Deja vu

So this seems to be a recurrent theme... tried to get out of US and it just wants me to stay! Flight to Lima cancelled so an impromptu adventure around LA...
Made a friend at breakfast, Adam who IEn savoir plus
Sand dunes and sunsets

Met the people I will be now travelling with for the next 30ish days... long day on a coach but went to the desert, and did buggy riding and sandboarding... Needless to say sand got EVERYWHERE!!!
Ballestas Islands and Pisco

Went with a few of the group to the Ballestas Islands this morning (as one of them described it, the poor man's galapagos 😅) and saw a lot of pelicans, boobies, penguins, dolphins, sea lions andEn savoir plus
Nazca

Spooky morning in Nazca visiting Chauchilla Cemetary where learnt about a lot of the old civilisations of Peru... there are so many, not just Incas... and saw lots of mummies.
In the afternoon weEn savoir plus
Arequipa

Woke up from none existent sleep on the night bus (yer the novelty wore out) in Arequipa which turns out to be a beautiful city and really reminded me of Spain... except the backdrop of gloriousEn savoir plus
Altitude acclimatisation

So most the group are battling with altitude at the moment but this tour is organised to give us time before Machu Pichu hike to get ourselves acclimatised... we went to a small town called Chivay andEn savoir plus
Colca Canyon

Early morning trip to Colca Canyon this morning to see condors...
In the top 10 deepest canyons in the world with the deepest point being more than 4000m deep... we were very lucky to see so many andEn savoir plus
Arequipa take 2

We were left to our own devices today, so we decided to see the mummy Juanita and visit a monestry... I don't have many pictures but learnt so much about the incas in the mummy Juanita tour... soEn savoir plus
Rainbow Mountain

Arrived in Cusco after night bus and had a quick tour of the area and got much needed washing done...
Had a pretty chilled day, Chino, our guide, took some of us to watch the local football then weEn savoir plus
Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo

Packed up all the gear for the r day Machu Pichu hike and travelled to Ollantaytambo via Sacred Valley.
The incas believed that the river that runs through the valley mirrored the milkyway which isEn savoir plus
Machu Picchu day 1

Day one of Machu Picchu hike... First 11km completed in the super heat...
Got to campsite and had a beer...
Great day, lots of amazing views and good rest spots!
Bring on day 2 - apparently theEn savoir plus
Machu Picchu day 2

5:30am start... definately the hardest day - 12km pretty much relentlessly up including dead womans pass... got to the highest point on the trail at 4215 ft... and we all made it to camp in goodEn savoir plus
Machu Picchu day 3

5am start... The best day! So much variety in the landscape and trail. The weather was also perfect... not too hot or cold and it was dry! Views were stunning and there were several inca ruins for usEn savoir plus
Machu Picchu day 4

We made it!!!
3am start to get through the check point at 5:30 and give the porters and chefs time to catch the train...
Through the sungate around 7ish and then into Machu Picchu... it was amazing!En savoir plus
Goodbye Cuzco, hello Lake Titicaca

We departed Cuzco to head to Lake Titicaca and Puno... this was time for homestays (staying with a local family and helping out a bit).
We took a boat ride to the area via some floating islands whereEn savoir plus
Homestay and kayaking

Time to get to work!
Woke up fairly early, around 6/6:30 to help mama in the kitchen before breakfast... breakfast was so tasty, fried bread with jam and egg... think I put on weight just from that!En savoir plus
Hello Bolivia / Death Road Biking

Arrived in Bolivia on the 8th and went for a lot of drinks... hilarity ensued, which may not be appropriate for Find Penguins so won't elaborate!
Anyways, woke up on 9th very hungover but ready forEn savoir plus
La Paz

I have a roomie! New member of the group, Lisa from Italy 😁
Great day exploring La Paz today... I think it's considered the highest city in the world with over 1 million people... so yer, altitude!En savoir plus
Sucre day 1

Arrived in Sucre after night bus... night bus was better than expected with fully reclining seats - like 1st class airplane!
Spent the morning orientating ourselves and spent most the afternoonEn savoir plus
Sucre day 2

Went to the textile museum today which was super interesting... it wasn't just about the textiles, but also about the music and dance and rituals that Bolivians performed... I think my favourite partEn savoir plus
Dino footprints - Sucre

Before getting on the bus to Potosi, pretty much the whole group decided to go and see the dinosaur footprints...
Was really interesting from what heard of it, and the guide (who was from Sucre) hadEn savoir plus
Potosi mines and rooftops

Arrived in Potosi yesterday and went for dinner...
In the morning we went to the local mines to understand what life is like... I think I prefer the farm work than mine work.
We first had to stopEn savoir plus
Train graveyard of Uyuni andSalt Flats!

So apparently there was a period where Chile took away all the rail infrastructure feom Bolivia... which explains why there is pretty much no rail network... but just outside the town of Uyuni thereEn savoir plus
Potosi mint factory

So think this day was mostly a bus ride, and I can't remember what day we went to the mint factory in Potosi (they used to make around 80% (I think) of the worlds currency).
I also got to make my ownEn savoir plus
Lagoons and flamingos

Continuing the 'road trip' (unsure if there were any official roads!) To get off the salt flats and see some pretty amazing lagoons and flamingos in the desert in Bolivia.
And a dip in some hotEn savoir plus