First impressions of Peru

We got to Peru from Chile. We took a bus last monday from S. Pedro de Atacama in direction to Arica, which is in the north of Chile. Our plan was to stay one day in Arica, but as we arrived very early (around 7am) and the first impression of the place was not impressive, and also, because Arica is a beach place and we are going to the north east of Brazil next week, we decided to continue our journey in direction to Peru. We bought our ticket in Arica to Arequipa, Peru. As part of the ticket, we crossed the borders in a taxi. The taxi driver took us to Tacna, Peru, where we got our bus to Arequipa. We arrived to the city of Arequipa aprox 6 hours after.

It was a long journey since S. Pedro de Atacama, so when we arrived last tuesday to Arequipa, we went to our hostel and we spent the rest of the day exploring the beautiful colonial city.

Our first impression of Peru was good.

The day after, we have visited the "Museo de la Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria" museum, where "Juanita", the frozen body of an Inca litle girl is placed. The all history behind this finding in one of the local volcanos (Ampato) is very interesting - check it out in this wikipedia entry: Momia Juanita .

On thursday, we did a tour to the Colca canyon which is the second deepest canyon in the world. The first deepest canyon is also in the same region. We had to wake up at 2am for this tour. It was a full day tour and as the place was aprox. 3 hours from Arequipa, we needed to leave the hostel at that time.

We arrived to Chivay, a town inside the Colca Valley, at around 5:30am and had breakfast there. Our group was of 7 persons. We then left in direction to "Cruz de los Condores" where we could see the Andean Condors. On the way there, we stopped in some view points to appreciate the landscape. Amazing, how people can live in the high plateau. Our tour guide explained us how the agriculture fields were built in the montains in a way that the water could easily be distributed.

In the place for viewing the Condors, we stopped there for about 1 hour. Unfortunately, we just saw 2 condors flying aroung, but they were very high, so it was difficult to appreciate their splendor. The Andean Condor can be more than 2 meters wide. In this same place, we could appreciate the Colca Canyon deapness from the top. Incredible.

We did a small trek that accessed different view points, for a better view of the canyon.

We then went back to Chivay, where we had lunch.

On the way there, we have stoped in some local traditional villages.

It's impressive the way Peruvians work on the turism. They are too agressive and sometimes anoying, when they try to sell something. This Colca tour, even though it was very interesting for the different sceneries and history, is too turisty. In the view points, there are allways local people trying to sell their handcrafts and local products. It is all made up for the tourist. People are very friendly, though.

After lunch, we went back to Arequipa, another 3 hours. We have seen nice fauna and flora and also observed the imponent "Misti" vulcano.

We then rested for the next day's bus trip to Puno.

Friday, 8 am, we arrived by taxi to the bus terminal in Arequipa, which looks like an airport :)

We checked in our luggage, paid the "Terminal departure tax" and got in the "gate" to wait for our bus. The waiting room was the same kind as the lounge rooms in the airports. Nice confortable sofas, free internet, bar,...

We then proceed to our 6 hours bus trip to Puno.

Puno is a city, located in the margins of "Lago Titicaca" of "Titicaca Lake". This lake is the highest navigable lake in the world. It sits 3,812 m (12,500 ft) above sea level.

We stayed in a nice hostel. The owner gave us all the information we needed and lots of tips on what to do in the city and surroundings.

Saturday, we have done a tour in the Titicaca Lake. This tour included going to 2 different islands: "Islas Flotantes or Uros" and "Taquile". The first islands are artificial. The Uros use the totora plant to make boats (balsas mats) of bundled dried reeds as well as to make the islands themselves. Another place full of interesting history - check out the wikipedia entry for more info about Uros. Another good example on how the Peruvians are working hard on turism, which is giving a high contribution to the local economy.

The "Taquile" island is different. There are aprox. 800 inhabitants. They all dress with traditional local vests.

We just arrived to the island and there are plenty of little cute children. Everytime a tourist would take a picture the children come and join. Of course, after that they would ask for a contribution of normally 1 sole.

After visiting the island, we had a very nice lunch in a local restaurant. The local fish is the trout. We had it and loved it. Really tasty.

We then went back to Puno. The boat trip took another 3 hours aprox. Time to rest.

In the evening we went to a very nice dinner which included live local traditional music and dance.

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving to Cuzco where we will stay for a week.

Uyuni - Bolivia!!!!

Yes BOLIVIA!!!!!!! It was not in the plan but because of some recommendations of friends we decided we couldn't miss it.....

We booked a 4 day tour with Colque Tours, to Uyuni , Bolivia...

Last wednesday at 8 am we had to be at their office and we were brought by buses to the Bolivian border.... The first stop was the Chilean border, as the public functions were in strike we had to wait 1,5 hr to get our passport stamped.... Around 10.30 we finally arrived to the Bolivian border and got our stamp... for 30 days!!! Yes!

Here we change to our jeeps, we have a group of 6, Colm, Marie, Bernie, Sarah and us.... We drive off to our first stop, Laguna Branca.... here we have breakfast and take some nice pictures... The next stop is Laguna Verde (green lagoon) and it is really green and amazing...

Last stop before lunch is "aguas termales" hot water spring, we are allowed to take a bath, which is lovely about 35º degrees :-) The lunch is ok and we continue to see Laguna Colorada (red lagoon) there where hundreds of flamingo's and the scenery is just amazing....

After lunch, we went up to 4900 meters to see the geysers. Temperatures can rise to 180 degrees and people must be careful not to get to close.

We also see the Dali rock formation before arriving to Villa Mar where we spent the night... This village is really small, we saw a lot of Bolivian traditional dressed women...they look pretty with the colourful clothes..

Unfortunately Carlos felt really bad in the evening, probably combination of altitude sickness and warm weather and not enough fluids....

2nd day - 8.30 we left Villamar, Carlos feels a bit better so that's great news... Our first stop is "Ciudad Italiana" (italian city) It is a beautiful rock formation with amazing views... On the way we saw many many Lama's (they didn't spit at us :-)) and some other nice rocks... and a Cascada (waterfall) Sitting on top of the mountain looking down it is just wonderful....

For lunch we went to the town of our driver, Villa Alota, the lunch was ok, but Carlos got sick again trying to eat something... In the jeep Carlos tries to get some sleep which is difficult with the bumpy bad roads...

In the afternoon we mostly drive..... our last stop was a ghosttown, most people left and only 16 people live there currently!

We drive to our accomodation which is much better than the first day and even the food is lovely... Carlos goes to rest immediately to recover a bit...

Warm showers are hard to find in Bolivia and after 2 days we can take a shower, but cold :-)

3rd and last "real tour" day... This is the highlight we are going to the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) Our first stop is to make some pictures, aren't we creative?????

We drove a bit untill we got to Ilha IncaHuasi (house of the inca's in Quechua) On this island which is in the middle of the salt flat they have many cactus, the oldest one is 1200 years and just died last december... We climbed up the hill for a view over the salar!!!

After this we took many more creative photo's (just have a look)

The next stop is the salt hotel, this is an illegal structure, but still standing, everything is made from salt... even the clock!

We also saw the extraction of Salt, Bolivia only uses it for own consumption..... and doesn't export any of it, because it is not profitable.... The "real" tour ended in Uyuni... we got a lunch there which was not so amazing... and then we walked around town and had some drinks...

At 5pm we were leaving to go back to San Pedro... We drove for 2 hrs and had dinner in Villa Alota... and then another 1,5 hour to Villamar where we would spent the night.

The roads where so bad and it was so dark that it was a bit scary, at least we were 6 people + the driver... Finally at 10 pm we arrived to the accomodation.... we went straight to bed, because we would have a 3.30 am wake up call...... :-(

4th day, 4 o clock we are all in the jeep ready to go, even though we are tired... At 6.30 am we arrived to the breakfast point, some warm tea (temps were under zero!) and cereals.... Around 8 am we arrived to the bolivian border.... the exit stamp was quickly arranged... Within 1,5 hour we are in the bus to San Pedro de Atacama... there we have a nice hostel and a warm shower after 4 days!!!!

This was a really unexpected trip, but AMAZING, we saw beautiful things and the real South America, no hot water, light and electricity during certain hours, and bumpy roads....

It was all worth it because we saw some wonderful things that are high on our Highlight list!!!

The Desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Last week we arrived to Chile... It was a 10 hours bus ride from Argentina...

We came together with Marie and Colm (friends we met along our trip) and we had organized a hostel... We had a private room with bathroom which was lovely...

Sunday evening we booked a tour already for monday evening.... but we had to pay for that, during the weekend the cashmachine was empty, BUT on monday they would fill it... I (Stefien :) ) spent monday morning waiting at the only visa accepting cash machine...but no money, the same for tuesday and wednesday... Luckely we had friends that could help us out..

In the evening we have a lovely dinner... the "cuisine" in San Pedro is amazing, very high standards! At 9 pm our tour to see the stars started.

The guy who does the tours is french, and has a lot of knowledge... His house is just a bit out of town in the Atacama desert.... First we got a quick introduction and then we went outside to see the stars through the Telescopes... AMAZING!!!! We also saw the planets Jupiter and Venus...

At the end of the tour he explained some other things... and by midnight we were back in the hostel....

The next day we went to explore San Pedro, the market and the museum!! Very nice and interesting... After a quick lunch our second tour started... "Valle de la Luna" (valley of the moon) The first stop was Valle de la Muerte, we walked here for 1 hr and did some sandrunning which was very funny.... :-) The minivan picked us up and we continued to our next stop, a trek of 9 km through the desert and rocks, pretty amazing.... we climbed, had to get through a cave and above all saw a lot of nice scenery.

The last stop of the tour was the actual "Valle de la Luna", we went to see the sunset here on top of a rock... Around 20.15 the sunset was over and we returned to San Pedro for another lovely dinner :-)

Last stop in Argentina - Salta!

Thursday we arrived to Salta after a 16 hour bus drive from Mendoza!!!!

We went straight to the hostel Inti Huasi, very close to the bus station.... We got a nice room and took a shower before going for lunch in the city.

We walked to Plaza 9 de Julio and had a nice lunch there.... After lunch we had a quick walk in the centre and then returned to the hostel.

Friday we had a sightseeing day. We went up to "Circuito Cumbre del Cerro San Bernardo" where you have some nice views over Salta and surroundings..... we also visited two colourful and beautiful churches.. In the evening we received our rental car so we could leave early in the morning for our tour with Sarah and Bernie. also staying in our hostel.....

6 am wake up call, at 7 we are all ready and we leave, luckely we find the road easily.... The destination is Cachi, about 160 km from Salta... On the way there we drove through beautiful mountain landscapes, saw a lot of Cactus and also a small market with all kind of herbs, nuts etc... and also handcraft. It was very cheap so we bought some stuff to support the local communities :-) After 4,5 hour we arrived to Cachi, this is a small village, with a beautiful main square.

We ate lunch there and then drove up the hill to see the cemetery and a view over Cachi....

By the girl from the tourist information we were advised not to leave later than 3pm, we took her advise and left. On the way back we drove literally in the clouds as we where in a very high altitude (around 3438m). Because of this, the view was less than 1 meter so we could not drive harder than 10km per hour.... Luckely after 1 hour when we had a lower altitude it cleared up and it was easier to drive around..... By 7 pm we got back to Salta ....

As we are leaving Argentina tomorrow (Sunday 16/11) for Chile, San Pedro de Atacama, we will have our last BBQ (assado) tonight with the argentinian meat!!!! hmmmmmmmm

Mendoza - Wine :-)

Yes! we are in the north again, which means warm weather and summer clothes...

Sunday morning at 9 am we arrived by bus to Mendoza... the bus trip was great, we travelled with Andesmar which was brilliant, and finally I got to play Bingo on the bus :-) Unfortunately I didn't win but we had fun....

Sunday we just hang around the hostel which has a nice garden and swimmingpool... we checked out the centre and had nice chats with the other people in the hostel.

Yesterday was the big day... WINE TASTING ...... We left at 10 am by bus to Maipu the winedistrict of Mendoza, we got of the bus at Mr. Hugo's and rented our bicycles... we also got a map and a bottle of mineral water... We were a group of 11 persons, new and old friends!

First stop was a wine musuem... very nice and interesting. After this we cycled to Bodega Viña el Cerno for 15ARS we could taste 2 wines each (3.50euro) the wines were nice, the guy was quite bored with us (tourists) so we left soon.

We continued cycling to the next one: "Bodega Familia di Tommaso", this one was very nice. We tasted 4 wines for 2.50 euro :-) (Malbec, Cabernet and a special dessert wine similar to Port) After the tasting we got a tour as well. The girl had a lot of knowledge about everything... Here we ate our lunch before heading off to "Olivicola Laur".

This is a olive farm.... also interesting and again tasting, olive oil, olives and sundried tomatos, the best!

For the next bodega we just had to cross the street: "Bodega Boutique CarinaE" Also this tour was amazing... again 3 wines for less than 5 euro's... Here we got to taste a Malbec Rose.... very nice with the hot weather.

This bodega was the last one so we had to cycle around 6km back to get to the final pitstop:

"Historias & Sabores" here they have al kind of liquers, chocolate ones, and even Absinth! Nobody tried it (maybe too much alcohol 65%) They also had marmelades which were lovely.

By the time we finished here it was already 7pm and we had to return the bicycles to Mr. Hugo. When we arrived there he opened some bottles of wine for us and we had an aperitive...(in totally we got 6 bottles) At 9.20 pm we decided to leave and returned to the centre.

As a final cherry on the cake for today we went for a dinner at an irish pub with the whole group.

It was really a great day and if anyone decides to come to Argentina, don't forget Mendoza and the wine :-)

Patagonia

It has been some time that we posted a new story, so here we are....
The last weeks we had spent in Patagonia, the south of Argentina, it is a lovely place but very very cold :-)

After El Calafate we went for 2 days to El Chalten, a small small village near El Calafate (only 4 hrs by bus) We left at 8 am in the morning and arrived before noon... Basically the town has 1 main street and that is it. We booked a hostel on the other side of the mainstreet and it was quite a challenge to get there (think wind wind wind and rain) But finally we got there. The room was great, we had a dorm and shared it with 2 other persons and the room had a private bathroom! This was the only good thing of the hostel, no entertainment was offered, no tv, dvd, games or whatsoever! This wouldn't be a problem if the weather was great.

El Chalten is famous for the Fitz Roy mountain and the hiking for this reason we travelled there, but we got such bad weather, that we almost couldn't do anything. We did to small hikes, 1 to Lago Capri (3 hrs) and the next day to the viewpoint "Mirador Condor de los Andes".
Unfortunately we didn't get to see Fitz Roy in the 2,5 days we were there :-(

The next stop was Ushuaia. The most Southern city in the world. The trip was quite tiring, we left El Calafate at 3 am and we arrived to Ushuaia at 11pm so you can imagine we went straight to bed :-)
To get to Ushuaia we had to cross 2 the argentinian border and 2 the chilean border. The first stop was the argentinian border and we had to show all our stuff (open our big backpacks etc..)
When we crossed the first 2 borders we had to take a ferry over the Beagle Channel to get to Tierra del Fuego!
The first day in Ushuaia we just relaxed and walked around town and got our "end of the world stamps" The second day we went to the National Parque of Ushuaia and hiked for 4,5 hrs which was really nice..... although we had snow.... loads of snow....
Further Ushuaia is a calm place and we just relaxed to get ready for our flight to Buenos Aires...

Last friday we had our flight with Lade from Ushuaia to BA.... with LADE, the army airline... :-)
The flight was ok but we are so used to buses that it is quite strange to be in an airplane....
Around 10 pm we arrived to BA on friday... had some dinner and slept... Saturday we wandered around S.Telmo for the last time waiting for our bus to Mendoza......

p.s. no photo's this time due to poor internet connections and not too many nice photo's :-)

El Calafate - Perito Moreno

One of the highlights of Patagonia (if not, The highlight). Amazing experience.

Last week, we travelled from Puerto Madryn to El Calafate. The bus ride took 24 hours and we only had semi-cama (maybe we have got used to the luxurious buses in the north of Argentina).

We took a trekking tour to the "Perito Moreno" glaciar.

Early in the morning, a bus took us to the port where we could cross over to the glaciar by boat.

From there, we could already see the Perito Moreno glaciar.

Once we crossed to the other side, the tour guide took us to a shelter and we have got all the explanations about the glaciar.

We then got the cramptons on our shoes and we have initiated our trek.

First of all, we were explained how to walk on the ice with the cramptons.

It was a great experience and amazing feeling to do it.


The trek duration was around 2 hours.

At the end of the trek, there was a surprise which we will not reveal here, because some of you may want to do this trek. But, ok, because you must be curious about it, we'll reveal it.

They have a table with wisky and they serve "on the rocks - the ice of the glaciar". And, we have also drunk water straight from the glaciar - the most fresh and pure.

After the ice trekking, we went to the "view points or balconies" to watch the glaciar from different angles.

It was also very interesting and sometimes we could hear and see the ice breaking or ruptures.