Isla del Sol and MACHU PICCHU!

Hey all,

So i made a quick stop off at Isla del sol which is a tiny island on Lake Titicaca on my way to Cusco and did this lovely walk around the island. It takes only 1 day but you take a tiny little boat over then walk through the fields up and over some pretty steep hills and see some amazing scenery. Luckily for me it wasn´t too hot that day so i didn´t sweat buckets but still got to see how the locals live.  Isla del sol is the birth place of the Inca sun god so its a pretty special place and I had a great time walking around it for 1 day. Here are some pics

Copacabana

Isla del Sol

 And THEN! I went and did the Salkantay Trek to MACHU PICCHU! Which was a real highlight of the trip. I happened to be trekking at the worst time of the year. The rainy season but it didn´t really matter at all in fact it made me feel like I was walking Tigs in the rain at home! The Salkanaty trek is 5 days 4 nights and you get up to altitude of 4,200m. It was pretty hard in places and we had rain most days but I had an amazing poncho that did a great job of keeping me really dry!


Here are some pics of the AMAZING MACHU PICCHU
highlights include - being called the family the whole time
trekking in the mud and rain!
seeing the Salkantay Glacier
warming up in the hot springs after 3 days of trekking in the rain
making friends with the group- especially an America girl called Quinnen - so many giggles
walking 50 minutes up the most horrible steps to Machu Picchu
seeing and walking around Machu Picchu in the sun rather than the rain which we had the whole time!
walking up to Waynapicchu - different viewpoint
chilling in the sun at Machu Picchu for the day
Buying a baby alpaca jumper - christmas red! getting into the festive spirit
sleeping on the train on the way back to Cusco
sharing all these photos and memories with you!

photo time

the family!

1st day Sacred valley

trekking in the rain

Leo loved Machu Picchu!

 very sweaty but very happy 

The photos you have all been waiting for!!!

San Pedro de Atacama - the amazing geisers we saw...AMAZING!

Limiting to 3 pics per place because otherwise the internet might die on me!  This is also the 4th time I have tried to upload this blog!











Lake Titicaca -. was a bit of a disappointment due to over tourism but still interesting to learn how they make the floating islands even if apparently they don{t even live on them any more!










boat ride through the reeds

 Then we moved onto La Paz...this is all a bit out of sync time wise. This post should come before the last but never mind!  La Paz is a really strange city...very touristy...busy, smelly and set in this incredible crater.     Spend far too much time here between  trips so got to know my favourite places...Alexander Coffee, the cafe where i could get 3 course lunch for $1.50, and the best place to buy souviners.   We also did and survived Death Road!

I didn{t really enjoy it that much...not much of a mountain biker i have found out. I also managed to fall off my bike at one point but didn{t hurt myself. the best part of the whole tour was the pool at the end and getting the free t-shirt.




looking sharp



the road cut into the mountain

Before the new  road was built around 200 people a year died on the road. Now it is mainly used for tourist bikes but there is the odd car that still drives up/down. MAD!

Best thing  i did just outside of La Paz was  t rek up Huayan Potosi mountain. 6088m ! pretty cool. The photos show for themselves. But it was a hard 6 hr hike up to the top in crampons battling for the  first 3 yrs a  bad stomach!



at the top



dawn



the mountain itself

 

Bolivia Salt Flats and more

So as you would expect we went to go and see the Bolivian Salt flats. we took a 3 day tour which went above and beyond the salt flats to see some amazing lakes and geisers. I wasn´t really sure what to expect but the salt flats were pretty cool! they take you to an ´island´ in the middle of the salt flats and from that viewpoint you get 360 degree views of the flats which was actually astonishing! so here are some pics to tell the story.






laguna colorado







the gang



Arequipa - La Paz

Hey all.

So it has been a busy few weeks thus not really much blog time. Also having a nightmare with my memory card so currently all my photos are locked onto the sd card for the time being. So once again no photos but i wanted to fill you all in on Arequipa and the first little part we did in Peru.

We didn´t mean to go to Arequipa but met a lovely French girl called Marie so jumped on the band wagon and travelled up north to Peru and stayed in Arequipa for a few days. Apart from partying in our hostel we got to see the Colca Canyon which is meant to be one of the largest canyons in the world. Also part of our tour involved seeing some condors but we didn´t see any....bit of a disappointment but we did this amazing walk down one side of the canyon and stayed in a place called Paradise aptly named because after the long hike we all got to jump in the pool which was super refreshing after all the walking we did.

After that we travelled up north to Puno which is a pretty ugly city on the edge of Lake Titicaca...whic you should call Lake Titi ha ha which is the local way apparently. and on the bus journey we met up with a Dutch guy called Ruben who joined the group so we all went and did a tour of Uros which is the floating islands on the lake.  It was the biggest disappointment ever!! it was commerical, touristy in a bad way and you felt uncomfortable the whole time. The locals would lead you into their house to show you it and offer to let you try on the local clothes which sounds fun but seemed so forced. I was cringing the whole time and frankly could not wait to get off the islands. Apart from that Puno didn´t have that much else to offer us. We were at 3000m ish so the altitude was beginning to affect us all and walking up to a view point was quite tricky. you feel fit and then you try and walk up 100 steps and suddenly you can hardly breathe!!

We swiftly made our way out of Puno to La Paz in Bolivia. We had the most unusual way of getting across which involved our bus being put on a ´ferry´which was merely a couple of planks of wood put together powered by a small outboard engine and ferried across lake titicaca...we all thought the bus would sink!! but it didn´t and we got to la paz safetly.

la paz is also at altitide so that was also a shock to the system but made getting drunk easier so ups and downs to be had. The city itself it very strange. There is only one main street with no good restaurants and a small touristy part for shopping. Its nice to go but after a while you get a bit bored of it all and it was nice to finally get out of la paz and me, Ruben, Anna and Neil all went to climb up a MOUNTAIN! its called huyana potosi and it is 6088m high. which for those of you that don´t work in metres...its high! so we trouped up the mountain. we got to do some ice climbing which was really cool. we had crampons on and we scaled a small ice wall which was part of a small glacier. then the second day we had a small hike up to high camp then at 6pm that evening we went to bed to get some sleep before getting up at 12 to hike at 1 with our crampons on up the glacier and ice and snow 6 hrs up to the summit. one of the best experiences i have have done. the view from the top was fantastic. panoramic views over la paz as well as lake titicaca and you could see all the valleys surrounding the area. it was mind-blowing.

tash and i also went and cycled down death road. it is the most dangerous road in bolivia and was the main road until 2006 when they opened the new road. over 200 deaths occured on the road every year but now its mostly used by tourists and the ocasional car. we passed about 3 cars.  but it was really safe the whole time we were cycling down the road. we had loads of protection on which came in useful because i managed to fall off my bike at one point but didn´t get hurt or anything - just felt a bit silly. but it is more common now for people to fall off and hurt themselves than actually fall off the road. anyhoo...i didn´t really enjoy it that much, the road was track and very bumpy and i was very happy to get to the end and jump in the pool that was waiting for us and sleep on the coach on the way back. i have finally sorted out my photos so they are being safely stored on a cd for me, so maybe in the next week or so when i am back in good internet area i will be able to load some pics up for everyone to see. 

so the end of la paz....and our little group was ready to leave and we went to the bus station to get our tickets down to uyuai to see the salt flats and the doctor that tash had been waiting all day to see...why she chose a sunday is beyond me...turned up and said that actually tash was too ill to travel. so she got packed off to a clinic in la paz and everyone else pottered off on the bus.  after 1 night on a drip and various other antibotics she is getting better...but for those people about to travel or planning.... if you get ill take the correct pills and drugs...dont´ leave it till the last moment.

so ive been hanging around today in la paz doing some chores and planning a bit of what we are going to do next on our travels. next stop is hopefully uyuna tmro but we will see what happens.

all for now. J xxx

San Pedro de Atacama- Chile

Back into Chile for a trip to the desert and to see the geysiers- pretty spectacular! Best tour we have done so far and I would love to share some photos with you but my new memory card seems to be playing up and  not wanting to connect to the computers that the hostel have which is very frustrating but i heard that one travelling friend lost all her photos so at least that isn{t the case for me.

Anyhoo San Pedro de atacama was really an amazing place. a little oasis in the desert and we went to the moon valley and walked through caves etc.- but the real highlight was the geysiers which we had to get up at 4 AM to see but it was worth it. we went up to an altitude of 4000m ish and went in hot springs literally the most epic thing ever!

didn{t spend much more time there and instead of getting a tour up to bolivia we decided to go with another french girl up to peru first to Arequia which is AMAZINg! we are staying in a partyhostel and boy did we party! great to let off some steam ... jump in a pool or 2!

off to colca cayon for some hiking and hopefully after that i will be able to share some lovely photos with you all.

all for now.

J xxx

2nd road trip

Roas trip to Tilcara via San Antonio de las Corbes - Argentina
http://ruthiscurrentlyoutofthecountry.blogspot.com/ check out our friend Ruths blog for more photos

The gang

Quilmes ruins

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Devils throat

ergg!

Salta

SALTA- road trip

Went on an amazing road trip down the iconic route 40 in Argentina...check out the pics...



Road to Cachi



Open road



Spacious



Cactus



On the road







Our hostel





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Quilmes ruins





Route 68





Salta



Puerto Igauzo

So! I have finally put some pics into the other blogs so back track a bit and you will be able to see the photos. Because i have lost my camera I can´t put any my own photos up and all the photos are on Tasha´s account. So if you fancy seeing the whole array of photos then I would add Tash Lippold as a friend...she will love it!

Anyway...we got away from horrible BA on another horrifically long bus journey all the way up to Puerto Igauzo and arrived in the nicest hostel ever! the hostel owner was so lovely and helpful I wanted to give him a massive hug! But we were starving arriving off the bus because they didn´t feed us so went for the largest meal EVER! literally was so stuffed i had to lie down afterwards.  We had a really friendly hostel and everyone spoke english, we met some lovely Israel people, english, Belgium and it was a really good vibe in the hostel.  On our first day we went down to go and look from a viewing point and from there you could see Paraguay, Brazil which was really cool.  And in the evening we went down to watch the sunset and met another english girl called Ruth...she turned out to be really cool northern girl and so we invited her on our travels to Paraguay the next day!

2 countries from one viewpoint ..Brazil to right..Paraguay to left

We decided to go to Paraguay because i wanted to get a new camera and Paraguay is the best place for cheap electrical goods so off we went to Paraguay. We got the local bus that takes you out of Argentina through Brazil but you don´t stop and then into Paraguay. We got our stamps and went to the first electrical store! It was a manic place, people everyone, vendors shouting at you, food stalls, every kind of electrical item you could ever need in your life! So we were quite snappy about our trip because it was quite overwhelming. 

Then we had to exit Paraguay cross over the bridge and enter Brazil , more stamps! my passport is looking very well travelled now. And from the Brazil side we went to go and see the massive dam they have shared between Paraguay and Brazil.  Its called Itaipu dam and it took about 16 years to build. IT is absolutely enormous and the tour we were on took us around, got to take some photos and see it all. Which was a really cool little trip, but we had forgotten that we needed Brazilian R so buying things was a little tricky. After that we exited Brazil to re enter Argentina again. So in one day we crossed 2 borders which is pretty epic but extremely tiring!

Itaipu Dam

The next day was the trip to the water falls itself. The day started out fairly muggy and cloudy but it started to clear up and we had gorgous sunshine in the afternoon. The waterfalls itself were amazing.  Really cool and the argentinan side had a really well planned out park to take you around to see it all from viewing platforms as well as going up close to the Devils mouth. You got soaked by the spray which was really fun and there were loads of school kids screaming every time a big spray came over so you felt like you could do that same!!

2 small waterfalls

Igauzo

Very wet after going close to the waterfalls

So we spent a half day there at the waterfalls. We would have spent longer but there had been big rains so that water in the waterfall basin was really high and we couldn´t go across to this small island or go the waterfalls to swim which was a real shame.  However, our new budding friendship with Ruth has meant that we all travelled together from Igauzo to Salta.  On our bus journey we met 2 other travellers who we are now planning a little road trip to Cafyate.  But seeing as we have just arrived need to have a shower first, brush my teeth , probably need to wash some clothes and generally make myself feel human again!  All for now. J xxx