Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well. When you last heard from us, we were trying to find a way out of Arequipa (because of the agricultural strike). We were finally successful that night, and our overnight bus to Tacna made it safely to its destination at 3:00am. But before we talk about the absurd amount of hours we have spent on buses lately, we will tell you a bit about Arequipa and Canyon Country.

Arequipa is called the white city because of the volcanic stone used to construct many of the buildings. The town is surrounded by two beautiful volcanoes (dormant this time) covered in snow. Nights were cold - it felt like we were back in Vancouver or Victoria. Our first day in Arequipa we got caught in a torrential downpour. That REALLY made us think of home. Arequipa has a beautiful Plaza de Armas (main plaza) that is full of trees and sits inbetween the Cathedral and the government buildings. It seems as though most cities and towns in South America are built around a central plaza. This seems to us to be a much better idea than having main streets as is the case in most large cities at home. The plazas are usually full of people and are often nice attractions on their own.

Our second day in Arequipa we went to the bus station at about 1:00 to find a bus to Cabanaconde to see the world´s second deepest canyon (Colca Canyon) and the world´s biggest birds (Condors). Upon arrival at the bus station, however, we discovered that of five or so bus companies that run there daily, not a single one had space. We were forced to wait 12 hours to catch a bus at 1:00am.

Arriving at Cabanaconde at 6:00am, it proved worth the wait. Cabanaconde is a town of about 1000 people nestled in amongst dozens of mountains and green terraced farming fields. Combine images of Lake Louise, Smithers, and Hope - this is what Cabanconde looks like. Cabanconde is the first city that we have seen (other than Savory Island) that does not depend on cars. In our morning there we saw one police car, one truck, and a few buses coming in from Arequipa. Sheep, goats, dogs, cows, pigs, and horses littered the streets. All of the homes were built of stone and stood about 6 feet tall (their straw/thatched roofs peaked at about 8ft). To best understand how the town of Cabanaconde looks, picture the town of Mouesel, in Cornwall, or any 16th Century English town.

We immediately sought out breakfast, which we found in the basement of a hostel. However, by the end of the meal we were so cold we couldn´t feel our toes. We set off in search of gloves and a toque for Braden. Having accomplished that, we meandered around the town for a few hours until it was time to head to the Colca Canyon. We caught a bus from the main plaza to the Cruz del Condor (about a 40 minute drive) which is a lookout point over the Colca Canyon on the side of the highway. A quick sidenote: the Peruvian government (specifically the town of Chivey) has imposed a 35 sole ($12) tourist tax for any non-local entering the region. We were first asked to pay on the bus while driving through Chivey (the woman woke us up at 5am and refused to leave us alone. After explaining to her that our money was at the bottom of our bags (it really wasn´t) she finally relented to writing down our nationality with our promise of paying at the Cruz del Condor). The next time we were stopped to buy tickets was when we got off the bus at 6am in Cabanaconde. Apparently they are trying to charge tourists just to see the town. Braden argued for 10 minutes that it was ridiculous to pay to see a town, and we walked off to breakfast, leaving the vendor dumbfounded. The third time we were asked for our tickets was at the Cruz del Condor lookout. This time, we lied and said we left them in our hotel room and a very nice security guard offered to give us two old tickets in case we encountered trouble on the way home (we didn´t). Feeling guilty, we gave the security guard 20 soles for his family. To conclude, we didn´t think we should have to pay 35 soles each to sit on a rock and watch birds on the side of the highway (the ticket also included several multi-day treks and other activities which we weren´t going to do).

The Cruz del Condor lookout was amazing. The walkway up to the lookout was lined with Quechua women selling ¨hand-made¨clothes and other crafts (many of which looked suspiciously alike). After asking them if they had any hand-made items, they all rummaged through their piles to find identical sweaters. In actuality, all that was hand-made was a singular toque which Braden bought.

We found some seats on a set of stairs and settled down to eat our lunch (a package of crackers and a chocolate bar) and wait for the condors. The condors nest somewhere down the side of the cliff. They are such immense birds that they cannot take off - they must jump from the side of the cliff and glide, slowly gaining altitude as they circle looking for food. Having wingspans of 3.5 meters, these birds are hard to miss. At one point, while we were photographing the canyon, one of the condors made a beeline right for us and passed only 20 feet away at eye level.

Back to Arequipa to try for a bus to Tacna. As the strike was still on, most companies were unsure of whether their buses would leave or not (it is common in Peru that striking organizations literally block highways - the agricultural workers had littered the highway with rocks and tractors, and in some instances had trapped passing busses and cars inbetween the blockades). Unable to find a company willing to sell tickets, we took a taxi back into Arequipa to find a hostel. Lesson learned: sleeping and eating in non-touristy areas of town is much cheaper. 30 soles for a private room and bathroom, with a t.v. In the morning, 4 soles for breakfast.

The next day we finally found a bus company selling tickets to Tacna (for the 9:30 pm bus). We bought two tickets, dropped our bags off at the bus terminal, and took a cab back into Arequipa to waste some time. However, we quickly discovered the first real handicrafts market we have seen in Peru. This proved to be an expensive (for us) discovery. Two hours and multiple articles of knitted clothing later, our arms were loaded and our wallets empty. The best purchase of the day: two hand-knit sweaters for 80 soles (about $27) - think of Braden´s Gran´s hand-knit sweaters. The pattern is remarkably similar, the only noticable difference being the alpaca wool.

We made it to the Tacna where we hired a taxi to take us to Arica, across the border, with three other passengers. The car was a early 80s Chevy sedan, much like Braden´s first car. Crammed in with a trunk that didn´t shut, interior lights that didn´t work, and no seatbelts we made it to the Peru-Chile border at 3:00am - the border didn´t open until 6:00am. Too crammed to sit in the car, we enjoyed stargazing and a desert sunrise from the curb of the highway.

The border crossing into Chile was the most absurd thing we have ever seen. After being rushed to complete the paper work on the hood of the car before getting to the border, taxis competed for approximately twelve parking stalls in the Peruvian border crossing. Once a spot was obtained, it was a full out sprint to the border by both taxi driver and passengers (75 meters away). As the drivers jostled to get their papers approved, we waited in line, astounded. Once the drivers finished their business, our carload was rushed into another line (much to the chagrin of the other drivers) and processed through. We waited on the other side of the Peruvian border while our driver sprinted back to get the taxi and pick us up. We drove about 100 meters to the Chilean border (think U.S./Canada border crossings with the lanes and booths). However, these lanes are not for driving. Rather, taxis park haphazardly wherever they can while we make a second sprint to the booth to have our passports stamped. No questions asked, no bags searched, we entered Chile without a problem (This was after we had hurriedly finished eating all our fruit in the car before reaching the border). Half an hour later we reached Arica.

We explored Arica for a few hours (as we were unable to find a bus to the National Park which we wanted to visit), but discovered that we were exhausted and headed back to the bus terminal early to wait for our next overnight bus to Calama. At the terminal Braden fell asleep, proceeded to drool everywhere, and woke up to three Chilean girls laughing and giggling at him.

As it turned out, we were subject to more searches (at interprovincial borders) on our way to Calama than when we were entering the country. Twice we were woken up to collect our bags and hand over our passports to the driver. However, like most border checks we have experienced, the locals had their bags intensively searched while ours were barely glanced at. We are guessing that because Chile is such a long and narrow country with numerous border crossings (but only one main highway), it is easier to conduct checks along the highway. If it wasn´t for these border checks we would have slept like babies. The buses in Chile are of a much better quality than in Peru or Ecuador.

We arrived in Calama with the hope of touring the largest copper mine in the world, only to find out that it was closed for a week of repairs. Defeated once again, we racked our brains to come up with a plan. On to San Pedro de Atacama, a town highly recommended by both our guidebooks and by numerous travellers we have met. The Atacama is the driest desert in the world and San Pedro provides a place for tourists to explore the desert and its surroundings. San Pedro is a hub for guided tours. From San Pedro (if you have the money) you can explore the desert, geysers, salt lakes, stars at night, and many other sights. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed by San Pedro. Overpriced and overcrowded, San Pedro markets itself as a destination for tourists. And they certainly do it well! We estimate that there was at least 2 tourists to every one local in San Pedro. Also, the locals lived on one side of the town in small huts while the other side of town was full of huge hostels and accomodations for tourists. The highlight of San Pedro was renting bikes and heading out into the desert this morning to catch the sunrise. We biked to the Valle de la Luna, named for its resemblance to the surface of the moon. This is apparently the best spot to catch the sunrise or the sunset. Unfortunately, because we slept in and because we are out of shape, we caught the sunrise halfway there on the side of the highway.

Back in Calama now to see a local festival before catching another overnight bus to La Serena. (This makes our fifth overnight bus in eight days). In La Serena we are going to visit Margaret and Roy Sinke, a contact we made after helping Roy´s mother Molly in December in Vancouver. We have been warned that Roy will make us go surfing. Maya is not so keen after swallowing her body weight in salt water the last time.

We will spend a couple of days in La Serena, and then head to Santiago where we will purchase a tent, some sleeping bags, and other camping gear. We are planning to give camping a shot for the next month as accomodation is quite steep here. (Surprise!). We will need this camping gear also for the week long trek we will do of Torres del Paine, the most famous national park in Chile.

Off to see the festival now. Hope you are all well. We will post photos soon (sorry it has been so long). Unfortunately, Maya´s camera is out of commission at present as an entire bottle of insect bite relief gel spilled in her purse. (The day before we had backed up all of our photos, thankfully). When we put the battery back in, it made a horrible fizzing sound....something like the sound that wet electrical wires would make.

Miss you all. Lots of love,

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Maya and Braden