PJ and AJ`s travel page

Monday, 23 October 2006

We have made a new page for our travels...www.planetranger.com/travlesofphilandale
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Yes travels is spelt wrong!!!!

Wednesday, 30 August 2006

Location: Peru

Hey Hey
At last im going to write about the munnik holiday to Peru, but unfortunately no photos can be included as my camera got stolen out of the flat!!!
It was lovely to see the family again and to spend time with them. The first couple of days we did Santiago...markets, food, funiculas, shops, hills, churches, museums, pisco sours...we did it all!
Skiing was awesome as i was pleasantly surprised that i hadnt forgotten how to ski! We had a wonderful time on the slopes and in the cosy apartment...playing cards and catching up.
Next stop was Peru... I really enjoyed Peru and the people where so friendly and they spoke proper Spanish...unlike the Chileans...the Peruvians pronounce every letter and dont use nearly as much slang as the Chileans. Cusco was very high up, 3000masl, and so our first day was spent in bed aclimatising...just up my street!!! we then walked around Cusco"s little alley ways which reminded me a lot of the streets of Zanzibar! Julia got food poisoning from the dodgy local restaurant that we went to. I had the same later on...really gross!!!!! anyway...we went to lovely markets and ate wonderful food...most of the time!
Next was the train ride to Machu Picchu....wow Machu Picchu was incredible...we went at 5 in the morn and saw the sun rise over the ruins...it really was beautiful.

The jungle was awesome too...saw toucan sam the frootloops "man" in a tree and parrots and lots of lovely colourful birds!!! We stayed in a nice lodge and did many walks in the jungle! The food was great!!!!
We had to spend 16 hrs in Lima airport...eating Mcdonalds and playing cards...refugees to the max!!! Then it was time to say goodbye to the family...very sad. I arrived in Santiago at 12 30 in the morning and it was pouring with rain...a friend of mine, Mauricio, fetched me from the airport and took me back to the flat. Only to discover that i had a week in the flat by myself as Phil was away with her family in Argentina and CJ ..the other gappie.. was in Bolivia with friends!! So i had a very lonely week...cleaning the flat and feeling sorry for myself!!
CJ eventually came home and we descided that it was a good idea to get out of the flat as it was very boring...so we got a bus to Buenos Aires (23 hrs) and ate alot of steak and did some sight seeing. We then took a bus to Rosario, just north of BA, which is Che Guevaras home town... we went to his house which was very disapponting as it was just a block of flats which people where living in...we then thought that we would buy lots of Che t-shirts for friends...only to discover that there where only 3 che shirts in the whole of Rosario!!!! very lame...so we soon got over it and took a bus back to Mendoza (arg and chilean border) only to be told that the border was closed as there was too much snow for vehicles to pass!!! oopsie...work started the next day!!!
So we were in Mendoza for 6 days...walking around and finding things to do as Mendoza is not the most happening place i have ever been to!!!! Eventually we got a bus which left at 9 45 in the morning...all the buses where completely full!! A group of Chileans where even demanding that the Chilean government send them a plane as they needed to get back to Chile!!!! they where on the news! Our bus trip is supposed to take 6 hrs but ended up taking 10 hrs! The traffic on the pass was unbelievable...we moved about a metre every 10 mins as the pass is very steep and very narrow with many corners and only one vehicle can turn a corner at once...so you can imagine the drama with huge long trucks coming up and down the pass...
Then to make our day even longer...there were drugs found on our bus at the border post!!! So dodgy looking young people where picked out and questioned...that would include us as we sure looked dodgy in our dirty clothes as we certainly had not planned to stay for 2 weeks!!!!! Eventually we left and got home to lonely Phil at the flat and 8 30 on SAT night. I went staright to bed and woke up 13 hrs later....

So I have had an eventful holiday...but back at work now and they have paid us for the week we were stuck in Mendoza so that is great!!!

Much love Alex xx

Wednesday, 26 July 2006

Location: Santiago, Chile

Hola Amigos

have just realised that there hasn`t been a diary entry on this website for quite some time. On Saturday I returned from my holiday with the Beasle in Argentina. Alex and CJ are unfortunately stuck in Argentina(Mendoza) as the mountain pass has been closed due to too much snow. It doesn`t look like it`s going to be opening anytime soon as it is snowing in Santiago today. Not quite at the school but some cars arrived today covered in snow. anyways enough about the weather.

A couple of weeks ago the Munnik tribe arrived in Santiago for a visit. We had Kate and Julia to stay in our humble gap flat. Julia didn`t last long in the flat. We suspect this is due to the general lack of toilet paper and nutritious food. The Munniks then went on to skiing in El Colorado and then to Peru. By the sounds of things they had an amazing time!
Two weeks later the Beasle crew arrived.Chris came to stay with us and tolerated our poor standard of living. Bench and i took him out with mates and he was bombarded with questions from Chilean girls who were facinated by this new Gringo. Then Alex and i took him out with other mates where he was once again surrounded by Chilean girls who were this time teaching him how to dance(come on Kreeees bailando).

We then went on to El Colorado for a skiing week. Sadly there was a blizzard for two and a half days so we only actually got in one full day of skiing. It was worth it as I finally learnt how to ski and the rest of the family enjoyed it. We then flew to Buenos Aires where we took a bus to Iguazu Falls. The Iguazu falls trip was quite an experience as we did everything `backpacking style`...quite difficult for the parentals I think, but they managed the long bus journeys and hostels and even enjoyed it!

Alex and i will write to you all soon ( as soon as CJ and Alex get out of Argentina)

lots of love
Philly

Tuesday, 20 June 2006

Location: Santiago, Chile

HI Everyone!

i apologise for the lack of new photos. We are all going on holiday soon so there will be lots to show. Last month we got a new housemate from England...C to the J. now affectionatly known as BENCH! As we watched him play rugby the other day and he was rubbish. its all a big joke cause he is quite the jock at home...so he says ha ha. and he was hung over at the time of the game so thats his excuse. anyways he´s good fun.

Alex`s birthday was about a month ago. We woke her up early and made her a fry up breakfast. She was spoiled with gifts and affection from her loving housmates. In the evening we had some new gap student friends round for drinks and a braai(not barbeque). All went well and we landed up in Murano with Alex wearing a Burger King hat all night.

Two weekends ago CJ, Alex and myself went to Vina for the night. we stayed in an apartment near the beach and had a great time. On the Saturday we went to watch CJ´s atrocious rugby match. The rugby boys kindly gave us a lift back to Santiago on their bus which was great. We had to get back early to say good bye to our housemate Emily who has gone back to sunny England. Only Alex and I got to the airport as CJ was fast asleep and Nick had broken his ankle...such a reliable bunch.

Otherwise life is pretty normal in Santiago and we´re still having a wicked time

lots of love
Philly and Alex

Friday, 26 May 2006

Location: Santiago, Chile

Hi Everyone!
Right well this is a new website as the other one is full of photos etc. We recently had our mid-term break. The four of us went by bus to mendoza. We spent two nights in Mendoza eating great steaks, drinking good wine and shopping. We had fun but decided that there was more to Argentina than Mendoza so We went up North to Salta. Salta was a lot warmer than Santiago which was a relief. After an exhausting 18hr bus journey we checked into our hostel which looked depressingly like a thai prison. It was beyond awful so we only spent one night there. That day we got to the cable car which takes you to the top of the mountain. From the top we got a beautiful view of Salta and felt like real tourists.

The next day we moved to another hostel which cost the same but was way nicer!!!! That day we went quadbiking which was definitely the highlight of the trip.We went to San lorenzo(just outside Salta) and rode around the forests and mountains for two hours. Nick and I were the dream team for sure and almost crashed several times. It was great fun and we all got back in one piece.
The following day Emily, Alex and myself went for a walk in the forests/slash mountains. We followed the river to avoid getting lost and had a great walk. That night we went out and were bought Champayne by an older chap who threw the cork at me cause I wasn't watching him as he danced around with the bottle...interesting. To be different we went to the casino and each gambled 10 pesos...about R20. Alex came out a peso richer and I came out 2 pesos poorer. Niiiiiick lost everything but to him its 2 quid. big deal!

The bus trip back was 25 hours long and hence very tiring. It was good to finally be back at the Grange and in a comfy bed.

hope you all well
love Philly and Alex