La Paz

The one thing I have learned about myself while traveling is that I'm not actually a big fan of big cities in South America. They are all transportation hubs, so you have to visit them in order to get anywhere but they are not usually somewhere I want to spend a lot of time. La Paz however was an exception, I'm not sure what it was but I really liked La Paz and it was my favorite of all the big cities we have been to.

Witch Market

 

One of the first things we noticed was the difference in costs. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and while the prices are cheap in Ecuador and Peru, they were REALLY cheap in Bolivia. This is the place where you want to do all your souvenir shopping (if you have room in your bag). There are streets covered in shops selling pretty much everything you could buy in Peru but for half the price.  They also have a witch market that was pretty interesting and contained lots of alpaca fetuses. Apparently you are suppose to bury the fetus under the porch of your house for good luck but I didn't think anyone back home would appreciate that as a gift nor do I want to touch one.

Zebra patrol

Similar to most cities in South America the traffic is crazy and pedestrians do not have the right of way, so you learn to be very wary when crossing streets. But we were really surprised one morning when we noticed a person dressed up as a Zebra suit directing traffic outside our hostel one day. At first we wondered if this was a traffic officer having some fun but on sequential days we noticed Zebras in other locations also directing traffic. We later found out that it's a volunteer program, young people between 16-24 volunteer to dress up as Zebras and help direct traffic at busy intersections in La Paz, to help encourage drivers to follow road rules and help pedestrians get safely across the street. 

Can he fit anymore on his car?

Bolivia is pretty much an adventurers paradise with tons of activities to do and for very little money. So our fist day was just spent deciding what activities we wanted to do...which was pretty much everything!

Ice Cream Creation

We heard a lot of complaints about the food in Bolivia but if you like carbs then you should be fine.  Bolivia was my breaking point for french fries and I got to the point were I couldn't eat them anymore but we found if you ate at a nice restaurants the food was quite good and still really cheap. And if you are in La Paz you have to go to Dumbo or Brosso for dessert...it's amazing and just thinking of it makes my mouth water.

La Paz is also the place to party. If you are looking for a party hostel Wild Rover and Loki definitely live up to their reputation. One place we kept hearing about, although we didn't go was Route 35. It's suppose to be this bar that has paid off all the cops, only lets foreigners in and  serves lines of cocaine to customers.

Journey from Peru to Bolivia

From Puno you can take a bus that will take you directly over the boarder to Copacabana in Bolivia. There are a number of buses that do this route and they all leave at the same time - 7:30am. This means that at the boarder crossing you are waiting in line with people from 4 different buses, all doing the same trip as you. But regardless of this it still seemed to go pretty quickly and only took us about an hour to get through Peru and Bolivian customs.

The bus dropped us off at the Peru boarder where we waited at the police check for them to stamp our immigration card, then head next door to the immigration office where they collect the immigration card and stamped our passport. After that we walked over the boarder to the Bolivian side where we got our entry stamp into Bolivia and re-boarded our bus.

Our plan was to go straight from Puno to La Paz and not stop in Copacabana since we had  done Lake Titicaca on the Peru side. We  had also read  that there was no bank machines in Cocpacabana, which would have been an issue for us since we had no Bolivian money and  little Peruvian money left. Although we did learn that you should have a little Bolivian money when crossing the boarder. Thankfully Trevor had to go to the washroom at the boarder, so he got change from our Peruvian money in Bolivian dollars, which we needed since each person has to pay $1 Bolivian dollar just to pass into Copacabana.

We also discovered that even if you buy a ticket to La Paz all the buses stop for 1.5 hrs in Copacabana before combining everyone into the same bus to head La Paz.  This is actually quite nice because you can pretty much walk around all of Copacabana in this time and it's worthwhile to visit the church during this time. We also discovered that even though we had bought a ticket to La Paz for that day we still could have stayed overnight in Copacabana and just taken the bus onwards on another day.

We did find out that there is a bank machine in Copacabana but the one thing we learned in Bolivia is that our bank cards/credit cards would only work in half their machines. At the bank machine in Copacabana there were 5 of us in line and the machine only worked for 2 of us - and I wasn't one of them, so this just reinforced that we should continue to head to La Paz. So 1.5 hours later we boarded the bus to La Paz and while on route we were actually surprised when we had to get off and board a tiny little boat to cross 100 meter of water and pay $1.50 Bolivians each for the boat. So again we were glad we had a little money and after we crossed we watched as our boat travelled across on it's own platform before re boarding and continuing our journey

Upon arriving in La Paz we expected to be dropped off at the bus station which was actually really close to our hostel but instead they dropped us off on a street downtown. Having just arrived we had no idea where we were at the time so thankfully we were able to find a bank machine that would accept our card and grab a cab to our hostel.

Puno & Floating Islands

Our final stop in Peru was Puno, to see the floating islands. We took the bus during the day and the scenery was beautiful. Once we arrived we heading out to explore the town and find our way back to the bus station to buy our bus ticket to Bolivia. While exploring the markets I was excited to see pumpkins  because in Arequipa I had tried pumpkin soup and really loved it and was excited to try it again. The difference with the pumpkins here thought is that they're  green, so I was quite shocked when I had it and was served a green soup but it was better then our pumpkin soup back home.

That night we arranged our floating island tour with our hostel, it was at this point we found out about the 2 day option which we probably would have done but we had already bought our bus ticket for the following day and were running out of time, so we opted for the full day tour which visited the floating islands in the morning and Taquile island in the afternoon.

The floating islands were very fascinating and another one of those moment where you can't believe that people actually live like this. It's make up of  70 man-made islands which are in effect huge rafts of bundled reed located on Lake Tickitaca (the highest navigable lake in the world). The Uros people originally started building the islands here to hide and prevent attaches from the Incas and Collas but they have continued to live here because they can't afford the $4,000-5,000 it would cost to buy land.

Each Island has roughly 5-10  families with 18 people living on the island we visited. Each island has a self appointed president who is responsible for communicating with the other islands.  They have a primary school on one of the islands, where the kids are boated to school however for high school they need to travel to Puno to attend school. As for washrooms, they don't actually have one on the island and instead have an island with bathroom facilities, so the water doesn't get contaminated. So if you have to go to the washroom that means you need to get in your boat and rowing across.

On the island each family has a tiny one room house that are made of the dried reeds. The government has also recently supplied them with solar panels which they use to help power their TVs. We learned that in Peru and Ecuador the government has actually started to supply poor families with TVs in an effort to counter poverty. Apparently by providing them with TV it provided them with entertainment so they didn't feel the need to just keep having kids and inspired them towards a better life and apparently they have been having success with this imitative.










It takes about a year to build one of the islands and as you can imagine the ground is not solid and actually quite squishy. They need to keep layering the ground with new reed to stop any water from coming through. Because of this, arthritis in the knees is a common problem for them and pneumonia from the cold. Each island also has a boat created from reeds which we got to take a ride on, Trevor even helped with the rowing. It appears that all their money is essentially made from tourism.


The second island we visited I was actually disappointed with and I would recommend just doing the half day trip to the floating island and skip Taquile. It took us  2 hours to get there (it was the slowest boat we've been on) and even longer coming back, although we did get some nice sunbathing in.  We only spent two hours on the island where we had lunch, saw a traditional dance and walked up to the top of the island.

Arequipa & Canon Del Colca

Arequipa (the second largest city in Peru) was the next stop on our journey. We took an overnight bus from Cuzco which got us in at 5am in the morning. Thankfully our hostel let us check in right away and we just passed out until 11am before walking around to explore the city.

The city itself is nice with whitewashed colonial buildings built from volcanic rock and surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains. However if you are just going to visit the city and not Canon Del Colca then I would recommend you save yourself the trip. This maybe just because we have seen a lot of South American cities and Arequipa wasn't exceptionally better than any other cities we've seen.

One thing I need to mention is the Pigeons, if you think we have a lot of them back in North America then you need to come to South America. The parks here are swarming with them but we discovered it was because they actually feed the pigeons here, there are often people selling bird seed and the pigeons are not at all afraid of you. We actually watched a little boy at the plaza pick up one of the pigeons.     

From Arequipa we organized a 2 day trip through our hostel. The trip was super cheap

 if you step foot in Canon del Colca then you have to get a tourist pass which ended up costing 70 soles, the same price we paid for our 2 day trip. 

On the first day we  drove through the mountains surrounding Arequipa and saw fields full of vicunas, llamas and alpacas. That night they took us to a restaurant where we got to see Peruvian dances. They did four traditional dances and for two of them they selected someone from the audience to dance...and of course I was the one selected each time. The first time one of the guys selected me it was a pretty typical South American dance with spins however the  second dance was the most interesting. Trevor also got selected this time and part of the dance consisted of the guys lying on the floor with the girls whipping them, then the guys throws you over their shoulder and starts bumping all the girls together. I wasn't a big fan of the second dance, first because I don't like being picked up and especially not after a huge meal and by a guy that is smaller than me, but it was an interesting experience.

That night we slept in the town of Chivay. We actually found the town of Chivay very interesting because it was a real Peruvian town. At our hotel we ended up climbing up to the roof. I think the hotel owner thought we wanted a picture of the surrounding mountains but really we were more interested in seeing the surrounding houses and how the people lived. Sitting on the roof looking at the houses, I had one of those humbling moments where I really realized how spoiled I am. These people and their entire family live in these tiny shacks the size of a garage. They have a dirt or cement floor, dirt brick walls and hardly any possessions. Originally we had thought people had garbage on their roofs but we soon discovered that bricks, tires, etc. were actually placed on the roof to help keep the tin roofs in place. Seeing this really made me grateful for what I have and gave me a new level of respect for the people that live so contently this way.

The next day we got up early and continued our trip by visiting a couple villages (Yanque & Maca)  where we saw locals in their typical dress. We then continued  to Colca Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in the world (Grand Canyon is the widest) and while there saw lots of Condors flying through the canyon. To finish off the day we then went to the hot springs where we spend a couple hours relaxing in the various pools.

Tips for the Inca Trail

Here are some tips from our experience doing the Inca Trail: 

Ask your hostel for a scale - If you are using a porter and need to know how much your bag weights just ask your hostel for a scale. Most hostel or hotels have a scale you can use to measure the weight of your bag.

Rent a trekking pole - I recommend getting one walking stick for the trek. I had two and found two kind of awqward at times but would definitely recommend having at least one. Even my brother who was opposed to having one used his. And if you shop around, you can rent one cheaper then renting it through your trekking company.

Buy coca candies and leafs - One the way to the trail they stopped at a store where you can buy stuff for the trek. I recommend buying coca candies and leafs to help with the altitude particularly on the second day. The guides will show you how to chew the coca leafs properly and they do help with  altitude.

Keep a pair of dry clothes - Make sure you have a set of dry clothes you can change into at the end of the day. Each day our clothes were all soaked from the rain and changing into some dry warm clothes was the only thing that would keep me warm. This includes a dry pair of shoes. I petty much wore  the same wet clothes each day to ensure I had a dry pair of clothes for the end of the day. 

Buy a rain poncho - If you are doing the trail during the rainy season you will need this. My mom made me pack a rain poncho which I was sure I would never use and on the Inka Trail I pretty much lived in it. No matter how waterproof your jacket is supposed to be,  they will get soaked after 6 hours of walking in the rain. A rain poncho is the only way I could keep my clothes and backpack dry and I was really grateful I had one. Half our group wore them and those that didn't have one wished they did.

Bring extra plastic bags - Your stuff is going to get wet so you are going to want bags to seperate your wet from dry clothes. I also found putting small plastic bags around my feet under my shoes helped keep my feet dry.

Don't expect to sleep well - No matter how tired you are from the trek don't expect that you will sleep well.  Even with the mat, you still feel like you are sleeping on the ground.


No hot shower or place to charge your battery - During our briefing we were told you could pay for a hot shower and charge your camera battery on the third night...this is not true. The place where you used to be able to shower and charge your electronics is currently closed down so save some battery life and if you want, you can have a freezing cold shower which I did and despite the cold - it was worth it.

Hire a porter - The porters are supercreatures. I don't know how they do it but they manage to carry 25kg on their back while running up the same path we are struggling up with only our small knapsack. You can just hire one for the second day (the toughest day) if you want to save money.  Everyone in our group hired a porter to carry their stuff.

Headlamp required - Good luck finding your way around camp or going to the washroom without a headlamp/flashlight.

Visit Manchu Picchu in the afternoon - All the groups arrive in the morning and all the tours seems to take place in  the morning so stay past 1pm if you want to see it with less of a crowd. Manchu Picchu tend to be cloudy in the morning clearing up around 10 so if you are just visiting it don't feel rushed to get there first thing in the morning. We actaully prefered it after 1pm when it was all sunny and most of the people had left,  just sitting on the hilltop admiring it.


Book 4 days/4 nights for more time at Manchu Picchu - If you want to spend more then just the morning at Manchu Picchu book 4 nights, so you spend the last night in Aguas Calientes. We were really happy we did this because we could stay at Manchu Picchu as long as we wanted. Otherwise you arrive, have a tour and then only 2 hours on your own to enjoy it before getting the bus back to Aguas Calientes.

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was the thing I was most looking forward to on this trip. Originally I wanted to try and do the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu but eveything said you needed to book it months in advance (there are only 200 tourist permits available a day) and since I didn't know when we would reach Cuzco I didn't want to book it too far in advance and figured we could just do one of the other treks to Machu Picchu instead. As we got to Peru and I started asking around and heard that there might be a possiblility that we could still do it, so during our first day in Cuzco I check out the permits and got us booked to do the classic Inca Trail 3 days later. In March it's still the rainy season and not the most ideal time to do the Inca trail, so there were still days available in March. However April - June was already all booked up.

The night before we were suppose to set off we had a briefing were we heard about what was in store for us, met the rest of our group and got our bags to fill for the next day.

That night we went back to our hotel and had the task of packing our duffle bag with 9kg worth of stuff or rather 6kg since the sleeping bag and mat used up 3kg of our limit. We then set our alarm for 4:30am so we would be ready when they picked us up at 5:00am the next morning. Turns out we were the first people to get picked up and they came early with the hotel knocking on our door at 4:45am, thankfully we were up and pretty much ready to go and just had to store our bags in the hotel before following the porter to the bus.

Day 1:  PATALLAQTA- CUSICHAKA- WAYLLABAMBA, AYAPATA
Distance Travelled: 12 km, Time: 6-7 hours,  Ascent up: 620 m

Our journey started with a 3 hour bus ride from Cusco to Piskacucho travelling through the Sacred Valley. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast before arriving in Piscacucho (2,680m). There we  met  the porters who would be carrying our belonging  and got our things in order.


Passports in hand, we cleared the official Inca Trail check point before crossing a  bridge across the Urubamba River to begin our trek.  The first three hours were super easy on relatively level terrain with a beautiful view along the river and nice sunny weather.   We stopped for  lunch after 3 hours before starting another 3 hours  of walking  to the village of Wayllabamba (3,000m), followed by an uphill climb through woods and along a stream to our first camp at Ayapata (3,300m). It was actually the last hour of walking which was the hardest because we were starting to get tired  and the last hour is all uphill  (300m)  and steep. To add to this it had started to rain during this last hour. So when we finally arrived at the camp, needless to say we were all very happy and even more excited when we found ladies at our camp selling beer which everyone in our group indulged in.  They also had 'happy hour' ready which consisted of hot beverages (tea, coffee, hot chocolate) cookies and popcorn which we ate while we waited for dinner.

One thing I have to  mention is the food, they actually have a chef and assistant chef that travel with you and cook all your meals, so the food on the Inca trail is absolutely AMAZING! Whenever they would bring out the food we were always shocked by the  great food. It was some of the best food I had in Peru and not at all what I would have expected to be eating while hiking.

Another thing I need to mention is the porters. These are the guys that carry all the equipment for the entire group including all the food, propane tanks, tents, luggage, and even any garbage we create. For our group of 18 people there were 22 porters. Each porter carries up to 25kg and you have the option of paying extra to have a porter carry your bags, which everyone in our group did. This means that all you actually carry is a small knapsack with 1 litre of water, some snacks and a raincoat while the porters carry giant packs along the same trail as us. The worst part is while you're winded walking the trail, they RUN by you with these huge loads on your back while wearing sandels.  They would always leave later then us to clean up after lunch or take down the tents in the morning but would still manage to pass us on the trail with enought time to have lunch or our camp all set up by the time we arrived.


Day 2: AYAPATA- LLULLUCHAYOQ- DEAD WOMAN´S PASS- PACAYMAYO- RUNKURAKAY- SAYAQMARKA- CHAKICOCHA
Distance Travelled: 16 km, Time: 7-8 hours, Ascent up: 900 m

The second day is the most difficult day of the Inca trail because you travel through Dead womans pass at 4200m but it's also the longest day with 16km of walking.  So our day started bright and early with us waking up at 5:00am. The nice thing about the wake up call however is they come to your tent with a warm cup of coca tea. Trevor was oppose to tea before this trip but even he couldn't turn down the hot cup of coca tea and soon discovered he actually liked tea. The bad thing about the start of this day was that it had rained throughout the night and was still raining, so we all prepared for a rainy night. Because of rain and high altitude it was pretty cloudy so the view was a bit lost on us, although we could see some snow-covered mountains.  We began the day with a 900-m ascent up to the Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s) Pass at 4,800. I thought this was going to be the worst part of the hike but actually managed it quite well and ended up being one of the faster people to complete this portion. At the top we take a quick rest before beginning a steep descent into the Pacaymayo Valley on the other side and enjoyed lunch.

In the afternoon we then began a second ascent, this time to the ruins at Runcuracay, located a bit below the Runcuracay Pass (3,950m). From here, most of the trail was downhill until we reached the ruins at Sayacmarca where we got to spend some time exploring although we weren't as energetic  and didn't appreciate it as much as we should of since we were all cold and wet from a day of hiking in the rain. We then had another 1 hour of uphill climbing  to our camp.

Regardless of how tired we all were  none of us seemed to be able to sleep well and the second night was the worst sleep for me. It was POURING rain all night, it was the coldest night and regardless of the mats you know you're sleeping on the ground. The best part of the night however was when my brother tried to beat me up. We were sharing a tent and of course I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I tried to be as quiet as possible and managed to make it outside our tent and was just zipping it up so the rain won't get it when I tap his foot and woke him up. Trevor, half asleep thought someone was breaking into our tent and started yelling and kicking me as hard as he could until he finally realized it was me.

Day 3: CHAKICOCHA- AOBAMBA- PHUYUPATAMARKA- INTIPATA- WIÑAYWAYNA
Distance Travelled: 10km, Time: 5 hours, Descent : 700 m

The third morning we got to sleep in till 6:30 again with a hot tea wake up call again. Unfortunately it was still raining when we woke up so we prepared for another day of rain. This days hike was a much more down hill and significantly shorter than yesterdays but what I discovered was that it's not uphill that effected my hip but rather downhill so I actually kind of prefered the uphill. It also didn't help that  because of all the rain the downhill spots where actually a mini waterfall so you had to be extra careful going down.

The good news was around mid-morning the rain stopped and as we decended it started to warm up so we could get rid of our raincoats and switch back to tshirts. When we arrived at the site of Winaywayna we had beautiful weather  and could really appreciate the view. We then  completing the short hike to our camp site for the night. After lunch, we then visited the adjacent site of Intipata with its dramatic terrances which was probably my favorite Inca ruin beside Manchu Picchu of course.


We were also told that at this campsite we could pay for a hot shower here but we soon discovered it was closed for construction and your only shower option was a FREEZING cold shower. So after three days of treking and pretty much wearing the same wet clothes I felt I needed to suck it up and take the cold shower which really was FREEZING cold and pretty much a polar bear dip. It wasn't the best shower but I did feel so much better after. 

Day 4: WIÑAYWAYNA- INTUPINKU
Distance Travelled: 8 Km,  Time: 6 hours, Descent : 300 m

There are various groups doing the Inca trek and all groups camp at different spots each night except for the last night when all groups end up the same place and wake up early for the last day.

Our group had our wake up call at 3:30am so we could have breakfast and be the first group lined up to get into the park. This meant that we spent an hour and half waiting in line for the park to open. You then had a 1-2 hour hike in darkness to Inti Punku (the Sun Gate), overlooking Machu Picchu for the first rays of the sunrise. You would think this last part would be easy but it actually had some significant upward stretches including the "gingo killer" which is a very steep staircase which half the people end up crawling.

Thanksfully the weather had been good so far and when we reached the Sun Gate we were  one of the first groups and able to see Machu Picchu. Althought shortly after it clouded up and the groups that weren't quite as fast as us didn't get a clear view.

From Inti Punku, we  had an easy 40-minute hike that brought us to  Machu Picchu itself. Unfortunately by the time we reached Machu Pichu it was completely covered in clouds and looked like it was going to rain which it did. Our guides took us on an hour tour of Manchu Pichu in the pouring rain and to be honest, our group was a bit depressed and dishearted at this point because we were all afraid we had trekked all this way in the rain and won't even going to get any good pictures of Machu Picchu. Luckly around 10:30, just after our tour ended the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to provide a beautiful day and perfect conditions for viewing Machu Picchu in all it's wonder.



We did the 4 day/4 night deal so while the rest of our group had to leave Machu Picchu at 1 pm we got to spend the afternoon just sitting on the hillside admiring it. And if anyone is visiting Manchu Picchu independently I would actually recommend going later because all the trekkers and tour groups seen to leave at 1 so it's actually significantly less crowded and more peaceful in the afternoon. We then spent the night in Aguas Calientes before catching the train back to Cusco where a much needed day of rest was required.

So was it worth it? I'd say yes and agree with what Trevor when he said "I'm really glad I did it but I probably won't do it again". I think it definitely made me appreciate Machu Picchu more taking the same trail the Inca people used to take to get there and visiting all the Inca sites along the way. But Trevor and I were both tired by the end, our bodies did ache for a couple days after especially when trying to climb stairs.

Cuzco

When we first arrived in Cuzco we really felt the altitute (3300m) and symptoms of altitude sickness. In Quito we had adjusted to the high altitute but spending a month at sea level had reversed all that and we had to re-adjust again. Just walking a block left us winded and tired. Two days later however we seem to have adjusted and returned back to normal.

We spent the first two days really just walking around Cuzco taking in the sites. As normal we found it more interesting walking around the Peruvian part of town and spend a whole day just doing that. By our third day we decided to make the 2 km walk uphill to Saqsaywaman (which means 'satisfied falcon' but goes by the mnemonic 'sexy woman'). The walk itself was quite tiring but highly worth it for a great view  of Cusco and some interesting Inca ruins. We got the one day boleto turistico ($70 sols)  admission to visit the Saqsaywaman, Q'enqo, Tambomachay & Pukapukara but only ended up visiting the first two because we were too tired to walk to the last two and it was getting late. If you do want to visit all four in one day I would recommend talking a taxi at the start of the day to the farthest one then walking back towards Cuzco. However if you only see one of the ruins in the immediate area of Cuzco, Saqsaywaman is probably the best.


It was in Cuzco that we finally tried guinea pig (cuy). This is a popular dish in both Ecuador and Peru so one night we decided to finally order it. It's quite expensive costing $20 and the worst part is that when it's served, it actually looks like a guinea pig and still even had teeth when they served it to us.  I took one bit and told Trevor the rest was all his. It was way too salty for me but Trevor didn't seem to mind and ate the whole thing on his own, and when I say the whole think I mean everything but the bones. He even eat the tongue and brain. There actually wasn't that much meat on it through and its actually quite boney which mean you have to use your fingers and really pick through the little bones.

Our other big pass time in Cuzco was the massage parlors. Just walking a couple blocks in Cuzco you would have at leave 5 people trying to get you to go for a massage. Trevor had never had a massage before and wasn't sure how he felt about it but decided to give it a try. Turns out he became more addicted to them then I was and we ended up getting a massage everyday in Cuzco. We did learn one lesson though, don't go for the cheap 10 sole massages. If you want a half decent massage pay the 20-30 soles for a good one.

While in Cuzco we also visited the Museo Inka which was worthwhile and interesting. We also visited Iglesia de Santo Domingo but weren't too impressed.