Arequipa & The Colca Canyon (Peru)

Our first stop in Peru was Arequipa, known as ´the white city´because of the white volcanic rock (called sillar) used in many of it´s buildings. It´s a gorgeous city surrounded by mountains and has a lovely central plaza where you can sit and take it all in.

We visited the Monasterio Santa Catalina (photos 3 - 7), a huge convent occupying a whole block of the town (over 20,000sqm!) and guarded by high walls. Although founded over 400 years ago (in 1580) it´s only been open to the public since 1970. We wandered the narrow cobblestone streets of this amazing complex, visiting the nun´s living quarters, passing vividly painted walls and walking through beautiful plazas with fruit trees.

From Arequipa we did a 2 day tour of the nearby Colca Canyon, one of the world´s deepest at 3191m. While visiting the canyon we stayed in a hotel in a tiny village called Yanque where we enjoyed amazing food (like Alpaca steak) cooked by an awesome French chef. Although our visit to the canyon was pretty short we got to see some of the huge condors gliding above it.

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Isla del Sol / Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)

After La Paz we caught a very early 5am bus (to avoid the protesters who were planning on blocking the roads out of town) to Copacabana (see first two photos), on the shores of Lake Titicaca - the world´s highest altitude lake (3800m), covering 8400sq km and straddling both Bolivia and Peru.

We headed straight for Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), about a 2hr boat trip from Copacabana. Isla del Sol has an important place in Inca history as they believe it to be the birthplace of the sun. The island is dotted with several villages, no cars, and a network of walking tracks to get around (some very steep!).

On arrival we thought we had a relatively short and straightforward walk to our accomodation but after a wrong turn we ended up requiring the help of a couple of 6yr old boys as ´guides´ to get us there! (see photo of them with nick). We stayed in basic accomodation with idyllic views and that night we dined at a tiny restaurant with no electricity (just a small hut with thatched roof, see photo), amazing sunset views, and the most delicious meal we experienced in Bolivia!

The next day we hiked to the north part of the island, past locals tending to their crops and animals, to visit centuries-old Inca ruins before catching the boat back to Copacabana.

This is a really beautiful part of the country and we would´ve stayed longer if we had time!

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La Paz (Bolivia)

Next stop - La Paz, Bolivia´s capital and the highest capital city in the world at 3700m. It was an interesting time to visit as there were mass protests every day in the city (re a pay increase for miners we were told), frequent loud explosions as the protesters set off dynamite in the streets, and loads of riot police around (we felt the effects of their teargas on one occasion!).

La Paz is basically a city built inside a giant crater, with buildings clinging to the side of the canyon and steep streets which can be tough to walk due to the altitude. Common sights while wandering the city are shops selling llama fetuses (which supposedly bring you good luck), women with long black plaits and bowler hats selling food on the footpaths, and balaclava-clad shoeshine boys who try to sell their services even if you´re wearing jandals!

While here we checked out the cool Contemporary Art museum (housed in a building designed by Gustave Eiffel), the fascinating Coca museum, the outside only of the notorious San Pedro prison (made famous by the book Marching Powder), and enjoyed catching up with some fellow kiwis.

 

 

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Sucre (Bolivia)

After completing the jeep tour we headed for Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia and a Unesco Cultural Heritage site. This was a welcome relief from the dusty and dirty streets of the small towns we had experienced in Bolivia so far!

We enjoyed a few slower days here taking in the pretty plazas, churches and colonial buildings around the town. On our last day we visited the well known and colourful Sunday market in Tarabuco (about 2 hours away by bus) where everything from woven goods to Donkey´s heads to charangos (small ukelele-like instruments made from an Armadillo shell) were on offer!

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Tupiza - Uyuni 4 day jeep tour (Bolivia)

After crossing into Bolivia we stayed a couple of nights in Tupiza before beginning a 4 day jeep tour through southwest Bolivia from Tupiza to Uyuni. The tour took us on rough backroads through amazing scenery such as snow-capped mountains, picture-perfect lakes, geysers, volcanoes, crazy rock formations, and hot springs before finishing at the famous and huge (12,500km2) salt flat near Uyuni.

Our jeep included another kiwi couple, Sam and Debs, who we got on great with, our excellent safety-conscious driver/guide Carlos, plus his mother who was our cook. We had a lot of fun together and some memorable moments communicating with Carlos (who only spoke spanish).

Much of this trip was at altitude (the highest we got was about 4900m) and although we found it difficult to adjust initially (lots of headaches and nausea) this fortunately didn´t take away from the awesome time we had.

Day 1: We passed through lots of little villages (including stopping at one to meet Carlos´ 90 year old grandmother - see photo below), saw lots of llamas, and got good practice at finding semi-private spots on the side of the road to use as a toilet! We stayed the night in a tiny picturesque village called San Antonio de Lipez, where Nick took on a couple of the local boys in a game of basketball, and we enjoyed an awesome sunset.

 

 

Day 2: This was a long day which started with our wakeup call at 4am! We saw an amazing sunrise on our drive up to 4855m, had lunch and a quick dip at natural hot springs overlooking a lake, visited the bright green Laguna Verde and some nearby geysers, and settled for the night near the beautiful red-coloured Laguna Colorada (with it´s many flamingos).

Day 3: We spent the morning driving through desert-like landscape, stopping at some amazing rock formations and seeing more picturesque lakes. We arrived at the salt flat at sunset - so stunning! That night we stayed in rooms which were made from large blocks of salt and had salt-covered floors in a small village called Colchani, on the edge of the Uyuni salt flat.

Day 4: Another early start so we could be at the salt flat for sunrise (which was equally as stunning as sunset!). We had breakfast on the salt flat and some time to experiment with fun photos (as you´ll see below) before ending the tour in Uyuni - and taking a hot shower!

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