travel – Steve and Diane on Tour

The Maipo Valley

This morning we had a new guide, Katia. We were whisked off to the South and the Maipo Valley. Whisked slowly, since it was the morning rush hour. We had a date with Haras de Pirque, one of the mid-sized wine producers of the area. Our guide for the tour was Mathias, who came toContinue reading “The Maipo Valley”

Santiago de Chile

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”

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”

Snow stops play!

Barbara picked us up after breakfast and we set out to the South, heading for the highland lagoons. At the highest point in our journey we’d be at 4,200 metres. We stopped at Socaire, where Barbara had to buy tickets for all the places we were visiting. This was once a little village where farmersContinue reading “Snow stops play!”

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”

Breakfast on Mars, lunch on Moon

We were surprised how smoothly our transfer to Chile went. Unlike our last experience at Lima, we got our bags checked in and dropped without a problem. Getting through security was chaotic but fairly quick. Our flight was more or less on time and we landed early, which was good because we only had twoContinue reading “Breakfast on Mars, lunch on Moon”

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”