All hell has broken loose; we have had a huge journey from Cusco via la Paz to Santiago.
Intrepid cancelled our tour on Sunday night, as Greg and Prue were hiking the quarry trail in the mountains. We had 24 hours to get out of Peru before the borders closed, and we would be stuck there for weeks.
We got four seats on the last flight out of Peru leaving 10.40 am. The hikers had to wake up at 3am to come down the mountain in the dark, and get Greg and Prue to the airport by 9.30. Prue got to ride a horse. Kate and I got all the luggage to the airport 7am.
It was bedlam, people trying to buy tickets from us, queues everywhere, and no room to move, and the military closed the airport and wouldn’t let them in. Kate had to run with a paper ticket to get them in. They arrived and checked in with seconds to spare. I have never seen two more exhausted people.
Flew to La Paz Bolivia, then Chile announced they were closing borders Tuesday night, and we could be stuck here in Santiago indefinitely. We just got to change our tickets to Melbourne tonight at 1am, so check in before the closure. Just escaped being stuck in South America indefinitely three times. Some of our group are stuck in Peru, some had a 12 hour bus trip to Bolivia, then flying to Oz via Johannesburg!
We are feeling like we have been riding on the crest of a wave, with a huge wave about to crash over us. Luckily we cruised to safety.
All exhausted and looking forward to solitary confinement for two weeks.
Jenny and Greg