Less than 24 hours in La Paz confirmed to us that you need to spend a little bit longer than 24 hours in La Paz. Our desire to stay longer probably also had something to do with our hotel; we were dropped in the lap of luxury just when we needed it. Our room was … Continue reading Less than 24 hours in La Paz
Travel
One lake, two countries – exploring Lake Titicaca
We were still suffering the after-effects of our hike when we boarded the bus for the long journey from Cusco to Puno. The journey itself was fine but we felt equal to very little when we arrived and our first evening in Puno was a lazy one, even by our standards. We managed to organise … Continue reading One lake, two countries – exploring Lake Titicaca
Glutons for punishment… and cake – Hiking Ausangate and Rainbow Mountain
Trekking around Ausangate and to Rainbow Mountain is by far the most difficult hike that we have undertaken. The five days of acclimatisation that we had in and around Cusco were pretty unpleasant and still didn’t spare us near constant headaches during our hike. The four days of hiking were made gruelling by the altitude, … Continue reading Glutons for punishment… and cake – Hiking Ausangate and Rainbow Mountain
Having all of our expectations exceeded in Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
Note: We dedicated quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best way to visit the Sacred Valley in a cost effective and time effective manner. We ended up with a mixture of a tour, self-guided and a private transfer. It took a bit of organisation so for practical advice, scroll to the … Continue reading Having all of our expectations exceeded in Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
Feeling a bit light-headed around Cusco
We bumped and bounced through the clouds before dropping below them and getting our first view of Peru, and she is a looker. Cusco is at 3400m and altitude sickness hit us almost the instant we stepped out of the plane. We stood in the queue for immigration feeling light-headed, woozy, slightly nauseous and very … Continue reading Feeling a bit light-headed around Cusco
Street art, cerveza and chorrillana – The very best of Valparaíso
Travelling from Puerto Montt to Santiago and on to Valparaíso completely wiped us out. It was amazingly easy, despite the number of changes, but by the time we had walked from Valpo’s bus station to our hostel we were ready to give up and we spent the afternoon lying down. Our hostel was very weird, … Continue reading Street art, cerveza and chorrillana – The very best of Valparaíso
A bit of illicit scrambling in El Bolsón
We put the border debacle behind us, camped at a delightful campsite / vineyard just over the border and pushed on early the following morning to make the long journey to Lago Puelo and El Bolsón. The scenery was more what he had imagined of Argentina, less rugged and forbidding than Patagonia with wide open … Continue reading A bit of illicit scrambling in El Bolsón
How not to cross a border – Futaleufú, Chile to Argentina
We made absolute tits of ourselves at the border crossing from Chile to Argentina. Getting ourselves across the border was very easy; the car was another matter entirely. We had our passports, driving licences and the car ownership documentation all ready to go. We knew that we had permission to cross the border because we’d … Continue reading How not to cross a border – Futaleufú, Chile to Argentina
Oh look some more hills, we must climb them! – Parque Pumalín & Futaleufú
We’d used up our time allocated to Parque Pumalín hiding from the rain, so we didn’t really feel like we had been able to get as much out of it as we would have liked but there's nothing that you can do about the weather. We picked up food for lunch in Chaitén and then … Continue reading Oh look some more hills, we must climb them! – Parque Pumalín & Futaleufú
Puerto Montt and the start of the Carretera Austral
The bus journey to Chile went incredibly smoothly, once through the Argentine border we drove through 40km of cloud to get us to the Chilean border where we disembarked with all of our belongings and stood in a line watching the absolutely gorgeous sniffer dog wag his way around our bags. Three hours later we … Continue reading Puerto Montt and the start of the Carretera Austral
The Rolling Stones 