We have been having the most amazing time...Our highlights so far here have been the Inca trail in Peru and the Salt Flats trip in Bolivia, both with the most amazing scenery!!
Peru: The Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and Cusco
We enjoyed our time in Cusco acclimatising and exploring the town and markets but were rather nervous about the challenge ahead as we had heard stories about how hard the trail is and especially the 2nd day!! We had the most amazing time, the scenery was incredible and worth each step (most of which were being out of breathe due to the altitude!) The second day was hard work, an uphill climb for about 5 hours and then downhill for about 2...hard on the knees! but we were treated like royalty by Peru Treks (the company we went with)...our tents were set up before we arrived in camp each evening, we were clapped in as we all arrived at camp at lunch and again in the evening, we were woken up with coffee and ate the most amazing food each meal time in our dining tent (even popcorn at tea time!!) and to top it off a cake on the last night...with no oven in sight, our chef was talented!!! The porters on the trail are incredible how they manage 20kgs on their backs and run up and down the same hills, setting up camp way before we are even close by! and most wear open-toed shoes!! Crazy!
- Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146703&l=a2637&id=639785606
Bolivia:
We spent a few days on Lake Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world!) in a lakeside town called Copacabana chilling out and also spent two nights on an island called Isla del Sol which had beautiful views and steep cliffs down into the lake (was not fun climbing up the steps to the village with our huge backpacks on though!!) The island wasn't the best introduction to Bolivia as we felt slightly ripped off on numerous occasions and then once we got to the city of La Paz Chantelle's card was cancelled due to cloning, Guy's card was blocked as Bolivia is high risk and then to top it off our wallet was stolen a week later...luckily not with all our cards but the pain of phoning the UK to cancel them and get them to us again is ongoing! We loved the trip to the Amazon though...we did a 3 day pampas tour and saw loads of animals like alligators, caimans, capybara, turtles, pink fresh water dolphins, 2 anaconda's mating, a cobra and loads of amazing birds all over!!
- Photo´s: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153370&l=2d71a&id=639785606
The next trip was a 12 hour bus journey south (scarily bumpy!) to Uyuni to go on a 3 day trip to the Salt Flats...WOW!!! The most incredible landscape...the salt flats are enormous and stretch as far as the eye can see! We then went further south to see amazing mountains, colourful lakes with thousands of flamingoes, desert terrain and other amazing rock formations. It was really cold though so had all the layers and thermals on...one night it was minus 10 and no heating or hot water!! We were really lucky though as we joined up with another couple and she was fluent in Spanish as the guide and cook didn´t do english at all so that made it all that more interesting!! - Salt flat photo´s:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154018&l=99e61&id=639785606
Mountain bike trip down "The World's Most Dangerous Road"
Starting at 4750m, in the cold wind, we had some tar to get used to our bikes and brakes & practice our techniques for the gravel to come. 20mins into the ride one of the team behind us braked too hard and went over the handle bars...and to hospital for stitches!! (and we weren´t even on the dangerous road yet) so that freaked us out along with the guide telling us stories of people´s accidents over the past ten years!! Scary...and we did wonder once or twice why on earth we signed up! Then the clouds and rain came in, visibility faded rapidly and our goggles misted up...Perhaps a good thing not being able to see the 800m cliff drop into the valley 2000m below half a metre away from our bike wheel!!...My brakes were never off for too long!! but after a while our confidence picked up and the road widened for a section to get some more speed...and then a waterfall, some dogs, chickens and 2 rivers to cross were added to the challenge! Eventually we got to the bottom alive and wished we could do it again!! The most scary part was going up on the bus and seeing what we actually accomplished...one minor mistake and you history!
- Photo´s: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154040&l=ea886&id=639785606
Off to Rio on Sunday so looking forward to our next adventure...
