From Cusco we took a bus to Peru's capital city Lima. This was just a quick stop off for 2 nights before moving on for more trekking. Lima is a massive metropolis and we weren't there long enough to get to grips with the whole place. Instead we spent most of our time in the posh Miraflores district next to the Pacific Ocean. We went shopping, sipped pisco sours by the sea and cooked ourselves amazing meals after we found a supermarket with gorgeous fresh produce and plenty of European treats (proper cheese and ham!). We also took an afternoon trip [View Full Entry]

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We ended up spending just under 3 weeks in and around Cusco and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. I have written separate blogs on the Salkantay and Choquequirao treks so here I will just concentrate on Cusco city itself and the nearby "Sacred Valley". The city of Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and has therefore been around for over 500 years. As it was an important city to both the Incas and the Spanish Conquistadores there is an impressive array of architecture and sights to see and we fell in love with Cusco from our first day there. [View Full Entry]

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After our Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu both Barry and I were feeling fit and ready for another challenge. When visiting the Inca Museum in Cusco we came across an exhibition on Choquequirao, said to be a "sister city" of Machu Picchu. We also read that it was a tough trek to get there but well worth the effort as the site is as impressive as Machu Picchu but receives a small fraction of the number of visitors. This was enough to whet our appetites and so, a few agencies later, we had booked ourselves onto a 4 day trek to [View Full Entry]

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There are some places in the world that amaze you no matter how many times you may have seen the photos or how long you have been planning your visit. Machu Picchu is definitely one of those places. I could go into detail about the history of Machu Picchu, but you would be better off watching the National Geographic channel on your TV. Or I could attempt to describe the sights with superlatives that will not do justice to its immensity, character and general awe-inspiring nature. To those who have visited Machu Picchu I hope you understand what I mean, and [View Full Entry]

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As soon as we arrived in Cusco we started to research the best ways to trek to Machu Picchu. The famous "Inca Trail" was sold out but there were lots of other possibilities on offer giving a similar tough trek over a few days but mostly much cheaper and less crowded than the Inca Trail. We eventually decided to hike the "Salkantay Trail" and booked through the company Hiking Peru, which has an office on the Plaza de Armas. They gave us the cheapest quote and we could see no reason as to why we should pay more to go with [View Full Entry]

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Our time in and around Arequipa was like a microcosm of our time in South America: up a mountain one day, in a museum the next and down a canyon the next. This trip is certainly never dull! Arequipa itself is Peru's second largest city and offers stunning examples of colonial architecture. But, straight after our arrival in Arequipa instead of taking it easy we decided to try to climb a mountain instead. Cerro Chichani We had read in our guidebook that Cerro Chichani was an "easy" 6,000+ metre peak and so decided to give it a go. Let this blog [View Full Entry]

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Lake Titicaca (shared between Bolivia and Peru) is the world's highest navigable lake, at 3,812 metres above sea level. It is also South America's largest lake, with a water volume of 893 cubic kilometres. In other words, this is one of the highlights of any trip to South America and we had great fun exploring. The Bolivian Side "At the Copa, Copacabana....". This is one tune that refused to leave my head for our stay at the lovely town of Copacabana, on the Bolivian shore of Lake Titicaca. Whilst I can't imagine it lives up to its Brazilian counterpart, I was [View Full Entry]

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And so it was time to get back to altitude, this time with a visit to La Paz (Bolivia's "other" capital city). Our time in La Paz was very different to usual. We didn't climb any mountains or ford any streams. Indeed, most of our time was spent either visiting museums, wandering the streets or eating yummy food. We had been hoping to go hiking in the Cordillera near La Paz but sadly end-of-wet-season weather conditions were against us. We visited a number of museums in La Paz including (and in no particular order): * The Coca Museum Fascinating stuff showing [View Full Entry]

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Bolivia is a country that is continually exceeding my expectations. After experiencing Bolivia´s stunning natrual scenery in Tupiza and Uyuni we moved on to explore some of the more cultural aspects of Bolivia by visiting two of its important colonial cities, Potosi and Sucre. Visiting these places took us a little further from the "gringo trail" we had encountered in Uyuni and gave more chance to engage with the locals (see my social comment at the end!). Potosi During the 16th century, Potosi was the biggest city in the Americas, and far bigger than London or Paris. This wa [View Full Entry]

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We crossed from the Argentinian town of La Quiaca to the Bolivian town of Villazon in one of our easiest border crossings so far. In fact, many people were just walking across without even stopping at the immigration police, but we figured it was best to go the official way! Border towns can sometimes be intimidating but Villazon was fine, and after going for a quick drink we hopped on a bus to take us a few hours north to Tupiza, our base for the next few days. Tha majority of travellers stay in Tupiza just a day or two before [View Full Entry]

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