Peru and Bolivia update

I’m back!!! I am apparently the worst blogger because I never get around to writing on this thing! So if you’re ready and willing, you’re about to get an overload of Claire travel rambling J

So…which country first? I have had 2 wonderful adventures in Peru and then in Bolivia but first I should tell you how Iguazu Falls went! Remember how I was in a little bit of heaven on the overnight bus, extremely comfortable with hours of sleep ahead of me? Well I woke up to a boot full of orange juice (my bottle had spilt neatly into my boot while I was asleep) and a brief panic attack at finding that my backpack was missing (it had slid down the aisles). I was so embarrassed from both of these morning activities that I couldn’t wait to get off the bus and to my hostel to get un-juiced.  Luckily these were not the bad omens for the day and I enjoyed a full day of marvelling at the waterfalls from the Argentine side. I joined my classmates from Spanish school and some of the friends they had met on their travels which was great. I planned to go to the Brazilian side the next day but was fairly dismayed to hear that I needed a visa to enter Brazil which took a few days to process was a bit $$$, even if it was just for a day. The guy at the hostel suggested I try my luck and feign ignorance which turned out in my favour as I spent the second day seeing the waterfalls from a whole different angle – literally. This only encourages me to continue to not do my research J Iguazu Falls are a magnificent place to take in the wonder of the world and awe at how there could be so much water coming from somewhere, falling and then going somewhere else! The Brazilian side topped the experience as there you can start to grasp how mammoth they really are! Plus the weather was perfect and I caught many a rainbow in my pics. I was also able to fit in a visit to the bird park down the road and saw my first real toucan. I find it hard to say real though because they look SO fake and plastic but then they move and try to nip you and you believe them again. While the bird park was like a zoo, I really enjoyed looking at all of these absurdly coloured birds taken from all over South America. In the butterfly house I could get very close to gorgeous hummingbirds and strange looking butterflies.  So my expensive escape to Iguazu Falls was a great success and you’ll be happy to know that one of my boots has finally stopped smelling of rotten oranges! OH and just quickly, there was a drug bust on my bus on the way back to BA – just a little drama to complete the weekend.

My last night in BA was sad and I really didn’t want to go but luckily I had Peru to look forward to. Wow Peru, you had me at ‘Bienvenidos’. I wish I had had more time in Cuzco cause but it is instantly likeable and my new favourite cocktail ‘Pisco Sour’ is everywhere and super cheap. Unfortunately I didn’t get much time to chill in Cuzco because the next day our tour headed out for a day of Inca ruins sightseeing and handicraft market shopping. The highlight of the tour was to be the big trek. I knew that I wasn’t doing the classic Inca trail but doing the Lares Trek instead as you have to book around 6 months in advance for the Inca trail. In the briefing the night before, the guide welcomed everyone telling us how special and privileged we were to be able to do the classic trail but then quickly followed that up with finger pointing at me and ‘except you – you do the Lares.’ Haha I can laugh now because I know that the Lares trek was spectacular and very special in a different way to the Inca trail but at the time I got a tiny bit shitty! I seemed to be the only one doing the Lares trek and was in a briefing that was completely irrelevant to me! I put my hand up and asked to be excused so that I could be briefed about the actual trek that I was about to do! The guide then decided to let me know that yes my real guide was actually waiting downstairs for me. Oh Peruvians! It was all quite hilarious. So I got to spend the first day with the Inca trail people (dubbed the ‘Sexy Lamas’) who were a fantastic bunch of people. I then got to make more friends when I met my Lares Trek group 2 days later. It was a small group which was nice and we spent the next 3 days hiking through some of the most spectacular mountainous scenery I’ve ever seen. The Lares Trek is no way near as busy as the Inca trail (about 500 people head out on the Inca trail each day whereas we only saw one other group on the Lares trek) and we got to meet lots of Highland children and families along the way, seeing how go about their daily lives in very harsh and cold conditions. The actual hiking was very difficult and tiring especially at such high altitudes but it was extremely satisfying when we made it to 4700 metres on the second day after 5 hours of steady uphill hiking. I had hired a walking pole which you could dig into and use some arm strength when your legs were getting too fatigued. The 3 days of trekking made me regret not having got my skipping rope our for 2 weeks in BA – sorry to disappoint bootcamp girls! Our tour was complete when we made it to Machu Picchu. Nothing prepares you for when the sun first hits the walls of the ancient Incan city. Why on earth did they decide to plonk it there between those mountains? And then again why not? What a beautiful part of the world! My last night in Peru was spent celebrating with both the Sexy Lamas and my Lares Trek group with most people going for a 24 hour challenge (as everyone had been up at 4am that morning). As my flight was at 8am, it seemed the natural decision was to not go to sleep at all, a decision I couldn’t help regret while waiting at the airport the next morning ;)

Next was a 10 day tour in Bolivia and this country really blew me away with its diverse landscape. La Paz was a very pretty and enjoyable capital city but I was still finding the altitude a little hard to handle. We had 3 days out on the salt flats where we took lots of fun photos and couldn’t stop wowing at the pure white salt and fantastic blue of the sky. We visited a cacti island where for some reason I kept forgetting that cacti are not very nice to touch or grab onto! We also visited many lakes including a dark red one with huge flocks of flamingos. Again, the colours were mind-blowing. We spent 2 nights in salt hotels that were very cold and basic but lots of fun. On the 3^rd day we were rewarded with a dip in a beautiful hot spring. It was freezing outside so it was very hard to leave the silky hot water to head back to Uyuni. We then headed to Potosi, a famous silver mining city. A few of us went on an afternoon tour into the mines where we took gifts of dynamite, amfo, 96% alcohol (the miners actually drank this stuff!), coca leaves and cigarettes – the apparent essentials for a miner. In the mines it was stuffy, dusty, cramped, rampant with dangerous shafts and full of poisonous minerals that we couldn’t touch. I didn’t ask to see the OH&S report and I do not envy the workers there.  At one point while our guide was explaining the rituals of worshipping El Tio, the lord of the underworld, a miner ran in yelled some Spanish and our guide concluded ‘Ok, we better go – they’re about to set off some dynamite nearby.’ It was extremely interesting to see so I was really glad I did it. I then fell sick for the next few days in Sucre which was very disappointing as Sucre seemed like a lovely city to wind down in. The bonus to our tour was that our tour guide Freddy organised for 3 of us girls to go back to La Paz one day earlier so that we could brave Death Road, a beautiful and very fun mountain bike ride down a mountain. It was not as scary as we expected and we got to experience completely different scenery to the previous week.

So if anyone is thinking of doing tours in South America, I can HIGHLY recommend G Adventures, especially the 2 tours I have just done. I still can’t believe the amazing places and great fun I have had in just 2 weeks!

Now I am in Quito, Ecuador and will start the next chapter of my trip tomorrow – Galapagos Islands!!!

Much love to everyone and I hope this post finds you happy and healthy wherever you are!