Page 10 of Sophie and Dale Travel Blog Posts


South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Coroico August 7th 2008

There are a few times when our days are so amazing that we feel that they deserve a blog entry all of their own and this was one of those days.... We had both been looking forward to another highlight of our trip since leaving the UK.. the mountain biking down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road. Sophie had seen this road on an email many years ago and at that time had never dreamt she'd ever see it let alone get to bike down it! For both of us this trip was very different so we have decided to write a separate account of our experiences. As some of you will know Sophie and Dale are poles apart when it comes to sport so with one at the back and one at the front things were ... read more
Dale & Howler Monkey
Guide & local girls
Not a good place to fall of

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz August 6th 2008

After another quite uneventful bus ride (the kind we like!) to La Paz we arrived in the highest city in the world at about 3pm. The only good thing about this bus ride was the journey across Titca where you have to leave the bus and go across by boat while your bus gets transported by another ferry boat after you! We were't entirely sure what to expect of La Paz so had nothing huge planned except to see what the city had to offer us and stock up on some essentials from the markets.. Our first few days were spent taking in the sights around our hostel which was convenientially located next to the witches market. This market is excellent for those into spiritual offerings and sells everything you could need for an Inca ceremony.. ... read more
La Paz View
Shop near Presidential Palace
Artwork in La Paz

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Copacabana August 2nd 2008

Copacabana is not quite as we'd expected.. we'd imagined a lovely town nestled on the edge of Lake Titicaca.. in actual fact it's a bit run down, very touristy with not a lot to do! The plaza was the biggest let down as it's just a square where loads of buses park up but we were prepared to give it a go and see what we could experience while we were there... We enjoyed a trip to the Isle Del Sol on our second day there which was a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Titicaca with the most amazing views of the lake and the 6000m plus snow peaked mountains behind. The island is supposedly where the sun was born from with it's brother the Isle De La Luna next door which is where ... read more
Some of Bolivias high peaks
Cathedral in Copacabana
Nice place for a beer

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Arequipa July 29th 2008

Our journey to Arequipa was another one we won´t forget in a long while.... We had opted for the cheapest bus we could find and we suppose that we should have guessed that you always get what you pay for! The bus stopped at every opportunity along the way to get more and more people on until it was full to bursting point. It also didn´t have a toilet for the 6 hour journey which wasn´t great when it was boiling hot inside and we didn´t dare drink any water in case we needed to go! A few hours into the journey the bus stopped at a police checkpoint and a group of men got on to inspect the passengers and it´s contents then a really strange thing happened... the police found a lot of bags ... read more
Dale on the Canyon
A young Condor
Colca Canyon

South America » Peru » Puno » Puno July 19th 2008

For those not aware of Puno, it´s a small town sitting at 3827m above sea level on the North shores of the world famous Lake Titicaca. The main reason people go there is to visit the floating and natural islands found in and around the enormous lake. We´d come to Puno with Joe & Anna who we´d met on the Inca Trail and it was nice to be in a small group for a change, not that we mind each others company but it´s nice to have someone else to talk to every now and again! Our taxi driver took us to a really nice and cheap hotel and we were really pleased when we found out our rooms also had cable tv so for once we were glad we´d been ambushed into going somewhere a ... read more
Peruvian lady
Houses & people
Lake Titicaca

South America » Peru » Cusco » Inca Trail July 12th 2008

We had our Inca Trail booked for Wednesday 9th July and after looking forward to it for 6 months we were glad to check in on Sunday and have all the details confirmed. Sophie had lost track of the days so thought we were going on Tuesday for a few days so it´s a good job that the trek company called our hostel on Monday morning and asked us to call in as soon as possible... all sort of thoughts raced through our heads of why we would need to go in again but we made our way down there. There was a problem.. on Wednesday 9th July there was to be a national strike across Peru because the government was trying to take land from the farmers. The company were concerned that we wouldn´t make ... read more
Start of the Inca Trail..
Patallacta Terraces
Traditional porters

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco July 8th 2008

Our bus ride from Nazca to Cuzco was officially our worst yet.. by a really long way! We hadn´t been able to book the Cama seats for the 16 hour ride so had to make do with semi-cama... oh the hardship! We got on the bus at 12.00am in darkness with everyone else asleep so had and had to try to make ourselves as comfortable as possible in the dark but this was not the worst part! Dale had seen the road that we were going to go along from the top of Cerro Blacno but had decided that it was in Sophie´s best interest that he did not let her know what he had seen. After about 10 minutes into the ride we were on this road and Sophie being in the window seat soon ... read more
Cuzco
Peruvian girl
Original Inca wall

South America » Peru » Ica » Nazca » Nazca Lines July 3rd 2008

Nazca is famous for one thing.. the Nazca Lines. These are strange lines that have been etched into the ground and were thought to be an astrological calender but there is still no real explaination of what they are for. Whilst in Nazca though Dale has found out that it should actually be more famous for another thing.. Cerro Blanco.. the worlds highest sand dune (or South America´s depending on what guide you read!) We´d decided against the traditional flight over the lines because we had seen many photos and blogs which said you could not really see them very well and this, combined with the thought of going in a propellor plane with pilots who had fantasies of being in the red devils and who´s main aim was to try their hardest to make you ... read more
Dale and the hands
Cerro Blanco
Cerro Blanco

South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina June 29th 2008

The flight from Buenos Aires to Lima went well and we were particularly impressed with the drinks trolley coming round 3 times in a 4 hour flight.. you don´t get that on BA! We only stayed one night in Lima for a number of reasons... a) it´s expensive, b) we weren´t really after another big city experience, c) we hadn´t heard great reports on the city itself so we hot tailed it out of there the following afternoon bound for Ica. Ica is quite a busy little town, well it looks busy but considering that 90% of the road traffic is mini taxis and tuk-tuk type taxis we think that this gives it the illusion of being busy when in actual fact it isn´t! The town itself is surrounded on all sides by huge sand dunes ... read more
Sunset
Mummy
Sophie!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires June 23rd 2008

Our latest 16 hour coach ride from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires was in luxury because we´d opted to splash out and spend an extra 80p each on a cama coach rather than semi cama. For those not aware of the difference this basically means that the seats are wider and recline nearly all the way back to make a bed (cama)… the best £1.60 we have spent so far we both thought! As well as luxury seats you are also provided with a blanket, dinner and breakfast, kind of like a flight but better as you get a lot more legroom! As an added bonus they showed 300 in the evening which is one of our favourite films so all in all a great journey for us! On our arrival we were greeted with a ... read more
Plaque on Eva Peron´s tomb
Tango dancing in San Telmo
Dale´s steak




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