Rainy Evening and I am sad...

Hey All,

 

I wanted to write a message today just talking about some of the little things and cultural curiosities that we have observed since it is those experiences that provide flavor to the trip and to the readers of this blog.  However, I have a few things bothering me and making me moderately depressed so I don't feel like writing that message now.

 

I was in a better mood yesterday even though some of the things that are bothering me now were bothering me then also.  Our mood was lifted yesterday when we were finally able to secure a way out of Peru and to some other parts of South America.  We bought a plane ticket to La Paz, Bolivia for this coming Sunday.  We also got tickets for flights from La Paz to Santiago, Chile and then from Santiago to Cordoba, Argentina with the great help from Nicole our travel agent back in the States.  Thanks, Nicole.  :)

 

It wasn't my original intent to spend the extra cash on airline tickets once we arrived in South America.  I figured we would do overland travel via bus or rail which I prefer so I can see the countryside in between stops.  However, with the frustrating experiences with both bus and train here in Peru, we wanted to make up lost time by flying.  The other big reason is that going from La Paz to Santiago and then from Santiago to Cordoba means crossing the Andes two more times.  After doing that once on a bus from Lima to here in Cusco, it was not an experience I was looking forward to again.  Once we get to Cordoba, we will most likely go back to traveling overland.  These flights will mean that we won't see some parts of South America I thought we would just a few days ago.  It is about 1100 miles from La Paz to Santiago, and northern Chile is suppose to be a beautiful landscape.  But 1100 miles on a bus crossing the Andes is probably at least a 3-4 day bus ride.  And that means 95% of the time stuck on the bus since they do not typically stop in a town for the night- just a couple pit stops throughout the day.  For the sake of my mental sanity, it was worth the price of the airline tickets just for that.

 

I'll try to write some more tomorrow.  We are just killing time here in Cusco and don't have a busy schedule.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean