TravelStream™ news feed for member jimmyashley on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jimmyashley en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:05:32 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1241031720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1241031720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1241031720/tpod.html Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:05:32 -0400 South America1.

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Huaraz, Peru

Tired after a night bus ride from Lima. Huaraz is a little over 3000m in altitude which dosnt help.
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lima, Peru

Im getting worse at this travelling stuff. I arrived too late for my flight this morning from Cusco but luckily I was able to take the next one which was only 15 minutes later. All was peachy until I went through the metal detectors. I had put a rope and some other climbing gear in my carry on baggage to reduce my excess of my checked baggage. The climbing gear made it through but I had to leave behind a brand new rope and my Leatherman knife (which I forgot was in my backpack). The plane was boarding so i didnt have the time to figure out my mess and my Spanish went to custard, so I gave my rope a salute and walked away.

Well Lima is bloody hot!
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Cusco, Peru

S@#t! that hurt, no more buses...well two more. The bus left 30 minutes late as usual. I was excited because the seat next to me remained vacant up to 5 minutes before we left until I was partnered with an old lady who smelt like pee. There was no armrest in between the two seats and she managed take up her seat and enough of mine to get on my nerves. At some stages she was using me as a second back rest, infuriating, she´s lucky she was old. At least the temperature was coolish inside the bus and I also had access to a small window above my head. The ride was going Ok until I ate a bag of local pop-corn, about 5 minutes after finishing the bag I became ill. I had no idea why but it gradually got worse until I decided to visit the toilet on the bus and purge my stomach and hopfully realive my sickness. Well the ´toilet´ was a funel shaped piece of metal that was met by a bucket of swishing water, i got an image in my mind of the contents of the bucket swirling out and covering me as the bus made a sudden movement, but luckily no. It worked and and I felt much better afterwards. I arrived in Cusco after 10 hours with no sleep and feeling drained. I found my hostel without any dramas and went to the local Irish pub for a feed and of coarse a beer.

Today I managed to work up the enthusiasm and went for a run up to the large statue of Jesus above the town, my lungs are not completely acclimatised to the altitude and it hurt like buggery but it felt good afterwards. I also picked up a bag I left here 5\6 months ago, it was like opening a Christmas present but I was shocked at the amount of stuff that was inside which I had forgotten about. I still have a bigger bag of more climbing gear in Lima to pick up which I am grimmicing over. Its very embarresing seeing other travellers with a small sized backpack, i get jealous sometimes....the bastards.
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Arequipa, Peru

Yesterday was a hard day, travelling from Santiago to Arequipa, Peru. I had a 6:20 flight from Santiago to Arica in Northern Chile. I didnt get any sleep before hand because of a few other travellers having a good old conversation at the hostel I stayed at. I had a taxi booked at 4am shared with an Norwiegen girl travelling to Lima. From Arica I shared a taxi with another 3 people to cross the border and reach Tacna. The temperature was hot, well above 30 degrees. I had to wait an hour at the bus station for an hour before the bus was sheduled to leave. It finally left 30 minutes late, very uasual for Peru and a reminder again to what I should expect in Peru. The bus didnt have any airconditioning and was packed full. The ride was torture we stoped every hour for around 20 minutes?? sometimes to pick up people other times to be inspected by different authorites, it seems every providence we passed through has its own set of Police who want to show their authority. I did manage to get some sleep during the sweaty trip and I was happy and relieved to get off the bus 6 hours after leaving Tacna. The landscape we passed through was stunning with open and desert like planes which the Northern area of Chile and parts of Bolivia and Peru are famous for.

Im happy to be back in Peru, its much cheaper than Chile and Argentina.
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Santiago, Chile

I back to where I started! The bus arrived two hours late to Santiago. There was a problem with the bus an hour out of Pucon last night which thankfully was fixed soon after the mobile mechanic arrived. We watched a really bad American movie called ´Smoke Jumpers´ about the elite fire fighters who jump out of a plane to get closer to the fires.

The weather is warm and sunny and there are s@#t loads of people around, it was a bit over whelming catching the subway with the morning commuters earlier today. Some where between the bus terminal and the hostel my two week old MP3 player went missing from my top pocket, i think im in the double figures now with the amount of MP3 players I have been through, Happy Easter to the person who found it.
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Pucon, Lake District, Chile

When I left Pucon the last time I was here I accidently took the key to the Hostel I stayed at, so I had a small reason to return to Pucon and take the key back.

Stangely enough I was greated at the bus station by the same lady as on my last trip about a year and a half ago. She took me to her Hostel which has grown in size and looks great from when I was last here. The rate is bloody cheap and being out of tourist season, empty apart from 3 Israels who arrived late last night and left today. The weather is terrible, wet and rainy but its supposed to clear in a day or two. There are numorous thermal springs close to town and when I find out where the bus leaves from ill be there.
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Valdivia, Lake District, Chile

Only after a very short bus ride from Osorno I have arrived in Valdivia. I didnt now what to expect after visiting Osorno. After finding accomadation I went for a walk to check out the city and was quite impressed. The town is set on a river which only travels 17 Km before it reaches the Pacific Ocean and surounded by green! tree filled mountains. There is a large German influence here, so im told. I havnt really noticed any suasages or BMWs around town. I think a large number of Germans settled here when the town was originally populated and of coarse they built a brewery closer to the coast I may have to check out today. There are a couple of universites which brings allot of young people into the town. One university has a rowing club on the other side of the river also a large campus with a botanical garden which is open for the public to enjoy. From the large warf a number of ferries offer different trips both up and down river for a closer look at the area.
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Osorno, Patagonia, Chile

Just arrived after another 30 bus trip for Punta Arenas...tired.

There isnt much to do in Osorno apart from visit the main plaza and a couple of large churches. The city it self is large with plenty of supermarkets and large name shopping centres. Originally I was going to camp but after taking a cab out to the campground I told him to take me back closer to the centre, it was a long way out from the city. The driver took me to a Hospedaje (Hostel) which ended up being 2 blocks from where I started at the bus terminal.
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Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile

Im back and resting after a 6 day hike on the Torres del Paine curcuit. There were only 2 days where I needed to use my waterproof jacket which made it an enjoyable hike. I have heard horror stories of other people who have had bad experiences due to bad weather. The first day is hardly worth mentioning, a 5 hour walk to the first campsite through some boring terrain. After arriving at the campsite I was greated by swarms of mosquitos and the shock of having to pay for the night which I was not aware of. That made me upset considering the cost for a site was more than what I was paying in town and after paying the expensive entrance fee for the park. I found out that there where three free campsites throughout the park which I now planned to use. The second day was a little more enjoyable with some better scenery and a nice (away from one of the payed sites) campsite close to a river and with no mosquitos. The next day I started to climb towards the hardest part of the hike, up to a pass with some expectation of better views of the park. I wasnt let down from the pass I got my first look at Glacier Grey, the biggest I have seen.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1237238400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1237238400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jimmyashley/1/1237238400/tpod.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:36:49 -0400 South America1.

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Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile

Im back and resting after a 6 day hike on the Torres del Paine curcuit. There were only 2 days where I needed to use my waterproof jacket which made it an enjoyable hike. I have heard horror stories of other people who have had bad experiences due to bad weather. The first day is hardly worth mentioning, a 5 hour walk to the first campsite through some boring terrain. After arriving at the campsite I was greated by swarms of mosquitos and the shock of having to pay for the night which I was not aware of. That made me upset considering the cost for a site was more than what I was paying in town and after paying the expensive entrance fee for the park. I found out that there where three free campsites throughout the park which I now planned to use. The second day was a little more enjoyable with some better scenery and a nice (away from one of the payed sites) campsite close to a river and with no mosquitos. The next day I started to climb towards the hardest part of the hike, up to a pass with some expectation of better views. I wasnt let down from the pass I got my first look at Glacier Grey, the biggest I have seen, very cool. That night after the long steep knee busting walk down from the pass I stayed at Campento Guardas one on the free campsites. I arrived realativly early and thought I had a nice spot to my self but less than an hour after setting up my tent I was surrounded by a large number of Israeles, who are well know for there skill to upset all other travellers and they didnt let there name down. They act like kids away on a school trip, very noisy and everywhere, luckily I had my ear plugs with me.
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