After 60 days, 5 countries, 1 back pack and god knows how many hours spent on a bus, my two month holiday travelling South America has come to an end. Having been back at work for three weeks now I thought it was about time that I shared some of my travelling experiences with everyone back home.
During the two months I spent travelling I kept a journal in order to document all of my experiences. Here are a few extracts featuring my most memorable experiences... ENJOY.
January 1st 2014
Not only is it the beginning of a new year but it's the start of Caroline and I's two month travelling adventure. First stop Pucon. I'm currently on a night bus on the way there with 11 hours to go until we arrive and i'm feeling pretty exhausted from last nights antics...
Yesterday, Hogmany, all of the Chile volunteers met up in Valparaiso for South Americas biggest street party. It was awesome. From watching fireworks in the main plaza to dancing 'til 6 am, the night was filled with just as much fun as pisco sour...
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| Valpo at New Year(From left to right: Kelly, me, Caroline and Callum) |
January 8th 2014
We arrived in Pucon in the morning of the 2nd of January. Our first day was spent getting to know the area. We went to the supermarket (something that both Caroline and I like to do in all the new places we visit) and bought some food for lunch. As we still had the tin of baked beans that our desk officer Felicity had brought over we decided to make BAKED BEAN NACHOS. This consisted of baked beans layered with nachos and cheese and was probably the most "studenty" meal I have ever eaten.
On the Saturday we were woken by our alarms at 5.30 am as we had booked a tour of Volcan Villarica for 6.30. YES, we were going to climb an active volcano! We headed to the centre of town (with our packed lunches) to the tour office where we met up with the rest of the group and collected our back packs containing all the equipment we would need. After a half an hour drive in a slightly cramped minibus we arrived at the foot of the volcano. As we didn't want to pay the $8000 CP needed to get the ski lift to the snowy part, Caroline and I decided to walk. One hour of pretty tough climbing later we arrived at the snowy part of the mountain. Here we had a short break and got geared up for climbing the volcano. We had to wear crampons on our walking boots to grip the snow and ice pics to support us walking. At this point I was beginning to wonder what I had got myself in for...
Around 4 breaks and four hours of climbing later we finally reached the smoky crater. I think that this was probably one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life. Not only was it physically exhausting but due to the fact that I have a fear of heights and walking up steep hills (not joking I used to be scared of Arthur Seat) I had to overcome my fears to get to the top. Due to the gases coming out of the Volcano's crater (told you it was live) we couldn't stay at the top for long. As everyone in the group was exhausted from the climb we were all pleased to here that we would be sliding down to the bottom on our bums! After losing control a few times I eventually made it down to the bottom- feeling proud, tired and hungry.
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| Looking cool in my shades half way up the volcano... |
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| Everyone getting geared up to climb the volcano. |
18th February 2014
So I'm currently lying on a bottom bunk in a lodge in the middle of the Peruvian jungle- while eating Oreos- Life couldn't get much better could it? Well, maybe if I had some milk...
At five fifteen this morning I stumbled out of bed to the sound of Mumford and Sons. I quickly threw on some clothes and crammed the remaining few items into the 40L hiking bag that I would be taking with me on the four day Inka Jungle trek that lay ahead...
... Our bus was due to arrive at 6 am but as it hadn't arrived yet we ran to the bar and grabbed some breakfast. We made it just in time as when we got back (banana and coffee in hand) our guide was there and everyone was ready to go. If it wasn't for the two Chilean girls holding everyone back then we would have been away on time...typical. haha.
Sitting in the 'cool kid' seats at the back of the bus, we set off to our first activity: two hours of down hill biking...
...Although it kind of sucked that it was raining the entire time, I still thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride. Also, not being able to see more than 2m in front of me (due to fog) while cycling full speed through streams is definitely an experience I will never forget. By the time we reached the bottom I was completely drenched. I could even pour water out of my walking boots. (and I remember thinking the guy that put plastic bags on his feet looked stupid when we started...)
So I'm currently lying on a bottom bunk in a lodge in the middle of the Peruvian jungle- while eating Oreos- Life couldn't get much better could it? Well, maybe if I had some milk...
At five fifteen this morning I stumbled out of bed to the sound of Mumford and Sons. I quickly threw on some clothes and crammed the remaining few items into the 40L hiking bag that I would be taking with me on the four day Inka Jungle trek that lay ahead...
... Our bus was due to arrive at 6 am but as it hadn't arrived yet we ran to the bar and grabbed some breakfast. We made it just in time as when we got back (banana and coffee in hand) our guide was there and everyone was ready to go. If it wasn't for the two Chilean girls holding everyone back then we would have been away on time...typical. haha.
Sitting in the 'cool kid' seats at the back of the bus, we set off to our first activity: two hours of down hill biking...
...Although it kind of sucked that it was raining the entire time, I still thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride. Also, not being able to see more than 2m in front of me (due to fog) while cycling full speed through streams is definitely an experience I will never forget. By the time we reached the bottom I was completely drenched. I could even pour water out of my walking boots. (and I remember thinking the guy that put plastic bags on his feet looked stupid when we started...)
I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my travels and that maybe it's inspired you to do the same!
In other news my family are arriving from Scotland tomorrow night and I can't even put into words how excited I am so see them all. Before I left I hadn't spend more than a week away from home never mind six months! I'll let you all know what we get up to when they're here!
Chao!
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