South America and Antarctica

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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Sacred Valley
January 2 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
A busy day with many hours spent in the bus. But it was worth it! We went to the Sacred Valley of the Inca's. At Pisac there are granaries and farming terraces, with temples up high. After lunch in Urubamba we were going to visit Ollantaytambo but it was very crowded so we will return tomorrow on the way to the train station.

Instead we visited Chincero which is another temple site at 3800 metres elevation. Naturally with these amazing landscapes photo's don't really do them justice. Back to Cusco and we caught up with the crew for a charcoal chicken dinner. Early night as we have an early start on Saturday, travelling to Aguas Calientes by train and Machu Picchu on Sunday.Read more
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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Cusco NYE and NYD
January 1 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
New Years Eve in Cusco and after a drink at the hotel we had a group dinner including alpaca (tastes like beef) and watched some Peruvian dancing. In the main square it was raining heavily so we retreated to the hotel (the midnight firework photo is not mine).

Today we started with a drive up to the Inca temple of Saqsaywaman with incredible stonework. One of the photos shows a Puma paw - the Condor, Puma and Snake are important parts of the Inca religion.

After a retail stop we went back to Cusco for a tour of the Koricancha temple remains. The Spanish conquerers built a church over it but some walls remain with trapezoidal doors for strength. The window in the photo lines up with the winter solstice and the holes would have had precious stones. Inside the temple the walls were lined with silver and gold - that all went back to Spain. The seat set in the stone wall was where they placed the mummified Inca Kings so the people could bring offerings.

We also visited the Cathedral of Cusco in the main square which is a huge Basilica that took over 100 years to construct (no internal photos, sorry). After a rest we caught up with our friends at a brewery and went to the Irish pub for dinner. Sacred Valley tomorrow.Read more
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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Travel to Cusco
December 31, 2025 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
This morning we left Lima and flew to Cusco. There was a giant guinea pig at Lima airport!Our hotel is in a Spanish Colonial building and very charming. Cusco is our guide Ronaldo's home city and we had a brief tour of the main square; there will be lots of partying here later. We will finally get to see our friends and the plan is dinner and watching the festivities. Tomorrow we have a more extensive city tour planned. Happy New Year!Read more
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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Lima City Tour
December 30, 2025 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Today we had an organised tour of the Lima City Centre, stopping on the way at Huaca Pucllana, an archaeological site in Miraflores (near our hotel). It was built by the Lima culture, a pre-Incan indigenous coastal civilisation between 200 CE and 700 CE. It has staggered platforms surrounded by a plaza and large walls.

We next went to the Plaza Jose de San Martin with the monument to General José de San Martín, the liberator of Peru, Argentina, and Chile. From there we walked up a pedestrianised street towards the main square, stopping at the Basilica de La Merced (late 17th century). Lots of diverse architecture here.

In the centre of Lima we saw the Plaza de Armas (main square) with buildings around the square being the Government Palace, the Cathedral of Lima, the Archbishop’s Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace and the Palace of the Union.

Back to the hotel with free time we walked to the JFK Gardens which includes a cat park! Then we walked in the other direction to the Pacific Ocean - people surf along here although the beach is cut off by a massive 6 lane road. We decided for dinner to go to a "Chinfa" restaurant - there have been Canonese influences in Peru since the 1920s. That would explain the fried rice on offer at breakfast. Tomorrow we fly to Cusco for New Year's Eve.Read more
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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Santiago to Lima
December 29, 2025 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Travel day today. After a morning walk past the Gran Torre Santiago - the tallest building in South America - we headed to the airport for our flight to Lima to join the tour group. Arrived a bit late to crazy crazy traffic (worse than Bogota), checked into the hotel and found a nice local restaurant for dinner. First Pisco Sour of the trip! Early start tomorrow with a Lima city tour, 2 nights here before heading to Cusco.Read more
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South America and Antarctica Traveler
Exploring Santiago
December 28, 2025 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Sunday is our only full day in Santiago. Our driver Jorge yesterday suggested we take the funicular up to the Cerro San Cristobal which was a great call. It was a 1 kilometre walk to the start point through a nice residential area. Once we were at the top there were fantastic views of the whole city (which is vast) and the surrounding mountains. In the photo's are the Statue of the Virgin of Immaculate Conception and the quite modest church itself.

After taking in the views we returned via the funicular and walked to a metro station so we could visit the older part of the city. The destination for us was the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, which was very interesting. We looked at a few of the older buildings and caught the metro back to the hotel for a siesta. It has been a warm day in the low 30's.

Found a bar for (strong) mojito's and then a great dinner at DGANG club with huge portions and excellent cocktails. I think we will sleep well tonight. Off to Lima tomorrow to join the rest of the tour.Read more
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Trip start
December 27, 2025

South America and Antarctica

Sacred Valley

Cusco NYE and NYD

Travel to Cusco

Lima City Tour

Santiago to Lima

Exploring Santiago