Well, I have been back for a week and just have not had time due to Thanksgiving and such to post a recap of my trip.
Anyways, I had two weeks down in Peru and Bolivia. I flew into Lima and stayed one night (at a hostel near the airport) and had a flight out the next morning to Cuzco. Once in Cuzco, I checked into my hostel (Hostel Pariwana, for those who care about details) and more or less had two full days there before I was to head up to Machu Picchu. Cuzco itself was a really nice city to wander for a couple of days. They had a couple of nice plazas and, in general, a really safe feel to it. More or less all that I did the first two days I was in town was wander around the city, drink at a couple of bars with people from the hostel, and enjoying my time.
After two days in Cuzco, I had to catch a bus to Ollaytatambo (in the Sacred Valley) to get a train later on that night to Aqua Caliente (the town below Machu Picchu). I ended up catching a "colectivo" for about 3 bucks for the hour and a half ride there. Really an uneventful ride, no one really said anything in there as I was the only gringo in it, but it did have some nice views along the way.
Once in Ollaytatambo, I immediately regretted having 7 hours in this town. I did read that there was enough to spend a day there, but I should have known better. There were some good ruins around the town in the mountains, but it costs something around 40 bucks to visit them (almost as much as MP). The ticket was good for a bunch of ruins in the region, not just a single entry, but the problem was I was only going to this one ruin. So I ended up being cheap and just getting pictures from the outside of it. I ended up catching up to things at an internet cafe there, eating a terribly touristy meal there, and wandering a bit more. For dinner, I ended up eating at a place called "hearts cafe" which was run by a british person and all of the money goes to a childrens charity. It was actually a really good meal for those who end up there (and they had free wifi). I caught the train up to Agua Caliente at around 8 or so and it was about a 2 hour train ride. By the time I got up there, it was pouring down rain....which was not what I was hoping. I booked a night in a hostel ahead of time and had my own room and bathroom (for an overpriced cost of 30 bucks). It was clean, and nothing special, but it worked as I was planning on getting up at 6 am to get up to MP.
The next morning, the rain had finally stopped around 4 AM, but it was still overcast and humid (but relatively cool outside, so not bad). I went and got my MP entrance ticket in the main town square (costs around 45 bucks, half the cost with a student ID....I left mine back in the US even though I am not a student still, but I think it would have worked). I went to the bus line, and there was no line for them (like I had read there would be) and was on a bus within 5 minutes. The bus each way costs 7 bucks. The road itself is fun to drive up, a lot of cutbacks and good views. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get up, and by the time we were, we were back in the clouds/fog. More or less that is what I can describe my first 3 hours or so at MP. There were not that great of views, but it did lead to some nice looking pictures. I ended up meeting some American girl who was traveling this part alone to trade off pictures and it made the adventure a little more enjoyable. We ended up walking a side trail off of MP called the Inkan Bridge. It was not that exciting of a trail, but worth it for some good views. I ended up leaving MP around 2 PM to get down to Agua Caliente to eat lunch and catch my 5 PM train off to Cuzco (this time direct). Nothing too much happened on it, showed up back at my hostel and got a good night sleep (after a couple of Cusquenos).
My first view of MP....a little disappointing.
Inka Bridge trail...something tells me that this trail would not be allowed in a US national park.
Agua Caliente
The next day, I had booked a bus to Puno, Peru. Puno is more or less a town on Lake Titicaca and is really only there because of that. It has some reed islands off of it which is why I was visiting. I paid something like 12 bucks for a "1st class seat" on a tourist bus for the 6 hour ride. It was a whole 2 bucks more than the second class seats, but these seats were quite large, leaned far back and I had a lot of leg space....which made it worthwhile. The bus ended up being about 2 hours late, but it is South America...
The highway into Puno
The one picture I have in Puno
On arrival to Puno, I was trying to catch a taxi to my hostel when some British girl asked if she could share one...I thought why not. On the ride into town, she more or less told me that it was not worth staying more than a night in Puno and that she and some of her friends were moving on to Bolivia the next morning. She invited me to join them, I could not say no. Anyways, all of us went out to dinner that night and for a couple of drinks. Puno had a nice downtown bar/restaurant pedestrian street, but the rest of the town did not look interesting at all. I am sort of happy I left.
The next morning, I caught a bus with her friends (an Irish couple, a Canadian girl, some Aussie guy, her and I). The bus to Copacabana (on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia) takes about 3 hours including the border crossing. As an American, I had to pay the 135 visa to get in while no other nationality that I saw had to. Lucky me....but it was something I knew about ahead of time. The Bolivian border guards were joking the whole time about it, but in general, were trying to just enjoy their job. So no real problems crossing.
Border Crossing
Copacabana seems like it is trying to be a beach resort, but cannot due to the cool temperatures, cold lake, and lack of air at the altitude. Other than that, I liked the feel. There were considerable less tourists there than in Peru. The town itself has a nice "beachfront" with restaurant stands and benches, and then a main road with more restaurants and stores. When we arrived, we all found a hotel/hostel with room for us and we all just split a room. We went and ate at some beachfront restaurant and wandered the town for some pictures. Later that night, we climbed a "hill" (I say "hill" due to it really only being a hill, but due to the altitude, it felt like a mountain). The hill had great views of the town and of the sunset.
The next day, half of the group went on to La Paz, while I stayed another night. The remaining people did a tour of Isla Del Sol, which is a large island in Lake Titicaca that has some Inkan ruins. We caught a boat out there at 8:30 AM and it took about 2 hours to get to the north end of the island. From there, we took a 15 KM hike over the island to the south end. It felt a lot longer, but it was worth it just for the views. From there, we caught the boat back in time for the other people to catch a bus elsewhere. I had a bus for the next day to La Paz.
Drive to La Paz
La Paz is interesting. I can understand why people get stuck there for extended periods of time when they are not planning on it. I can also see why people do not like the town. I was staying at hostel Loki there (somewhat infamous Hostel Loki, due to it having somewhat of a party atmosphere). I really liked the town. I got in at around 6 PM and had to immediately schedule my day trip for the next day to bike "the worlds most dangerous road" since I knew people doing this the next day. More or less, it is a 64 KM road/trail that used to have some 700 deaths along it when it was still in use. This is something that I could not say no to. The first night in La Paz, I more or less just drank at the hostel bar with some people I met there.
I got up at 7 AM to catch the van up to the start of the bike trail. It was at something like 4700M at the highest (starts near the glaciers) and ends at 1300M in the Amazon. We had about 20 people in our group, knowing about 6 of them at the beginning. It was relatively cool at the top in the morning. You start down something like 15KM of paved road. After about 4 KM, we hit the clouds and rain. It was miserable...but fun. We then took a break (an 8KM uphill part where the bike company loads the bikes up and you ride in the van). This takes you to the start of the "death road". The road itself is about a one car wide dirt road with a steep cliff off of it (up to 500m straight down at parts). This whole ride was a hell of a lot of fun. There are something around 2 tourist deaths a year biking it, and I know why, but it is completely worth it if you ever get there. By the end of it, you do not feel like you biked 64KM because it is mostly downhill. The company takes you to a bar for a beer, and then take you to a lunch buffet. Once this is done, you have the real "fun" part....riding the van to the top of the mountain on the death road. Lets just say, I am glad I was not driving.
(Im the one on the left)
The start of the "death road"
The bar at the bottom
The drive back up
The next day, I toured La Paz and did some touristy shopping. Found a good viewpoint of the city and took a bunch of pictures. There were some good restaurants in this town, had a good Indian Llama curry, some Cuban food, and some Arabic food. Cant complain at all. That night, after drinking with some people in the hostel bar, we decided to go to the infamous "cocaine" bar in La Paz (for the record, I dont do cocaine, never have, but had to go just to see this). It is an illegal bar that serves cocaine over the bar. It is a known bar for many backpackers. Sort of funny walking in and seeing people doing lines off of the bar...
It was somewhat a long night, but I had a good time drinking beer at the bar. I had planned on touring a prison run by prisoners in La Paz, but that was closed the day I wanted to, so I ended up going quading with a group from the hostel. It was fun for the price, but definitely no bike ride.
The next day I was supposed to fly out. I somehow missed my flight and had to catch a flight the next day. Long story, pure stupidity on my part, but oh well.
Anyways, I had two weeks down in Peru and Bolivia. I flew into Lima and stayed one night (at a hostel near the airport) and had a flight out the next morning to Cuzco. Once in Cuzco, I checked into my hostel (Hostel Pariwana, for those who care about details) and more or less had two full days there before I was to head up to Machu Picchu. Cuzco itself was a really nice city to wander for a couple of days. They had a couple of nice plazas and, in general, a really safe feel to it. More or less all that I did the first two days I was in town was wander around the city, drink at a couple of bars with people from the hostel, and enjoying my time.
After two days in Cuzco, I had to catch a bus to Ollaytatambo (in the Sacred Valley) to get a train later on that night to Aqua Caliente (the town below Machu Picchu). I ended up catching a "colectivo" for about 3 bucks for the hour and a half ride there. Really an uneventful ride, no one really said anything in there as I was the only gringo in it, but it did have some nice views along the way.
Once in Ollaytatambo, I immediately regretted having 7 hours in this town. I did read that there was enough to spend a day there, but I should have known better. There were some good ruins around the town in the mountains, but it costs something around 40 bucks to visit them (almost as much as MP). The ticket was good for a bunch of ruins in the region, not just a single entry, but the problem was I was only going to this one ruin. So I ended up being cheap and just getting pictures from the outside of it. I ended up catching up to things at an internet cafe there, eating a terribly touristy meal there, and wandering a bit more. For dinner, I ended up eating at a place called "hearts cafe" which was run by a british person and all of the money goes to a childrens charity. It was actually a really good meal for those who end up there (and they had free wifi). I caught the train up to Agua Caliente at around 8 or so and it was about a 2 hour train ride. By the time I got up there, it was pouring down rain....which was not what I was hoping. I booked a night in a hostel ahead of time and had my own room and bathroom (for an overpriced cost of 30 bucks). It was clean, and nothing special, but it worked as I was planning on getting up at 6 am to get up to MP.
The next morning, the rain had finally stopped around 4 AM, but it was still overcast and humid (but relatively cool outside, so not bad). I went and got my MP entrance ticket in the main town square (costs around 45 bucks, half the cost with a student ID....I left mine back in the US even though I am not a student still, but I think it would have worked). I went to the bus line, and there was no line for them (like I had read there would be) and was on a bus within 5 minutes. The bus each way costs 7 bucks. The road itself is fun to drive up, a lot of cutbacks and good views. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get up, and by the time we were, we were back in the clouds/fog. More or less that is what I can describe my first 3 hours or so at MP. There were not that great of views, but it did lead to some nice looking pictures. I ended up meeting some American girl who was traveling this part alone to trade off pictures and it made the adventure a little more enjoyable. We ended up walking a side trail off of MP called the Inkan Bridge. It was not that exciting of a trail, but worth it for some good views. I ended up leaving MP around 2 PM to get down to Agua Caliente to eat lunch and catch my 5 PM train off to Cuzco (this time direct). Nothing too much happened on it, showed up back at my hostel and got a good night sleep (after a couple of Cusquenos).
My first view of MP....a little disappointing.
Inka Bridge trail...something tells me that this trail would not be allowed in a US national park.
Agua Caliente
The next day, I had booked a bus to Puno, Peru. Puno is more or less a town on Lake Titicaca and is really only there because of that. It has some reed islands off of it which is why I was visiting. I paid something like 12 bucks for a "1st class seat" on a tourist bus for the 6 hour ride. It was a whole 2 bucks more than the second class seats, but these seats were quite large, leaned far back and I had a lot of leg space....which made it worthwhile. The bus ended up being about 2 hours late, but it is South America...
The highway into Puno
The one picture I have in Puno
On arrival to Puno, I was trying to catch a taxi to my hostel when some British girl asked if she could share one...I thought why not. On the ride into town, she more or less told me that it was not worth staying more than a night in Puno and that she and some of her friends were moving on to Bolivia the next morning. She invited me to join them, I could not say no. Anyways, all of us went out to dinner that night and for a couple of drinks. Puno had a nice downtown bar/restaurant pedestrian street, but the rest of the town did not look interesting at all. I am sort of happy I left.
The next morning, I caught a bus with her friends (an Irish couple, a Canadian girl, some Aussie guy, her and I). The bus to Copacabana (on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia) takes about 3 hours including the border crossing. As an American, I had to pay the 135 visa to get in while no other nationality that I saw had to. Lucky me....but it was something I knew about ahead of time. The Bolivian border guards were joking the whole time about it, but in general, were trying to just enjoy their job. So no real problems crossing.
Border Crossing
Copacabana seems like it is trying to be a beach resort, but cannot due to the cool temperatures, cold lake, and lack of air at the altitude. Other than that, I liked the feel. There were considerable less tourists there than in Peru. The town itself has a nice "beachfront" with restaurant stands and benches, and then a main road with more restaurants and stores. When we arrived, we all found a hotel/hostel with room for us and we all just split a room. We went and ate at some beachfront restaurant and wandered the town for some pictures. Later that night, we climbed a "hill" (I say "hill" due to it really only being a hill, but due to the altitude, it felt like a mountain). The hill had great views of the town and of the sunset.
The next day, half of the group went on to La Paz, while I stayed another night. The remaining people did a tour of Isla Del Sol, which is a large island in Lake Titicaca that has some Inkan ruins. We caught a boat out there at 8:30 AM and it took about 2 hours to get to the north end of the island. From there, we took a 15 KM hike over the island to the south end. It felt a lot longer, but it was worth it just for the views. From there, we caught the boat back in time for the other people to catch a bus elsewhere. I had a bus for the next day to La Paz.
Drive to La Paz
La Paz is interesting. I can understand why people get stuck there for extended periods of time when they are not planning on it. I can also see why people do not like the town. I was staying at hostel Loki there (somewhat infamous Hostel Loki, due to it having somewhat of a party atmosphere). I really liked the town. I got in at around 6 PM and had to immediately schedule my day trip for the next day to bike "the worlds most dangerous road" since I knew people doing this the next day. More or less, it is a 64 KM road/trail that used to have some 700 deaths along it when it was still in use. This is something that I could not say no to. The first night in La Paz, I more or less just drank at the hostel bar with some people I met there.
I got up at 7 AM to catch the van up to the start of the bike trail. It was at something like 4700M at the highest (starts near the glaciers) and ends at 1300M in the Amazon. We had about 20 people in our group, knowing about 6 of them at the beginning. It was relatively cool at the top in the morning. You start down something like 15KM of paved road. After about 4 KM, we hit the clouds and rain. It was miserable...but fun. We then took a break (an 8KM uphill part where the bike company loads the bikes up and you ride in the van). This takes you to the start of the "death road". The road itself is about a one car wide dirt road with a steep cliff off of it (up to 500m straight down at parts). This whole ride was a hell of a lot of fun. There are something around 2 tourist deaths a year biking it, and I know why, but it is completely worth it if you ever get there. By the end of it, you do not feel like you biked 64KM because it is mostly downhill. The company takes you to a bar for a beer, and then take you to a lunch buffet. Once this is done, you have the real "fun" part....riding the van to the top of the mountain on the death road. Lets just say, I am glad I was not driving.
(Im the one on the left)
The start of the "death road"
The bar at the bottom
The drive back up
The next day, I toured La Paz and did some touristy shopping. Found a good viewpoint of the city and took a bunch of pictures. There were some good restaurants in this town, had a good Indian Llama curry, some Cuban food, and some Arabic food. Cant complain at all. That night, after drinking with some people in the hostel bar, we decided to go to the infamous "cocaine" bar in La Paz (for the record, I dont do cocaine, never have, but had to go just to see this). It is an illegal bar that serves cocaine over the bar. It is a known bar for many backpackers. Sort of funny walking in and seeing people doing lines off of the bar...
It was somewhat a long night, but I had a good time drinking beer at the bar. I had planned on touring a prison run by prisoners in La Paz, but that was closed the day I wanted to, so I ended up going quading with a group from the hostel. It was fun for the price, but definitely no bike ride.
The next day I was supposed to fly out. I somehow missed my flight and had to catch a flight the next day. Long story, pure stupidity on my part, but oh well.
