http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jessica-lb/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jessica lb en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:00:55 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:00:55 +0000 Coroico what a beautiful place. It reminded me very much of Mindo but definitely not as good as I am so very fond of Mindo. The cloud forest is probably one of my favourite places. It has the right climate beautiful scenery and enough life to keep my wildlife obsession happy This was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of La Paz the biggest city in Bolivia. Coroico is just a 3 hour bus r http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Coroico/blog-453487.html The Amazon rainforest... what a beautiful place. It contains so much life itrsquos impossible to ignore it. A world away from the city I live in which is full of dead concrete bricks cement and poor excuses for parks. I yet again was blown away by how rich the rainforest is. This time we went a little more hardcore. Rather than pussyfooting around the jungle in a canoe or on light walks thi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Rurrenabaque/blog-453478.html So wersquore now in our third country... Bolivia. First destination Copacabana for Isla Del Sol. This literally was just a launching pad for us to get a boat to yet another island on Lake Titicaca but this time on the Bolivian side. Itrsquos a quaint little lakeside town though feeling like a beachside town really with paddle boats for tourists and many lakeside cafes serving fresh fish an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-450749.html Floating islands... yes they do exist and there are 40 of them in total all bobbing about in Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side. How Theyrsquore made entirely from totora reeds. They pull up the roots tie them all together to create like a huge raft and then layer dried reeds on the top. Their houses are made from reeds they use reeds to light their fires for food they eat the reeds and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-450745.html Cusco itself is crowded overpriced and absolutely rammed full of tourists.... no wonder it is overpriced as the locals have cottoned on to the fact that the many rich americans that come here can pay much more than they're used to. Unfortunately this has led to more street hawking than I've seen anywhere else in both Ecuador and Peru. You can't walk two steps without being offered the same hats http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Pisac/blog-449023.html The inevitable happened....we visited Machu Picchu. It would have been strange to have come all the way to Peru and have missed this iconic destination being one of the seven wonders of the world. Due to this status I had hyped it up so much in my head and had so many expectations. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to what I had expected I would gain from the experience. This slight disappoi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-448734.html Due to messing up the dates of our flight from Puerto Maldanado to Cusco we ended up staying in this extremely humid rainforest town for two painful yet comical nights. Luckily or so we thought we ended up in a pretty nice lodge set on the river called Wasaii lodge. We were promised great views and best of all.... air conditioningAir conditioning was one of the first disasters we had. Our room http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/blog-447913.html When they say the roar of the jungle I now understand what they mean. We slept for 3 nights in a lodge set deep in the rainforest right on the banks of Lake Sandoval called Sandoval Lake Lodge. During these nights we were aided to sleep by the many fascinating and sometimes quite disturbing noises of the rainforest. You would not believe what sounds can come out of such tiny insects fragile l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/Amazon-Rainforest/blog-447897.html This is probably one of the most memorable and tough experiences Ive had here so far We descended into the deepest canyon in the world on day one taking us 4 hours. We reached a tiny village nestled in this canyon called San Juan Chuccho and stayed the night there. It was insane to be sleeping in such a tiny village with a secondary school that has a mere 3 students in what looked like a barn. R http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-446085.html To say I felt a bit iffy would be a total understatement If Id have been in that plane just 5 minutes longer I think all those poor tourists in that plane would have seen what I ate for breakfast The driver was flying all over the place taking sharp turns dips and flying into areas of turbulence for a horrid 30 minutes. My stomach definately didn like it I only just about managed to glance o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/Nazca-Lines/blog-446081.html Seeing as the Galapagos is immensely expensive due to rise in prices in order to deter too many tourists from visiting we opted for the Ballestas Islands apparently the next best thing and significantly cheaper We took a boat ride out pretty early and toured these islands just off the coast of Paracus. They are part of the national reserve so we couldn't actually go onto the islands but we ci http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Ballestas-Islands/blog-444716.html Huacachina is definately more like a touristy holiday resort than a travelling destination but all the same it was a nice break Huacachina is a small oasis surrounded by huge sandunes. I couldn't get over how compact this place was you could walk around it within around 10 minutes. On the oasis there were little pedal boats that you could ride on it reminded me of when I was a child. Speaking http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-444704.html We've been in Huaraz 5 days now and the last three have been jam packed with various treks. I can honestly say I have never been so exhausted in my life as I was last night but it was totally worth it On day one we did an acclimatization walk as the altitude here can make you terribly sick if you're not used to it. We did this at Lake Llacca. Suprisingly the altitude didn't mess with me at all. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ancash/Huaraz/Huascaran-National-Park/blog-442356.html I spent my 20th birthday in a beachside town named Huanchaco just 20 minutes outside of Trujillo. It was a strange feeling having a birthday with no friends or family around you. It didn't really feel like a birthday at all. I wonder how Christmas will feel Huanchaco was pleasant enough there but the sun just didn't want to show itself. The beach was more like a grey british seaside town Nonet http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Trujillo/blog-441712.html So we spent 4 days in the beautiful relaxed and superbohemian beachside town of Mancora. It was our first stop in Peru after spending a gruelling entire day on a bus to cross the border. We arrived late at night and racked up to a not so great hostal called Hostel Sol y Mar. The guidebooks rate it as value for money and a good place to stay. I disagree. It sounded like we were right next to a ni http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Piura/M-ncora/blog-441276.html Wersquore now in Vilcabamba a small village known as the lsquovalley of longevityrsquo as people here seem to live much longer than anywhere else. It is easy to see why as it is a very laid back area where most are just sitting around on doorsteps or in cafes watching the world go by. Just yesterday I was one of those people sat outside the internet cafe on my netbook researching future http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Vilcabamba/blog-439185.html We're now in Cuenca where the architecture is amazing As far as the cities go this is definately my favourite in Ecuador. It is so pretty for a city anyway You can really see the Spanish influence here. The buildings are so intricate and all have quant little balconies overlooking the fairly narrow streets. We've only got two nights here so we havn't seen a great deal but today we took a tri http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-438328.html I've just arrived in Cuenca after spending 4 nights in Puerto Lopez in a lovely hostel names 'Hosteria Mandala'. The drive from Manta airport to Puerto Lopez was a grim one. I had just left my dream home in Mindo a lush green area to drive through what seemed like the badlands. We were surrounded by death and people who looked like they led hard lives. all the trees were bare and looked dead. The http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/Puerto-Lopez/blog-438323.html Elmonte lodge is like a dream It is so tranquil and beautiful. It really feels like home. I would be falling asleep with the sounds of a rushing stream and the many insects and birds living around me. It feels so natural just like Sadhana. Not to mention the cabins theyrsquore incredible So beautifully and skillfully designed and built. Tom and Mariella the owners really have outdone them http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/blog-436919.html So we finally made it to Quito late on Tuesday evening. The bed in Lrsquoauberge Inn was definitely a blessing after attempting to sleep upright in hard aeroplane chairs For anyone going to Quito I would recommend the Lrsquoauberge Inn as it is cheap and cheerful. It has a great vibe with many friendly travellers passing through Plus there is internet and a great cafe that serves delicious http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-436915.html