Ailsa Gemmell

traveled in 5 countries Read more

Traveler South America
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- Oct 25, 2017
- 🌙 11 °C
- Altitude: 2,426 m
- Chile Antofagasta San Pedro de Atacama -22.913465, -68.20136322°54’48” S 68°12’5” W
Day 70
San Pedro de Atacama
October 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
Trying to be proper backpackers and not book our hostel in advance...ask about 2 places and we're sick of it. End up in a cafe googling... hostal matty 15m away will do! What do you mean we have to
sleep in a dorm...?
Cute little town, beautiful main square ideal for drinking wine in the sun...and we did just that! First wine was not good..thankfully not a representation of the rest we have had. Sending pictures back home bragging. A lot of wine drinking 'a jug? Yes I'll have that please. Is it enough for two...? (It was a litre) ...snack eating...more cocktails and dinner. Me ordering extras that cost tons by mistake as per usual. That guac was as much as my meal...5 cocktails down and the annoyance seemed to disappear... Valle de Luna and proper tourists being ferried about on our minibus, sorry but we were too hungover to cycle up that would of been silly and it's bloody toasty there. Slightly average star gazing with a blob of Saturn seen, at least we made up for it in drinking lots of his wine. Typically never bloody on time stressful airport transfer but off to Santiago we go!Read more
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- Oct 22, 2017, 10:00am
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 3,664 m
- Bolivia Departamento de Potosí Tahua -20.256349, -67.45818820°15’23” S 67°27’29” W
Day 67
Salar de Uyuni
October 22, 2017 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Smiley lady, Salty desert tours, new friends- Dan and emma from oxford, altitude sick Canadian guy, slightly weird Dutch girl. Tour guide- James....probs not his name!! First stop train graveyard...rusty Thomas. Sleepy salies!! Onto the salt flats. Lunch in salt hotel. Prawns climbing on landmarks. Perspective photo shoot. Pringle disco. Jump photo....face melter. Guide great...us not so much. Cactus island, beer half way up, good decision..... Big willy cactuses. Sun set. Awesome. Night drive to hotel. Salt hotel. Salty floors. Salty dinner. Salty bed. Sick of salt. Early start. Gemmell loving it. 1st stop "red lagoon" Ailsa it's not red, oh maybe blue lagoon then. FLAMINGOS. Cue 1000 pics. Beautiful birds. Smelly lagoons. Multiple stops. Lunch with a view. More lagoons, including the red one. Surprisingly it was red. Geysers- stinky and freezing. Cool none the less. Shorts not a great idea. Onwards to hotel. Canadian hasn't left car all day. Stumbles into room. HACE?? Probs needs to go down. Guide "we only take them down if their lips go blue". That sounds sensible...... Manage to convince ourselves he's probs alright. 2 bottles of wine cement that view. Outstanding hot spring under the stars. Truly spectacular. Beers and philosophising in the group. Sneaky fondling in the dark. 3 hours later- 5 prunes return to hotel. Early start. One more stop. More phenomenal scenery. Onto Chile. Tarmac as soon as we cross border. Bolivia you beauty goodbye!Read more
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- Oct 20, 2017
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 3,667 m
- Bolivia Departamento de Potosí Uyuni -20.46109, -66.82378120°27’40” S 66°49’26” W
Day 65
Uyuni
October 20, 2017 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Paverage.... rogue hostel, grim food, luckily only 1 day here. Bring in the salt flats.
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- Oct 13, 2017
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 3,793 m
- Bolivia La Paz -16.500166, -68.15240516°30’1” S 68°9’9” W
Day 58
La Paz
October 13, 2017 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Where is our hostel again? Taxi drivers who actually refuse fares...we are used to taking double the time and asking everyone. Cool hostel called the green house...hilarious owner Sergio 'hey man!'. Walking round the fancy neighbourhood...lots of dressed up dogs and a shockingly terrible band. Some ropey Italian food. Finally finding the oasis that is cafe del mundo...I'll admit i spent a lot of time there. Ash convincing me death road would be fun... Cooking for the 2nd time. Quinoa.....how in earth do you make this edible. Weird concoction produced. Surprisingly good! Death road. Can't see uh oh. Ash bails. Ailsa bails. Awesome fun though. All smiles at the bottom. German au pair....nice girl. Cigarettes. Frowns from Ailsa. Tour guide declares his love for her. "I'm a lesbian". What an excuse. Awkward ride home. Driver falling asleep. Several close encounters. Next day back to cafe del mundo. Summit prep.
First 3 days apart for 3 months. Yaaay. Not really.
Ash. Ice climbing. Thunderstorms. Cups of tea. Andreas is a legend. High camp. Chill. Sleep at 6. Awake at 1. Begin summit attempt. Awesome. Cold, tired, scared. Sun rise on summit. Worth every penny! Back down, and back for some snugs by 2. Ailsa obvs missed me loads!!
Ailsa. Coffee, cake, coffee, and you get the picture. Walking tour. Missing ash.
Reunited. Cable car to airport. Uyuni here we come!!Read more
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- Oct 10, 2017
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 3,846 m
- Peru Puno Plaza de Armas de Puno -15.839032, -70.0274215°50’21” S 70°1’39” W
Day 55
Lake Titicaca
October 10, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Spewy bus. Arrived in puno! Strange owner who loved his bunny. Chilly shower. Off to the floating islands the next day (Islas flotantes de los uros), lovely day, sitting on top of boat. Floating islands. Island 'president' showed us how they made them. Love boats. Snoozy sams. Long journey over to next incan island almost 38KM off coast of Peru. Greeted by host family (we got cute old man). Paired with mormon couple who were actually super lovely, translated everything for us. Felt like noobs. Quinoa soupy lunch, starving. Bedroom which although smelt like barn animals should be in there. Hike up to view points and temple (almost 4500m above sea level). Doughnuts/Yorkshire puds at the top. Beautiful views of Peru mountains. Discotheque with traditional clothes, Peruvian band. Dancing with Mormon pals who looked much better than us. Lots to swish. Much more fun than expected. Wondering what others were doing that night. 7am breakfast actually at 6...gemmell not totally happy at getting up. Trip to taquille...hiking, lunch and coffee with a view, some new Dutch pals. Drunken captain making us feel all safe....Read more
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- Oct 8, 2017
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 3,847 m
- Peru Puno Plaza de Armas de Puno -15.839013, -70.02744915°50’20” S 70°1’39” W
Day 53
Arequipa
October 8, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
First actually pleasant night bus. Mildly sweaty and a cooked apple but overall not bad! Checked in early. Beautiful city with plaza. Lots of coffee stops, beautiful views, happy hour in the sun with mojitos...big night of 30 mins in the hostel. Another day of very similar...delicious crepes. First morning apart! It was terrible... 😋 ash off rafting (dominating...his words) and Ailsa face timing eating crepes and drinking coffee.Read more
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- Oct 5, 2017
- ☀️ 28 °C
- Altitude: 2,434 m
- Chile Antofagasta San Pedro de Atacama -22.912037, -68.19947922°54’43” S 68°11’58” W
Day 50
Cusco
October 5, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Back here again! Smooching around. More job celebrations. Drinks on the balcony over looking the plaza del arms. Getting served an actual kidney. Buying a £160 painting while pissed. A cooking class, funny hats and some look saltada. A day trip to rainbow mountain, beautiful but v busy! Secretly racing everyone else to the top (we won). Saying bye to Dan the man!Read more
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- Oct 3, 2017
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 2,841 m
- Peru Cusco Ollantaytambo Zona Arqueológica Quellorajay -13.25949, -72.26581613°15’34” S 72°15’57” W
Day 48
Ollantaytambo
October 3, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Snoozy train. Beautiful spot with some Incan ruins as a back drop. Cool hostel. Guess what....JOBS IN NEW ZEALAND!!! 🇳🇿
Cue jumping around and crying a little. Celebratory cocktails! Woohoooooo.
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- Sep 29, 2017
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 2,250 m
- Peru Cusco Machupicchu Machu Picchu -13.16568, -72.53687613°9’56” S 72°32’13” W
Day 44
The Salkantay Trek
September 29, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Early start and off to Soraypampa. Argentinian guys- combined arguing with taxi driver. 20 minute walk to 1st campsite. Decide 20 mins doesn't count as a full day hiking. Push on. Decent peg up through pass. Abra salkantay -4600m. Ney air. Clouds close in. Long walk to 1st campsite. Ash not complaining about weight if bag once- legend! Cooking in the dark. Ailsa wanting to eat raw pasta. Scranzilla. Decent kip. Beautiful sunrise. Ailsa still asleep- no surprises there! Downhill for the day-yes. Beauty through a valley. Slight negative flies and horse shit. Decent peg. Glad ash insisted on peanut butter. Sore feet. Ailsa not complaining..... Nurse ash and compedes to the rescue. Awesome spot for 2nd night. Dinner and amazing coffee from host. Fireflies. Pipe. Hot night. Sweaty tent....yay. Early start. More coffee. More walking. Ailsa living life. Minor cheats......taxxxxiiii! Hydroelectrica to aguas calientes. Awesome walk alongside railway. Slightly under appreciated by 2 weary souls. Arrive. Stinky feet....blissful shower. Pizza. Annoying Ozzy couple. Bloody Machu Picchu website. Sleep. Steps to Machu Picchu. Finishing the walk properly. Machu Picchu......wow. 2hours of selfies. Back down. Burger and beers. Train.....what £100?? Oh well. Ollantaytambo bound.....Read more
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- Sep 28, 2017
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 3,342 m
- Peru Cusco -13.533208, -71.96880813°31’60” S 71°58’8” W
Day 43
Cusco
September 28, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Cuscopackers and Dan the man! View over the city. Cocoa tea. A walk around the plaza del arms. Beautiful. Horrible chicken dinner. Ash finally finding churros. Ash doing everything within his will to not go on a walking tour. Salkantay planning. Coffee in the square. Buying a painting 'it's my work' off a street guy. Snuggling in the presidential suite (twin beds). 4am rise and off to mollepata to start the trek.Read more
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