fionamw

Strangely my OH looked at that.... but of course I was dismissive. how can you 'do' Argentina by seeing BA & maybe the lakes and maybe Ushuaia if you're lucky? Pffft

Oh, and no, they ain't cheap at all at all. You could buy majority equity in a S Wales valleys house for the cost of a GOOD(ie long) Amazon/S America cruise!

willmore

I will keep Argentina in mind, however it wont be next year as jim wants to come and he has already finalized his skiing trip for 2012......men - cant live with them - cant live without them....

Thanks for your support - fingers crossed that it works out.....


Funny funny man.......now could you give me your opinion on houston please. Ive been reading horror stories about the lineups and people missing their connecting flights. Is it a major hub like miami with long lines of immigrants as well as others?

We do have polish cousins living in houston, so I could stay overnite and visit with them I guess.....

dakota44

I haven't been through Houston, so no experience to quote from, but it is certainly a major hub for anywhere South of the border. So, I suspect the stories are true.
If it were me, I would opt to fly Air Canada to Lima, stay overnight and fly Lima to Quito the following day, then reverse it to go home. More money, but less hassle. I say stay overnight because the flight from Toronto arrives in Lima close to midnight. Now I suppose that one could book an early morning flight to Quito, depending on dates they can be at a little after 6am, and just hang out in the airport all night, but that might be very tiring.

Cape Blue

I just missed this book being reviewed on the Daily Show - looks like it might be an entertaining read.

http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Right-Mac...4944842&sr=1-1

dakota44

I saw that and am hoping to find it here. I have a few on the subject of the Inca. One I have actually read twice. The Last Days of The Incas by Kim MacQuarrie. I found it a very interesting history of the conquest from the first meeting between Atahualpa and Pizarro, to the last 30 years of the rebellion and the last Sapa Inca, Tupac Amaru. I highly recommend it.

The book also has chapters in the back about Bingham and his error in thinking that Machu Pichu was the lost city of Vilcabamba where the last Sapa Incas had retreated to wage their resistance against the Spanish. Also a section on another explorer, a real seedy sort, who followed Bingham decades later, proved the truth of Vilcabamba and discovered other ruins, and also started a very cult type religion with his son, who died young, as the new Jesus. Also how he tried to steal the work of an explorer who went after him and discovered even more. Fascinating.

Another book, 1491, by Charles C. Mann covers the things you were not taught in history class, the truly advanced and accomplished societies of most of the indigenous populations of the new world pre-Columbus. Also an interesting read. Another is, Conquest of The Americas, forget the name of the author, but there are a number of updated versions. If that kind of thing interests you, give them a look. Because I spend most of my time in Peru now, and the OH is Peruvian, the subject is dear to my heart.

willmore

Have to tell you Im getting very discouraged about the cost of this trip. Air fare alone with AC is over $2000.00 with all the bloody frigging taxes - vancouver-toronto-lima-quito return; about $500.00 cheaper with continental through houston. Going to wait and see if the airfares decrease otherwise a month in italy in the spring is looking very nice right about now...

Thanks for all your help....fingers crossed that it works out.....

fionamw

Make it Spain and you're welcome to browse my piccies and imagine patagonia!!!
Shame if you have to put it off, though. Just hopping back and forth within Europe is *relatively* painless thanks to EZY and RYR.

abbyleon

Since this is your first time you may have to face altitude sickness, read about it and keep medicine in case..