Welcome to Leah & Katies online travel diary!!...

Over the next 7 weeks we hope you join us while we discover South America..

We're plannng on trekking the Inca Trail, Cycling Death Road, traversing Salt Plains, Volcanoes & Deserts and might even try fishing for Piranhas in the Amazon....

We can't wait to share our stories with you along the way and hope you can fill us in on what we missing out on at home.

Can't wait to hear from you all soon. Katie & Leah

Friday, September 24, 2010

Its the End of the Road....

After 47 days, 5 countries, 3 Jungle Trips, 2 stomach parasites and an amazing time... its almost time we packed our bags for the last time and headed back home....

But thats not to say we´re  leaving quietly... Our last day is pretty jam packed... Our plan is to go to Igazu falls this morning for one last look (they are truly amazing!!.. yesterday we went on a speed boat ride that took us right under them.. the pressure was crazy), then we jump on a plane to Buenos Aires, where we have 55 minutes to get to our hotel and change and be ready to be picked up to go to a Football match.. then we plan to head to Polermo (party district) for one last steak, then head out for drinks....All going to plan we are able to wake up and head to the airport about 10am tomorrow!.

The trip has been awesome.. we´ve seen so much, done so much and only thought our death was imminent on a handful of occasions...

Thanks to everyone that commented, you´ve kept us company, made us laugh and are truly the only reason we will be able to make it to the airport tomorrow!..

Our flight arrives around 9.20pm on Sunday night.....
For everyone at work , we´ll see you Wednesday...

Signing Out...

The Jungle Girls..

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Lovin Argentina!!

Ok, you can´t make us come home.. Honestly.... we´re in love and might just stay here... Of course we´ll come home for Christmas.....


Yesterday we arrived in Buenos Aires... and its awesome... For instance McDonalds has caramel icecream with cadbury chocolate bits in it and caramel fudge... ... like can you even imagine a bettter concept than that!!... Not to mention that within 3 hours being through customs, we found ourselves in a Tango class... which was followed by a 3 course meal WITH alcohol included... whilst watching a very fancy Tango show....This place is seriously cool.. in every sense... Oh, and the locals aren´t that hideious to admire either!. ahah...

This morning we woke up not feeling the best and initially were worried that the food was dodgy!... but then we realised it was just an old friend of ours called Hangover... its been so long we mistook it for the return of Frank and Connor...Ahh, the memories of self inflicted pain...

Anyway, gotta run cause we only got one lifetime to explore this town and it may not be enough...
Take Care...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Mayo fell in love with Leah then peed on me...

Hey guys,

Fresh off the canoe, speedboat, motorbike, plane then taxi, ´we´ve just gotten back from the Jungle and are hanging out in a very cool hostel in Lima...

The last few days have been very cool.... plently of time to lie in our hammocks reading, with the odd jungle excurision to break up the days... 

Today we went fishing for piranhas, and I caught 5.. though 2 got away... and Leah also managed to catch one, and caught an angel fish.... Yesterday, we went to a local village and while we were chatting to the locals, they happened to show us a massive Boa Constrictor that was just cruising around... It was totally surreal cause there were 4yr kids running around patting it as well.... Very bizarre...

Strangely enough, our ¨"hotel" in the jungle could accomodate 80 people but there was just 3 of us... Leah, me and another girl we made friends with from our last tour who decided to join us.. It was cool.. The hotel had no electricity in our rooms, so we were going to bed VERY early...

As for Mayo... Hes a monkey!..We stopped via an Island where the monkeys come and climb all over you... While one took a big liking to Leah and tried to drag her into the jungle.. when it came time to give me a hug.. he peed on me... Dirty little bugger...

Anyway.. . We´ll definitely post some photos soon.. but my dinner just arrived so i´m going to run and eat...

Friday, September 17, 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Frank and Connor Died so we had a pina colada

Hi Guys

Yesterday, we finally managed to kill off Frank and Connor (our pet stomach parasites) and celebrated by having Pina Coladas by the pool in our desert Oasis town of Huacachina....  It was the perfect day to start feeling better as we had a planned Sand Boarding excursion in the afternoon..

I think its safe to say its one of the most fun afternoons I´ve ever had... Firstly we were harnessed into our V8 dune buggies, complete with roll bars where we went on the most exhilirating ride of our life.. We were flying over massive sanddunes at around 100km per hr, often being air borne while we sailed over the top of dunes that had sheer drops... The adrenalin rush was awesome....

After finally stopping out in the middle, we unloaded our sand boards, and "surfed" down a few massive hills...

Arriving back in time to watch the sun set over the Oasis, I think we only then remembered to breathe again after smiling and screaming so much for the last few hours...

This morning we started off early and headed to the Ballestas Islands... or commonly known as Poor Mans Galpagos... It was about half an hour´s boat ride out to the islands, where we were greeted with approx 90 gazillion birds, give or take... and more than our fair share of Sea Lions...  Check out the pics for an idea of the birdlife out there!..

This arvo, we plan to sit around the pool again and have a few more pina coladas.  After 5 weeks of not being able to drink due to either altitude or sickness, we fully intend on making up for lost time!. 

Tomorrow we´re headed off to Lima, where this tour finally ends... But as they say, as one Tour Ends, another begins and we will find ourselves with a new group, heading back to the Amazon!.

Chat soon

Leah and Katie..

Monday, September 13, 2010

5 Seater Plane and Open Graves

Hi Guys!

After staying up till the crazy hour of 8.30pm last night ive found myself wide away around 6.30 so I thought I´d come down and say hi...

Yesterday we arrived in Nasca, after spending the night travelling here on a bus from Arequipa.. Arriving around 6.30am  we had a brief chance to shower and unpack before heading off to the Airport for a flight to see the Nasca lines...

Our plane seated only 5 people and had the optional advantage of being able to be flown with the windows down...I think everytime a Condor in Peru farter we dropped a few feet and swayed to the left...Nevertheless, the flight was good fun and we got a really good view of the lines.. Pretty amazing stuff....
Interestingly, in order to fly on the small planes you had to weigh in so they could make sure weight was distributed evenly.. It seems thanks to Frank and Connor (our pet stomach parasites), Leah and I have lost 5 and 7 kgs respectively since the start of the trip!!.. Never mind though, we fully intend on eating more fudge icecream in the next 2weeks so will probably regain it al!.

After the flight we did a tour of the local cementary which is easily the most bizarre thing i´ve ever seen.. Stuck in the desert, graves are now lying open shwing you the mummified bodies of people that died over 1000 years ago.. You can see their hair, eyes, tongue in some cases.. Its truly gross.. Worse still you walk around and can see random rib cages and bones on the top of the sand.... The wind was blowing a gale so you involuntarily swallowed like heaps of "people dust" as we were calling it...

We will try and post some pics cause its really creepy...

Anyway, today we´re off to play in Sand Buggy´s and go sandboarding.... Whilst tomorrow we´re off to the Ballastas Islands.

Chat soon.

Love Leah and Katie.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Mummies and Parasites...

Hi Guys!...

Greetings from Arequipa.....We´ve just come back from visiting Juanita.. Juantia was a teenage incan girl that was sacrificed on a mountain 500 years ago and perfectly preserved until she was discovered 15yrs ago... It was a bit creepy actually, you can still see flesh and hair and teeth and everything!..

Following Juanita, we went to check out a "city inside of a city".. Its actually a massive convent that has been occupied by Nuns since the 1600´s... Once inside, they dont leave.. Even today there are still some nuns that live in there but stay in a separate area during the day while Tourists can walk around and have a look... think its safe to say its the only time Leah and I will be spending our time inside a convent... However, it would be wrong of me not to mention the most amazing Brownie-icecream-fudge dessert we ate inside.....

Health Update....

After a couple of weeks of not being able to eat, and being constantly sick, our Guide arranged for a Doctor to visit our hotel.... and he quickly diagnosed our problem... wait for it..... We are the proud hosts of some stomach parasites... yep.... we have some nasty little South American buggers in our guts that means that we can function quite ok as long as we dont eat... And so as soon as we feel better, we eat, then get massively sick again...   The good news was that the cure sounded quite simple..Take one tablet and the parasite will die, and then take 2 more tablets for 3 days and it will kill any bacteria that we may also have.......

So with great joy we stocked up at the chemist last night and cheered to our parasite killing party (after naming our enemies of course).... Only thing was the Dr didn´t warn us that this magic pill is somewhat equivalent to swallowing Napalm.... Within 15min of swallowing it, the 4 of us that took it were staggering home... One person dry wretching in the gutter and Leah and I doubled over in agony trying to get back to our rooms.....Its seriously potent stuff!..

On the good side, i managed to scoff my dessert and am still not suffering, so I tentatively say I may just be cured... just in time given we have a night bus tonight to Nazca.....Tomorrow we go on a flight to see the Nazca lines, and then we´re off to see some massive sanddunes and go sand boarding...

Better run.. Hope everyone is doing well.. Love to hear from you all.


Love Katie and Leah.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Group has moved on, and Im still here!

It was around 2.00am this morning when I was sitting on the floor of the shower, knowingly, and uncaringly risking getting Tinea on my backside, feeling like death that I first wondered why on earth hadnt I suggested to Leah that we spend 7 weeks in the Maldives or Tahiti sipping cocktails around a swimming pool..

After skipping meals for the last 48 hours Leah and I decided to start eating last night ... thinking we were sensible we ate only rice and herbal tea... Leah said she felt sick going to bed, but I felt really good.. until around 1.30am..

I realised around 3.00am that there was no chance I was willingly going to get on a bus with no toilet at 9.00am for a travel day and two day excursion to the Colca Canyon to see Condors.... ..So i took every possible drug I could find in our room and waited for either daylight or death.. haha.

Thankfully, Leah managed to speak with our guide and arranged for me to stay at this hotel with a stockpile of water, drugs and toilet paper for the next two days and Ill rejoin the group when they return....

The hotel is lovely and they ring up and check on me and offer to bring me stuff up so I know Ill be fine.. From all accounts this only lasts for about 2 days and then everyone seems to be back on track...  Luckily we still have a free day in Arequipa when the group returns so I{ll still be able to have a look around when im better.

As for Condors, I will be like you and eagerly await Leahs return to see pictures.... until then I may just look them up on Google

chat to you soon...

(ps.. as Leah is the official photo poster on this blog, we may need to wait for her to return to post photos of the Inca trail.. but she has left with me the USB of piccies we have chosen... I just have to figure out how to decompress the size... if i master that ill post them earlier.)

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Landslides and Mass Vomitting...

Hey Guys

Am writing this from our hostel in Cusco.... As you may have read, our day yesterday started at 3.50am when we started the last part of our hike on the Inca Trail.  I'm sure you can imagine that by the time we had lunch at 2pm, and were told to board a train back to Cusco at 5pm we were already exhausted...   The train trip to Cusco was meant to take 4hrs, so our plan was to arrive around 9pm, grab some food and head out to meet our Inca guides at 10.30 for Salsa.. but as we have quickly learnt, not much goes according to plan in South America.

After playing cards on the train for about an hour, eating snacks, chatting and comparing photos the train threw on its emergency brakes, we heard a bit of a thud and saw a few drinks flying across the carriage... despite the intial concern it soon appeared that nothing drastic seemed to have happened and we kept on going, albeit a little on edge.

Not too much further down the line, we stopped again.. This time we were informed that there was a landslide ahead and we would need to wait 30min for the rocks to be cleared and the line to be restored.  After an hour of waiting, we asked again what was happening and were told that the rocks were still falling on the line and could we please stand to the right side of the carriage as we were going to try and go through it.

To make it all a little more chaotic, our train had a glass roof, and we were currently stopped on the edge of a cliff. It was dark so we couldnt see the drop, but all noticed the train tilting as everyone moved to the right side.  Our guide tried to convince the staff it was completely unsafe and we should just go backwards to the last town and we could catch local buses back.  Unfortunately, our pleas were ignored and we proceeded through the landslide - the amount of rocks that had fallen were massive... It was the kind of experience you just know would never happen back home, but thankfully we made it through...

Arriving at our hotel close to Midnnight we scoffed a pizza and went to bed..... until during the night both Leah and I started taking turns in the toilet.  This morning I went to cancel our Quad Biking that we planned for today, and Leah still hasnt' made it out of bed (its 3pm).    I am barely holding off throwing up, but my stomach is certainly in crisis which sucks since i have only had the last 4 days where i havent' felt sick.., and poor Leah is very sick today... I stumbled down town earlier and tried in my best spanglish to get some drugs for her so hopefully she will start feeling better soon.  Turns out7 of us out of our group are sick today so I suspect its not just coincidence.. Today's sickness now pretty much means every single person on this trip, all 16 of us has had stomach problems in the last 3 weeks... Is definitely not a continent for the faint hearted.



Drugs taken to date.

2 bottles of cough medicine, one each.
1 round of cold antibiotics, for me... You can get antibiotics for anything over the counter here.
1 round of stomach antibiotics, for Leah
2 lots of cold and flu tablets, one each
Lots of Gastro stop!
Malaria tablets
Altitude sickness tablets
Lots of Buscopan
Antibacterial stomach tablets
\
And the tally keeps counting.|...

Tomorrow we dont fly out until 12.30 so hopefully we will be in a better state by then....

Take Care...

L and K.

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Inca Trail is freaken hard......

Did i mention, EXTREMELY hard.....

Hey Guys

Fresh off the track this morning, we´re writing this while waiting for our well deserved hot apple pie and icecream and hot chocolate.. To say we can´t move is an understatement.   Leah no longer has functional calves, and only one knee thats any use.   As for me, i swear my ankle is broken in 9 places, but our spirits are high and we´ve had an amazing four days.

Never let anyone tell you the Inca trail isn´t hard.  Its literally 4 days of walking up and down mountain ranges in the Andes at altitude.  At some points its mind blowing, at others its soul destroying.  Its not unusual to be told you have 4 hours of non stop stairs going up, or to be told you have 8km of walking down stairs with no flat sections..  There are no even paths, and every step is over rocks that are uneven...

At times it was really hot, and at others you need thermals and jackets on....  We were really lucky with the weather though as it didn´t rain... until this morning.  We were woken up at 3.50am to start walking into Machu Picchu.... it was dark, cold, we were in pain and yes it was pouring rain.....  To our great luck it cleared up mid morning and the sun came out ( I even got sunburnt) so we could get some great pictures which we will load in the next couple of days.

Gotta run cause my apple pie is here but will write tomorrow from Cusco... tonight we´re heading our with our tour guides for a bit more salsa in a club..

Chat soon.

Katie and Leah.. ( Inca Warriors!)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Off to do the Inca Trail..

Hi Guys

Greetings from Cusco.... We only have about 15min before our bus leaves so this is a quick update to say we're both still alive and having fun...

Tomorrow we embark on the our 4 day Inca Trek to Macchu Picchu.... Stayed up till past midnight packing last night and we're getting excited.  Our briefing last night told us to prepare for some seriously cold weather and some hard work on Day 2 as we climb to over 4500m in altitude..... Please keep your fingers crossed for us... climbing one set of stairs at this altitude leaves us all breathless so the mere  thought of the trek is pretty scary!.

Health update... Leah still has a bit of a cough, a sore knee and some minor concussion from whacking her head against a cement wall.... I still havent eaten a decent meal in about 4 /5 days without regretting it, but the cold is slowing going so whilst we're not in peak condition for the trek we were certainly worse a few days ago.

The last few days have been pretty fun - two of the people on our trip shared a birthday yesterday and we had our tour guides sister's hens night on the same day... ended up having our salsa dancing teacher do a strip show for us girls with his mate whilst the boys sat outside having a beer on the footpath, and then he took us all out to his salsa club dancing for the rest of the night to see in the birthday's..... Was awesome fun.. He was throwing us around the dancing floor and i swear everytime we thought our head would smash the floor but he knew his moves and  we learnt a few moves..

Anyway gotta run...

Wish us luck for the next 4 days and we'll hopefully check in after having completed the trek..

Katie and Leah..