World Trip

Cass and Mike's Year Long Adventure Read more

Follow Insights Calendar Photos Share

World Trip
1
Cusco
April 30, 2023 in Peru ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
We made it to Cusco! After another overnight bus and two or three breakdowns, we arrived in Cusco early this morning. Our Airbnb hosts were kind enough to let us check in early. After a two hour nap, we joined a walking tour which was a good introduction to the city highlights and places for us to visit during our week here.Read more
Traveler Nice sweater. Is it cold over there?
4/30/23Reply
TravelerIt's quite cold at night - fine with a sweater and a puffer jacket though
4/30/23Reply
4 likes
World Trip
Sacred Valley, Cusco
May 1, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We visited the Sacred Valley on a day tour from Cusco. It was a long 12 hour day where we visited Chincherro, Moray, Maras salt mines, Ollantaytambo and Pisac. It was a fun day, but we wished we'd had more time to visit Ollantaytambo and Pisac.Read more
3 likes
World Trip
Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain
May 4, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We woke up bright and early (4am!) for our much anticipated trip to Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain. We'd been looking forward to this since we started planning our trip and were not disappointed! We had a long, but scenic, drive out to Palccoyo where we were only one of three tour vans in the whole park. Palccoyo is relatively young (4 or 5 years old because it was previously covered in snow) and not as well known as "the" rainbow mountain (Vinicunca), and so is nowhere near as busy as Vinicunca. We slowly completed the loop walk around Palccoyo where we were treated to clear views of the three rainbow mountains and other snow capped mountains behind these, alpacas and very few crowds/tourists. It was well worth the 3-4 hour drive.Read more
3 likes
World Trip
Salkantay Trek - Day 1
May 7, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
We woke up early on our 1st wedding anniversary to start our 5 day trek to Machu Picchu. We left Cusco early, and arrived near Soray to start the Salkantay Trek. Our first day was an easy 6km to Lake Humantay, which was a 'practice' hike for us to get used to hiking at 4000m+ above sea level. Even after being in Cusco for a week, the altitude and thin air was quite tough to hike in. When we arrived at a Lake Humantay, we were pelted by rain but were lucky enough to witness a small avalanche on the far side of the lake. We returned to our camp, and set up our mountain huts for the night. We had our meals at a cliff top building which had the most beautiful views of the surrounding area, but required a tough 10 minute uphill walk to get to from the huts. It was a really cold night sleeping at an altitude of 4000m (we had all of our layers on), and it even snowed while we slept. It was the first time in 4 years that they'd had snow on the Salkantay Pass and we were lucky we packed enough warm clothes!Read more
3 likes
World Trip
Salkantay Trek - Day 2
May 8, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We woke up on day 2 of our Salkantay Trek to even more snow - the whole campsite and surrounding area was white! Day 2 of the Salkantay was the toughest day, as we had to hike 22km in total, including an ascent from 4000m to Salkantay Pass at 4900m. The snow made day 2 a lot harder due to the freezing temperatures (it was still snowing all day) and slippery snow. After a very long 6 hours hiking in the snow, we eventually descended far enough that the snow turned to rain and we were no longer freezing and spent the night in Colcapampa.Read more
4 likes
World Trip
Salkantay Trek - Day 3
May 9, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
The halfway point! We woke up quite sore and stiff from the tough slog through the snow, but thankfully we only had a relatively flat, short 9km day where our guide (Steven) showed us different plants used for spiritual and medicinal purposes. We finished our day with a coffee tasting and hot springs at Santa Teresa.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
6
Salkantay Trek - Day 4
May 10, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Over halfway now! Day 4 was another long day (22km with a big ascent in the first 3 hours to Llactapata), but we woke up feeling a bit more motivated because the weather was finally sunny and knowing that we were over halfway and so close to reaching Machu Picchu. The first half of the day was spent hiking up to Llactapata (an Incan ruin), and the second half of the day was spent hiking to Hydroelectrica (a small town) and then along the train tracks to Aguas Caliente.Read more
Traveler Are these your dinner?
5/12/23Reply
TravelerNo, these were at a house we stopped at for a toilet and snacks break. They will be the family's dinner 🥺
5/12/23Reply
TravelerDid you have any for your meals?
5/12/23Reply
TravelerNope but we did have alpaca one night🤢
5/12/23Reply
TravelerHow did it taste? Like beef?
5/12/23Reply
TravelerNot great, very strong flavour. I didn't like it
5/12/23Reply
3 likes
World Trip
Salkantay Trek - Day 5
May 11, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Today was the day we'd been waiting for! After the best sleep we'd had in days (sleeping in an actual bed, rather than camping), we woke up at 4am to start the steep climb up the 1,900 steps to Machu Picchu. The steps normally take 45min to an hour to complete, but Mike and I managed to get up the stairs in 30-35mins 💪. Seeing Machu Picchu with our own eyes was a surreal experience. We arrived at sunrise and spent four hours wandering around Machu Picchu. The whole complex was pretty quiet while we were there and we were lucky to almost have it all to ourselves until about 10am. When we were done, we walked down to Aguas Caliente for some lunch before our afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo.Read more
4 likes
World Trip
Lake Titicaca and Copacabana
May 14, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
We've made it to our fifth country on this trip - Bolivia! We left Cusco on an overnight bus, and arrived in Puno early on Sunday morning. We went for a quick tour of the Uros Floating Islands. It was very cool to see and learn how they're constructed, but unfortunately felt like a massive tourist trap as all they only really wanted you to buy their crafts. After the floating islands, we finally left Peru and entered Bolivia. We spent the afternoon at Copacabana, which is a small town about 20min from the Peru/Bolivia border. There was not a lot to do in Copacabana and we were very glad that we did not choose to stay a night here.Read more
3 likes
World Trip
La Paz
May 16, 2023 in Bolivia
We arrived in La Paz late on Sunday night. We spent a couple of days recovering from our 24+ hours of travel with a fancy five course meal at Mi Chola where they give you rubber scrapers to finish your dessert, hanging out downtown La Paz and exploring the weird and wonderful witches market.Read more
1 like
World Trip
Death Road, La Paz
May 17, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We survived Death Road! We spent the morning cycling along the North Yungas Road (also known as Death Road) which is a 60km stretch of road that connects La Paz and the Yungas region of Bolivia. This road was once the most dangerous road in the world, with 200-300 people killed on this road every year until 2006. The road is gravel, single lane (except at a few bends) and has vertical drops of more than 450m with no guard rails. While it was a very bumpy, downhill ride, I (Cass) was very happy to see our van waiting for us at the bottom of Death Road.Read more
3 likes
World Trip
El Alto and Cholita Wrestling
May 18, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
We finally got the chance to ride La Paz's teleferico (their form of public transport due to the topography of the city) and were treated with awesome views of La Paz from above. We stopped in at the Central Cemetery of La Paz where bodies are stored in vaults for a maximum of 10 years before being returned to the families (due to overcrowding). We continued up to El Alto, which is the 2nd largest city in Bolivia and located directly adjacent to La Paz. The famous El Alto Market was on, which is a local market and the biggest in Bolivia (stretching over 5km). We saw everything you could think of for sale here, including car parts, electronics and phones, food, clothing and building materials. After the markets, we made our way to a Cholita Wrestling show, which we had been looking forward to since we started planning our trip. The show was very over the top, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of fun.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Salar de Uyuni
May 21, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
We took an overnight bus on Sunday night from La Paz to Uyuni, where were starting a 3 day tour through the Uyuni Salt Flats and Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. The Uyuni Salt Flats were the thing we were looking forward to most in Bolivia (and primarily our only reason for going to Bolivia), and we were truly in awe at the incredible landscapes.

We met with the rest of our tour group in Uyuni (a Peruvian couple and a French couple) and then set off towards the Salt Flats. The first stop on the tour was a train graveyard just outside Uyuni, which was very random. After a quick stop here, we drove towards Uyuni Salt Flats, which at 11,000 square kilometres, is the largest salt flat in the world. It was very cool and surreal driving across the seemingly endless white landscape. We spent the afternoon taking silly perspective photos, and then watched a spectacular 360° sunset. We spent the night in a Salt Hotel where everything (walls, chairs, tables, bed) was made of salt.

On the 2nd day of our tour, we spent the day driving around Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. We visited many lagoons, saw flamingos and chinchillas. Our day ended at Laguna Colorado (famous for its red colour and flamingoes), and spent the night in a nearby hostel. The hostel was at 4,300m above sea level, and, even with six of us sleeping in a room and 4-5 layers of woolley blankets each, was freezing.

We woke up early on our last day to visit the geysers at sunrise at Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. It was really cool to see the geysers and Mars like landscape within an active volcanic crater, but so cold that we couldn't stay very long (-12C). We spent the rest of the morning driving through incredible landscapes, before we finished our tour and crossed the border into Chile.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
San Pedro de Atacama
May 25, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Spent a couple of days catching up on sleep, doing laundry and packing after our very full on Uyuni Salt Flats tour. As the desert landscapes around San Pedro de Atacama are very similar to what we saw on our tour, we opted to have some rest time before our big travel day to London tomorrow.Read more
1 like
World Trip
Santiago*
May 26, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Flew from Calama to Santiago, where we'll soon catch our long flight to London.
2 likes
World Trip
London
May 27, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Quick stop over in London to catch up with Dan and meet mum and dad before we fly to Reykjavik.
1 like
World Trip
Ring Road Day 1 - Reykjavik/Selfoss
May 28, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
We arrived in Iceland to a typical summers day (rain, wind and a chilly 8°C). After a quick stop in Reykjavik, we headed to our accommodation for the night - a tiny house on a farm near Selfoss.
1 like
World Trip
Ring Road Days 2 & 3 - Vik and Hofn
May 30, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
We started driving along the southern coast of Iceland, travelling from Selfoss to Vik, and then onto Hofn. Unfortunately the weather didn't improve overnight, so we visited Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss and Reynisfjara Beach in the rain and wind. The weather finally improved on our drive to Hofn, where we were able to enjoy Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, Svartifoss and Skaftafell and Jokulsarlon Glaciers in the sun, before arriving at our accommodation for the night (a hotel within a converted milk factory).Read more
0 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Day 4 - Egilsstadir
May 31, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Spent the day driving along the eastern coastline from Hofn to Egilsstadir with some stops at Skutafoss, Hvalnes Lighthouse and Seydisfjordur. After dinner, we drove an hour north-east to Borgarfjarðarhöfn to watch puffins. We were surrounded by thousands of puffins and able to get so close to them!Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Days 5 & 6 - Myvatn Lake
June 2, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Drove over to Myvatn Lake where we stayed for a couple of nights. On our way to Myvatn, we stopped for a 10km walk to visit the stunning basalt columns at Stuðlagil Canyon and also visited Dettifoss. While in Myvatn, we visited the surrounding geothermal parks, volcanic craters and Myvatn Nature Baths.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Day 7 - Akureyri
June 3, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Drove from Myvatn to Akureyri with stops at Dimmuborgir Lava Field and Godafoss on the way. Spent our afternoon whale watching on a traditional wooden boat in Eyjafjordur, where we were lucky enough to spot a humpback whale feeding right next to our boat. The whale was completely unphased by the presence of our boat and we were able to watch it for over 20 minutes.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Day 8 - Skagaströnd
June 4, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Drove from Akureyri to Skagaströnd, taking the scenic route along the peninsula. We stopped in at Siglufjordur, which was once one of the biggest Herron fishing towns. Spent the night in the sleepy town on Skagastrond.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Days 9-11 - Borgarnes
June 7, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
We drove from Skagastrong to Borgarnes, where we'd be based at a seaside cottage for a few days while exploring the west of Iceland. With the exception of Grabrook Crater and stopping to pat some friendly Icelandic horses on the side of the road, the drive to Borgarnes was rather uneventful, with far fewer attractions on this side of Iceland. The next day was spent exploring Snæfellsnes Peninsula, where we visited the famous Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall, Saxholl Crater, Londrangar and the small town of Arnastapi. Our third day was spent at Hraunfossar Waterfall and learning about Snorri Sturluson at Reykholt Museum.Read more
2 likes
World Trip
Ring Road Day 12 - Golden Circle
June 8, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Spent the last day of our road trip around Iceland's Ring Road exploring the Golden Circle in the wind and rain. We stopped off for a walk through Þingvellir National Park, visited Strokkur geysir and Gullfoss before having a late lunch in a tomato greenhouse.Read more
3 likes
World Trip
Reykjavik
June 9, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 10 °C
Spent our last day in Iceland exploring Reykjavik including stops for cinnamon buns and famous hot dogs.
2 likes