Paraguay

Asuncion
It’s funny how things work out, Paraguay was on the bottom of the list but here we are. The border crossing into Paraguay was the same old, nothing new or difficult about it despite all the warnings. Asuncion lies about 50kms from the border on the east shore of the Rio Paraguay. It’s a huge city, with rich and poor living side by side, mansions and shanty towns in the same neighbourhoods, and Mercedes and horse drawn carts sharing the same streets. About 5kms from the centre is the botanical gardens where they have camping, so needless to say that is where we stayed. It’s a beautiful park and was only four dollars a night. Although every local seemed to think we were crazy for staying in the “dangerous gardens”. From the gardens we took the bus into town to meet the Swiss guys. They were working in one of the most upscale neighbourhoods in Asuncion at a very western shopping mall. We had only been in contact with Patrick so we were surprised to meet Lukas his friend and work mate. For some reason we both thought we were selling the van to a couple. Our hearts sank knowing we were actually getting rid of our van and Karen was upset that it was going to be a “dude” van. We all went back to the campground and showed the boys the van. After showing her off and telling them every little detail about our baby, we went for a short test drive and then back to the mall to make an internet money transfer. They loved her!! Wow, it all happened so quickly and now we just had to wait for the money to come through. We kept the van while waiting for the money and stayed at the botanical gardens relishing our last nights in Patience. The first two nights and days we hid out in the van because it was pouring rain. Then on our third night we got fellow campers in the gardens!! Two Argentinean families moved in and kept us entertained with stories and taught us how to prepare mate the “official” way. They also insisted on feeding us and including us in one of the son’s 13th birthday party. We spent a few days wandering the city of Asuncion and it’s “zona roja” which is a strange area on the Rio Paraguay where the city’s slums back onto giant palaces and people permanently live in the plazas where giant office buildings are located. What a bizarre contrast! Since the transaction was done on Friday evening we ended up waiting until Tuesday before the cash was in Pete’s account. We then had to deal with the paper work and vehicle transfer forms. The guys had a contact for a public notary who said he could do it but when we paid him a visit, it was a different story. He sent us down the street to see a friend of his, who could only write a letter saying that Pete allowed the guys to drive the van but not transferring the ownership. The notary told us that they would have to visit the consulate of every country they would be visiting to cross the borders without any problems. They decided to at least get the letter stating they had Pete’s permission to drive the van in Paraguay and then since there was no legal way of doing the paper work we decided to fake them. Using the computer they changed names and licence numbers on the registration papers and then printed them out. They looked great, no South American police or border officials will know the difference, hahaha. We spent the night at a four star hotel and the boys took off for the border. We wished them luck and told them to call us if they had any problems checking the van out of Paraguay or importing it into Argentina. We almost died when we heard the phone ring, maybe the paperwork didn’t work. But when Karen answered we found out that everything was cool except that they needed insurance to enter Argentina. So we told them to try our insurance with Pete’s name on it and after they showed every piece of paperwork to the border official, he told them to move on and not to come back. Yeah!!!!! It’s all done. So we celebrated with two ice cold litres of Stella Artois and chilled in our two bedroom, two bath pad. The following morning after an amazing breakfast buffet we were off to Iguazu Falls. After a six hour bus ride we arrived in Ciudad del Este, where we changed buses. From here we waited for the last bus to Puerto Iguazu. Back to Argentina!!!

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Argentina Part II

Cordoba

After a lengthy stay in Mendoza we made a move towards Cordoba. The first day we drove east until we reached Parque Nacional Sierra de las Quijadas, a miniature Canyon Lands. We arrived just in time to enjoy the views of the red canyon walls in the setting sun before setting up camp. The next morning we drove to Mina Clavero, a beautiful tranquil village nestled in the foot hills of the Sierra Cordoba. We managed to find the one campground that wasn’t closed for the winter and bartered for a cheaper price since the hot water was turned off. After settling in we went into town to watch Argentina lay the boots to Greece in a four nil victory. The town went wild and we were entertained by the post game parade which consisted of teenagers ripping around on scooters, honking, yelling and flying the Argentinean colours. Back at camp we barbecued steaks and drank red wine before retiring for the night. The next day we decided to get some exercise so we went for a jog. The trail wound along the river passing beautiful homes and farms and then the river turned into a small canyon full of small swimming holes and boulders. At camp we met a couple of Argentinean artisans who were also travelling to Cordoba so the next day they hopped aboard and kept us company. The drive was beautiful; it went up in the mountains and passed through a Condor reserve before descending into Cordoba. We dropped off our passengers and then found the camping Municipal, where we stayed for night. Since the camping was 15km from the city we decided to find somewhere to stay closer to the center. We checked out a few hostels in Nuevo Cordoba, but weren’t impressed (a sign of age maybe?) so we moved to the old city and looked for something there. On our way we met Alejandro and Flor, two warm hearted locals who pointed us in the right direction. When we finally found a decent place for a good price we couldn’t find a 24 hour garage for the van. By this time we were almost going to turn around and head back to the campground, but we decided to look at one more place. The Gran Victorian Hotel, is a beautiful old two star hotel located right on the pedestrian street. Unfortunately it was undergoing major renovations which meant that you had to walk up the four flights of stairs and there was also a lot of noise during the day, but we got a great room with a balcony overlooking the city and also got a special price due to the circumstances. This would be home for the next week. Our first objective in Cordoba was to find Karen a wedding dress. So we wasted no time and went dress shopping for the first few days. After Karen had tried on almost every dress in the city with no luck we found the Palacia de las Novias(Palace of the Brides), a store with hundreds of wedding dresses. Here we found “the one” and they were able to make some adjustments in just a few days. During the rest of our stay in Cordoba we went suit shopping for Pete, watched the Argentinean World Cup games (with Alejandro and friends), went out for dinners and drinks, went to a play directed by Alejandro and watched tango in the main square. We were also able to learn a lot about the history of Argentina from some of the locals we met and how corrupt and brutal their government has been in the not so distant past. The more we learn the more we understand their culture and why so many now live as Artisans enjoying every day as it comes. You never know what could happen tomorrow. The bank could steal your money or you could “disappear”. Wow. We also posted our van for sale on a few forums and within a couple of days got our first reply. A Swiss guy, Patrick, seemed very interested and wanted to see our baby. Our intention was to sell the van in Buenos Aires but he convinced us to drive up to Asuncion, Paraguay and meet him there.

The drive to Paraguay

We took our time on the drive to Paraguay and enjoyed every minute with Patience knowing it could all be coming to a quick end. First we visited Tanti, a small village outside of Cordoba. One of our first hot days in awhile, Pete went walking in sandals on the riverside trail. Unfortunately along the way he tripped on a branch and cut his toe. We hoped that it wasn’t too deep of a cut but when we got back to the van and had a closer look; it was deeper than we had expected. So we went to the clinic and Pete got three stitches. When we went to pay for the bill we were surprised to find out that it was free. Free public health care even for foreigners, nice. The following day we drove up to San Marcos, a small hippy town complete with the “world’s first hippy museum”, and spent a couple of nights there. Our next stop was Mar Chiquita, a large salt lake which is home to numerous birds including flamingos. We found a camping municipal right off the highway and immediately went down to the salty lake shore to take in the sunset and watch the flamingos. We kept making our way up north and stopped for the night in Tostado at another camping municipal on the river. Here we met a local family who insisted on giving us their town flag as a gift. Our next stop was Resistencia. The campground here was very nice and only a few dollars a day. Since it was school holidays and a weekend the place was packed during the day with families cooking up huge asados and we even had some fellow campers consisting of some strange artisans that we hung out with quite a bit, and an even stranger biker couple. The bikers were riding an imitation Chinese Harley with a skull on the front, a skull flag on the back, a small trailer full of skull decals, a samurai sword strapped to the front shocks, and to top it off a pet hawk which they carried in a small box decorated with skulls. We’ve met some weirdoes on this trip and these two are definitely in the top three. Formosa was the next destination, but wasn’t any camping in town so we drove 30 min. North and stopped in at an animal reserve where they had many injured birds and cats. Unfortunately we were told that we weren’t allowed to camp there because it was too dangerous. The previous night a wild cat attacked someone and was now in one of their cages and there were also many poisonous snakes in the area. Their solution was to drive TWO minutes down the road where it would be much safer to sleep on the side of the highway. We took their suggestion, but didn’t venture out of the van the whole night. The next morning we drove to Clorinda where we got our visas for Paraguay and then drove a few minutes outside of town to the border. Onto country #15...Paraguay the world’s most corrupt country outside of Africa to sell Patience.

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Argentina Part I

Salinas Grandes / Tilcara / Quebrada Humahuaca

Chile was another hard place to leave, but we made the call and moved on to ARGENTINA!!! The drive from Chile to Argentina was amazing. We climbed up to the Pasa Jama at over 4800m drove in the high alpine for quite awhile and then dropped back down, spectacular! While looking for a place to camp Pete got the van stuck on a sandy road. Luckily we had a passanger , Mathias from Switzerland, who helped Karen push Patience out of the sand. We then found a gravel pit off the highway...welcome back to wild camping, woohoo!! The next day we set off for the Quebrada Humahuaca and its 7 colour hills. On the way we passed a big salt flat where we were able to snap some pictures and drive around on the salt. We arrived in Purmamarca and were instantly impressed with this tranquil little town. We wandered around for awhile and then got hungry so we asked around for a place to eat and were pointed towards a closed door where we were told we could find some lunch. We walked in to find a single room with only one table and it was occupied. We were told to wait on the couch and boy are we glad we did. The chef/guy who owned the house cooked us up an amazing Locro (a stew made of corn, sausage, beef, and beans) and some fantastic empanadas. After lunch we decided to keep moving to the town of Tilcara to spend the night. After a little searching we managed to find a place to camp, had a little siesta and then headed into town. We enjoyed a few more empanadas at a local restaurant and then stumbled into some live regional music. The pan flute player was out of this world. The next day we slept in and then cruised towards Salta.

Salta

Karen spotted what seemed like a good short cut and somehow we found ourselves on a two way back road the width of a cycling path. It wound us back and forth and up and down for ages. The curves were the tightest we’ve driven yet, which says a lot. It took us about 2 hours to go 40km so we decided to stop for the night at a little town with free camping at the soccer pitch. The next morning we started off again at the same pace until the road finally widened and straightened and we pulled into the town of Salta. It was so nice to drive in a city and not fear for our lives. In fact this city was too safe and every street light had four cycles instead of two to make sure there weren’t any accidents. This is a brutal system that is all throughout Argentina and wastes way too much time, but what can you expect from a country that siestas from 1-5 everyday. Maybe we could learn a thing or two. As always we went on a bit of a wild goose chase to find the municipal campground, but we finally found it and settled in beside the biggest pool we have ever seen. Although since it’s winter down here it was empty, bummer. The campground was pretty basic, but there was hot water and heaters in the bathrooms, score! We showered up, had a siesta and then headed in for our first night out in Argentina. There’s something about cities at night that makes them magical and we were finally back in a beautiful colonial town all lit up. We found an awesome restaurant on the main plaza and had a steak covered in blue cheese that lived up to every expectation we’d had from the past 8 months of bad beef. We also downed a bottle of wine and finished off with a great cup of coffee at midnight just as everyone else came in for dinner. Argentina is full of night owls. Although I guess we would be too if we had a 4 hour siesta every day. When we finally decided to call it a night it was after one and after waiting an hour for a bus home we didn’t get in until after 2, latest night in a long time. Welcome to Argentina! The next day we slept in, hand washed almost all of our clothes and then enjoyed a tub of ice cream, another Argentinean favourite, before heading to bed early. The next night we decided that we should go out for another steak, when in Rome... This time we went to the hip street north of town and searched for a place with some atmosphere that wasn’t blasting music. This took us quite awhile and we ended up settling for an okay place well after midnight. Pete then dragged Karen out for a quiet drink and we spent another hour or so searching for a place until we finally ended up at an Irish pub at 3:30 in the morning. All we’d done is have dinner and the night had passed us by, crazy. We crawled into bed at 5:30 and spent the next day sleeping and enjoying the sunshine.

Cafayete / Quilmes / Pacha Mama Museum

We decided to take the low road to Cafayete through a beautiful canyon of red rock with formations such as the amphitheatre, the toad and the devil’s throat. We were finally in a country where we could drive short distances in a day and sleep wherever we could pull over so we took full advantage of this and slept by the river in the canyon surrounded by the peering eyes of foxes in the bushes. The next morning we arrived in the sleepy town of Cafayete where we finally entered the land of vineyards. We visited our first winery and then headed into town where we had the best homemade Alfajores (a cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche), fantastic empanadas and extremely potent white wine ice cream, yum. We window shopped, chatted with some locals and then decided to keep truckin’. We made it as far as the town of Quilmes and decided to check out the pre Incan ruins before sunset. We didn’t know what to expect as we’d already seen some pretty amazing ruins, but these were fascinating. The area itself was over 30 hectares and about 5000 people lived there from 1000AD. There was a mix of restored and unrestored ruins winding their way through cactus fields and up into the mountains. The Quilmes people were warriors and managed to fight off the Incas and only succumbed to the Spaniards in 1667. The focus of their lives must have been guarding their territory and grinding corn as there were watch towers and mortars everywhere. We finally left as the sun was setting and found a great place to camp on the side of the road. We’d been given a tip that the small town of Amaiche del Valle had an amazing museum so we decided to check it out on our way to San Juan. We were not disappointed as the museum was surprisingly large and very artistic. Every inch was decorated in native rock including the walls, floors and roofs. No paint was used and yet they were able to create intricate patterns and statues of different colours and textures. It was a great place to explore as every corner held something new and beautiful. We got back on the road and wound our way up and over another pass and into a different world. The dry and barren landscape was replaced with lush forest, fog and a winding river. It was a nice change and a beautiful drive. Along the way we stopped for some homemade cheese and bread on the side of the road and ended up with gourmet goods. It was getting late as we hit the lowlands and we lucked into a gas station that let us camp on their property. We thought we’d lucked into the best spot until the morning when we discovered we were in a garbage dump, oh well. We decided to get out of their early and Karen went to fill up the water jug as Pete backed the van out of the spot. Pete thought that he was in a clear open field so he decided to give her some gas which made Karen turn around just in time to see Pete slam into a poor defenceless tree. Lucky for him the tree bent back and our bumper took the hit. Patience was fine so we said sorry to the tree and Patience and took off. Next stop, San Juan for some more wineries. It was a bit of a drive so by the time we got there, visited the tourist information centre and went grocery shopping it was already dark so we followed some directions and found the big municipal site. Unfortunately it was Saturday night and some hooligans took over the abandoned building across the street for some early morning partying that didn’t end until 9:30am so the next morning we had a late start. We managed to visit two wineries including champagne tasting in a cave and an interesting museum tour in a winery built in 1880 where we sampled a sweet malbec (Graffigna). We’d heard there was some amazing climbing in an area at the end of calle 11 so we decided to head there for the night. We had a hand drawn map to guide our way, but were driving in the dark and ended up going the wrong way into private mining grounds where we had to be escorted back to the spot where we made the wrong turn and got back on track. We found a great spot to camp and passed out until the winds picked up and we thought the van was going to be pushed over. It turns out that we lucked into Argentina’s version of the Chinook and we woke up to our first warm day in a long time. We headed out to the rock and only managed to climb a few polished, slippery routes before we called it a day. We were definitely spoiled by the rock in Chile. The next day we were going to climb again, but decided just to keep moving and drove on to Mendoza.

Mendoza

We arrived in chilly Mendoza to find all of the campgrounds closed and were told that there had been an attack on some tourists camping in the streets just two weeks ago so we begged one campground to let us stay for the night and then moved into the city in the morning. We ended up at a scruffy hostel with super friendly owners, a huge room with patio doors and an older crowd of tourists, perfect! The first night we went into town and ended up getting tickets to a local dance show and then went out for another steak dinner. The next day we were woken up by, goooooooaall!!!!, the Argentineans scored the first goal. We got out of bed to enjoy the game. We watched the second half in the town along with hundreds of screaming fans and were stoked when Argentina won. The whole town went into party mode and paraded around the streets. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like if they win the world cup...GO ARGENTINA!!! That afternoon we went to Maipu by bus with an English couple Roz and Dave to go on a biking winery tour. We rented our cruiser bikes at Mr Hugo’s and cycled out to the first stop for some olive tapenades, dulce de leches, jams, homemade liquors and some awful absinthe. It was enough to warm us up for the 6km bike ride to Familia Di Tomaso, the oldest winery in Argentina open to visitors. We were given an awesome tour of the winery and then sampled some of their wines. The best part was that their wine can only be bought at the winery or ordered online with excessive shipping fees, very exclusive and good wine. On the way back we stopped at another winery for some bbq’d meats and some more wine. When we left it was starting to get dark and we were joined by a police escort. It was quite a spectacle to be followed very slowly by two police men on motorcycles flashing their lights. We finally got back to Mr Hugo’s safe and sound and said goodbye to our escorts. Mr Hugo then plied us with more wine and put us on a bus back to Mendoza. All in all a great day in the countryside. The next few days were spent watching soccer, going out for dinner, chatting with Roz and Dave, walking around town and the park and enjoying city life. It was nice being around people and culture again after camping on our own for so long. That’s what we get for traveling in the winter when all the campgrounds are deserted or closed. Next stop...Cordoba!

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Chile

Parque Lauca/Arica/ Reserva Nacional Pampoa del Tamarugal
After a lot of hmming and hawing we finally made up our minds to avoid the bad roads in Bolivia and check out what Chile had to offer. We decided to take a gravel back road from the hotel in La Paz up to the Alti Plano and managed to avoid the La Paz and El Alto traffic, what a shortcut! The road took a bit of route finding, but by asking a few directions it was relatively easy to find our way. Dom and Belinda were heading up to El Alto as well so we gave them a ride. Once we reached the Alti Plano we dropped off Dom and Belinda and a local hitchhiker who we picked up on the way, then headed towards Chile. We had heard that the stretch after the Chilean border didn’t have any gas for a long time so we bought a 20 litre gas container and filled it up with cheap Bolivian gas. The drive was flat and straight with hardly any traffic and the closer we came to the boarder the prettier the scenery got. When we got to the Bolivian side of the border we were stopped by some soldiers who jumped on top of the van and were going to confiscate our Bolivian gas that we had just bought. Luckily our tank had enough room to fit the twenty litres so we now had a full tank, plenty to make it to Arica. With a bit of confusion we managed to get our exit stamps and sign our van out of Bolivia. Then we drove for another 5kms to the Chilean side passing beautiful lakes and high altitude flamingos. Here we were taken by surprise at how friendly and relaxed all of the officials were. In the migracion office they were pumping Crystal Method and other heavy techno beats at full volume and the Customs officers seemed to be more interested in us and our trip that searching our van. Although they did confiscate our honey, some grains and our bamboo pole for our awning. Just a kilometre or two past the border we reached a beautiful campsite in Lauca National Park. It overlooks a beautiful lake and a couple of spectacular volcanoes. The lake itself is at over 4500 metres with Volcan Parinacota towering behind it at 6339 metres. We set up camp and quickly got out the camera before we lost the evening light. We took photos and watched the sun set, then wolfed down some food and jumped in to the van to escape the bitter cold. The temperature was dropping quickly and we were worried about our antifreeze possibly freezing. We had a few leaks along the way and in Central America you can’t find antifreeze, only coolant which has the same freezing temp as water. We had tested it in La Paz and our tester read that it was good until -10oC which didn’t seem like enough considering it was already -5oC at 8pm. Oh well nothing we could do until the morning. While Karen kept the bed warm, Pete played with the camera and tripod and to his surprise got some cool photos of the volcanoes. The next morning we woke up to a beautiful, but freezing cold sunrise. Our thermometer was maxed out at -10oC and there was a thick layer of ice on our windows, by far the coldest night of our trip. We waited until after breakfast when the sun had warmed the radiator and then set off with no problems. On the way to Arica we stopped at the ghost like town of Parinacota where we were told to visit the old church and to ask for the key from one of the locals. Unfortunately there was only one man who we saw in town and he didn’t seem to have the key. We hung around waiting for anyone else to turn up or wake up but we had no luck and eventually left. We descended from 4500 metres to sea level in three to four hours and didn’t see much of anything except a couple of small towns in the middle of nowhere. When we finally reached Arica we hit up a grocery store and an ATM, then searched for a Hostel which had parking. We drove in circles for a half an hour before we finally found one. It was a strange place with strange owners and the price was quite high, so we drove north of town and found a cheaper place to camp. The next morning we attempted to leave town but somehow missed a turn and ended up on a cool scenic coastal road. We were driving south, the right direction but this narrow winding road definitely wasn’t the Pan Americana and we had no clue where it went so we eventually turned around and drove back into Arica. This time we asked for directions and quickly found the Pan Americana and were on our way. We made it to Reserva Nacional Pampoa del Tamarugal where we decided to spend the night. The campground here wasn’t too impressive and was also expensive, so we checked out another place on the other side of the highway. It appeared to be closed, but just before we left the caretaker came out. Karen charmed him and he let us camp there for free. We were the only ones there and the best part was that we had our own private swimming pool.

San Pedro de Atacama
The following morning we continued on towards San Pedro de Atacama. About 10kms outside of town we reached the turn off for Valle de la Luna, a park full of sandstone formations and dunes and decided to check it out for its famous sunset. We paid our fee, checked out a view point, and then before we knew it we were out of this small park. We were going to head to town, but on the way Pete convinced Karen to camp in the desert for a night. We found an awesome spot and set up in time to watch the distant volcanoes change different hues of red as the sun set. Again Pete played with some cool night shots and then we cuddled up for a cold desert night’s sleep. In the morning we were in no rush to leave so we cooked up a good breakfast, hung out in the sun and played some Frisbee. Finally we decided it was time for a shower so we packed up and went to a campground in town. Here we were pleasantly surprised not only by hot showers, but also by a great artificial climbing wall. We spent the rest of the day lounging around, climbing a bit and exploring the town. The next day we were introduced to Pablo, a local Chilean climber who luckily had time on his hands so wanted to show us a local climbing hotspot. We decided to wait one more day to go so that Paola and Marlen two other Chileans could come with us so we spent two more days relaxing, doing some hard bouldering with all the locals, and enjoying their hospitality with some dinner and drinks.

Climbing Outside Socaire
Finally it was time to go climbing so we woke up early, picked up Pablo and then continued to the girl’s awesome adobe house for some breakfast before setting off. The climbing area was only an hour away from San Pedro, but over a 1000m higher at 3500m. When we arrived we were absolutely blown away. Here in the middle of the Salar de Atacama was this perfect canyon with steep walls covered in pockets...PARADISE!!! We had decided to stay in the van so the rest of the gang went to set up camp 10mins down in the canyon and we got the van ready for the night before gearing up to climb. The rock was freezing, but we soldiered on and were rewarded with an awesome afternoon of climbing. We finished just as the sun was setting so by the time we reached the van the surrounding rock and mountains were red and the moon was rising...wow!! After snapping some shots we headed back into the canyon by moonlight to the camping spot where the girls already had the night’s meal cooking. There was a perfect cave to cook and keep warm in so we all huddled by the fire eating, chatting and listening to music. Finally it was time to go to bed so we said our goodnights and started our trek back up the van. The full moon lit our way there and lit up some more night shots for Pete. The next morning everything was frozen, but by the time we reached camp there was enough sun to warm up our bodies for another incredible day of climbing. With Pablo as our punishing guide we were pushed to do some pretty hard climbs and were both thoroughly pumped out by the end of the day, but incredibly happy! That night it was our turn to cook and we did up a proper fire cookout. It was delicious! We hung out again and then went back to the van in time to hear snow falling on the roof. Wait a minute, snow? In the driest desert in the world?!?!?!? You wouldn’t think it was possible, but we woke up to some snow on the rocks and frozen water jugs, brrrrr. It was our last day to climb because the girls had to get back to work so we dragged ourselves out of bed and geared up. Luckily we found a climb in the sun and all pumped ourselves out on it before heading back to San Pedro. It was 6 days in a row for us after not climbing in months so we were punched and happy to be taking a well deserved break.

San Pedro de Atacama
When we got back to the campground we were surprised to hear that we had friends here waiting for us. We turned the corner and there was Marcus and Sonja from Switzerland who were the first overlanders we met on the trip way back in San Cristobal, Mexico! What a surprise! They’d shipped down to Argentina when we shipped to Colombia and are now on their way North. We quickly showered, started catching up and then decided to go out for dinner. It was really nice to catch up with them and hear how their travels were going. They still have another year or two to go and are looking forward to the next stage of their journey in Australia. After a great night’s sleep in a little warmer climate we woke up to a leisurely morning exchanging photos and music with the Chileans and making plans with the Swiss for a night in the desert. We had been told about some lakes in the middle of the Salar that were free to camp by so off we went. Two hours down a washboard road later we finally found a spot (not sure if it was the right spot) to camp for the night and cooked up an awesome meal and shared a few bottles of wine before it got too cold to sit outside any longer. We were treated to a little warm up in their heated Land Cruiser before crawling into our own freezing cold van for the night, brrrr. The next morning we went to pick up a Swiss guy in town to give him a lift over to Argentina so we skipped breakfast and retraced our bumpy steps back to the highway. We picked up Mathieus and then went around in circles to find the best hidden gas station in the world before hitting the road to ARGENTINA!!!

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Bolivia

Copacabana
After a quick and easy border crossing we arrived in Copacabana. Since it was Pete’s Birthday the following day we decided to splurge and stay at La Cupula, a beautiful hotel overlooking the quaint town. When we pulled into the parking lot we were surprised to see another VW van with B.C. plates there. Unfortunately the owners were in La Paz searching for parts so we didn’t get to meet them that day. Although we did snoop around peeking into their windows trying to get an idea of where they were from and what they would be like. Pete was extremely jealous when he spotted a ski bag inside. While we were waiting for our room to be cleaned we wandered around the hotel and looked at some of the other rooms they had to offer. This is when we noticed that the penthouse suite had its own solarium patio overlooking the lake. We asked if it was free and to our luck it was. We paid a few extra bolivianos but it was well worth the luxury. After strolling around town we went back for dinner at the hotel, although the menu looked great the dinner wasn’t. We then spent the rest of the night watching a movie on the lap top with the heat cranked. May 7th, Pete’s 34th: We spent most of the day taking advantage of our private patio, relaxing in the hammock and enjoying the views. Before dinner we walked up to the view point and amongst numerous other tourists watched the sun disappear behind Lago Titicaca and the Cordillera Real. We then walked around town in search of a good restaurant, and we ended up finding a nice pizzeria. We devoured a large pie that was covered in roquefort and chorizo and downed a few icy cold cervezas. Then back to Pete’s palace for some cheap Bolivian wine and a birthday massage. The following morning we checked out of the room with the intent of visiting Isla del Sol. When we went back to load our luggage into the van we met the other couple in the VW. As it turns out Dominic and Belinda, were both from Pemberton and work in Whistler. We chatted for a while and then decided to postpone our trip to the island and spent the day with them instead. We excitedly exchanged stories of our adventures and our travels. Unfortunately most if not all of their stories started with “when we were broken down here” or “when we were fixing the van there”. Their 77 Westfalia “Madeline” wasn’t doing so well, the engine, which is now a Mexican beetle engine had been rebuilt two and a half times and now they were having brake issues. Despite all of their problems they were still very upbeat and positive and weren’t afraid to push on. The next day we walked to the docks and caught the first ferry to Isla del Sol, the island where the Incas believed the sun was born. During the boat ride we met some tourists from Spain and Argentina and practiced our Spanish for a couple of hours straight, and got a great contact in Cordoba, Arg. The boat dropped us off at the north end on the island and we hiked the 9km trail back to the south where we were picked up again. On the way we visited some old Incan Ruins and enjoyed the amazing vistas. When we returned to the hotel we were sad to hear that Dom and Belinda’s brakes still weren’t repaired, we were hoping to caravan with them to La Paz the following morning but that was not going to happen. After breakfast we said our farewells, not knowing if Dom and Belinda would ever make it out of Copacabana, and set sail to La Paz. The drive was spectacular; the highway hugged the shoreline of Lake Titicaca with the snow capped peaks of the Cordillera Real growing larger and larger until all of a sudden the highway disappears into the dark blue icy waters of the lake. From here there are many small barges with outboard engines that shuttle vehicles back and forth across the lake. At first it looks a little scary but I’m sure it’s safer than an overloaded ferry in some of those other third world countries. Once we offloaded on the other side we continued the mellow drive towards the Capital. When we arrived in El Alto, things weren’t so mellow anymore, there were no lanes, you just drove where your car would fit, and red lights were a waste of electricity. Luckily we had good directions on how to get down to La Paz because there isn’t a street sign to be seen anywhere. From El Alto we dropped a couple hundred metres into downtown La Paz, we were going to stay on the main street all the way to the south of the city but then the road dead ended due to construction. “Ah great here we go again, can’t we make it through just one city without getting lost or getting turned around?” We eventually found our way and ended up safely at the Oberland hotel in Mallasa, where Patience had a well deserved rest.

La Paz
La Paz is a bustling city full of street markets where you can find anything from electronics to llama foetuses. It’s located in a steep valley which makes every direction you walk either up or down a steep hill. This will whip you into shape especially if you haven’t been at altitude before. La Paz’s claim to fame is that it is the highest capital city in the world at 3660m. It is a city that you either love or hate and we both loved it. We spent our days wandering around the black market or tourist shopping in and around the gringo streets. On our second day at the Oberland we were excited to come back from town and see Dom and Belinda had made it. Their brakes held up on all the steep down hills but once again they were having engine troubles. They limped their way up the last hill to the Oberland leaving a thick blue cloud of smoke behind. Our original plan was to do a jungle tour from La Paz, but although it sounded amazing the price had just jumped up ten dollars a day which made it out of our budget and we just couldn’t convince ourselves to go. Instead we decided to do the opposite and head for the hills. We teamed up with Dom and Belinda, rented some mountaineering gear and went off to explore the Condoriri zone. After a two hour taxi ride we were dumped off at the end of the road and we started our hike into base camp. Our packs were ridiculously overloaded which made the hike slow and painful, although the stunning views took our minds away from the suffering. Before we had left on this trip an Austrian tourist told us that this zone was notorious for robberies and was very dangerous. So when we reached camp we were very happy to meet Mario, a security guard/employee who watched your gear while you were away from camp. This beautiful camp was located on a lake with Cerro Condorriri towering overhead, from certain angles this jagged Andean peak looks like a condor raising its wings getting ready to take off. We found some shelter from the wind behind one of the many stone walls and set up camp. We decide to cook up dinner early before it got dark and it was a good thing because not long after we finished we experienced our first snow storm of the trip. For the rest of the evening we played cards and kept warm in Dom and Belinda’s tent. The next morning we were up at 4:45 fighting off the bitter cold, cooking up a brew and gearing up to climb Pequena Alpamayo, a beautiful peak that has a relatively easy route up an exposed ridge. We hiked for a couple of hours through the new snow before we reached the glacier. Here we put on our harnesses, double boots, crampons, and roped up, not an easy task with frozen fingers and toes. Off we went at a snail’s pace navigating around crevices and trying to stay on the main route. After numerous hours of climbing we took a lunch break in between a couple of huge crevices. Due to the time of day, softening snow and the thick black clouds moving in we turned around and made our way back to camp, leaving Pequeno Alpamayo for another day. We spent another freezing night at base camp and then hiked out the following morning. We were happy to see that our taxi driver didn’t leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere as he turned up right on time. Once we were back in La Paz we treated ourselves to hot showers, beers and a huge meal at the hotel then had a well deserved sleep. We spent one last day in La Paz soaking up the culture and black market and then decided to push onto....CHILE!!

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Peru Part II

Parque Lachay and Huacachina

After dragging ourselves away from paradise in Huaraz we made our way back down to sea level to the last possible stop before Lima to sleep. We ended up at a nature reserve known for its miniature animals and plant life. We heard lots of little animals, saw some giant birds, lots of fog and had a great night’s sleep. The next morning we woke up before the sun and started our drive to Lima. Unfortunately our random overheating problem decided to start again. After three stops to cool her down we finally pulled into a gas station and tried to bleed the coolant lines. No air bubbles came out so we decided to try our luck and start off again. We cautiously entered the Lima traffic and our luck held out, phewf. We managed to blow through Lima without any of the traffic issues we’d been warned about and made it all the way to Huacachina, a little desert oasis town surrounded by fine sand dunes and centred around a tiny fresh water lake(pond). It was a mini little paradise. We found a hostel that would let us camp on their lot and immediately went to the hammocks to chill out after a long hot day of driving. The second day we slept in, lounged poolside and then decided to do a sunset buggy tour of the dunes and go sandboarding. We’d heard lot’s of stories about how reckless the drivers are and how dodgy the sandboarding was and were a little nervous about the whole thing, but decided to go for it anyway. We all piled into the buggy and the driver took off at a great speed up a dune and then straight down the other side, gaining speed and hitting a banked turned at the bottom, WOOHOO!!! What a rush. Then we parked with all the other groups, waxed our boards and went for our first run. Luckily this stop only had two short runs to warm us up as sandboarding is tricky business. Then we hopped back in the buggy for another adrenaline rush with even steeper down hills. At times it felt as though there wasn’t anything beneath us as we crested the dune. Then we hit up a few more runs on the sandboard before we were taken to the grand finale. Here we were dropped at the top of a nearly vertical run. It was a little intimidating, but as we were the first ones there we rushed to put on our boards to get fresh lines. It was awesome!! We “carved” our way down with the sand avalanching down with us and then discovered we were at the top of the final run....WOAH!!! This one was massive, but again we had the chance fresh tracks so we went for it. Great fun! Only wish we’d had skis, hehehe. Then we waited at the bottom as all the other boarders came down. Luckily no one was hurt and there was only one major collision. Finally as the sun was setting we all piled back into the buggy and were taken for another rip. For the first time on the trip we both felt our stomachs drop and let out a bit of a scream. Then it was all over and we were taken back to the van. Now the next task began because for the first time in the entire trip we’d locked the keys in the van just before we left. Everyone gathered around and luckily we’d left a window open so with 6 people giving it a go were able to MacGyver our way into the van. After this adventure we bought a round of beers and then went into town for some food with the threesome from Argentina, Spain and Italy that were also staying at the hostel. What a mix of Spanish accents!!

The next morning we woke up early and went to meet Pedro, a local artisan we’d met in town who offered to take us to a remote village for an opportunity to meet some local people, tour the desert and go through an ancient San Pedro Cactus ritual. The day started with a trip into Ica to purchase the cactus and the offerings for Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) including sandalwood, coca leaves, pure alcohol, water, and two perfect apples. Ica isn’t the nicest town and we were taken to a witch market in the dodgiest section, but it was fascinating. Then we jumped into a taxi and headed into the desert. We pulled off the highway in what looked like the middle of nowhere and drove through the desert. Karen was feeling a little sceptical about this whole situation, but immediately felt better as soon as we arrived in Ocucaje. It was a dusty desert town where the people lived in shacks, but had huge smiles on their faces. We jumped out of the taxi and started walking even farther into nowhere. We were heading towards the house of an old man that Pedro had met on another visit. The cactus requires at least 7 hours of cooking and the old man had let Pedro use his stove on a previous occasion. The old man lived at the very end of the line and by the time we got there we were cooked by the sun and dehydrated. Welcome to the desert! Unfortunately he wasn’t home, but his son said that he would be home soon so we left our stuff there and went for another walk to the salt water oasis that these villages were based around. Along the way we were given permission to pick fruit off the trees. This included ciruela (in the plum family), pomegranates, and mango. The mango was so fresh and good you could eat the peel. Definitely the best mangoes we will ever encounter!! Covered in sticky fruit juice and mosquito bites we continued on our walk to the palm tree lined oasis. A lot of the lake had dried up so the ground was covered in a salt crust layer. It felt like we were on another planet. Then we headed back to the old man’s house only to discover he still hadn’t returned. Onto to plan B...we gave him our thanks and started the long, hot one hour slog back to the first village. We had to take a break from the sun so we stopped at someone’s house/store and grabbed some cokes and crackers. Slightly recharged we went back to the road where we were able to flag down a local fruit truck, phewf!! The pickers thought we were hilarious. They probably don’t see many gringos out here. They dropped us off back in town and we went to the house of another person that Pedro knew. Unfortunately the “man” of the house wasn’t home, but the wife set us up a little cooking fire outside and we started preparing the cactus. The entire family including all the cousins gathered around to chat with us and inquire as to what we were doing. They were so welcoming!! The kids all wanted to know our names and asked us tons of questions. We did the best we could to understand everything they were asking us as we removed the hard outer shell of the cactus and cut out the inner fruit. It was sticky business and took forever, but we eventually finished and the 7 hour cooking process began. Luckily Pedro manned the fire while we went and played with the kids. First off the entire gang grabbed hold of “Karina’s” (Karen’s name since we entered Mexico has been Karina as it is much easier for everyone to pronounce) hand and took her fruit picking which involved a lot of “Karina get this one, Karina this one” and so on. Then they returned and Karen took the girls off to teach them a game while Pete played soccer with the only young boy of the family. It was a blast and the kids loved hanging off of us and showing us around their community. Then we were fed a local mashed bean meal and took over watching the pot while Pedro snored away. Finally at 10:30pm all the kids had gone to bed and the brew was finally finished cooking. Another local woman came over with a blender to finish off the process and we said our thanks, promising to return for breakfast and headed into the mountains behind the village for the night. We were absolutely knackered at this point, but we made our offerings to Pacha Mama, drank the thick slime and went to bed envisioning the spiritual world. The mountain where we camped was an ancient burial ground for the preInca Pacaras and there were tons of dug up tombs as they were raided for their riches. It was also a site abundant with ancient fossils including crocodiles with fins and giant prehistoric sharks and whales. Most of these treasures have been stolen and sold on the black market, but they are still searching for more. It was a magical place! The next morning we got up, lazed around in the sun and then headed back into the village. We were both grabbed again to pick more fruit and then went back for some breakfast, unfortunately too tired to run and play more games. Then we jumped in a taxi and said our farewells. There was a lot of “Karina, Peter when are you coming back?? Karina, Peter stay!”, but it was time to leave. We felt truly blessed to have been able to meet these people and be taken into their home and community for a night. It was definitely an experience we will never forget. We arrived back in Huacachina and spent another day lazing around enjoying the day.

Nazca and Arequipa

The next morning we decided it was time to leave so we packed up, visited a grocery store and decided on a short day of driving to Nazca. The Nazca lines are world renowned figures drawn in the sand by preInca people between 900BC and 600AD. They were made by removing sun-darkened stones to reveal the lighter soil below. The lines are only visible from the air and therefore you have to take a flight to see them, although we did try from a nearby hill. Unfortunately we had been told about all the accidents that have happened here and how sick everyone gets in the rust bucket planes so we weren’t sure if we wanted to go. Then we found out that the price had just jumped from $50 to $75 for the half hour flight because of the deaths that had occurred only a month ago. Ummm thanks, but no thanks. Instead we got settled into the campsite, cooked up a good meal, played a game and went to bed to rest up for the long day ahead of us. We’d been debating which route to take to Cusco, but finally decided to drive the coastal road to Arequipa and then head up to Cusco. It was the safest route and the best road. The drive was stunning!! It snaked along the shore line, passing dunes which were at times swept across the road and dropped sharply into the Pacific. It was an 11 hour drive and we were exhausted by the time the road finally climbed up towards Arequipa. Then the construction began and we crawled along for about an hour and a half before finally arriving in Arequipa where we had to start looking for a place to stay. We lucked into a parkade (Playa in Peru) that would let us sleep in the car, right in the middle of town. We wandered into town for a bite to eat and then went back to the van for our imposed 9:30 curfew when the gates would lock us in. The next morning we went in search of spare parts for the van. Lucky for us South America organizes their streets so that every street has a theme. At first we thought this was crazy, but it is actually really smart and all you have to do is tell the taxi driver what you want and he’ll take you to that zone. So off we went to the spare parts zone where our search began. It’s been extremely difficult to find parts for a German van when all the vans down here are made in Brazil so in the long run all we got were rear shocks, but this is something we’ve needed since the start of the trip. Then we went back to town and Karen went to check out an Inca museum while Pete went looking for a voltage converter. It was a museum dedicated to the child sacrifices that had been made to appease the mountain gods in Inca times. It was really interesting and ended with a showing of one of the sacrifices that had been found frozen and perfectly preserved. What else do you do when faced with a smoking volcano, but think that the gods are angry with you and need a sacrifice. Then we cruised around town, went for another meal and then back to our parking lot for the night. Arequipa was our first colonial city in a long time and it was nice to be back.

Cusco

Peru is huge and there are long distances between everywhere we wanted to go so we decided to go for another 11 hour day to reach the Colonial town of Cusco, the previous capital of the Inca territory. Luckily we knew of a campground above town that accepted overlanders so we didn’t have to search for accommodation. We arrived just before dark, wound our way through the cobble stone streets and up into the hills above Cusco to Quinta Lala. It was a big grassy field with two other groups; one family from France in an old VW and another family from Switzerland. Good to know how easy it is to travel with kids!! We spent a few days hanging out here and going into town to check out the beautiful town and sort out how to get to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

We finally decided on the easy route via the train and got a move on the next day. Due to all the wash outs and mud slides back in January the train no longer leaves from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. Now you have to catch a bus to Ollantaytambo and then another bus out to another town where there is a temporary train station to take you to Aguas Calientes. Unfortunately it was raining the day we left so when we arrived in Ollantaytambo even though it was a gorgeous little town we went and hid in a cafe where we whiled away the hours playing scrabble and drinking tea. Then we finally caught the Peru rail bus to head out to the station. In typical South America fashion the whole transport thing had not been thoroughly thought out and the 45 min bus ride turned into a 2.5 hour bus ride because there was a section on a single lane road that had been washed out and there were about 7 busses trying to go up and huge trucks trying to come down. The whole ordeal involved the constantly building traffic backing up on the narrow ledge to allow the other traffic to come down and then everyone fighting to get back onto the one lane road. No one can wait and so everyone gets jammed up again, windows get smashed out and all in all it took over 1.5 hours to get the whole thing sorted and get us back on the road. Luckily the train was also late so it all worked out well and we finally made it to Aguas Calientes around 10:00, found a cheap, but nice place to spend a few nights, had our first Pisco sour and crashed. It rained all night and was still raining in the morning so we decided on a late start and didn’t leave for Machu Picchu until around 9:00. The bus up cost $7 and so we decided to hike up. It was steep grind up high stepping, uneven stairs for about 1.5 hours but was well worth the climb when we got to the top. Machu Picchu is a truly magical place even in the rain and fog (maybe even more so). We decided to do the 1.5 hour climb up to the Intipunku (Sun Gate) for a magnificent view of the ruins to start the day. Unfortunately by the time we got there a cloud had descended and we could barely see each other let alone the ruins. We waited around for about 15 minutes and then decided to head back down. By the time we got back the cloud had lifted and we could see the ruins again, woohoo!! We spent the next 5 hours exploring the ruins first hand and doing another little walk out to the Inca bridge which is actually just a stone path built along a vertical cliff which allowed them to reach other towns along dodgy mountain trails. Holy surefooted people! It was a long day of climbing up and down giant Inca steps, but we were fascinated. Finally around 4:30 it started to rain again so we started the hike down. By the time we reached Aguas Calientes we were SOAKED!! We quickly found our hotel, took a shower and climbed into bed. Good thing we’d heard the food was super expensive and had brought lots of food because we didn’t have any dry clothes to leave the room in. The next morning was bright and sunny so we were able to dry out and enjoy a beautiful train ride back. Along the way we saw more ruins and more farming terraces with their ingenious steps built into the rock wall. When we got back to Ollantaytambo we spent a few hours exploring the narrow cobble walking streets and checking out the ruins before catching a cab back to Cusco. Lucky for us it was Sunday and on the way back our taxi driver agreed to stop at the colourful Sunday market in Chinchero to let us look around. Of course we got sucked in and bought a few souvenirs, but they were well worth it and the people were lovely. We were even fortunate enough to see a parade twirl its way through the crowd. It was well worth the stop even in our tired state, but by the time we reached Cusco we were done. We quickly went grocery shopping and hailed a cab back to the van to relax.

Lago Titicaca

We then spent a few more days relaxing, working on the blog and replacing the rear shocks (why didn’t we do this ages ago??). Every day we sat in the sun, surrounded by a morning stampede of llamas and could hear live music from town, what a place to spend a few days. Then it was time to move onto Bolivia. Our last night in Peru was spent on a beautiful point down a 1.5 hour dirt road right on Lago Titicaca. We were given quite a few strange looks as we drove through these tiny little farming villages, but when we rolled up to the spot where we could camp we were at peace. It was a great way to say goodbye to Peru. When we entered this country we couldn’t wait to get out, but once we got used to the landscape and poverty levels and met the friendly people of Peru we were sucked into their culture and didn’t want to leave.

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” - Jawaharlal Nehru

To see a larger version of the pictures and read the captions just click on a photo to take you to the online version.

Peru Part I

Piura
We were up before the sun had risen and were off to Peru. We only had gotten 10kms or so when we noticed that the temperature gage was above its normal position, we pushed on for another five minutes and then had to pull over for fear of overheating the engine. We checked the coolant level, and looked for leaks but everything appeared to be normal. Stumped and not sure what to do we sat on the side of the road for twenty minutes and then tried again, we headed in the direction of Loja where we could find mechanics and some help. We drove slowly and stared at the temperature gauge all the way to the border, but thankfully the gauge remained where it should be. The road from Loja to the border was a nightmare, full of pot holes, rocks, farm animals and lots of windy passes, not to mention a thick milky fog that limited our vision to a few metres. We finally reached the super mellow border crossing at Macara and after an hour or so we were in Peru. Just before leaving the customs office on the Peruvian side our customs officer came out to ask us a favour, he needed a ride back to Piura and the bus didn’t come for another few hours, so he hopped in the back and we gave him a ride. We were a bit overwhelmed and shocked at the drastic change from Ecuador to Peru, the landscape changed immediately from lush tropical forests to dry barren desert. The extreme poverty level also made us feel a bit uneasy, these people have literally nothing, living in small shacks made of wicker and bamboo in the middle of the most inhospitable dessert. We still have no idea how they eat or get water. Once again we were reminded how lucky we are in life. Once we arrived in Piura we found ourselves a cheap hostel with air conditioning where we relaxed and cooled off while watching some Latin T.V. Besides the proximity to a casino and the prostitutes near the entrance it wasn’t a bad place. At this point Pete was way over due for a hair cut so we made use of a pair of clippers that a fellow backpacker had given us and gave Pete his first buzz cut....WOAH!! Then we went into town to enjoy a meal and watch a parade in the streets.

Huanchaco and Barranca
Since Piura was kind of a hole we were happy to leave and head to the beach town of Huanchaco. It was a long and hot drive through more desert which kept getting drier and more desolate the further south we went. In Huanchaco we found a hotel which offered poolside camping so we didn’t hesitate to stay there. Since it was Samana Santa (Easter weekend) the beach was packed with Peruvian tourists and it was a blast people watching. While cruising the beach we were called over to join some Peruvians who were drinking and dancing to some live music on the beach, “bienvenidos a Peru.” They grabbed our hands and started swinging us around. They really got a kick out of Karen shaking her gringo hips, hehehe. Huanchaco isn’t the most attractive beach resort but it was a nice place to relax for a couple of days after two hard, hot days of driving. From Huanchaco we made our way to Huaraz with a stopover in Barranca, another beach town with far less appeal.

Huaraz
So far on this trip we’ve driven numerous mountain passes and been up to high elevations but none compared to the drive up to Huaraz. From sea level we drove up to over 4000 metres in about 100kms. Up and up we went, snaking our way through hundreds of switchbacks until we finally reached the summit and caught our first views of the Cordillera Huayhuash .These beautiful snow capped mountains reach heights of over 6000 metres and were worth a stop to take in the view and snap a few photos. When we got out of van we realized that we lost a hubcap on the rough pot holed road. After backtracking for a few minutes we found it balancing on top of a rock waiting for us to retrieve it. The rest of the road down to Huaraz was in very poor shape with so many potholes that it was impossible to dodge them all and as it turned out we lost another hubcap on the way. Huaraz is an ugly city in an amazing setting with the Cordillera Blanca to the east and the Cordillera Negra to the west. Pre 1970’s Huaraz had some colonial charm but there was an earthquake which caused a huge piece of a glacier to fall into an alpine lake which spilled over its banks causing an enormous land slide that wiped out the city. We spent a couple of nights in the city preparing to head out on the famous Santa Cruz trek. The night before we went trekking there was a heavy hail storm which flooded the streets and left piles of hail all over the city. We were a little worried about what we were getting ourselves into because it was still the rainy season and it is known to rain heavily every afternoon.

Laguna 69 and the Santa Cruz Trek
Instead of just doing the Santa Cruz trek we decided to combine it with the Laguna 69 hike. We caught a colectivo to Yungay and then a beat up taxi up into the park and to the trail head of Laguna 69. Here we stashed all of our overnight gear in the bushes and then hiked up to the lake. We’ve both seen many glacial lakes but this one was gorgeous, surrounded by 6000m peaks with a large waterfall plummeting into it, breathtaking! When we got back to the campsite we found our stuff in the bushes, set up camp and cooked up some dinner before going to bed. The next morning we packed up and waited on the side of the road for a colectivo or bus to pass. Fortunately a 4x4 drove by and picked us up, agreeing to drive us to Vaqueria for the same price as the bus. The rough, dirt road steadily climbed up to a 4700m pass through switchbacks, switchbacks and more switchbacks, looking down from the top the road looked like plate of spaghetti. Just as we crested the summit of the pass the truck ran out of gas... oh well we though, it’s all downhill from here. We coasted for a while before running into an empty petrol truck which had just dumped its load and was returning to Huaraz. Our driver stopped the tanker and managed to get the drags of the diesel from its empty tanks. Luckily it was just enough to get the pickup running again and get us to Vaqueria. Here we talked to some other hikers who had just finished the trek from the other direction, and they pointed us in the right direction. We hiked for a couple of hours until we arrived at a campsite where we set up camp by the river. We weren’t exactly sure where we were on the homemade map we had, but we were hoping that we were at the right campsite. After a relaxing lunch and time to dry everything out in the sun a group hiked by and Pete found out that we were actually an hour and a half shy of the campsite we intended to be at. With only a couple of hours of daylight left we decided to tear down camp and make our way further up the trail. At the next camp we spent the night with a couple of other tour groups, and ran into our friend Sara who we had befriended in Vilcabamba. Day three, our biggest day. We left camp and made our way up to the top of the pass. The trail was very rocky and muddy, which made travel slow and difficult. Even though we had heavy packs we were still quicker than most of the other tourists who had mules carrying all of their gear. The hike was gorgeous and it just kept getting better the higher we got. Fortunately the weather was nothing but blue sky with no rain clouds to be seen. When we finally reached the top of the pass at 4750 metres we took a long break and enjoyed the breathtaking views. You could count at least 15 peaks most of them over 6000 metres. It was like nothing we’d ever seen before, absolutely amazing. After relaxing and soaking up the sun we made our way down to camp number four. From here we had views of Alpamayo, a classic mountain here in the Cordillera Blanco, amongst other jagged snow capped peaks. Day four: the hike continued downhill past a couple of lakes until we reached a marsh. From here you had two options, either the longer dryer route around the marsh or straight through. We opted for taking our boots off and cutting straight through the marsh. After a total of six hours on the trail we arrived at the final campsite, which sat at the base of a huge waterfall and next to raging river. The end of the trail was less than two hours away but we were tired and decided to spend the night. It didn’t take long to realize that the black flies here were unbearable. Karen discovered this while relieving herself in the bushes, at first she thought she had sat on a cactus but then realized that her bare ass was covered in blood thirsty black flies. We spent the rest of the day hiding in the tent until they died off at dusk. Day Five: The final day. Only an hour and a half of hiking and we were done. We grabbed a colectivo and made our way back to Huaraz where we satisfied our hunger with a $ 1.50 lunch menu. What an awesome 5 days in the mountains!!!

The Way Inn
After another night in Huaraz we headed up the hill to check out The Way Inn lodge. This beautiful stone lodge sits at 3700 metres with the Cordillera Blanca right in its backyard. An absolutely gorgeous setting! To top it off this place has hot water, a wood stove, trout pond and a wood heated sauna. We knew right away we’d be staying for a while in this mountain paradise. We spent our days relaxing, hitting up the sauna, hiking, and bouldering. We also treated ourselves to an awesome trout dinner, fresh from the pond. One day we checked out Laguna Churup, and also ventured up to Montana Churupita, a peak that sits at 5035 metres. It was a long day but we were entertained by Albert and Princess two cute dogs from The Way Inn who joined us and made the hike look easy. After a week in heaven we busted a move and once again were south bound. We stopped at our favourite cafe in Huaraz, Cafe Andino, for some wifi to say happy birthday to Karen’s dad and a snack, then made our way to the coast. On the way we looked for our lost hubcap but soon gave up after stopping three times only to find other hubcaps which didn’t fit our rims.

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