Opportunities in Chile
Monday the 14th of March I will jump on a plane to Santiago de Chile. Hopefully I will find an apartment within maximum a few weeks, and I will be living in Santiago for at least 6 months. Santiago is a buzzing city if you hear the rumors, and though also a lot more expensive than Lima, it is a developed city with South America’s most extensive and modern metro system.

Besides the infrastructure which is much more orderly in Santiago, it also seems like a promising city based on the local tech startup scene and investment offers. Start-Up Chile sounds very interesting, but it also sounds as a promising city for a startup culture, and the aspect of getting in touch and networking with other startups, developers and investors. Not to forget that thanks to the working holiday visa it seems like it is pretty easy getting a 12-month residency visa, when coming from Denmark.

2 years in Lima, Peru…

It is hard to believe that it is almost 2 years ago since I came to Peru for the first time. The time has been flying by, and though the things did not go exactly the way I wanted, the last couple of years have been a great experience. I have learned a lot about the culture and working with people here in Peru (as well as the rest of South America), and it has been a great time living in Lima. It is really a city that you will both love and hate.

I have experienced so many things here in Lima the last 2 years, and somehow the city will always be in my heart. While I am selling the last of my stuff and preparing for the 14th of March, I will try to enjoy a bit of the summer and the company of the many great friends I have made here. It is not easy to digg up the roots and start all over in a new country, but it will be an exciting challenge. A big thanks go out to all great people I have met, who have supported and helped me during my time in Lima.

In this post I will pretty much limit it to show you some of my photos from Lima (Miraflores Peru). I havent been taking alot of pictures yet, so I will hopefully upload a lot more photos from Lima later. The building I live in right now has 21 floors, where the top floor is a roof top terrace. From the roof you get an amazing view over all of Lima, as this building is one of the highest buildings in Lima. On the pictures you can also see the neighbooring districts like Barranco, San Isidro and Surquillo. I go up there from time to time, as I love the view, and it feels like a “small sanctuary” when living in the big city. So one evening I went up there right before the sunset, and this is where these photos are from. Enjoy!

The best option to see the Nazca lines is to fly over them with a plane. This is pretty expensive though, and takes between 20 and 35 minutes, depending on which plane you choose. The price varies from $50-$90 dollars, and an airport tax of s/20 soles. You can arrange a trip the same day as you arrive, so most people either leave the same day or just spend one night in Nazca. I expected it to be harder to arrange, so I got a hostel before arranging my trips over the lines, and had to spend a night there – which I regret. I would recommend just going there in one day, do the lines and maybe go see the mummies near Nazca [link], and then leave the same day. Nazca is not really worth staying in, and the town has nothing special to offer.

The flight over the Nazca lines is an amazing thing, and really makes you wonder why they made those figures. I went with a plane for about 35 minutes with 3 other people. If you suffer from motion sickness, you should try to take some motion sickness medicine before, as the plane goes around and tip a lot to the sides to give a good view of the lines. Most people don’t seem to have problems with it though, but there are always plastic bags in the plane if you get sick.

If you don’t like to fly, it is possible to catch a bus going north (buses to Ica go this way) and stop at the watch-tower, where you can see 3 of the figures; the Tree, the Hands and the Lizard, which is cut in half by the road. I did not went there though, and will definitely recommend flying over the lines instead, as it is an experience in itself flying in one of the small planes.

Tips for visiting Nazca

• Go to the airport to buy the tickets for the lines; if you can, gather 3-4 people as this will reduce the waiting time. (if you go there alone, you have to wait until there are at least 2-3 other people going on the tour)
• Don’t spend more than a day in Nazca – you it is possible to see everything Nazca has to offer in just a half day.
• Go visit the mummies in Nazca [link] while you’re there, but don’t pay more than 20 soles for a ride and a guide out there.

I did not do the Inca trail myself, because I felt it was a bit too much for my budget paying $250-350 for trekking, so instead I just went to Machu Picchu in one day. There is a train with Perurail going there from Cusco, and you can get to Machu Picchu and back to Cusco with the train in just one day. The train is kind of pricy though, and a one-way ticket to Machu Picchu (not including the bus ticket from the town of Machu Picchu to the actual ruins) costs about $41 US dollars. I would recommend going to the town of Ollantaytambo the day before visiting the ruins (maximum 10 soles, about $3 US dollars with a shared cab or collectivo), and then taking the train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu and go back that way. It’s a good money-saver, and you can get to Machu Picchu earlier in the morning if you spend a night in Ollantaytambo.

Even though Machu Picchu is very touristic, it is absolutely worth doing. While you are there, make sure you make the walk up to Wayna Picchu, where there is some more ruins and the most amazing view over Machu Picchu and the mountains around. When you finally get to the top (after about a million steps on the stairs leading there) you literally feel like sitting in the clouds on top of the mountain – and the view of Machu Picchu could not get better. You have to go up there before one o’clock in the afternoon and preferable a bit earlier, since they only let 100 people go up there every day.

Tips for going to Machu Picchu

• Go spend a night in Ollantaytambo and spend a night there before going to Machu Picchu, and make sure you go back via Ollantaytambo too – the buses from there are faster than the train and way cheaper.
• Try to get there as early in the morning as you can, as there are less tourists and easier to get to Wayna Picchu.
• Make sure you go all the way to the top of Wayna Picchu, the view is absolute worth the struggle getting up the steep stairs.
• If you go on the Inca trail, make sure you stay a few days in Cusco before to arrange your trip and talk to different companies. This can both get you a cheaper and better trip, though it might be hard during the high season.

The second week pretty much just went with going to school and relaxing a bit in Cusco. We went to a place called Protectoyu Peru, with an awesome teacher called Yuliana. It doesn’t have a lot of student or big facilities, but it is a very nice small place with cheap prices and great teachers. I can recommend this place if you are a couple of people looking for a place to study, but if you are travelling alone, I’d recommend you to find a bigger school, where you meet some more students. We really learned a lot this week, and I feel it was great for my Spanish with another week of school.

I don’t like Cusco that much as a place to live and study though. It has a big nightlife scene, but most of it is Gringos coming to Cusco for the Machu Picchu and other tourist sites. It is kind of a mix between a big city like La Paz and a small city like Sucre. If studying for longer period of time, I’d rather recommend one of these cities. If your more into the big city life go to La Paz, but if you don’t mind the quit state of mind in Sucre, where the decent clubs only open Thursday to Saturday, go study there instead. Bolivia is both cheaper, and does not have as many gringos as Cusco.

Another thing you should do while in Cusco, is walk up to the Cristo Blanco, the big Jesus-statue on the top of the east-side hill. You can take the stairs up there from the end of Av Tullumayo. Alternatively you can also take a taxi or one of the special “buses”, but it is quite expensive, and takes over an hour. The stairs will get you up there in about 20 minutes, in a much less touristic path. It is absolutely a visit worth, as the view of Cusco from up there is absolutely amazing.

You can find more photos from Cusco here.