estlepress

Potosi was definitely the biggest culture shock of our trip. After a more than comfortable night in the Koala Den (plus fruit and eggs for breakfast, yum!) we took a tour out to the working mineral mines underneath the Cerro rico mountain. First stop was the miner´s market where we got to buy gifts for the miner´s..Like every good tourist we settled on a bunch of dynamite with extra detonators and a bag of coca leaves. Jack was veering towards the 80% proof potable alcohol but our guide (a miner himself) said that this was not good as most of the miner´s, being fully honed alcoholics, already have stacks of the stuff.. which is not a good thing but may explain how they can stand the conditions inside. In all serious the mines are hard work..really ... read more

So after an eventful bus ride..including another experience where Jack and I forget to get any money out and were then informed that we had to pay to get out of our coach and cross a river (cue more begging from our fellow travellers)..we arrived relatively unscathed in La Paz. Much to Jack´s dismay...shopping central. On the bus we teamed up with an irish/aussie couple called mike and yvette and hunted down a decent (incredibly cheap) hostel with them. The hostels recommended by the lonely planet are so expensive when it comes to the city, so far it has been best to just go door to door attempting the best price. This also seems to be a job best down by a girl. Jack and I ended up paying 60 BOBs (6 pounds) for a big ... read more

So with Jack´s arrival in S.A and only a month to get to Buenos Aires we had to start moving pretty quickly, which unfortunately for Jack meant flying from Lima to Cusco..his fourth plane in 2 days..pretty heavy for someone who doesn´t like flying! The flight was amazing though, quite low the whole way so we could see the tops of the andes. We flew with TACA who turned out to be a pretty efficient airline, bags all ready on our arrival and welcomed into the airport by a peruvian band..nice. We made our first faux pas by deciding to get a local bus into the city wavering the 8 soles taxi ride for a 2 soles but totally round the houses tour of outer cusco. We got to our hotel eventually though, Pirwa in the ... read more

The best thing Huanchaco has going for it is its proximity to two of the most impressive archeological sites south America has to offer (and yep that is including Machu Picchu!). The city of Chan Chan and the Huaca De La Luna y Del Sol are all set within the Peruvian region of La Libertad and all pre-date the inca empire by a far whack. First I visited Chan Chan which is a pre-inca city built entirely of adobe (mud bricks). It dates from around 850 AD and like Machu Picchu is a world heritage site..but without the whopping great price tag on the ticket! The city is incredibly well preserved and it is easy to see why the Chimu Chimu tribe who lived there had a reign almost double that of the incas, making the ... read more

So after Banos we took the bus down to Cuenca...officially the worst bus ride yet. The farmers are still striking over plans to privatise water so buses are avoiding certain parts of the country. This means that getting enywhere involves long complex routes scaling mountainsides. This would have been fine if the ecuadorians were skilled road builders. Unfortunately they are not. Even more unfortunately I managed to get a seat not only over a wheel for ultimate bump-sensitivity - but also opposite the toilet which appeared to use its own cess pit to flush..mmm. 12 hours later i stumbled from the bus so shook up and queasy all i could do was get to my hostel and sleep (and in a truly cultural way found a british tv channel and entertained myself with hot fuzz). The ... read more