Lazing by the Lagoon
Peru | Huacachina
Our overnight bus ride to Ica was very pleasant. We had our first cama-seat (literally ‘bed seat’) experience and even Dan managed to get some shut-eye! We arrived at Ica at 9 in the morning and got a taxi straight to Huacachina, which had been described to us as a desert oasis. And that’s more or less what it is. The whole town is set around a lagoon that’s in the middle of miles upon miles of towering sand dunes. Quite a spectacular sight! We found a nice hotel with a swimming pool and views of the dunes and promptly collapsed into sun loungers for the rest of the day, only surfacing to eat. I tried the local speciality, ceviche, which is basically raw seafood marinated in lime and chilli. It was very tasty but the marinade is a bit overpowering! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Music, Masks and Machu Picchu
Peru | Cusco & Machu PicchuFrom Copacabana we followed the shores of Lake Titicaca north, and were soon at the border with Peru. Another stamp in the passport and we were into the 16th country of our now 7 month long trip. Our first destination was Cusco, the capital of the ancient Inca
empire, and one of the oldest cities on the continent.
We spent our first couple of days exploring the narrow, twisting cobbled streets and alleyways of the old city, all built on top of the Inca buildings they replaced. In some places you could still see the solid stone foundations that were left behind. We were staying in Barrio de San Blas, up the hill from the centre so we got plenty of exercise wandering around! During our wanderings we encountered three women with baby Llamas, purely for tourists benefit obviously, but Gem couldn’t resist having her photo taken with them, as you can see above! It was a beautiful city to wander around, even if the altitude (3,300m) meant we were out of breath most of the time! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
At the Copa…Copacabanaaaa…
Bolivia | Copacabana
The journey to Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, was nice and short (about 3.5 hours) and quite fun. We were bussed to a town called San Pedro where we then had to get off the bus and onto a little boat to take us across the lake, thus avoiding going all the way around and making the journey twice as long. The coach also got a boat across the lake and, despite a few worrying backward rolls, made it to the other side in one piece. We all climbed back onboard and it drove us a further hour to Copacabana. More spectacular views en route
(I suggested it looked like Wales, and Dan eventually agreed!) and we arrived feeling very happy to be out of the city and next to this beautiful lake. We wanted to stay right on the lake so headed straight to the shore. After checking out a couple of places we decided on Estella de Titicaca, mainly because we’d have a balcony overlooking the beach. Not a bad view to wake up to in the morning!
Copacabana is a small town, geared heavily towards tourism. So, again, there were a lot of backpackers and even some families. Lots of bars and restaurants, too, many specialising in rainbow trout caught from Lake Titicaca. We spent our first afternoon checking out the town, particularly the Moorish cathedral with beautiful domes and colourful ceramic tiling. The cathedral had welcomed pilgrims from Peru and Bolivia over the Easter weekend who came to honour the Black Virgin of Copacabana. This perhaps explains why the cathedral is so large in comparison to the small town. Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Loco in La Paz
Bolivia | La PazWe arrived in the Bolivian capital just before 6am, having had very little sleep on the bumpy ride and ready for a first shower in days and a warm bed! Luckily our hotel let us check in straight away, so that’s exactly what we got!
After snoozing for most of the morning we were woken by the sound of a brass band outside. We went out to investigate and found the first of many Good Friday processions winding it’s way through the streets. Along with the band playing their sombre tunes their was a litter carrying a life-size model of Jesus on the cross, borne by half a dozen people in slightly scary purple hooded cloaks, as well as women carrying doll-like figures of the Virgin Mary, which old ladies in the crowd repeatedly showered with handfuls of flower petals. Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Salt, Springs and Stars!
Bolivia | UyuniThe primary reason most people visit Uyuni is to see the salt flats and the National
Park to the South – the catchily named Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. The town itself doesn’t have much to offer, it’s a pretty small place in the middle of nowhere! There are a lot of backpackers though, the most we’ve seen since Buenos Aires. This means there’s plenty of European friendly food and drink and a large selection of accommodation on offer. Our hotel, Girasoles, was a nice enough place, with a heater for the freezing nights, although having a sink that was connected to the wall and a flushing toilet would have been the icing on the cake! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Up to the Altiplano
Chile | Antofagasta & CalamaNext was a long road trip up to the Altiplano, the high plane that stretches from Chile, through Bolivia to Peru, but we had a couple of stops to break the journey. We set off just after dawn (actually only about 8 o’clock!) for the tiny bus station in Caldera and were soon on our way to our first stop, Antofagasta. It was another spectacular journey along the Pan-American highway through the edge of the Atacama desert, and we took in some delightful sights along the way – cement works, gas plants, mines etc.!
We had low expectations for Antofagasta, but were pleasantly surprised when the bus emerged onto a green seafront boulevard lined with palm trees. After getting ripped off by a taxi driver we found a cheap hotel following a sweaty search in the heat with our backpacks. That night we sought out Wally’s Pub, which our guidebook claimed was an English pub serving curries and draft pints. Perhaps we (or more accurately I) had built up too much of picture of how such a place might be, and this led to inevitable disappointment! There was no draught beer and one very average curry! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
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