Our trip is drawing to a close, and while we’re working on catching the blog up to present day, we wanted to send out a real-time update to those of you who have been following along religiously (i.e. hi Mom!)
We just got off a 24 hour bus from Tacna, the southernmost city in Peru, to Lima, and have decided to stay here until we fly home on June 3. For those of you who read our first post and are thinking, weird, I thought you guys hated that place, let me explain…
When we first arrived in South America, Kristy, a natural talker and friendly gal, was immediately frustrated by her inability to communicate with strangers. Besides the cheerful “hola!” she delivered to anyone within 50 meters, she didn’t have a ton to work with in the Spanish department, and it drove her bonkers.
Continue reading Blog Bonus: My Favorite Kristy Spanish Story
Copa… Copacabana.
Marea forbade me from singing that song while we were visiting the namesake on Lake Titicaca* (hehe), and now my privilege of even speaking of the beach-town has been revoked.
Continue reading Kristy Reviews Non-Midwestern Lake; Finds It Acceptable
After Arequipa, we hopped on an overnight bus to Cusco. Cusco was the capital of the former Incan empire, and is thus the jumping off point for visits to some incredible piles of stones, most famously Machu Picchu.
Arequipa- The White City
After a relaxing time at the Jihuay farm, we were off to the city of Arequipa and on our own once again. Arequipa turned out to be a refreshingly, urban setting so we decided to upgrade our accommodations to a hotel instead of a hostel. Big spenders!
As usual, we had a few different hotels in mind to check out but our taxi driver had other plans.
Continue reading The Mistakes…I Mean, Lessons of Arequipa and Colca Canyon
The directions we got to our first Workaway volunteering job in Peru were as follows:
“From Nazca, find the local van that goes toward Challa, tell the driver to drop you at kilometer 601, walk downhill for 30 minutes, knock on the brown door and ask for Alvaro.”
For non-Spanish speakers in a large, strange country, this seemed somewhat vague and daunting.
PART I:
Trivia Question: (pick which answer is true)
The Nasca Lines…
A. were created by aliens.
B. are an astrological calendar.
C. are sites of worship.
It’s what I imagined the inside of a solitary confinement prison cell would look and feel like. Dark and damp with no hot water, towels, toilet seat, or even toilet paper. We sat facing each other on the edge of the hostal’s twin beds- it was our 7th day in Peru and our 7 month wedding anniversary. Continue reading Feliz Siete, Siete!! (Happy 7, 7!)
Since we did no route planning prior to arriving in Peru, after three days in Lima we had a big decision to make: north or south? We ultimately chose to head down the coast, hitting up as many small towns as possible and eventually looping up to Cusco. Turns out this is a bit of a gringo trail, but for good reason as there are some really pretty places amidst all the tourist nonsense and plentiful “desayuno Americano” options.
Yesterday we hit what we are calling our 7/7 mark: 7 days in South America and 7 months married. In case you were worried, we’re still very fond of each other after both milestones, although after enduring some illness together in small quarters, in the words of Kristy: “well, the mystery is gone”.
Continue reading Parque de Los Gatos, and other Lima Reflections
The Traveling Blues 