Mancora is a town on the North Easterly point of Peru just 2 hours away from the border with Ecuador. This is the perfect place to learn to surf and after never quite getting around to it properly in Australia I was ready to give it a go. However with a sprained foot there wasn't much for me to do for a couple of days other than sun bathe and eat. Even that was a mistake as just before leaving I managed to get food poisionig from Ceviche (Seafood marinated in lime and chillies). My accommodation also had paper thin walls [View Full Entry]

---

---

FoFor all you budding travelers out there I would like to begin with do not under any circumstances go to the HI hostel in Lima unless you to want not only to be ripped off in a sneaky way but also where the lack of customer care makes it all the worse. Only having a day in Lima I decided that it wasn't worth me trying to see the sights of this big city as it would take a long time and a lot of money to get nowhere. So after being told that the HI hostel was like a resort [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well after the Mollendeo experience it was off to Huacachina for the desert experience, yes that's right Peru has desert and I can tell you now that not only is there a lot of it but it is also the driest in the world. Then to top it off not only is there desert but oasis’s as well, so for all you non believers they really do exist! (Not just in fairytales) Spent the whole day doing the stupid adrenalin pumping stuff that I normally get all excited about. The sand buggies were like being at Alton Towers without the rails [View Full Entry]

---

---

Now let me tell you about Mollendo: Mollendo is the first beach resort that you come to when you travel west from Cusco/Arequipa and is on the coast: it is not on the typical gringo trail; the reason that I know this is after being there for 4 days we did not meet one other foreigner and when typing my travel blog now it is not on the drop down key when entering the place that I have been (sort it out travelblog): After deciding that we could not yet bare to be parted from each other Anna and I just [View Full Entry]

---

---

So after deciding that we were going to leave Cusco we found out that there was an trance rave in the Sacred Valley, even though normally that wouldn’t be my type of music the fact that it was a 3 day festival helped to make up my mind (as well as the only other option being at Mama Africa’s - A cheesy night club) with other drunken fools. So New Years Eve didn't quite go to plan, not so much the problem being that we started drinking so early more the fact that I drank so much so quickly. When we [View Full Entry]

---

---

So after a few days in Cusco I decided that it really was not the place for me and definitely not somewhere that I would want to spend New Year. The main reason for this was nothing to do with the fact that the city was horrible because in fact it is a beautiful city it was more to do with the fact that the city was just a tourist trap, everybody was out to rip you off, rob you or anything that they could to improve their life but at a detrimental effect to yours. Even the nightlife was [View Full Entry]

---

---

So Christmas was here. No presents under the tree for me so I must have been a bad girl this year. One present I did have was a hangover though! So on the way into town it was crazy to see the majority of the shops open, I mean who wants to buy shoes on Christmas day or is it for those last minute presents you forgot? I imagine that it was probably more for the tourists than anything else. We did come across a manikin with the chintziest grin and even a gold tooth........so funny! Some of the not so [View Full Entry]

---

---

On arriving in Peru on Christmas Eve it was the first time that I really began to feel the Christmas spirit. Part of this was due to the fact that the hostel I was staying at had arranged for local deprived kids to come around and see Santa. We all donated toys which were distributed equally and money which brought cake and hot chocolate. This is an old tradition and it was nice to see kids that normally would not receive a thing enjoying the spirit of Christmas (which is what it should all be about. [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a six hour bus journey from La Paz just before the Peruvian border is Lake Titicaca (The Lake also extends into Peru). This is yet another contrast to Bolivia. According to ancient legend the sun was born here and the Inca’s believe there first emperor rose from the rock of Titicaca (The Rock of Puma). Llamas were slaughtered in ceremonies in front of the sacred rock where they were cut at the breast and their blood offered to the gods. At over 230km long and 97km wide the Lake is at 3820m above sea level and is one of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Where do I start with Huayna Potosi other than it is by far the hardest thing that I have ever done in my whole life. Huayana Potosi is a mountain an hour and a half outside of La Paz and stands at 6,088 m in height. To put this in perspective for you Mount Snowdon is 1,085 m, Ben Nevis is 1,344m and Kilimanjaro is 4,559m. The climb is not just about fitness but due to the altitude you just can’t breathe. There is less than 20% of people who make it to the summit in dry season and less than [View Full Entry]

---

---