http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AndyToni/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from AndyToni en-us Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:20:25 +0000 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:20:25 +0000 The end of the Inca Trail signalled the start of the last leg of this trip from Cusco to Lima and then on to Cork via Madrid and Heathrow.After a busy few days on the Inca Trail we spent a leisurely morning in Cusco wandering around a few shopsmarkets sorting out our laundry and relaxing in an internet cafe. We then met Kenny for lunch in Jacks another gringohaunt that served the biggest ch http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Pisco/blog-32106.html The long awaited start of the Inca Trail had finally arrived. We were met on the dot of 05.30 and a short walk later we joined the bus to take us to km82 the starting point of our trek. We stopped en route in Ollantaytambo for breakfast and had to fend off numerous people selling all manner of must have items for the trails e.g. water walking sticks ponchos coca leaves coca sweets etc. No http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-31784.html After an uneventful journey we arrived in Cusco about 6am and headed for Hostel LoKi that had been highly recommended. After helping ourselves to their complimentary breakfast whilst waiting for reception to open we unfortunately found out that the hostel was fully booked for the next couple of days this despite it not having found its way into LP yet. Fortunately they were able to recommend Ho http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-31217.html As life seems to start very early in Peru something to do with Peru behing 2 hours behind Chile despite being on approx. the same longitude and therefore it getings light very early here we woke early to the now familiar sound of car horns tooting at regular intervals. Our intention was to spend a day in Arriquipe followed by a couple of days walking in the nearby Colca Canyon which is claime http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-31215.html The following morning it was up early again for the bus to Copacabana on the edge of Lake Titticaka. The bus was full of Gringos on this well establised tourist route. This short 4hr bus ride was notable for two things. Firstly the unforgettable short ferry trip accross part of Lake Titicaka to the Copacabana peninsula where the passengers sped accross on a small boat whilst each bus went acc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-30644.html The self styled 'World's Most Dangerous Road' WMDR is a stretch of dirt 'road' from La Cumbre high above La Paz 4700m down to Corioco 1200m and is a notorious must do for travellers to this part of the world recommendations from Marcus Fionne Kim Ricky and multiple others.The trip with Barro Bikes started with a 07.30 breakfast where we unexpectedly met KevinClaire who had enjoyed the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-30237.html It didnt take long for Uyuni to live down to our very low expectiations for the place Emers description of the place implied that we wouldnt want to spend long there and found nothing to contradict that assessment. However leaving wasnt as easy as we had hoped. Our plan was to take the luxury tourist bus to make the notoriously unpleasant journey to La Paz more bearable and not likely to b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-29977.html We have just completed the 4x4 Salar trip from San Pedro to Uyuni in Bolivia and it certainly lived up to the very high expectations we had from numerous recommendations.Our journey started early in San Pedro but shortly after starting we came to an abrupt halt at the Chilean exit point with a long queue to get out of Chile we didnt think it so bad that people would queue to leave.... Once we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-29709.html Three flights later and we were still in Chile but it felt like another world when we arrived in Calama near the Bolivian border. Our plan was to stay in Calama that night but not for the first time since arriving in South America our plans changed as it seemed easier to get to San Pedro de Atacama 120km away where we were planning to go the following morning than into Calama itself. We did wond http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/San-Pedro-de-Atacama/blog-29713.html On arriving at Punta Arenas the most southerly city in Chile our first job was to try and get our flights reinstated as we had found out that missing a flight meant that all our subsequent flights had been cancelled but this could not be rectified without visiting a Lan Chile office in person. Sometime later after an anxious wait we got the news we wanted.After checking into Hospedaje Nena a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-28933.html The journey south from Bariloche started very badly and didnt get much better We left 7 hours late and as a result didnt arrive at the town of Perito Moreno until after 3am. We didnt stop much at all on route except at petrol stations in the middle of knowhere to fill up. The following morning we were up at 7am to go to see Cueves de los Manos which is a set in a spectacular canyon. Inside th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-27818.html The bus journey down to Puerto Natales was pretty uneventful. We did see the Torres del Paine mountains in the distance however the only point of note was marvelling at just how long the border crossing process took. We passed this time with Rory Emer and Bettina who we first met on the ruta40 trip and had met again in El Calefate and their stories of taking nearly 24 hours to cross a border in A http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Puerto-Natales/blog-28675.html After a relaxing day in Queenstown with only a walk up to the top of the cable car overlooking Queenstown to note we went for our much discussed farewell meal as the following day Jules and Becca headed for North Island and us for Chile at Finz. A delicious meal washed down with a couple of bottles of Marlborough wine seemed a fitting way to end a fantastic month on south island. Jules faile http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-27315.html We made the decision to reverse the route around the Keplar track as the forecast was for really strong wind over the alpine section of the route. It was a decision that we were glad of when we met two americans on the second day who had to shelter overnight on the ridge when strong winds forced them to abandon the walk to the next hut.The first day we walked from Te Anau to Control gates and on http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fiordland-National-Park/Te-Anau/blog-26702.html It was another early start as we were collected at 6.25 to Doubtful Sound. We had met with the rest of the group the night before and Jules had expressed some concern about the mad dutch girl but otherwise they seemed good his concerns about her sanity were justified she was a fantastic person to have on the group and made it lots of funThe trip started with a boat across lake manapouri and http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fiordland-National-Park/Te-Anau/blog-26707.html After all the activity it was time to slow down a bit with a bit of 'tramping'. However we couldn't resist a couple more trips before the tramp so we stopped off on the way to Queenstown for a river surfing trip 2 trips down a 5km grade 3 section of the Kawarau river with only a glorified body board and a few guides for company. The trip was great fun with lots of white water and the odd small w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-25859.html After our great day on the glacier the forecast bad weather arrived so we decided to drive on south towards Wanaka. First stop was a walk to Monro beach where a penguin colony can sometimes be seen. We arrived to a stormy windswept empty beach. After admiring the power of the waves crashing on the rocks at the south end of the beach we strolled up to the other end of the beach more for the sake http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-25072.html we might have been forgiven for thinking that the weather gods were not looking over us when we woke at Fox Glacier the following morning. We woke at around 5.30am to hear the rain pouring down and unsurprisingly when we woke up Mount Cook was covered in cloud and our scenic flight was not happening. However this gave us the opportunity to go for a quick walk around Lake Matheson before our glac http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Glaciers/blog-25071.html We boarded the Cougar Line boat at Picton on a damp dismal morning with our bikes and headed for Resolution Bay near the far end of the Queen Charlotte Track ever hopeful that the weather gods would shine on us again. On arrival an unpromising push up a very steep track took us out of the bay with over 45km to go that day we were all hoping it wouldn't be typical Fortunately we quickly joined t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-25070.html Somehow after all the rain that fell during our walk around the northern circuit the river level fell on the Whanganui so we were able to hire a canoe and set off down the 88km section from Whakahoro to Pipiriki. To get to the river we were driven 45km from the main road down a windy primarily gravel track sorry road that ended at Whakahoro which we somehow missed. Then after 5mins instructi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wanganui/blog-23591.html