This morning Marco dropped us in the centre of Santiago with Valentina, for our tour of the city. First stop was the Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded on all four sides by large, imposing buildings. In one corner, there’s a statue of Pedro de Valdiva, the first governor of Chile during the Spanish rule.Continue reading “Santiago de Chile”
Tag Archives: south-america
Valparaiso – Street Art City
Yesterday we flew back from Atacama to Santiago and then drove to Valparaiso. After a long day, all we wanted to do was eat and sleep. This morning we met Magdalena, our guide for Valparaiso. The first thing you notice about the city is the colours. A lot of the houses are painted in brightContinue reading “Valparaiso – Street Art City”
The Rainbow Valley
Barbara was our guide for the afternoon’s tour, to Yerbas Buenas and the Rainbow Valley. Yes, the valleys around here are dead abundant! We started by going back towards Calama on the highway and through a pass at around 4,000 metres. Then we turned off onto a secondary road, where we were lucky enough toContinue reading “The Rainbow Valley”
So long, Peru
Well, we started our trip to Peru with a Pisco Sour and we’ve ended it with a Pisco Sour. After an uneventful flight, we’re now back in Lima, ready to fly out to Chile in the morning. Things we’ve learned in Peru include: Thanks for everything Peru, it’s been great!
Arequipa
We had to pack our bags this morning due to our change of rooms. We then met Gerardo, the local Audley guy who was going to give us a tour of this lovely city. And as a 7th generation Arequipan he is well placed to do so! We walked up to the San Francisco churchContinue reading “Arequipa”
Belmond Andean Explorer
We woke up on day 10 to find that it was pouring with rain! It was a late start today, Joan and Juan Carlos were due at 10am. And there they were, right on time. Except they loaded someone else’s luggage into the car instead of ours! After a quick change, they whisked us offContinue reading “Belmond Andean Explorer”
Machu Picchu
Elias had told us that Peruvians will use any excuse for a party. Eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant while watching the activity on the platform, we could believe that. Whenever a train towards Machu Picchu was due, women in local dress would lead the passengers skipping and dancing onto the platform holding a bannerContinue reading “Machu Picchu”
Pisac
This morning Elias and Juan Carlos picked us up from the hotel and we drove to Pisac National Park. The route is very winding as it climbs up to passes and then down again. We stopped a couple of times along the way at sightseeing places. The hills are all terraced and the local peopleContinue reading “Pisac”
Cusco
We started our day with a nightmare journey to Cusco. It took a little over an hour to get to Lima airport through the rush-hour traffic. Our driver told us which door to use to get into the terminal. Once inside, we were met with a wall of people! We discovered that we had toContinue reading “Cusco”
Lima day 1
Peru and Chile blog Lima So, here we are in Lima. The journey went well. Johnny picked us up on time and drove us to Heathrow. Twenty minutes later we’d got though baggage drop and security and were in the BA lounge to have some dinner. The flight to Madrid was on time, so weContinue reading “Lima day 1”
Steve and Diane on Tour 