Hey everyone! First off we just want to let everyone know that although we are in Chile, we were completely unaffected by the devastating earthquake. The only effect the quake had on us was that we could not find a south-bound bus from the Northern Chilean town of Iquique - which in itself is a completely invalid complaint given what the Southern regions are enduring right now. We took a night bus last night and have found ourselves in the coastal fishing city of Antofagasta (just below the Tropic of Capricorn.) We left our backpacks at the bus terminal and walked the 45 mnutes into the town center only to find 3/4 of the large city still shuttered up given that it is a Sunday. We actually just woke up from a nice nap in a shady park in effort to escape the heat.
However, it was only about a few weeks ago that we were in the Andean city of Arequipa, Peru surrounded by volcanoes and huge mountains/ deep canyons. The city of Arequipa was easily our most favorite in Peru (as far as big cities go.) It was nice to not be honked at every two seconds by taxi drivers asking us if we want a ride while walking a mere five blocks down the street. The high altitude also made the air much clearer and therefore not as polluted as Lima.
We made plans to be at the bus terminal at 5:30am to head out to Cabanaconde, where the start of an amazing trek through the Cañon de Colca, deepest canyon in the world starts, but we decided to move a little too slow and got there at 6am and were unable to get to Cabanaconde at a reasonable time to start the trek. Instead we just took the next bus to the town of Chivay, which was on the way to the canyon anyway so we figured we´d just go that tiny little village, have a quiet night, then head to Cabanconde the next morning. While waiting for our bus, we met another American traveler from Michigan ho decided to tag along with us. 
Once we got to Chivay, we were greeted by a kind, sweet, quiet girl who told us we could set up our tent at her hostal for the night. Once we got there, the American guy didn´t want to pay for a room so he slept in our tent with us. Not a big deal considering it was raining and freezing...not unlike the last trek we did in Huaraz. This time we were prepared with the plastic tarp we purchased from a hardware tienda and the rain was no match for us. We heard that there is a little party going on that night being Carnival and all.
We decided to go check out what we were expecting to be a few locals hanging out only to find the enitre public square filled with women dressed up in festive dresses and all the men whaling on drums and blasting flutes. They were also dancing around Uculuptus trees that had been erected into the concrete of the plaza and decorated with such wonderful gifts as tupperware, old scarves, and ribbon. After asking the locals, we found out that the local government pays for four or five trees to be chopped down, brought into the city square, decorated, and placed upright along with endless cases of beer for everyone to have access to. They also do this three nights per week for the month of February. So of course we were having fun just dancing with the folklore villagers and soaking it all in when all of a sudden a guy bursts through the cirlce of girls who are holding hands and dancing around the tree carrying an axe and begins to take five chops at the tree. 
After the whacks, everyone cheered and saluted the man as he was forced to drink a mug of chincha a corn beer that is traditionally fermented in someone´s mouth, then a beer, and then a pisco drink. Then he just ran back into the group of men playing flutes and banging drums. All the while, kids are chasing everyone around with compressed spray cans of soap foam and blasting people in a little war. It really got exciting when the tree was at it´s last ends, about to topple when whole familiies decide to stand right where it´s about to fall, watching and waiting with full attention. We could only look at eachother and ask ourselves (are these people idiots? A 30-ft tree is about to fall right on top of them and their just standing there singing and chanting. But neither of us could have anticipated what happened once the tree finally toppled. It was a mad dash of fifty people sprinting to grab the goodies off the tree!! Then they pick it up, throw it over their shoulders, and run it out of town. It was pretty amazing.
The next morning we set off for the trek into the Cañon de colca. Once on the bus, a group of officials walked right up to us because of our Gringo skin and started demanding that we pay a 35 soles tourist ticket for the canyon and that it´s the law. After a valiant effort and countless threats by them, we held strong in our refusal to pay and continud on the trek anyways. The first day was just walking down hill so it was fairly easy. Once we got to the bottom of the canyon, we met a lady walking her donkeys and she told us we could set up our tent at her place for free and spend the night there. She was also proud that we didn´t pay the officials the money because the villagers don´t see a dime of it anyways. It was pretty fortunate for Hillary because that American guy that traveled with us didn´t have a pack so he simply carried hers in exchange for some of our food and a free tent. The views were absolutely amazing and we did not get rained on which made it all the better! The last day was ridiculous because of course our first day was all down, the last meant the way up and out of the canyon. It was a strenuous few hours, but we handled it like champs. 
After getting back to Arequipa, we set up our plans to go to Tacna, the border city in Peru just north of the Chilean border. We then took the 5am train across the border and into Arica, Chile. We got there and had no clue where to go or what to do, so we just hopped on a local bus that told us he was going to the beach. We got there and just set up our camp right there on the sand. It was totally free and there were no hassles. After Tacna, we went down to Iquique which was pretty much a night and day difference between anything in Peru. There were huge high-rise apartments and hotels overlooking the water and a bike trail/boardwalk along the beach. When we first arrived, some local fruit vendors greeted us and could not have been more helpful towards us. He waved down a collectivo cab for us and told him exactly where we wanted to go and everything. Once we got to the hostal, we knew we made the right choice as it was merely steps away from the beach. We rented bikes from the hostal and went exploring through the beautiful town and had an amazing few days there.
That brings us to where we are now. Chile is definitely 100% different than Peru. But probably the most difficult thing is the language. They cut off every word, use the craziest slang, and speak lightning fast. Also, the currency is extremely inflated which means everything costs tens of thousands of pesos which makes for doing math on purchases a little difficult at first, but we´ve gotten the hang of it. We appreciate eveyone´s concern for our safety and are so fortunate to have so many friends and family members caring for us. Until next time...
Love Hillary and Andrew
Pictures from Arequipa, Peru:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3501837009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Pictures from Chile so far:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3535421009/a=34282164_34282164/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
