The Holiday Thread

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Anton said:

Strongly considering a South American trip next year. My Aussie/Chilean mate is heading back and has asked if I wanna do it with him. Would be a great laugh with him (and he speaks Spanish). However, to do it I need to try save this year and then somehow take a break from teaching for a few months. 

Planning a get away for the school holidays in 8 weeks time too. Maybe pop over into Asia or the east of Oz.

Come to Peru. Lots of things to see over here.

Huacachina, Machu Pichu, Huascaran and their lagoons, the nature in Huancayo and Junin, the amazon. If you want great landscape the only place better than Peru is possibly India. You also can't fault the food here. Whenever I leave the country I can't enjoy the food anywhere else because my expectations are that high 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

That was a decent post until that last sentence. What a load of rubbish.

I'm being genuine mate! When I lived in Canada i couldn't stand the food, yet i seemed to be the only one saying "the food is awful in Canada". It convinced me to thinking maybe it's just because I'm expecting it to be great as it always is over here!

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

So because you didn't like the one place you stayed in Canada all food outside of Peru is shite? Don't be so short-sighted. 

I love the food in England but also like the local food served throughout Europe. I've had good and bad experiences as that's just part of life. Maybe when you travel more (as you come across as having only been to Canada?) maybe you will understand that there's more to life than Peruvian cuisine. 

I never said that. When I have stepped out of Peru I don't enjoy the food as much, I'm not saying it's shite. I'm just saying that I feel the food being good here raises my expectations of food elsewhere. It's not that it's bad, I just don't enjoy it as much.

Ive been to loads of places, my taste is weird to be fair. Everyone criticizes the food in England. I personally loved it. Vietnam was cool too, very different.

[Spike]

Just now, LaSambadeStGermain said:

I never said that. When I have stepped out of Peru I don't enjoy the food as much, I'm not saying it's shite. I'm just saying that I feel the food being good here raises my expectations of food elsewhere. It's not that it's bad, I just don't enjoy it as much.

Ive been to loads of places, my taste is weird to be fair. Everyone criticizes the food in England. I personally loved it. Vietnam was cool too, very different.

It's because your palate is accustomed to Peruvian food. If you grew up eating Canadian food you'd probably think Peruvian food isn't that great.

[Guest]

Just now, Spike said:

It's because your palate is accustomed to Peruvian food. If you grew up eating Canadian food you'd probably think Peruvian food isn't that great.

Yeah, you could be right. Although my taste is very weird as I mentioned.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

Yeah, you could be right. Although my taste is very weird as I mentioned.

You're missing out. I have low standards so everything is delicious!

[Hugh Jass]

I just wanted to add that Peruvian food is absolutely amazing. I love it. So much variety and so much flavour. In my opinion Mexican and Peruvian food are definitely the heavyweights of Latin American cuisine. 

I went to Ecuador earlier this year, and was too much of a wimp to try their national dish cuy (guinea pig), but my favourite food there was actually at the Peruvian restaurant that I went to. 

Speaking of Ecuador it's pound for pound my favourite tourist destination. Because of it's size, it's significantly smaller than Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru etc, it's a very good way to get a taste of the variety of South America on a much smaller budget and within a much shorter space of time. Long distance bus tickets are ridiculously cheap there.

In a two week holiday there I was lucky enough to see two culturally rich cities in Quito and Cuenca (both city centres are world heritage sites), the Andres, the Amazon including the Yasuní national park which is one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet, Incas ruins (Ingapirca), the centre of the world monument on the equator and unwind in the beach, party town Montañita. It has so much variety in such a relatively small geographical area. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Hugh Jass

[Spike]

8 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

I just wanted to add that Peruvian football is absolutely amazing. I love it. So much variety and so much flavour. In my opinion Mexican and Peruvian food are definitely the heavyweights of Latin American cuisine. 

I went to Ecuador earlier this year, and was too much of a wimp to try their national dish cuy (guinea pig), but my favourite food there was actually at the Peruvian restaurant that I went to. 

Speaking of Ecuador it's pound for pound my favourite tourist destination. Because of it's size, it's significantly smaller than Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru etc, it's a very good way to get a taste of the variety of South America on a much smaller budget and within a much shorter space of time. Long distance bus tickets are ridiculously cheap there.

In a two week holiday there I was lucky enough to see two culturally rich cities in Quito and Cuenca (both city centres are world heritage sites), the Andres, the Amazon including the Yasuní national park which is one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet, Incas ruins (Ingapirca), the centre of the world monument on the equator and unwind in the beach, party town Montañita. It has so much variety in such a relatively small geographical area. 

They eat footballs in Peru? Now, I know what Brian meant by 'weird tastes'.

[Hugh Jass]

6 minutes ago, Spike said:

They eat footballs in Peru? Now, I know what Brian meant by 'weird tastes'.

Haha good spot. It took longer than I thought before I made one of my weird typos. 

Seriously though I couldn't get enough of Peruvian food. I'd definitely rank it as one of my top 5 favourite cuisines. Wish I could find a good Peruvian restaurant in Leeds where I live. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Hugh Jass

[Rafa Beneathus]

Went to Italy last year and the scran on offer there was absolutely fucking outstanding. That is all.

[Toinho]

11 hours ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

Come to Peru. Lots of things to see over here.

Huacachina, Machu Pichu, Huascaran and their lagoons, the nature in Huancayo and Junin, the amazon. If you want great landscape the only place better than Peru is possibly India. You also can't fault the food here. Whenever I leave the country I can't enjoy the food anywhere else because my expectations are that high 

I have distant, distant family in Peru. So Peru is 100% on the list if I go.

[Rafa Beneathus]

8 days until my holiday.

Fuck the lot of you.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Cannabis said:

I've ticked off a lot of Europe and I'm looking to South America in the future, at the moment I'm looking towards Cuba and Mexico but will look into Peru as it's getting some attention on here.

 

Haha, to be fair if I wasn't on it wouldn't be getting so much attention. Although its hard to resist recommending us as a destination given we have a lot of interesting sites and a beautiful landscape. 

Huacachina is based in Ica. If you're going straight from the UK this is probably the easiest place to get to given its only 3 hours from Lima. I don't know if there are direct flights to Lima from London but this is a very nice place to visit. If you're there you could also go to Paracas and visit the islands which has wild Penguins!

Next up is Huascaran. Its not the easiest place to get to, its 7 hours from Lima and doesn't have an airport. Its totally worth the experience though. Unlike Huacachina I haven't actually been but I really want to and most friends and family say its lovely and totally worth a visit. High up though! More than 3000 metres above sea level.

I don't need to talk about Machu Pichu do I? 

And I can't stress enough that you need to try the food in a proper Peruvian restaurant. Its better in provincial areas because its less mainstream than Lima and more traditional meals. As for nightlife, Lima and Arequipa are probably the 2 I'd recommend most. The most established cities.

Currently 4th in visitors for South America. I think we're better than Chile so I'd call us slightly underrated. Argentina and Brazil are too well known to be above them though.

 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Guest

[Toinho]

Have you gone to Machu Pichu? Did you hike it?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Anton said:

Have you gone to Machu Pichu? Did you hike it?

Yeah I've been. I didn't do the Inca Trail because I was young and wasn't that patient to do something like that. I think I'm still a few years before having the proper patience to attempt it. Its a much better experience though than just taking a train. 

I did climb up Huayna Pichu though, dangerous but with awareness you'll be fine. The view is outstanding once you're up there.

[Spike]

@LaSambadeStGermain how similar is Peru to Bolivia?

[Guest]

Just now, Spike said:

@LaSambadeStGermain how similar is Peru to Bolivia?

Never been to Bolivia so couldn't tell you. There are certainly similarities in the mountain areas as far as I'm aware but the Amazon areas in Bolivia are better than the ones in Peru in terms of development.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

Never been to Bolivia so couldn't tell you. There are certainly similarities in the mountain areas as far as I'm aware but the Amazon areas in Bolivia are better than the ones in Peru in terms of development.

My wife has been to Bolivia so I was just curious about Peru.  Am I the only person that doesn't' get the hype about Machu Pichu?

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Spike said:

My wife has been to Bolivia so I was just curious about Peru.  Am I the only person that doesn't' get the hype about Machu Pichu?

Machu Pichu can be overrated. Although it is lovely and the Inca Trail experience is great, Peru is full of other sites that are overshadowed by it.

[Danny]

People who think British food is shit have never had proper British meals, go to a tasty countryside pub/restaurant and you're in heaven.

On the subject of Italian food, yes, yes and yes. I went to Rome on a lads weekend (weirdly ) and it's an amazing city, history all over the gaff and the food is something else. Going to Rome from the UK must be the equivalent of a yank going to London.

Currently stuck in Sydney working though I do plan to go to Melbourne and Perth, but once that's up the next plan is to go to South East Asia.

Edit: I said stuck in Sydney but I live in Bondi Beach so stuck is probably not the word ha

Edited May 8, 2017 by Danny

[Toinho]

Let me know when/if you hit Perth. Beers. And a threesome.

[Inverted]

Studying abroad is kinda devouring my money so I've not had much on the go, plus there's still so much in Copenhagen I'm yet to do. 

In January I went to Weimar with my old flatmate and stayed at their flat there for a few days. Lovely town, but not much in the way of nightlife. That didn't really matter since I was there with someone with plenty of local pals and places to go. During the days we just went to museums and did some sightseeing. We also went to the remains of the concentration camp at Buchenwald, since that's just 10 minutes away by bus.

It was fucking freezing the whole time, especially outside the city in the middle of the woods where the camp is. Apart from the paths, it was about shin-high snow. It gave you a miniscule hint of how it must have been for the inmates, though. In hindsight I'm glad I saw it. 

[Stan]

4 days til I'll be landing in Magaluf for a peaceful weekend soaking up some sun on a stag do...

[Toinho]

16 hours ago, Stan said:

4 days til I'll be landing in Magaluf for a peaceful weekend soaking up some sun on a stag do...

BCM boi! and Bananas. yewwwww.

 

Thinking of jumping out a plane over the great barrier reef in July (with a parachute that will hopefully work ya cunts). Then thinking of Japan for a few weeks in January. I need to book something.

[Stan]

6 hours ago, Anton said:

BCM boi! and Bananas. yewwwww

Our hotel is right next to BCM

And we've got a boat party on Saturday. Free bar, free bottles of cava each (there's 8 of us) and free bar in BCM for an hour as part of the ticket package we got with the boat party. Let the carnage ensue!