Blogs from South America - page 13

(Day 339 on the road)I have the feeling that this is going to be a tough blog entry to write. Put simply, nothing extraordinary happened in the last four weeks in Argentina. No Machu Pichu to stare at in awe. No lost city to discover in the remote jungle. No 6.000m-high mountain to climb. No death road to bike down. No multi-day camping trips high in the Andes. No vast salt desert to drive through. No volcano to scale. No close encounters with tame wildlife. Put simply, no major highlights to write about - compared to virtually all my last entries. Instead, I discovered a northern Argentina full of pretty landscapes, with appealing and (fairly) orderly cities, and with a sophisticated and educated population. In fact, travelling south after spending many months in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru ... read more

This blog is available with more photos on my website https://heatherjasper.com Waqra Pukará is one of the most spectacular Inca ruins in Peru and one of my top recommendations for alternatives to Machu Picchu. It’s an isolated tower, with two giant stone “horns” that give the site its name. Waqra is the Quechua word for horned and Pukará means fortress. The Apurímac River Canyon far below makes the high promontory even more dramatic. The ruins are at 4,140 meters above sea level (13,583 feet) and the river is at about 3,230 meters (10,600 ft). I think the location is much more impressive than Machu Picchu. From a distance, Waqra Pukará seems completely natural. When you get closer, you’ll see the remnants of walls surrounding the site, flat areas that were obviously leveled by people and stairs ... read more

(Day 300 on the road)There is a small street in the centre of La Paz where most of the travel agencies, many backpacker accommodations and a popular cafe are concentrated. As I walked down the steep street looking at the tours and excursions advertised by the travel agencies, I realised that I had done almost all of them. Valle de la Luna? Check. Copacana? Check. Free La Paz city tour? Check. Isla del Sol? Check. Tiwanako? Check. Chacaltaya? Check. Chulita wrestling? Check. Pico Austria? Check. Death Road? Check. Huayna Potosi? Check. Check. Check. It was time to leave La Paz and move on. First up were a couple of stops in unremarkable towns like Oruro, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. I had discovered however that the Bolivian cities that are located at a higher altitude (say higher ... read more

Visit Tilcara for an Inca fortress, good food, plenty of lodging options and easy transportation. This blog with more photos (and all my blogs) is available on my website . The town is very walkable and on almost every block I passes several small, family-run hostels and B&Bs. Between the center of town and the main tourist attractions are also a few campgrounds. I saw almost as many restaurants, but only had time to try one, which I thoroughly enjoyed. (Restaurant review is at the end of this blog). Tilcara is one of the main towns in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a valley that runs north and south between the high altitude altiplano on the west and the valleys that lead to the Amazon Basin on the east. The location made it an important trading center ... read more

Do hotels deserve a whole blog to themselves? No. Does Pristine Camps at Salinas Grandes deserve its own blog? Absolutely. This blog is available url=https://heatherjasper.com/argentina-blogs-southamerica-travel-tips/pristine-camps-salinas-grandeson my website with lots more photos . In a country full of spectacular places, Salinas Grandes are one of the most beautiful places in Argentina. Pristine Camps has made that beauty accessible for people who want to see the full 24 hour wonder of the salt flats. The Salinas Grandes salt flats in northern Argentina are the most otherworldly place I’ve ever seen. I’ve been in spectacular deserts before, especially in the Four Corners area of the US, but I’ve never seen anything like the salt flats. It was like being on the moon. I was very comfortable but also kind of felt like I was in a spaceship because of ... read more