Argentina continued...
The buses in Argentina aren’t like anything you would get in the UK. Berry’s has nothing on Andesmar!! After a mad panic to find our bus to Mendoza at the sprawling main bus station in Buenos Aires, we eventually boarded with a few minutes to spare to find our “seats” in the lower deck. We say seats as they were actually fully-reclinable beds, like you would get in business class on a jet (well, so we’ve been told anyway!).
We got ourselves comfortable when the conductor came around with little slips with numbers on it. “Bingo” he said!! Amazing, there we were, lying down on our way across Argentina, playing bingo in Spanish. Fortunately, we had a good translator across the aisle from us!!
We came close, but didn’t win, then started on the booze. They offered us red wine with our hot dinner, then a glass of champagne as a night cap, while we watched “American Gangster” on the TV. A little tipsy, we slept through the whole night until breakfast the next morning.
Mendoza – Argentina’s premier wine region
Our first excursion was a tour of the Andes, which we thought included some hiking, but was actually all done in a mini-bus. Probably for the best though as Elliott had got extremely drunk the night before and his snoring had kept Gem up half the night. We were both pretty knackered the next morning. One of us was hungover!!
The tour was however quite spectacular. We drove up into the Andes towards Chile and saw numerous amazing sights, including the peak of Aconcagua (the highest mountain in South America) and a smaller Christ the Redeemer statue on the border with Chile. For this we drove up a steep and narrow pass to an altitude of around 4000m, which made us both feel a bit nauseous to be honest. The geography and geology throughout our Andean drive were both incredible though. Gem was snapping away at all sorts of rocks and rivers, greatly looking forward to incorporating them into Powerpoints for future lessons!!
While in Mendoza we also had to do the compulsory wine tour, as this is Argentina’s most popular wine region. We did a half day tour, taking in 2 vineyards and an olive oil factory. The wine tours were great fun, being taken down into the cold cellars to see huge barrels full of wine and tasting them of course!! The olive oil factory was cool too. Their basil-infused olive oil was fantastic!! We ended the day buying a few bottles of wine and a jar of olives, which we devoured over the next few days.
Back to Buenos Aires
We ended our stay in Argentina in La Boca in Buenos Aires. Although the Lonely Planet seems to think it is a fairly dangerous part of the city, we thought it was great. We walked the colourful streets and sat and watched a tango show, whilst drinking more red wine. We found out that Boca Juniors (the local football team) were playing a match that evening, so we stuck around to try and get some tickets, but to no avail.
Overall, Argentina has been bitter sweet for us. We have absolutely loved the beautiful scenery, from the glaciers and mountains in the south to the vineyards and cities in the middle (we didn’t go to the North!). The wine and the beef were both top quality and our much loved breakfast of ‘cafe con leche y medialunas’ was amazing too (check out that Spanish!!). It was just so expensive. Everything for foreigners was inflated by maybe 500%. We even had to pay airport tax to leave the country at $18 each, which was almost the final straw.
Anyway, on to Peru, where we could hopefully try and get back on budget.
Quick stop in Lima
We only spent one real day in Lima. After dropping our bags off at the hostel, we quickly arranged our transport out of there the next day. We went for a walk along the beachfront, which looked quite nice. Everyone was out jogging or in the sea surfing. “Doesn’t anyone have jobs in this city”, we thought!! We can hardly talk!!
Nazca and the Nazca lines
We got our 8 hour bus to Nazca, south of Lima. It went quite quickly, again they served us decent food and we watched loads of movies. We arrived around 10pm and pretty much went straight to bed. Tomorrow was a big day for us both!!
We rose early for our 8am transfer to Nazca airport. We were told not to bother with breakfast beforehand. We were going to do a flight over the Nazca lines in a light aircraft. Obviously this was bringing back bad memories for us both, but we have come here to explore the Inca history and a 30 minute flight over the area is the only way to do it. Gem was absolutely bricking it as we drove into the airport and she saw loads of tiny little Cessna aircraft zooming up and down the runway. We signed up and paid the obligatory airport tax (again!!) then waited for our flight.
Soon we were hurtling down the runway and we took off into the skies over the Nazca desert. We had been told that the flight could be a bit bumpy and involved lots of tight turns. For once, the Lonely Planet guide wasn’t wrong! The Nazca lines are ancient drawings in the desert sand of various forms like animals and people and some of them are over 100m long. Our pilot navigated us along a path above these drawings and to make sure everyone got a good look, he’d dip the wings at a crazy bank angle to let us get a better photo. It was a good experience for us both, putting away a few demons. The lines were awesome, but we were glad the flight was only a half hour as we were both feeling a little sick afterwards.
We rose early for our 8am transfer to Nazca airport. We were told not to bother with breakfast beforehand. We were going to do a flight over the Nazca lines in a light aircraft. Obviously this was bringing back bad memories for us both, but we have come here to explore the Inca history and a 30 minute flight over the area is the only way to do it. Gem was absolutely bricking it as we drove into the airport and she saw loads of tiny little Cessna aircraft zooming up and down the runway. We signed up and paid the obligatory airport tax (again!!) then waited for our flight.
Soon we were hurtling down the runway and we took off into the skies over the Nazca desert. We had been told that the flight could be a bit bumpy and involved lots of tight turns. For once, the Lonely Planet guide wasn’t wrong! The Nazca lines are ancient drawings in the desert sand of various forms like animals and people and some of them are over 100m long. Our pilot navigated us along a path above these drawings and to make sure everyone got a good look, he’d dip the wings at a crazy bank angle to let us get a better photo. It was a good experience for us both, putting away a few demons. The lines were awesome, but we were glad the flight was only a half hour as we were both feeling a little sick afterwards.
Into the high altitude of Cuzco
After our day in Nazca, we got the night bus to Cuzco, from where we would start the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We set off at 1am and soon we were heading east over the Andes mountains. The journey was a continuous stretch of winding turns up and down the mountains and valleys. It wasn’t long before the altitude got to us. We barely slept at all due to the slow build up of the worst hangover style headache you can imagine coupled with nausea. Elliott even turned down breakfast, which has got to be a first!! The 12 hour journey continued on into a 13th and 14th and 15th hour until we finally arrived in Cuzco at 10,000 feet above sea level.
As we rose over the final pass, we saw this amazing city, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but packed with ancient relics from times past that we were eager to explore. Well, we would be eager if it wasn’t for this damn headache. The first night we were in bed by 9pm and we both slept for 11 hours, waking up to find that the headache had calmed but was still there. Just walking into town is hard enough, with us both struggling to catch our breath just going out for groceries!! How will we manage the Inca Trail?
After our day in Nazca, we got the night bus to Cuzco, from where we would start the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We set off at 1am and soon we were heading east over the Andes mountains. The journey was a continuous stretch of winding turns up and down the mountains and valleys. It wasn’t long before the altitude got to us. We barely slept at all due to the slow build up of the worst hangover style headache you can imagine coupled with nausea. Elliott even turned down breakfast, which has got to be a first!! The 12 hour journey continued on into a 13th and 14th and 15th hour until we finally arrived in Cuzco at 10,000 feet above sea level.
As we rose over the final pass, we saw this amazing city, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but packed with ancient relics from times past that we were eager to explore. Well, we would be eager if it wasn’t for this damn headache. The first night we were in bed by 9pm and we both slept for 11 hours, waking up to find that the headache had calmed but was still there. Just walking into town is hard enough, with us both struggling to catch our breath just going out for groceries!! How will we manage the Inca Trail?
By our 3rd day here we have just about acclimatised to the altitude, meaning we have been able to get out of the hostel and explore the city. We walked around the centre looking at all the churches and museums with such amazing architecture and history and went to a few markets where the local people sell their wares. They are such a talented people that we have given in to temptation a few times and bought some beautiful things. When buying a rug from a lady Gem couldn’t resist getting a photo with her side by side to prove that she is actually TALL here. She even “towers” over most of the men!!
In preparation for our Inca Trail we hiked up a hill to another statue of Jesus Christ. The hill was pretty steep but with a few breaks we made it up in good time, which hopefully bodes well for the Inca Trail itself. Once up there, the views over the city were simply stunning.
Off to Machu Picchu
So after breathing this thin air for 5 days, we are now off on the Inca Trail for the next 4 days and nights. Hopefully we have acclimatised enough to make it, especially as we’ve gone for the backpacker option...no porters!! Wish us well and we’ll blog on our return.
Love Ells and Gem xx
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