On the go-go

We´ve left our home and friends Arequipa and have found ourselves among more beautiful people on the beaches in Chile. Our first night in Chile we camped on the beach in Arica. It was a little hike from the bus terminal but worth it. The locals are so helpful and eager to speak with you. They pointed us in the direction of the campsite. The next day we headed south to Iquique, which is where we are now. People here cool themselves off with lots of ice cream and fresh fruit juices. Tomorrow we will be camping in Bahia Inglesa surrounded by white sandy beaches.

Lima-Arequipa

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Arequipa

We dodged the strike by plane to Arequipa. So now we are in the center of one hectic city! Arequipa is famous for the dormant volcano El Misti and it´s white city building, made of white volcanic rock. Oh yeah, and don´t forget the local dish rocoto relleno which is a hot pepper stuffed with carne and cheese served with potato au gratin! Es muy delicioso! Poor Monica has come down with a gnarly head cold and won´t be joining Lilly and I tonight for martini´s. Pobrecita!
The day we arrived we stayed in a hostel called La Casa de Melgar. This was the house where the only bishop from Arequipa lived way back when...To get to our room you had to walk through a maze of gardens and high stone walls. Our room was huge, complete with antique pottery on the wall, a stained glass roof over the shower, and great acoustics. That night, we finally partook in the long tradition of chewing la hoja de coca, or coca leaf, with some red wine. Fabuloso!!

Lima

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Lima

Our first night we arrived late and stayed in a popular hostel in Barranco. It was basically a party town. Music was blasting and people were getting ready for the disco at 1 am. It was beautiful but hard to get a good night´s rest. Then next morning we walked along the cliffs overlooking the Pacific and found an awesome room in Miraflores, which is the gringo hotspot right downtown. Most of the other occupants are in the Peace Corp. The beach here is not black sandy beaches like they look from afar. Instead, they are covered with beautiful rocks. Not very comfortable for laying on the beach. The food here is muy rico! Every morning we are served fresh jugo de papaya.
My friend Lilly comes in tonight. We were hoping to catch a bus to Cusco tomorrow, but there is a nationwide transportation strike starting tomorrow and the bus may not be running. We may be hanging out in Lima a little longer that planned. Oh please let the buses run, I am ready to venture out of Lima as it is getting costly.

How it all began....

It was a cold and snowy night in October and I had been working all night when I noticed Monica had called. Her messages sounded urgent so I called back right away asuming the worst, but was presently surprised to hear the best. She just wanted to come along on my journey to South America. Both ecstatic, we bought our one-way tickets to Peru the very next day and celebrated with a night out on the town.