Cochiguaz Valley Fresh (?) off the bus from our adventures in San Pedro deAtacama, on arrival in La Serena, we decided to head straight into the Elqui Valley – where grapes are grown to make Pisco (mmm … Pisco Sours). Small villages are dotted around the pretty valley and it is a common weekend getaway for locals and foreigners alike. We made straight for the town of Pisco from La Serena bus station. The town changed its name from La Union…
The beautiful Isla del Sol The Isla del Sol is another island on Lake Titicaca, but is reached from the Bolivian side (see previous post on our visit to Puno in Peru). We had been told that the island was a ‘must see’ in Bolivia and so we left Peru behind, crossed the border and made our way to Copacabana. Bye bye Peru! Hello Bolivia! Hmmm let’s hope this doesn’t take too long! The small town made me feel even…
Wayna Picchu – shrouded in mist! Machu Picchu is Quechua – the language of the Incas and still spoken in Peru today – for old mountain. It is overlooked by Wayna (sometimes spelt Huayna) Picchu, which is Quechua for young mountain.When booking the Inca Trail, we were given the option of spending a little bit more to climb Wayna Picchu once we were at Machu Picchu on our last day of the trail and a quick search on the internet…
The Team of Champions! So we made it! After 3 long days of walking and a very early start on the fourth, the “champions team” – as we were very aptly named by our guide, Valentin from Alpaca Expeditions – were a very close second through the sun gate to arrive at Machu Picchu at around 6 in the morning. The sight greeting us was as beautiful as I had imagined. There was mist hanging over the mountains below us and…
At the start of the trek Arequipa is a ‘jumping off’ point for lots of hiking and adventure activities, including trekking into the Colca Canyon, which was thought to be the deepest canyon in the world at 3,400 metres, until its neighbour the Cotahusi Canyon was found to be 135 metres deeper. There are lots of companies in Arequipa offering tours into the Colca Canyon, but having read up on it, I could see that there was a very doable…