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