The beginning of the next chapter

I arrived at the airport pretty exhausted but super excited to meet everyone and start exploring Peru. Lauren! From Cayman was there, we met in the airport got onto separate planes and reunited in Cusco where we were met by the Gap force leaders and taken to a hostel to settle in and get used to suddenly being 11,000 feet above sea level. The people in the group are lovely and as every day passes I feel like I've known them for years rather than days. I didn't meet the rest of the group properly till we sat down for dinner and even then we stayed in our hostel room groups as everyone was exhausted, affected by altitude sickness and looking for any familiarity. After an early night we explored the city and rested up our tired bodies from our various trips from around the world. As I was fighting a stomach bug I used this rest day to take it easy and read more of the Wizard of OZ in Spanish. The Peruvian people are very much mountain people, at least here in Cusco. They are less used to outsiders and the markets remind me a lot of Guatemala, full of colours and weathered faces. 

The dogs run rampant all over the hilly city, claiming street corners as exclusive territories. We climbed up to the mini Cristo Blanco a copy of the Rio de Janeiro statue, lots of steps but the view from the top was amazing, all the terracotta roofs of Cusco spread out like a toy town. The city has the feeling as though it is truly ancient and that the people traipsing around simply keep disturbing the sleeping Inca's nap.  

We've been having Spanish lessons and staying with a Peruvian families in pairs. I got much closer to the lovely person who I was paired with and we had some great nights out bonding with the rest of the group. As for my Spanish....as per usual I got stuck on the past tense for the 5th time, I sort of have a grip on it but simply need to go over it again and again. But hopefully by the time I head back to Argentina I'll be semi fluent!! Talking about Argentinians, there seems to be packs of them around Peru and I love bumping into them and chatting to the about Buenos Aires. The night life here is pretty weird, or it could just be our group. We hit up the Irish pub, the British pub and the local karaoke bar, which was so crowded it only contained our group... 

So our group is a mixture of nationalities, Canadian, UK, Caymanian and American. Everyone is lovely and really caring about each other, I haven't felt at all that I couldn't trust a single person if a emergency cropped up. I am really close to a British girl called Heidi who it feels as though we have known each other for years rather than a week, and we cuddle which is so comforting when travelling in foreign countries. So I have Lauren with old familiarity and Heidi for new familiarity and all the rest of the group to chill with and get to know even more as the weeks pass by. 

Well I need to sleep as we are getting up at 4am to head to Machu Pichu. 

Besitos 

Xx

Off Again!

Next adventure is dawning (literally as I sit here) as I wait for my flight to Cuzco through Lima :) 

Argentina has been amazing and I can't wait to come back and explore more in April/May. But till then I will be travelling the north. First for 2 months with gapforce a uk company that does volunteering and trekking abroad. And then a month of travelling myself up north and in about 8 hour I will meet the people I will be spending two months with! :) 

Tea in the airport at 4:30am

Abrazos 

The nomads and the people

It's been only 2.5 weeks since I started travelling and the people I've met have just been amazing. On the second night in Ushuaia I was sitting down in the hostel and was included into the conversation by these amazing Argentinian girls and after 4 days of sharing a room with them, one of them offered her house in Buenos Aires for me to stay in and here I am. And it's amazing, the energy of the house is so calm and welcoming and her mum and dog and grandmother have enveloped me in love. It's lovely and just so different to the culture back home, inviting basically strangers into your home isn't common but the Argentinian people are so friendly. They will go out of their way if your lost or confused to help you and I haven't felt like an outsider at all and they readily want to share their culture with you. I love it. I'm going to fall in love with an Argentinian and never come home ;) 

But even my fellow travellers have been inclusive and lovely. I met a couple travelling for 6 months for their honey moon and they included me and told me all about Colombia and the Galapagos and places I really need to go and explore in Peru/Ecuador/Colombia. The strange jokes, conversations and laughter was contagious and soon we were joined by other lone travellers who are equally interesting in their own way. And because kindness has been shown to you, there is a sense that one must pay it forward so suddenly the inclusiveness grows and makes room for all new and old travellers and it's amazing. I met a Argentinian doctor who believed that I could speak Spanish and that I should improve my confidence because that's where I'm getting stuck, she was so supportive and made me feel as though I can truly learn the language. And her brother the blue ukulele playing tour guide was super sweet and inclusive and by the end of 3 days I felt as though I had known them for years and hope that I will know them for years to come. 

Travelling is about getting to know a place and experiencing the cultures and traditions but it is also so much about who you meet and the realisation that strangers can become friends and kindness is more abundant then everyone thinks. 

Besitos

Is it summer?

Snow is sweeping the streets of Ushuaia, people are trembling in fear as the white clouds roll down the mountains and onto the speechless bystanders. The whole town is silent and not a sound can be heard apart from a drunken Argentinian, roasting lamb downstairs. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. 

Haha ;) 

Wow snow!

Gorgeous mountains :) 

5 things I've learnt from travelling as a girl by myself

Ushuaia January 2016

1. You can skip most queues if you look a bit confused and since your only one person nobody really seems to mind :)

2. While staying in a hostel for at least two days you will most likely be offered food as someone is bound to have made too much rice and since your alone you won't eat too much. (And if it's guys offering you food, they will give you more then they are eating, due to their macho-ness, it's free food might as well take advantage of the patriarchy) 

3. When out at a bar, you will most likely never have to buy a drink. Either the locals or a foreign male will attempt to flirt with you while buying a beverage for you. Accept the drink and if they are too old or creepy then just say thanks and move along ;) 

4. Because you are a girl, you get hit on by various desperate males who feel that they have travelled long enough without getting laid and are feeling sorry for themselves. Don't endulge them and just move along. And don't feel as though you have to or guilty if you don't do anything. (Unless they are incredibly lovely and genuine and treat you amazingly, then go for it) 

5. You will never be short of people to talk to, lone travellers seek other line travellers so where ever you go you will find your pack. (These packs tend to gather by the shore at New Years and howl at the moon while jumping into the southern ocean!) 

Besitos xx 

More random things to follow! 

The town amidst glaciers and desert

El Calafate

Description: Small town out of a western movie set in a desert and wind swept region beside the gloriously turquoise-blue Lago Argentino. The hostel was so lovely and bright and the people who worked there were truly a delight. 

Glacier: Perito Moreno a glacier which was so awe-inspiring you can't quite capture it all into one picture. The ice goes on for miles and miles and legend says that this glacier is bigger then Buenos Aires. 

Glacier Perito Moreno

Horse riding: 5hours all together, my horse was beautiful. Snowy white with freckles on its neck and face. We trotted along for 2 and a half hours gazing out at the gorgeous never ending landscape. We saw the occasional herd of guanaco ad gazed out towards Mount Fitz Roy. The sun shone brightly as we rode down into a valley where a small red farm house stood, we swung our tired legs off the backs of the horses and went in to eat with the guancho (cowboy) who was ruggedly handsome and seemed to have stepped out of an ad for the perfect ranch handler. The asado (bbq) was amazing and so good I didn't think I would be able to eat for a least a week! 

Back on our horses we went and we galloped back to the Estancia and after tea and coffee went home to the hostel.

Me and Mount Fitz Roy 

Last day: I spent the last day eating the rest of my food, chatting for hours on end with a guy from the hostel about travel and following your heart rather then just your logical mind and to feel more the energy rather then just something at face value. The evening was spent making dinner with 2 Aussie women and a guy from New Zealand. The dinner was super tasty, pasta with a veggie filled sauce, yum! And to top it off we shared a bottle of cider. Here for some reason the cider comes in champagne bottles with corks and everything. But it is incredibly refreshing and warm to drink :) then I slept on the hostel couch till 2:30 when I went to catch the bus back to Ushuaia at 3am. :)

(Falling ice) 

This entry is odd but after speaking in very basic English and some Spanish it's quite difficult to be eloquent in writing. :) 

Mount Fitz Roy :) (beautiful isnt it) 

In with the rum and out with a bang :)

New Year's Eve was amazing. The hostel was a collection of people away from home so the spirit of happiness and inclusiveness was amazing. I celebrated mainly with the lovely Brazilian and with the German girl. It was so fun and we toasted each other, as first Germany and then the UK celebrated New Years and that was just the beginning of the night! Pretty much the entire hostel was in the dining area and the laughter and smiles were incredible. I've never felt so alive and bright - may have had something to do with the rum I was drinking - but I don't think so, the energy was truly high and full of love. We played a card game to pass the time till our midnight hit and every minute that ticked by the laughter increased and more alcohol flowed. I haven't had so many emotions run through me as I did when the clock struck midnight. Everyone went around hugging and kissing each other and wishing everyone a happy New Years. It was infectious and I was so giddy and happy and sad and all mixture of emotions that seemed to crash over me as soon as New Years hit. 

Someone suggested to skinny dip in the southern ocean and I decided to lifeguard as the crazy Brazilian and German girl wanted to jump in this tiny stone ridden inlet which looked freezing. It was hilarious and we skipped back to hostel and after cleaning up the Brazilians cut from swimming we went to the club. I have never danced so much that my whole body was hurting and I couldn't breath. It was so fun and I was with people that were lovely. 

I finally made it back to the hostel at 5am and I fell asleep at 6am. Woke up to 21 degrees out and proceeded to get sunburnt, the hottest sun I have ever felt. It is probably cuz the earth is tilted or something .... I should probably look it up. 

Hope everyone had an amazing New Year's Eve and their new year has started off well. 

Besitos :) 

Glacier martial

Indescribably beautiful. Hopefully through photos you can see how immense and breath taking it is.