Tomorrow is our final day in South America before flying to London, so we have been doing some reflecting (over a quiet cocktail or two) of our best and worst experiences in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.
Gabrielle's thoughts: And those who know how bad I am at making decisions will understand how difficult this list was for me!
Best Hostel: Hostel de la Gringa (Cuzco) - but we had just been camping for three nights, so anything probably would have been good
Worst Hostel: Hostel Gringa - similar name but unfortunately inhabited by flying, stinging cockroach/weta things.
Worst toilet: A bus stop between Puno and Arequipa: Smelly squat toilets barely covered by half a potato sack for a door.
Worst experience: Food poisoning while camping at 3800 metres on the Inca Trail. More smelly squat toilets which I inhabited in the dark from about 2am onwards . . . . . Closely followed by food poisoning while travelling on a night bus to Cuzco. The "urine only" toilet got a lot more than it bargained for that night!
Best Drink: Mora (Blackberry) smoothie
Best Meal: Vegetarian big toasty sandwich with cappuccino from Jack's Cafe in Cusco. Just like home! Unfortunately (or fortunately) I couldn't face the local delicacy - Guinea Pig!
Best town/city: Copacabana, Bolivia
Favorite Countries (starting with the best): Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile.
Best activity: Travelling over and through the Salt Lakes, closely followed by mountain biking down the world's most dangerous road.
Worst Activity: The Floating Island of Uros on Lake Titicaca.
Best Walk: Yampupata to Copacabana - 17 kms around Lake Titicaca to Copacobana. Not a soul in sight :)
Best Wildlife: The wasp maiming the tarantula along the train tracks at Aguas Calientes.
Best Snackfood: Choco sodas - kind of like a thin Huntley & Palmers cracker covered in dark chocolate :)
Wierdest thing: Why is all the toilet paper pink? And how come they are still listening to bad 80's music two decades or so late?
Biggest regret (3): Not making it into the jungle in Bolivia, not managing to balance the egg on the nail at the equator, not abusing more taxi drivers.
Overrated: The Inca Trail.
Underrated: Colca Canyon (Peru) and Mt Cotopaxi (Ecuador)
Best restaurant: Jack's Cafe in Cusco
Best journey: The bus ride from Uyuni to Potosi in Bolivia.
Worst journey: The food poisoning incident on the night bus to Cusco.
Strangest person/people: All South American taxi drivers.
Looking forward to: Putting toilet paper down the toilet, seeing family and friends in London, getting away from the taxi drivers!!!
Hamish's thoughts
Best hostel: Probably the beach on the Chilean coast - we were the only ones there, had a pool and a soccer field and I had my own little hut above the girls.
Worst hostel: The rowdy La Casa Roja, Chile. I'm a bit old for such antics these days.
Worst toilet: The filthy & cold squatters on the Inca trail.
Worst experience: Pooing myself during the giardia episode.
Best drink: Definately the Oreo milkshake in Lima
Best meal: The homecooked variety by our lovely hosts on Lake Titicaca in their pokey, smokey little kitchen.
Best town / city: Mantanita on the coast of Ecuador - great for swimming, surfing, running and blobbing.
Best to Worst countries: 1. Ecuador 2. Bolivia 3. Chile 4. Peru
Best activity: The three day walk into the Colca Canyon.
Worst activity: The over-rated floating islands on Lake Titicaca.
Best walk: The 17km walk through the quiet local settlements from Yampupatu to Copacobana, Bolivia.
Best wildlife: I loved the wasp pinning the taranchala on the Inca trail.
Regrets: Not knowing the language. Missing the jungle in Bolivia - an excuse to come back.
Best journey: The Salt flats in Bolivia - indescribably beautiful.
Worst journey: The constant debacle and lies we were fed trying to fly anywhere.
I wish I hadn't met... The lizard of a travel agent in La Paz - he certainly knows what I think of him (though my attempted blackmail and threats to write to Lonely Planet were hollow).
Best restaurant: La Cupula, Copacobana, Bolivia.
Most over-rated: Floating Islands of Uros, Lake Titicaca & the, certainly when you come from New Zealand, the "Inca trail".
Most under-rated: The town of Banos, Ecuador - I loved chilling out there.
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