decided to go exploring along the peninsula north of the city to see where there was supposedly a large amount of sea lions hanging out. Ryan had never been but had gotten directions from a friend. One of the key tips from the friend was to have 4wheel drive if you go. Thankfully Ryan is driving the ´red beast´ a lovely 4wh drive pickup loaned to him by his company. We were off on our adventure driving along the coast, going from major highway to smaller highway to gravel road to dirt road to no road just tire tracks. The scenery along the way was beautiful. Large cliffs right out of the water with hardly any vegetation. It was overcast but every so often the sun would peek out and make whatever it touched glow. We drove up a curvy hilly ´road´ and started down when Erin and I started having flashbacks from our scary bus rides. It was 1 lane if you could call it that. Very curvy and steep. I shut my eyes and trusted our driver. Close to the bottom we could see a 4Runner apperantly stuck in a pretty deep trench. At first it looked abandoned but as we got closer we could see a few guys inside. They flagged us down and asked if we could help pull them out. We really had no idea if they were telling the truth or if they had alterior motives. They had bloodshot eyes and looked pretty ragged. After a few minutes of discussion we decided to help them out. Ryan backs the truck up so they can tie their van to the red beast. Still skeptical, Erin grabs the rock hammer Ryan uses for work, Ryan hides his ipod and cell phone and I decided to stay put, knowing I´ll come up with something to do just incase. After a few minutes Erin jumps out to see what the guys are up to. She comes back and informs us that all they have for a tow rope is clothes line. Not gonna do it but they try anyway. She hops back in, one guy gets in their truck and the other is in back to push. Ryan guns it and starts off, and we feel no kind of resistance from the van... the rope has broken, suprise suprise. Ryan gets out and checks to see what he´s got in the back of the truck. Luckily someone made him a decent emergency kit complete with tow ropes and a pretty hefty pocket knife. He hands the guys the rope and pockets the knife. After a few minutes of tying the vehicles they´re about ready to try again when 5 more people show up. They´re part of the stranded group and the 3 of us feel a bit scared all over again. Erin grabs the rock hammer, Ryan shows us his new treasure and I again, brainstorm what I´m going to do just incase. The new group all gets behind the 4Runner to push and we try again. This time there is definite resistance and ´red beast´is working hard to get going. It appears to be working when someone notices our truck is actually sinking deeper into the sand has stopped pulling the 4Runner. All of a sudden they´ve unhookd their truck and are backing it up right to where it came from. Ryan realizes they have a plan that may work and he moves the truck so it´s at an angle fm the other one. One more time and it works, after a few minutes the 4Runner is free. We unhook and Erin and Ryan chat a bit with the guys. (I decide to stay in the truck, just in case...) Apperantly they´ve been stuck since 4am that morning, we were the only ones all day to stop and help. Ryan is also advised to not drink and drive. Makes you wonder...
Unfortunately by this time it´s getting to be pretty late and we´ve all decided that we do not want to try that steep road after dark. We drive about 100 yards toward the coast and park. We were still hoping to see the sea lions but alas, they were nowhere to be found. We walk around and explore and decide it would be a great day trip with a group of friends to play capture the flag or hide and seek. There were tons of random rock formations of all shapes and sizes. It looked like a giant took huge handfuls of wet sand and dropped them making some kind of abstract sandcastles.

We start driving back when we realize the 4Runner is still there and most of the guys are walking back down the cliff. Once again we wonder what they are doing there. They´re not stuck... why haven´t they left? We drive slowly toward them expecting to be flagged down again but nothing happens. As we start up the cliff we realize just how steep it is and we are very thankful that ´red beast´ is quite powerful. Ryan suggests that they probably can´t drive back up and will need to find another route. After a few trouble areas we make it to the top. We head home thankful that a) we have 4wh drive b) they did't have alterior motives and c) it wasn´t dark yet.

Erin and I planned on heading to Santiago to celebrate the independence day at Katherines on the 18th. Unfortunatley we don't realize just how big of a holiday this is and procrastinate buying our bus tickets. We went from bus company to bus company one afternoon trying find a way to head south. The only tickets available were leaving the 17th. The trip is 18 hours and we´d miss the festivities. We thought about renting a car but that too was impossible, nothing available until the 20th. We decide to bite the bullet and fly. The tickets were a bit more expensive than we planned on but, it saved us from staying in Antofagasta and or taking a loooong bus ride.

We spent the weekend going out with Ryan and his friends. We went to a really cool bar and had our first experience with Piscola - local drink with the ever so strong pisco mixed with the soda of your choice. Delicious but dangerous! Then we set out to go to a dance club. Upon reaching the door we see that there is an emense line. Not ones to wait (especially Miss Impatient herself) Erin decides to go up to the front of the line to have a conversation with the door man. She asks in her ever so innocent tone, how much does it cost for "foreigners" to come in, and oh yeah by the way do we have to wait in this line? Not only did we get right in, we didn't pay, and we got into the VIP section of the club. We danced and drank, and it was a blast. The next night we just stayed in making a great dinner and drinking more chilean vino tinto. It was a really nice way to spend our last night.

Off to Santiago!!!

Adios Peru, Hola Chile

A few last words on Peru. I loved Peru. It is my favorite country in all of South America. Yes, it is the first to visit, and this opinion may change, but I loved it. The country was so beautiful, the people were so awesome, we had so many good experiences there, I´m just en fuego for Peru! A place I will definitely return to one day.
Liz and I thought we´d spend our last day in Cusco on a four hour horse back ride, but that turned out to be a very bad idea. We paid about $20 the night before, and when we arrived we realized we just couldn´t do it. The poor horses were emaciated and litteraly on their last legs. Being the animal lovers that we are, we just couldn´t bring ourselves to ride these poor horses. The kid running the place tried to tell me that it is normal for horses in the Andes to be so skinny because of the altitude. I told him I thought that was weird, because it didn´t seem to affect the people that way. So, with the horse men thinking we were crazy to waste our money and just turn around and walk away we walked down back into town and instead went to an Inca Museam. That turned out to be very interesting and educational and a great way to cap off our few days in Cusco.
We really loved Cusco, as we found it to be a backpackers haven of sorts. There is much more tourists there which causes the locals to harrass you a lot more, but it also creates much more restaurants that serve things other than meat and rice. For our last dinner we went to a really nice place, 2 Nations. I had the best Alpaca steak ever! (thanks for the recommendation Mick!) I also wanted to comment that not all chicha is like dirt water. We did have chicha in restaurants in the city and it was more like a spiced drink, very refreshing. So, if ever in Peru don't be afraid to try the chicha.
Also, a favorite little part of mine of Peru was being given a Quechua name by our Quechua speaking guide in Machu Picchu, Ricardo. He named me Ch'Aska Nuhuicha - this means "ojitos de las estrellas" or "little eyes of the stars". I just eat that shit up!

Well, so much for "old iron sides Erin" I got hit and I got hit hard by some nasty 24 hour little bug. I had the pleasure of vomiting upon first entering Chile and all the night long on our way to San Pedro de Atacama. Liz was the best friend I could ask for as she held my hair back and rubbed my back. It was miserable! But I am happy to report I´m feeling much better. And hopefully that will be it for the travelers bugs!







It was so great to arrive in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and have Katherine arrive just a few hours later. Reunited! The three of us have been having a blast in what can only be described as the driest place in the world! I think that is actually San Pedros claim to fame. This is a serious desert! We have done some fun tours of geysers, cactus forests, natural hot springs, lagunas, a salar (salt flat) and we saw Valle de la Luna, which was amazing. We got to run down the most amazing sand dunes.
We also had the fortune of being taken out by our waiters at Ayllu restaurant one night to a crazy local Penas Party (I don't think I need to tell you what we initially thought this party was called!) It was actually a traditional party where a live band played folk music. We danced all night and were the only Gringas in the place. We got a lot of attention, but we are used to that! I loved it!


Liz and I will be heading next to Antofagasta to meet up with her cousin, Ryan for a few days. Then we make our way down to Santiago for the 18th. Think fourth of July only way better - big time Fiestas!

Machu Picchu

I almost don´t even know where to begin. It seems like forever since we´ve had a chance to email or blog. So this might be a long one! Lizzie and I just got back yesterday from a four day trek out to Machu Picchu. The tour was called Inka Jungle -and it certainly was. Let me begin first by telling you about the most exciting/scary bus ride of our lives. Liz had only recently confided in me that one of her biggest fears in life is tipping over in a bus. And it almost happened. It was a wet and rainy day which left the "road" messy. I say "road" because apparently the normal route had just experienced a land slide, so we were on a new road that was being made as we were on it and consisted of mud only. We were heading down a mountain and it was a rather rocky ride. We thought we were going to tip over in any minute. The Peruvian people on the bus were even freaking out. People were praying, crying, screaming to be let off the bus. Then it happened! We nearly slide off the mountain stopped only by our drivers brakes and a small pile of mud. Everybody had to run off the bus in a panic. I freaked out more upon getting off when I saw what almost happened. Let´s just say it was a far way down and wouldn´t have been pretty.



A bunch of people pushed the bus back and got it back onto the road. We didn´t really want to get back on, but that was our only option. We made it safely to the drop off point where our group and one other group got off and were fitted with helmets, gloves, and bikes. We started our descent on the lovely paved road. It was rainy which made it slippery, but fun. The views were very 'Gorillas in the Mist-esque'. We were having a blast for about the first hour on the nice paved road, but before you know it the rain was gone the sun was beating down and we were on an unpaved bumpy ass road! That fun lasted for a very painful three hours. What made it even worse was my chain kept on falling off and Liz couldn´t get her gears to shift.

That was fun going up hill! But all in all it was a good experience. We got to Santa Maria and our guide, Omar, checked us into a hostel. We shared a very nice dinner with our group. The other three in our group was, Ruiari - Irish bloke, and Maddelena and Michael - Swiss couple. We went to bed very early as we had hours of hiking the next morning.

Hiking was beautiful. We were going through the Peruvian jungle. Lots of banana, orange, mango, papaya trees and coffee and coca leafs. It was very tropical. Lots of parrots flying over head too! And the pleasure of some freakishly strong mosquitos. No, we didn´t feel them flying up our pant legs divouring our legs, but lets just say we are still itching and it looks like we have scurvy! The day started out pouring rain, which was nice as it kept it cooled off. The fog was amazing. As a kid I always wanted to open the window of a plane when we flew through the clouds to feel what they were like. Here I could just reach out and touch the clouds. There was some climbing up that was pretty difficult, but we made it. We had a stop at a little hut that fed us bananas off the tree and fresh squeezed orange juice. That lovely stop was topped off by the Gun´s and Roses tune of 'Welcome to the Jungle' playing in the background - very apperpeaux. For part of the day we hiked on the actual Inca Trail. It was amazing!

These were the steepest stairs built between 1000 and 500 years ago. We took a couple of breaks along the way to hear history of the Inkas and then met up with the other group for a nice lunch at a ´rest stop´ along the way. The people who fed us had a sign in book for all their visitors... hundreds of trekkers from all over the world. It was pretty cool to see all those who had passed before us.
The highlight of the day however was the hot springs. After a day of hiking we were rewarded with a dip in natural hot springs. There was a catch. In order to get to the springs we had to cross the river. The way to do it? Via cable car. It consisted of a cable maybe 5 inches in diameter stretched about 100yards across a swirling, rocky river below. Normally 2-3 people get in and are pushed across. Lizzie and I got in with another guide (who preferred to stand... crazy!)and we were pushed across. A bit more than half way we lost our momentum and were stopped over the water. The car had a system of ropes that connected from one side to the other, we were then pulled by rope for the remainder of the way across. The most frightening part of all? Right as you climb in there is a cross marking the memorial of some people who died in 1999 when the cable fell. Not a good thing to see right before you´re pushed!


The ride was definitley worth it. The hot springs were great. It consisted of 3 huge pools of different temperateures of water. We quickly changed and got right in, not paying much attention to the construction crews still working on one of the pools. After a cold shower the night before and knowing we´d only get a cold shower tonight, we soaked up the hot springs!

That night we arrived in Santa Teresa. We had gotten to know the other group of hikers pretty well by the second day, that group was a Spanish couple and two German brothers, Manuel and Pasqual. We shared some Pisco Sours and Cusqueña cerveza after dinner and decided to head to the local discoteca with our guides. This place was unbelievable!!! Talk about local. It was a tiny little room with a disco ball, animal pelts hanging on the walls, and a seven year old behind the bar! We drank and danced all night. It was a blast. The guides were trying to teach Liz and I some crazy Peruvian dance - but it mostly was just bounceing around. It was a great night, but again we had an early morning.
The next day we took a 40 minute bus ride to some railroad tracks and began on the trail to Aguas Calientes (last stop before Machu Picchu). This turned out to be a terrible trek as you had to walk on the railroad tracks, but they weren´t evenly spaced. So you had to be looking down the whole time. Ouch. That lasted about three hours. Once in Aguas Calientes, Lizzie and I decided a nap was much needed and let the others do an extra trek up a different mountain to see the sunset over Machu Picchu. That night we had a nice dinner. Liz, Riuari and I met up with two English guys, Mo and Matt for a few beers before hitting the hay. Poor Matt and Mo. Who knows what agency they signed up with. They paid about 50 bucks more than us and both had terrible accidents the first day on the bikes. They were all scratched up with road rash - oh yeah, and they weren´t even given helmets! But they survived. As we all did.
The next morning was an early one as we were to begin our accent up the mountain to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We got up at 4 and were trekking by about 4:30 am. We walked up about 2,000 steps by the moons light. This was tough, but so worth it.


The minute you reach Machu Picchu you are taken a back by the stunning beauty and pure amazement that it evokes. The sight was unreal. The sun coming up and the clouds rolling over it was breath taking. It was a hard climb to get up there, it´s amazing to think that they constructed such a magnificent city in the clouds like this.
We had a two hour guided tour by the very knowledgeable, Ricardo. He told us about how their civilization lived by three laws: work hard, be honest, and love. They had some fascinating practices, such as in their jail they tied prisoners up by their hands to die there and be eaten by the condors (vulture like bird). If someone stole they chopped off a hand, if a man cheated on his wife they opened up his gut and took out his intestines, if a woman cheated on her husband they hung her on a cliff by her hair. There were also a number of temples up on the mountain. One of the most fascinating practices came twice a year on the summer and winter solstices. The temples were constructed in such a way that the sun would shine directely in one window 6/21 and another on 12/21. Another amazing aspect of the buildings was that they were constructed to be earthquake proof. The buildings were built with wider stones at the base and taperd up so if an earthquake hit the waves would be absorbed.
There are a few theories as to how the last Incas hiding in the hidden city were wiped out. Crazed Amazonian, moved to another place, or most likely disease. Machu Picchu was "discovered" by an American archaeologist, Hiram Bingham in 1911. However, peoples living in the surrounding areas always knew off it. So it´s not that it was really discovered by him, he just brought it to the general public´s knowledge. Along with taking all the artifacts found there up to the Peabody Museum at Yale. The Peruvians are still waiting for what is rightfully theirs to be returned (it was supposed to be returned after a 2 year loan). Still waiting.
All in all it was amazing and I recommend everyone seeing it. Definitely a must see!




We got in last night about 6p. We met up with our trekking friends for some celebratory dinner and drinks and a night on the town... after much needed nap and hot showers.
We are going to hang out in Cusco for a few days before heading to Northern Chile to meet up with my friend, Katherine and possibly Lizzie´s cousin... Can´t wait for our next adventure. Miss you all!