Off The Deep End

It would be a long time from the "end" of our travel until we were truly settled back at home. Just to get from Lima to Raleigh it took us two days. This video details our triumphant return to the US.

At 8 AM we left our hostel in Cusco to begin our journey back to the United States. We would fly from Cusco to Lima, kill the better part of 12 hours in Lima then return to the airport to fly to Miami, then to Raleigh.

Leaving Junin our bus took us up over the Andes to Chile though a mountain pass under the Vulcan Lanin. This impressing volcano is over 3,000 meters tall with a permanent cap of snow and ice. The road gradually climbs into the mountains the landscape changing from steppes to the Aracaria forests common in this region. After passing into Chile the road plunges thousands of meters down into temperate jungles and placid farming valleys on the way to Pucon. There are more views of volcanoes and leading up to Vulcan Villarica which actually smokes!

After our plane ride through the late night we had to travel a further 3 hours by bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales. Jammie brings us up to speed.

Back in Santiago we head so many errands to run that the time just flew. We got in on the bus and had to head to the other end of the city to hit the best outdoor goods dealer in town. This involved walking 30 minutes past the last subway stop with our huge packs. From there we got the hot tip to head to Plaza Peru. There is a Starbucks there and although I am no fan of theirs it is literally the only place in Santiago to grind coffee. I had been carrying a poiund of beans from Montana Coffee Traders around for the last two weeks.

On our last day in Algarrobo we finally got to eat humitas. This is a corn meal mixture wrapped in a corn husk and boiled or steamed. It is very good, like spoon bread or soft corn bread. We had to bid Gonzolo goodbye with promised to meet up again.
We will certainly miss this sweet little beach town.

After arriving in Valparaiso and resting from our long and harrowing journey we set out to explore the city. Valparaiso is a colorful jumble of houses stretching across a set of coastal hills. This port was once one of the richest cities in the world but a hundred years ago its wealth dried up and the city fell into disrepair. A decade or so ago the area was rediscovered by Chileans and foreign tourists who were drawn to its charm and mystery. The streets wind and climb the hills splitting and rejoining to form a labyrinth of sorts.

Our journey continues! We leave our Couch Surfing hosts, Jerome and Maru, in Santiago and head to the coastal city of Valparaiso. Vamos!

Our second day we awoke late and refreshed and began researching our next move in Chile with some helpful advice from Jerome. About 1 PM he suddenly told us that he just discovered the tourist information bureau close at 2 PM. We had wanted to go there to get many questions answered.
{hint} in Chile look for the Surnetur office for information about everything and anything.
We headed out on what turned into a city wide jaunt.

Well we made it to Chile, but we aren't sure what will happen next.