Travelling South America

Photos: Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol

southamerica — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:49:00 GMT

San Pedro de Atacama

southamerica — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:32:00 GMT

Finally arrived in a country where pollution matters, police are fairly honest and reliable and life is pretty easy.

The second you enter Chile at the Border you notice the difference, proper computers, bag scanners, formal office, free (very clean) toilets - luxury really. The best thing of all though was the first taste of decent wine in 2 months! We did try a sip of very bad Bolivian wine on the Uyuni trip, but basically in Equador, Peru and Bolivia it is really expensive, so we didn´t bother. At last, here in Chile, wine is cheap, plentiful and really good. We also purchased excellent olives and feta, which San Pedro is famous for - lovely!

San Pedro is a desert town to the north of Chile, but much lower altitude than Bolivia. You roll down the mountains to get here. It offered almost the same a our Bolivian salt flats tour, but at European prices, so we just stayed a few nights to get things washed and to meet up with a guy called Steve and his telescope. We had a brilliant night looking at the stars and moon, as well as hearing a lot of stories from Steve. He has a great meteorite museum with a very extensive collection. Apparently the Atacama desert is the best place in the world to collect meteorites, as the sand is so white, the climate is perfect and they don´t decay.

From San Pedro we got yet another semi cama overnight bus (this one 23hr long) to Santiago!

Salar de Uyuni

southamerica — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:10:00 GMT

In the trusty hands of Walter, our Bolivian driver, we we set off in a big 4 x 4 with 2 Germans and 2 Irish, none of us capable of speaking good enough Spanish to properly communicate with him. He was great, providing excellent food, briliant driving and he didn´t drink alcohol for the whole trip (we think). This is unusual it seems as even the best company on trip advisor has a 25% negative review from customers experiencing horrific alcohol induced erratic driving.

The trip started at the train graveyard, where abandoned steam trains have been left to rot. As water boils at 60 degrees C here (5000m above sea level) the trains would role back down the hill with a full load. Not ideal for efficient freight transport, even Bolivian style! Then we went on to the brilliant white salt flats, a Coral Island covered in enormous cacti, volcanoes, multi coloured lagoons with millions of pink flamingos, Geysers and at the end a very nice (hot) thermal bath. It´s warm (ish) during the day, but due to wind and altitude you really have to factor 50 your skin. Despite all protection we still burnt our noses. At night is another story, with freezing cold conditions and temperatures at -10!

We left the group at the Chillean border to go onto San Pedro de Atacama.

La Paz

southamerica — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:35:00 GMT

We have heard you either love Bolivia or you hate it, mostly because it is a little chaotic. This is the same for La Paz, which is currently competing to be a Wonder City for South America. It probably won´t be successful this time around, but that´s not to say we didn´t love it! We stayed in the best place in town, Alcedes´ house - Landscape B&B in the Embassy District. The whole place has a rough and ready vibe. People are very friendly and the cars and buses chuck out thick black smoke to the point were Damian could barely breathe after day 4!

When we arrived we stumbled across The English Pub whilst looking for accomodation. Full English Breakfast enjoyed!

The Witches Market had dead baby Llama hung up (to be used for good luck when buried under your front door), but the Llama wool clothes markets were very very expensive so my plan to buy all the Christmas presents here was thwarted!

After Damian finished the world´s hottest vindaloo (and got the t-shirt) we went to possibly the worst dance performance ever (my idea) in a stunning theatre. We did leave half way through, but only paid 1USD for the tickets - worth the experience I think! Damian disagrees.

We did the famous death road as well, which is a bike ride from over 5000m down to the Jungle at Coroico. The view is brilliant, but it´s name is pretty appropriate. A very steep ride down but we survived with only 1 person in our group flipping his bike over and landing on his head!

It was quite difficult to leave La Paz, as the buses regularly breakdown. We turned up on our first attempt only to find the bus had broken down before arrival. As this was an overnight 9hr journey, it was slightly concerning, but in Bolivia you have to accept it. They did try to put us on a horrific looking bus, dirty and cramped, but a Laura Strop in broken Spanish resulted in all money returned and a bus for the next night. Another day and night in La Paz at Alcedes´ lovely house. The second bus did arrive, but broke down constantly on route to Uyuni, so took 14 hours! We arrived just in time for our trip to Salar de Uyuni (the worlds largest salt flats).

Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol

southamerica — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:15:00 GMT

Brilliant to be out of Peru and back in ´real´South America. Copacabana town on the edge of the lake is pretty touristy, but very nice. Here we stayed in a hotel next to the infamous Bolivian Navy - the only inland navy in the world as a result of countless defeats to Chile and Peru. They marched out of time to a trumpet player (that I could compete with) with great enthusiasm twice a day every day. We stayed over night before getting on a boat to Isla del Sol a lovely quiet island were the Inca Creation Legend started. Viracocha, the creator god had children (Manco Kapac and Mama Ocllo) who rose from the waters of Lake Titicaca to found Cuzco and the inca dynasty.

We walked from one end the island to the other, stayed on the beach and ate the worst fish dinner ever! The only option in the beach shack/shop that night. We have since seen the same tinned fish (in tomato sauce) in supermarkets across South America, which is very surprising as we can only imagine the starving dogs would turn their noses up at it.

Our first sight of snow was on the bus from Copacabana to La Paz, where we crossed stunning desolate mountains above 5000m.

Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu

southamerica — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 03:46:00 GMT

We left Cuzco at 5am to join the trek to Macchu Picchu. Starting at Sayllapata (altitude 3300m), we climbed to Soraypampa (3700m) to set up camp. I was so nervous I'd be the most unfit and not cope with the altitude, but luckily Damian and I were usually at the front (for the first day). Damian was at the front for the whole trip, I can't say the same for me! After a late lunch we then climbed to a glacier lake at 4200m. This was quite steep, so I fell back to 4th place (total of 8). The South Africans and Brazillians struggled with the altitude a bit more, but the French (aged 66 and 58) were not phased in the slightest. The lake was stunning, with the mountain glacier feeding straight into it. Very cold night!

Day 2 was to the peak of Paso, at 4600m, then a killer 3 hours downhill (total 10 hours walking!). We passed the Salkantay Mountain, at 6271m which was brilliant. We camped at 2800m, which was much warmer but there was only a very cold shower.

Day 3 was heading into the high jungle, but we only did 3 hours of walking, which was disappointing (it's amazing how quick you get used to it). The guide changed the route so the afternoon could be at thermal baths. Damian and I didn't bother, as there were loads of mosquitos and a bit grim, but the others went for it. The French arrived back covered in bites (legs swollen and bleeding) and the Brazillians went to the local clinic, as Pedro had a reaction, passed out, then 'purged'! The room they were put in also had chickens and a dog, so not the best hygiene standards.

Day 4 was just us and the French, as the South Africans left early for Macchu Pichu and the Brazillians took a short cut via zip-wire. This day was amazing, as we climbed back up hill one one for the original Inca Paths from Lucmabamba to Llacapata, then downhill to the Hidro Electrica. Stunning Cloud Forest with loads of flowers and butterflies. We washed in the waterfall at the bottom and went on to Aguas Calientes by the vista-dome train. Brilliant night's sleep in the hotel and on to Macchu Picchu.

Day 5 was a bit annoying, as they messed up our train tickets home, so after waiting around and sending shirty emails we eventually got them at lunch and went on to Macchu Pichu. Brilliant time to go in the late afternoon as most people had been there since 5am and were leaving. It was pretty quiet from 1 - 4pm when we left so we climbed all over it and then headed back for the vista-dome train (unfortunately in the dark) back to Cusco. The train ride back included a clown and fashion show with the very serious looking stewards dressed up for us. They looked very embarassed at first, but once the wolf whistelling started (by the Austrailians) everyone had a great time. The clothes were really nice and not that expensive, so gutted I couldn't buy anything (absolutely NO space in the rucksack).

We caught up with our sleep in Cusco for 2 days, then on to Bolivia. Spoilt ourselves with English food at Cuzco's Cross Keys Pub (only English pub in Ecuador and Peru we have found - although we haven't been looking until now), fantastic Ploughmans lunch with Stilton and Brilliant Curry House in the evening! Expensive, but the best food we have eaten in Peru!

Photos: Hike to Machu Picchu

southamerica — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 02:47:00 GMT

The high trail hike.

Photos: Cuzco, Piscac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Urubamba and Qoricancha

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 13:14:00 GMT

Photos: Boat trip from Iquitos and jungle tour

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 12:51:00 GMT

Photos: Sun and Moon temple (Trujillo)

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 12:42:00 GMT

These are the remains of the sun and moon temples (that´s what archaeologists call every Inca building here). There are the remains of a third large structure but having run out of large objects in the sky, they´re calling that another moon temple. The people here seemed to prefer the moon...

Photos: Chan Chan (near Huanchaco)

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 12:05:00 GMT

Photos: Chachapoyas and 3 hour trip (approx 60km) to Kuelap

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 11:29:00 GMT

Cuzco

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 05:30:00 GMT

Arriving in Cuzco was great after the jungle, a white washed city full of tourists and nice looking restaurants. We bought a 10 day tourist ticket, which is a bit of a waste of money, as we did get a bit sick of Inca Ruins after doing 4 in one day. We looked around Cuzco on the first 2 days, there are loads of nice museums (but not included in the tourist ticket they sell you), then did a trip to Pisca, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Qoricancha before the trek. Museo de Arte Precolombino had fantastic pottery shaped into all sorts of animals and outfits of gold - the best museum. We also did San Domingo, which was a Dominican church built on top of the Qoricancha Temple of the Sun. Much of the Inca ruins were exposed during the earthquake of 1950. This is an amazing place, our faviourate in Cuzco.

Most importantly for Damian we found an Irish pub and he had his first Guinness and sheppards pie at high altitude! He had managed to go 8 weeks without a Guinness before this moment, so you can imagine how much he enjoyed it!

Iquitos and the Amazon Rainforest

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 04:16:00 GMT

We made a bit of a mistake here. We should have gone to Iquitos from Chachapoyas (via Tarapoto) which would have saved us some money, but the books are not very clear, so we didn't realise the flights stop on route from Lima. So we went all the way down to Lima to come all the way back up. Unfortunately either way these were the only two flight options to the Jungle, or you can do a 4 - 5 day journey by land and boat. This was too much like hard work for us, so we opted for the expensive option.

Iquitos is a crazy city, very noisy with tuk tuks everywhere. I quite liked it for the short time we were there, the night before the jungle and the night after. I'd say it was worth experiencing and apparently you can get great Chinese and Japanese food there due to the number of companies searching for oil and logging. All the motors, on boats, tuk tuks and cars are Honda, even the airport sign says We hope you enjoyed your stay, sponsored by Honda!

We found our tour when we bumped into a lovely Chillean called Pablo. The three of us then spent an amazing four day adventure together. We travelled by handmade wooden boat with reed thatch roof for 6 hours along one of the Amazon river tributories to Amazon King Lodge. Along the way we encountered torrential rain, which the boat and roof coped with very well. Our guide spoke excelent English luckily, as did Pablo, so we were very lazy and let them do all the hard translation work for us.

Pablo needs further explaination, he is probably one of the most honest speaking, passionate, socially minded (politically) and guinuinely lovely people you will ever meet. A pharmasist from Santiago, he knows a lot about the politics of his Country and South America, going way back, which is fascinating. He is also very left wing and a huge fan of Che Guevara, so my reading The Motorcycle Diaries went down very well. His book was loads better though, with all the pictures as well - quite cool. Anyway, most people you meet are reading this book whilst travelling, so nothing unusual. I really hope we get to catch up with him in Santiago, as 1 he knows a great Thai Restaurant and 2, we both really enjoyed his company.

So, the three of us arrive only to find Amazon King Lodge is actually a wooden hut in the heart of a little community of about 100 people on the bank of the river. This was a nice surprise, as I have done lodges before and you don't get many animals around them. We got our rooms, very very basic and got the mosquito nets up. Pablo didn't have his own net so used there single nets, but as they are very short and he is 6ft, his feet were very badly bitten and was constantly scratching them like a dog does - which was quite funny at the time.

Lunch and dinner were always rice with fish or Chicken and fried green bananas - very sick of the taste by the end! We were in a location rich in Pink Dolphins and River Dolphins. Everywhere we went we saw them but I don't have a single photo, as they are very quick. We went fishing for Piranha Fish and we caught loads (we ate them all). We saw lots of amazing birds (I particularly liked the Kingfishers) and the amazing sight of an enormous brightly coloured Macaw high in the tree top. We saw a huge green Iguana in the tree, not very clear on my camera unfortunately. We saw a Sloth, but just looked like a ball hanging from the tree. We saw loads of little river tortoise and managed to get a quick photo of one before it jumped into the water. We saw quite a lot of Cayman (little crocodiles) and our amazing guide Orlando litterally grabbed one out of the water for us to look at. It was only small, about 75cm long (2 years old he reckoned). We held it but I was not very happy about that, the skin was interesting to touch though, very tough like leather and scaley. We also found a Tarantula on one of the night treks and the guide picked it up and it crawled all over Damian and Pablo - very fury. We camped out in the Jungle, another 2 hours upstream and ate our delicious catch of the day - more fish. We saw and Damian stroked huge (size of a Melon) frogs. The slime on these frogs is poisoness and used for poison darts. We learned loads about different plants and the use of them in medicine. We cut down a palm tree and ate the heart in a lovely salad - this is my new favourite salad. I can't describe the taste as nothing is similar, but it is sooooooooooooooo good. We made a swing from the vines and the boys had great fun trying to out swing each other, sending Orlando crashing into a big tree at high speed! Damian and Pablo got eaten alive by mosquitos, flies, fish when swimming and anything else that went near them.

All in all a really interesting and amazing trip, NEVER to be repeated! Neither of us are very good in hot weather, which is why coming to South America in their Winter/Spring was a brilliant plan and neither of us cope well with very high humidity. Both hate bugs!!!

Huanchaco, Peru

southamerica — Thu, 3 Oct 2013 03:23:00 GMT

This is a brilliant little fishing town just north of Trujillo. We ended up staying here for 6 days as it was so relaxing. The local fishermen use boats that look like large surf boards made out of reeds to fish in the shallow water. They catch some pretty big fish as well, as it's really easy to buy it from the local market. We even managed to buy spices to make a curry one night, which we are missing enormously! We are now carrying around with us a variety of spices that re making my bag quite fragrant!

First night was in a slightly rubbish hostel, but then we came across Rubalong, an apartment overlooking the bay with amazing views. It cost s.60/night - about 13.50 (pounds) for both of us!

We ended up staying for longer as we had some surfing lessons. I can now (or could when I left) catch a wave and stand up all by myself!!! I am well chuffed and shall be heading up to Scarborough to practice with the girls from home when I get back - Clare/Charlie?? Damian can catch a wave with help (hehehe) and stand up. Very satisfying to be better than him at something, as this is a rare occasion!

We also went Huacas del Luna (Pyramid), an amazing pre inca temple and city just near by. This place was part of the Moche empire that was eventually taken over, pre Inka. The Spanish looted it for gold in the 1600's and distroyed quite a lot, not as much as the Huncas Del Sol next door, which was bigger than the pyrimids in Egypt before they destroyed most of it. Lookily they didn't find that much gold in the Sun Temple, so they only distroyed part of the smaller Luna Temple (it is still massive!). The paintings on the wall are still easy to see and with each new King the Moche people added an entirely new outer layer (phase) to the temples, so there are 7 layers in total, with almost all of layers 1, 2 and 3 completely intact and protected by the outer layers. Unfortunately you cannot see them, as they are still beneath the rest. The Spanish did do a good job of ripping down one wall, so you can now see layers 4 and 5 behind the impressive murals of layer 6, but the final and richest temple was destroyed by weathering and the pre and post Spanish looters. Really amazing temple.

We also went to the Chan Chan complex, which was the imperial city of the Chimu culture. It first looks like a load of enormous mounds in the sand (it's really dry and dusty in the whole area) as you walk up to them from the highway, but when you go inside they are amazing pre inca palaces and temples. This is the largest adobe (mud built) city in the World. This is another 11 year seige by the Inka's and the last civilisation before Inka domination. For each King here they built a new palace (they are not sure what they did with the old one). When the King died, everyone who served him was burried as well, including much of the royal family. They didn't have doors in the Palaces either, just layers of walls to protect access ways from the sun and wind. The pattens on the walls are still really clear, with fish, fishing nets and birds clearly shown. We could only go into a few of them though, as most are still under the sand and need excavating. It would be good to come back in 20 years time, when they have done them all, as they found loads of amazing artifacts just in the few we went to. The museums here are brilliant.

After the relax we decided to catch an overnight bus to Lima and fly to Iquitos, the city in the middle of the Amazon Jungle.

Photos: Vilcabamba, Ecuador

southamerica — Wed, 2 Oct 2013 13:37:00 GMT

Photos: To Cuenca

southamerica — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:17:00 GMT

Chachapoyas

southamerica — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:28:00 GMT

We would not have bothered with this route had we known how long it took in advance. It took most of the day, starting very early, a bus, a taxi, a border crossing, a combi (taxi for the first four people to arrive) and then another larger minibus style combi to arrive at Jaen, Peru. I should add here that the first taxi was with 2 Swiss and 2 Germans I talked into sharing with us, and so glad I did as they did all spoke Spanish. The taxi was a Toyota truck, so Damian and I started in the back with the bags enjoying the fresh air, much to the shock of the others, who were relieved to get to sit inside. Then it started spitting, then torrential rain. We dived in the back grabbing the Swiss bags and squeezed in on top of each other. I should add now that we bumped into the Swiss in Chachapoyas 2 days later and found out they were organised and had all clothes in plastic bags, while mine and Damian's were drenched. Anyway, we ended the day in Jaen at an excellent hostel, more like a very nice 3* hotel, called Manantial which cost us about $7.50 each. Very very nice surprise at 9.30pm. Then up and out for 8.30am.

Another 3hr combi minibus and we were at Chachapoyas. We stayed for $7.50 again at not so nice a hostel (it was not too bad either), massive room and exceptionally helpful staff, especially for booking the bus to Trujillo. Hostel Aventura, in great location, very quiet again - a rare treat on a continent where windows are filled with some glass, but gaps are totally fine and definitely the norm.

Next day was an organised tour for a change, another 6hrs in a bus (bad idea) to Kuelap, a pre Inca ruin. This was a massive fort the size of a small village, on a hill top with walls 25m high and pretty deep too. This place was really good, but not worth the long journey. I did like the fact they buried their Shaman's by the gate to protect them from invading Incas. Unfortunately it didn't work as the Incas got in and conquered the Chachapoyans after an 11 year seige.

On to Trujillo by night bus the same day, arriving at 9ish after a wriggly and uncomfortable sleep. Felt a bit bad for the girl next to me, but would have been worse if I had kept Damian up as would of had a right telling off in the morning. As it was she put up with me very well I thought. Taxi to Huanchaco the following morning.

Vilcabamba, Ecuador

southamerica — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 10:10:00 GMT

From Galapagos we flew back to Guayaquil and just missed the direct bus to Loja. Rather than stay in sin city again we opted to head back to Cuenca instead. The elderly lady at Posada Todos Santos was as surprised and happy to see us as last time. We have abandoned the idea of booking ahead as it's easier to pull out of a grim place and mostly we have not been that organised!

This little place is amazing and very highly recommended by us for being very quiet, in a great location, very friendly and incredibly helpful despite us having limited Spanish and them having no English. Actually most places have no English so we are picking up very useful words on the way. I use very simple language and Damian uses the correct grammar but we are understood about the same. I do add some very useful actions into my attempts though which makes all the difference!!!

After a great night's sleep and a lovely hot shower we caught yet another early bus, this time to Loja and then on to Vilcabamba from there.

Vilcabamba is really pretty, but it was the dry season so not enough flowers for Damian. We stayed in a bungalow at Rumi Wilco, another really nice ecolodge well out of town. This was the first place where the sky at night was stunning with the Milkyway very clear. Damian's knowledge of the southern hemisphere's sky is very poor. I am used to him showing me loads of different constellations and all I got was the southern star from an Austrian girl.

We went to Parque Nacional Podocarpus for the day while there, did the 3hr hike which was stunning, but took 6hrs and involved rock scrambling over the crest of the mountain and much moaning from me. Damian stayed just out of earshot for most of the second half apparently.

Best bit was after the first climb we arrived at the Mirador (viewing point) only to find an elderly Ecuadorian pop star (they are all old pop stars here) miming with great emotion to his camera team. We have a photo and did quite a lot of giggling as we went past, trying to be quiet.

Craziest bit of the journey was leaving the park, 3hrs later than planned. By the time we walked down to the entrance gate it was early dusk. 20mins later a bus finally passed. We hailed it down and forced our way on. This is not an overstatement as I had to sit on the Drivers dashboard and Damian just managed to squeeze onto the bottom step by the door. There must have been well over 100 people on the bus. Problem is everyone lives in the countyside and the bus stops constantly on these short journeys, so people would force themsleves to the front and Damian would fall out as the door swung open before stopping. Bus driver made a fortune on that journey.

We only stayed 4 nights here then on to Peru. Great fajitas in the restaurant on the corner of the main square at Vilcabamba.

On the second to last night there were loads of loud bangs coming from the town so we wandered in to find a festival possibly about cows. The main square was blaring out the usual highly up to date 1980s and Ecuadorian folk music (probably by the guy on the mountain) and fireworks went off shortly after. The best fireworks were on the paper cow, which trotted around the square, courtesy of a man inside moving the contraption. You have to imagine the scene, massive sparklers were attached to the paper body along with shooting rockets from its back. Not really got to grips with health and safety standards in Ecuador yet.

Another early start for the 6.30am bus to Peru.

Photos: Huanchaco, Peru (learning to surf)

southamerica — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 09:37:00 GMT

Excellent training by a very patient Chicho from Muchik surf school. This guy was brilliant. My second lesson and I stood up almost everytime. Hard to believe I know, but shows how good Chicho was more than me. Next lesson I hope to catch the waves myself and stand up...