It gripped us around the throat and slapped us hard in the face. Our first impression of Lima, Peru’s massive capital city, were not favourable. Our bus crawled painfully bumper-to-bumper through lanes of traffic jams for nearly 1.5 hours to reach the central bus terminal. Black smoke belched out from the cars and buses around us and an endless cacophony of car horns told of people’s daily frustrations. With large proportions of the city’s 8 million inhabitants crammed into shanty towns and dilapidated buildings on the outskirts of the city, the grey, unattractive urban mass sprawled in every direction. The blue skies we’d had elsewhere in Peru, had been replaced with a blanket of clouds and a chilly drizzle swept across the city from the coastline on which it sits. We noticed homeless people sleeping on the streets and shady characters hanging around on corners and, without thinking, we’d picked up our bags from the floor and were holding them tightly on our laps. If it’s true that first impressions count and you can make your mind up about someone or somewhere within the first 10 seconds, Lima would need to go on a charm offensive to win us round.
Kingdom of the Ice Princess
26 Oct
Surrounded by stunning volcanos and the world’s deepest canyons, Peru’s second biggest city, Arequipa, rises like a mirage out of the high altitude desert. The landscape surrounding Arequipa is untamed and at times looks like the surface of the moon but in contrast, this university city is sophisticated, cultured and awash with life.
Cusco – City of Kings
17 Oct
If a current day Inca King had the choice of where to build his palace and base his army, there’s no doubt that Cusco would be it. This city in the clouds attracts hundreds of thousands of international visitors every year who are drawn here by colonial majesty built amidst the cobbled alleyways and mighty stone walls of the Incas. Often described as the ‘archaeological capital of the Americas’, Cusco is bursting with historic sites and is the gateway to the beautiful Sacred Valley where Inca fortresses are perched on hill tops and indigenous locals farm and sell their goods at colourful markets as they have done for hundreds of years. Peru’s poster boy is the world-famous Machu Picchu, lost city of the Incas, and Cusco is also the starting point for an unforgettable trip to this new wonder of the modern world.
La Paz – The good, the bad and the ugly
19 Sep
La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, at an altitude of 3,660 metres above sea level, had us in a spin from the second we arrived. Approaching the city the empty, flat plains of El Alto go on endlessly until that special moment when you see the ground opening up and receive your first glance of La Paz sprawling in the deep valley below.
Sucre – The White City
23 Aug
We decided to rest our weary traveller’s bones and spend a week in the wonderful Bolivian city of Sucre taking some Spanish lessons. Frequently described as Bolivia’s most beautiful city, Sucre couldn’t have been a nicer place to relax and unwind and after just a few days we really found ourselves falling under its spell.
Mendoza – wine & wheels
4 Jul
Most people would agree that the idea of touring wineries in sunny weather while surrounded by beautiful scenery would be a heavenly way to spend the day and doing it all by pedal power so everyone can indulge in a healthy sized glass of wine – even better! And that was exactly our prime reason for visiting Mendoza. Continue reading
Valparaiso – the bohemian little sister
27 Jun
” Valparaiso how crazy you are, how mad, crazy port, what a head of hills, unkempt, you never arrive to brush your hair, you never have time to be dressed, always life caught you by surprise, death awoke you in a night shirt.” Pablo Neruda
48 hours in Santiago
22 Jun
Before we reached Santiago many other travellers and even some residents had warned us that Chile’s capital, can feel a little drab, unexciting and lacking of a cultural identity in comparison to its Latin American counterparts such as architecturally impressive Buenos Aires, height defying La Paz or naturally beautiful Rio De Janeiro. However, we thought we’d see the city for ourselves and we’re really pleased we did as we discovered a safe, clean, quirky and very friendly city. We had just over 2 days to immerse ourselves in Santiago life and this is how we did it.
Welcome
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Torres del Paine – the ‘W’ trek
Visitors from all walks of life converge on the small hamlet of Puerto Natales to visit Chile’s and perhaps the Continent’s number one national park – Torres del Paine. Located in the Southern Patagonian ice fields at the end of the Andes, the park offers diverse wildlife and incredible mountain scenery, glaciers, lakes, rivers and […]
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