La Cabana Hostel Aguas Calientes

Hoi waterlanders Lago Titicaca is het hoogste bevaarbare meer ter wereld en is ongeveer eenzesde de afmeting van Nederland. Wij hebben er achtereenvolgens de chullpa's (lees: graftorens) van Cutimbo (erg interessant door toedoen van een goede gids), de drijvende rieteilanden van Uros (teleurstellend toeristisch) en het mooie Isla Del Sol (twee dagen wandelen samen met Martin & Anne) aangedaan. Tussendoor zijn wij de grens van Peru en Bolivia overgestoken, en hebben wij drie dagen heerlijk...

Have you ever wondered, Aussies, what mountians higher than 4000m look like. Considering that our highest mountain is only just over 2000m I am sure you are all wondering. Well it is amazing. We are currently staying in Huaraz, a small, popular town in the Andes, Peru. This town is famous for its nearby National park which has over 22 peaks higher than 6000m. The view is amazing from every part of the town, with snow topped peaks everywhere. Temperatures in this town are not to bad maybe reac...

Well I came on a tour cos it was cheap: All included and I just sit there so it is pretty cruisy. Prices for the tours are fairly arbitary and people seem to have paid from 120s to 45s. Me being the cheapskate paid 45 and most seem to have paid around 70. They picked me up in the bus at 8.30 and after a few more stops we were on our way to Canyon country. We passed through a national park called Pampas de Tocra. It is a national park cos they have vicunas there, one of the lama family. We sto...

Well I had a long night. I went to bed at 5.30pm Thaaaaats correct 5.30pm cos the altitude was really having an effect. At 6.30 some idiot was banging on my door, when I answered it he garbled something in spanish and when I said yes he left so I closed the door and went back to bed. At 7.00 I woke again with a killer headache from AMS. Same as Darjeeling last year. I took a couple of disprin and went back to sleep. Every 2 hours I woke up so took 2 disprin and felt better in the morning. Add...

Nov 21st Huaraz! We arrived in one piece after climbing through the night and along rough as you like roads. Little sleep had so a bus full of cranky passengers off loaded into the mountain climbers most loved place in Peru. We groggily pass by the waiting precession of taxi drivers touting for business. Bless em but we sail past. We have got so used to ignoring their mating calls to use their taxi's that it seems to no longer be the annoying problem we first found it to be. It is 6am and we ...

After a hard week's work, there is nothing like a weekend getaway to Peru's premier tourist destination: Machu Picchu. Deciding that we were perfectly capable of reserving our own train tickets and hostel, we declined the opportunity to book a fully-inclusive trip through the tour operator that is affiliated to Maximo Nivel and offers all sorts of mini-breaks. And indeed, during the week, we made a successful journey to the train station in Cusco where we bought our return train tickets and I...

October 8 to 10 The taxi and our guide, Alvero, picks me up promptly at 5:20 a.m. We then go on to pick up Sonja and Phil, newlyweds from Switzerland, and rendezvous at the bus terminal with the other three trekkers, Rachel from Toronto (soon to be Nelson, maybe) and Patsy and her 10 year-old son, Brel, from Montreal. There are six of us. Day One. We board a relatively comfortable local bus--picture a battered and bruised rattly old thing--and drive for about six hours to our starting point, ...