An important pile of stones As tourist attractions go, Machu Picchu has everything: the location is spectacular, on a ridge high above the Apurimac river, with beautiful mountains in view in all directions; the ruins are incredible with fine examples of famous Inca stonework; there's also the sense of mystery: despite all the excavations and studies, no one still knows for sure the exact purpose of Machu Picchu. Was it a ceremonial site? Or a summer retreat for the Inca Emperor Pachcutec? Or, as Hiram Bingham thought, the legendary lost city of the Incas? And why did it remain unknown to [View Full Entry]

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Day 0 - Cusco, preparing for the trip We arrived in Cusco bright and early at 6am following an overnight bus from Arequipa. It had been difficult to sleep so it was something of a relief that there were people there waiting at the Cruz del Sur station to offer us a cheap hostel. We, along, with two other backpackers, Nick, from Canada, and Kirilee, from New Zealand (whom we'd get to know well over the next few days), set off for Hostal Apu Wasi in San Blas. Our driver took the scenic route via Plaza de Armas, which looked magical [View Full Entry]

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One of those crazy days A long and somewhat crazy day began in Puno with an early wake up call to catch the 8.30 bus to Arequipa. Arequipa, Peru's second biggest city, lies north west of Puno, a long six hour trip, with with good views of mountains such as Misti and Chachani along the way. No sooner had we arrived and found a hotel in Arequipa than we were booked on a climb to Cerro Chachani, a 6075 metre peak - leaving in 8 hours time at midnight! So with 6 hours sleep the previous night followed by a six [View Full Entry]

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Titi for Peru and Caca for Bolivia Another border crossing, another passport stamp, another country and yet another currency to get our heads around! Like Copacabana, Puno lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca. But there the similarities end. Puno is a far bigger city, which doesn't depend so much on the tourist dollar, yet, perhaps paradoxically feels like more of a tourist trap. During the bus trip from Copacabana a representative from the company started trying to entice us and everyone else to stay in a company owned hostel in Puno. They offered a free transfer from the bus terminal [View Full Entry]

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Copa...Copacabana Copacabana was the perfect place to end our travels in Bolivia. Situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca, at a breathtaking altitude of 3841 metres above sea level, Copacabana is the type of place you plan to visit for a day and end up staying a week. It's just one of the many towns in South America that live off tourism, but nevertheless it's a very pleasant place to visit. The trip from La Paz to Copacabana is memorable. First you climb our of La Paz, onto the bleak Altiplano, with the high peaks of the Cordillera Real to the [View Full Entry]

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Nuestra Señora de La Paz As I mentioned in my last blog, Sucre might well be the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but all the action seems to be in La Paz. While Sucre has it's colonial buildings, La Paz has an incredible street life: there's a real vibe on the streets, with constant noise from the thousands of taxis and cars, the numerous markets and the huge number of people. Shops as you know them in Europe don't seem to exist in La Paz; instead everything you need can be found in markets or kiosks lining the streets. These are often [View Full Entry]

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A tale of two capitals Ask anyone in Sucre which city is the capital of Bolivia and you'll most likely be told Sucre. Ask the same question in La Paz and they'll tell you it's La Paz. Ask anyone else in Bolivia and they'll probably tell you it's rather complicated but there are two capitals. Following independence in 1825, Sucre soon became capital of the new Republic of Bolivia. In 1959 the seat of government moved to La Paz. However, no one bothered to change the constitution so Sucre remains the constitutional capital and is also home to the judiciary. Sucre [View Full Entry]

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Getting high in Bolivia If you're the type of traveller who likes statistics or ticking things off a list then Bolivia is the perfect country for you. Amongst other world's highests, Bolivia contains the highest capital city, the highest salt flats, the highest navigable lake, the highest ski resort and in Potosi, subject of this blog, the world's highest city. There are probably many more highests that we don't know about in Bolivia but I'm sure we'll find more of them as we explore the country. Potosi is situated at a breathtaking 4000m above sea level. The city was founded in [View Full Entry]

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More bus travel woe We planned to travel from Tupiza to Uyuni by train but we got so tired of waiting for the ticket office in the station to open that we gave up and booked a bus instead. This meant we left Tupiza at a better time of day but we did sacrifice comfort for timing and price! The trip to Uyuni took about 6.5 hours by bus, a difficult journey along unpaved roads, leaving me bruised and battered, a trip that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I think we'd been spoiled by all our nice bus journeys [View Full Entry]

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Farewell Chile When we left Argentina on December 26th I thought it might be the last time we'd see this great country (on this trip), but since then we've returned three times from Chile. We just can't get enough of it! This latest visit was very much a last minute decision: Bolivia was our next planned destination and the best route in from San Pedro de Atacama seemed to be via Argentina. So we left San Pedro at 10.30am, and all was going fine until close to the border at the Jama Pass. Then, the bus engine started overheating, as it [View Full Entry]

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