Against the odds??
December 15th, 2005We made it! And without a hitch, unlike last year!! Just 22 hours after leaving a souless Travelodge on Gatwick’s runway, we landed at Guatemala City.
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What my blog is about
This is a place to tell people about your blog - a short description for the folks who don't know how cool you are. If you do not want to use it, you can uncheck the 'Enabled' box under 'Blog Options' - 'Blog Intro' in your admin pages.LGW – GUA (via DFW)
December 15th, 2005We had the unexpected pleasure of being taken to LGW by Vinnie Jones – I never knew he drove a Ford Mondeo. We couldn’t complain mind……we’d actually been waiting for the airport shuttle bus when he rolled up, asked us where we were going and matched the price of the bus. Brilliant, private tranpsort without the hordes to contend with at a stupidly early time in the morning.
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Nearly There: Take 2
November 17th, 2005The flights are booked. The rucksacks are ready to be filled.
And we’re more than ready for our next adventure!
Luxury in Lima
January 17th, 2005We flew from Tacna to Lima, and the baggage carousel was much less traumatic than the last time we were here – all items present and correct. As usual, we’d sent a heap of emails out to hotels to see who had room. WeŽd selected the popular Miraflores district of Lima and quite a few hotels had come back to us. We picked the Hotel Boulevard as it sounded good value for money compared to the other competitors.
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Tedious Tacna
January 16th, 2005We got a taxi back to Peru in much the same way as we got to Chile, just with less chaos! Strangely enough, we saw Lilo hanging out with his mates at the bus station. He shook our hands enthusiastically again and squinted his eyes for a “bootiful Emma!”. The border crossing was much easier this time, with less bag checking and what felt like a quieter road. The desert hadn’t changed much though.
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In the shadows….
January 15th, 2005Finishing our drinks, we were about to move off when Eug was tapped on his shoulder by one of the three guys sat drinking behind us. Are you English he asked, with a barely perceptible accent belying the fact that he wasnŽt. Thus the next few hours of our South American adventure began, and an intriguing part of it it turned out to be……..
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Vulture peninsula
January 15th, 2005With our legs relaxed we decided to (at last) take a walk down to AricaŽs sea front, dominated by a huge lump of rock which is the northernmost part of Chile’s share of the Andean foothills. High above us the vultures and other sea birds circled as we slowly ambled along the promenade towards a peninsula reaching out into the impressive Pacific swell.
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Restaurant El Arriero
January 14th, 2005Restaurant El Arriero at number 385 on 21 de Mayo in Arica was where we returned EVERY night for our evening meal because it was superb. Our waiter, Osciel, was such a kind and pleasant guy too and we were slightly peturbed when he told us that the restaurant was rarely full.
Eug had some of his best steaks here and starters of mussels and prawns with lots of garlic. The avocado starters are huge and full of flavour from this local fruit. Probably the highlight for me were the scallops with parmesan – could have eaten them forever. Absolutely “stunning”. The sea bass was delicious, and the garlic chicken full of flavour.
This place is right in the middle of town and you feel very cosy tucked away from it all. Lovely place, not too expensive, lovely food and a delightful waiter. My mouth’s watering at the thought of those scallops!
Out of key
January 13th, 2005We were shown to our room at (Old) El Paso which was pretty basic and felt slightly unclean, which we were surprised about considering the hotel is supposed to be a four star. But it’s holiday season here so we should feel lucky that we’ve got a room at all. We peeled off our sweat-laden clothes and finally got the shorts out for an airing!
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Inflatable Lilo
January 12th, 2005The chaos of Arica’s bus station didn’t feel half as bad as that in Tacna. A big-bellied and jolly Chilean taxi driver welcomed us into his cab. Gosh it was hot!
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mihai