Los Angeles - the end of my adventure!

I already spent a couple of days in LA earlier in my trip and I have about $100 to my name so  I have just been relaxing and finally updated my blog!


I am currently sitting out in the sun - it is so nice to be in shorts and singlets again - and trying to make the most of it before returning to winter. However, I think it will feel quite warm compared to some of the winter weather I experienced in South America!


The past 5 months have been absolutely amazing and I have so many great memories to take home. It was great to catch up with old friends and I met some amazing new people! Thanks to everyone who housed me, fed me, traveled with me, translated for me and just generally hung out with me. Each and every one of you made my trip and I hope to see you all in Australia sometime in the near future so I can repay the favour. 


I have been asked a few times about the highlight of my trip but that is a really hard question to answer. Skiing is amazing in Canada and all the states are so different in America. Central and South America is another experience again with very different cultures and landscapes. I had great expectations for Machu Picchu and the Salt Flats Tour and have been wanting to go there for a couple of years now and they definitely lived up to, if not surpassed, my expectations! So I definitely don't have an easy answer for this and you will just have to read all my blogs and look at all my pictures haha. Although I can tick some more countries off my list, this trip has also made me realise how many more places I want to go!


When people started asking me for updates I realised there was so much to write about so I decided to start this blog. I had no idea this many people would read it so I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my adventures!


That is all for now until my next adventure...

Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

The majority of the road between La Paz and Uyuni wasn’t paved so this made for a very bumpy ride and made it hard to sleep! I arrived in Uyuni around 6:30am and someone from the agency picked me up from the bus stop but then I had to wait around in the travel agency until 10:30am when the tour started – so boring!

The Salt Flats Tour was really good and we saw some amazing landscapes over the 3 days. On my tour was an Austrian couple, a mum and son from Spain, and a French guy my age (Remi). They were all really nice but if it wasn’t for Remi I think it would have been a bit boring. It cost about $50 more for an English tour guide and the whole tour only cost me about $100 so I didn’t bother. The tour is more about the scenery but the others on the tour did some translating for me. They could all speak Spanish so I was left out of many dinner conversations. I could understand little bits but my Spanish is definitely not good enough to be able to contribute. There was even a slight argument in Spanish at one point which was a bit awkward because I could understand what it was about but couldn’t contribute.

The first day we started at the train cemetery which is just lots of old trains that have just been left to rust. Most of the day was on the salt flats and all you could see was white for thousands of kms. We took the necessary salt flats photos which was lots of fun. We also went to Isla Incahuasi which was a random island in the middle of the salt flats which was covered in cactus. The first night we stayed in a hotel which was made out of salt. Even the tables and the base of the beds were made out of salt.

The second day we saw lots of lagunas (Spanish for lagoona) and the landscape became more of a desert. We had lunch at a laguna which was really beautiful with all the flamingos. The last stop was Laguna Colorado which was coloured bright orange because of the algae. 

We got up at around 5am on the last day to make it to the geisers at an active volcanoe before sunrise. It was absolutely FREEZING and very very windy! The geisers were really cool and you could see the mud bubbling. The sun came up as we drove to the hot springs and it finally started to get a bit warmer. The hot springs were small but so nice and definitely worth braving the cold getting changed. It was amazing to see the snow capped mountains around us and for a bit of the day there was some snow on the side of the road. We also went to Laguna Verde which is very close to the border of Chile and Argentina and some of the mountains we could see were actually across the border. Unfortunately the laguna wasn’t green as the name suggests because there was too much water and ice. This was the furthest point of the tour and on the way back we stopped at some cool rock formations from volcanoes and in a small town called San Cristobal.

When we got back to Uyuni I had a couple of hours before my overnight bus to La Paz so I had dinner with Remi. The bus I got back was the tourist bus so it was a bit nicer but it was still pretty bumpy because of the road and at one point we all woke up because the bus was rocking from side to side. It felt like we were off roading but I couldn’t see anything because it was really dark. Once we were back on the paved road everyone relaxed a bit and we got some more sleep.

It was such a good tour and it was absolutely amazing being out in the middle of nowhere for 3 days surrounded by huge mountains and volcanoes!

I had one more day in La Paz before my flight back to LA to start the journey home. I finally made it to the Coca Museum and didn’t get robbed this time! The museum was really interesting and explained more about the legal and illegal uses of the Coca plant. 

I had to get up at 5:30am the next day to head to the airport to make my way to LA. Unfortunately paying the cheapest price meant changing planes 3 times and spending the whole day traveling! I was trying to spend the last of my Peruvian and Bolivian money and 7 soles a few weeks ago got me a whole meal but in the airport it gave me the choice between chewing gum or 2 packets of mentos – so sad!

 The train cemetery

 Fun on the Salt Flats

 Isla Incahuasi

 Salt Hotel

 Flamingos at the laguna

 Laguna Colorado

 Geisers 

 Hot springs

 Laguna Verde - close to the border of Chile and Argentina

Cool rock formations

La Paz, Bolivia

The bus trip was only 3.5 hours to La Paz which was nice for a change. At one point we had to get across a section of Lake Titicaca so we all got off the bus and got a boat and the buses went over on “ferries”. The so called “ferries” basically looked like rafts and looked a bit dodgy but it was funny to see buses and cars floating across the river (photo below).

We stayed at the Wild Rover Hostel in La Paz which had a bar so we had dinner and drinks there before heading out. We met an Australian couple in the bar and we headed out with them. We didn’t get back to the hostel until around 6am and unfortunately I was quite sick and was up all morning hugging the toilet. At first I thought it was a mixture of drinking and altitude but then I was way too sick for it to be that. I couldn’t keep any liquid or food down all day and just ended up sleeping most of the day. Ever since the trek most people had been sick at some point and Louise hadn’t felt great for quite a few days. Most people get sick at some point on their travels through South America because of the water and/or food. We went to bed really early and luckily the next day I was feeling much better but unfortunately Luke wasn’t. Louise and I explored the Witches Markets and we finally bought some Alpaca jumpers. I also organised my Salt Flats Tour and booked an overnight bus for the next night to Uyuni where the tour starts. Luke and Louise had more time to travel Bolivia so they decided to go to the Amazon first. Luke and Louise left around lunch time the next day to get their flight and I decided to check out the Coca Museum. Unfortunately when I was walking my wallet was stolen from my bag so I had to ring the bank to cancel my card and then didn’t feel like doing much. Luckily I only had about $20 on me and I had another debit card. My bus was at 7pm so I went to grab some early dinner and bumped into Louise and Luke again because their flight had been cancelled because there was no fuel – only in South America!

 Witches Market

Creepy stuff at the Witches Markets

Copacabana + Lake Titicaca - Bolivia

The next day we took a bus to Copacabana which is on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. Copacabana was a cute little town on the lake. We explored the town a bit and walked up a hill to get a great view of the city and the lake. We sat up on the hill for awhile and just enjoyed the view. We stayed at a hostel for the night and then the next day got a boat to Isla Del Sol (Island of the Sun) which is about a 2 hour trip from Copacabana. This is the main attraction of going to Copacabana and is a pretty island with beaches on the North end and more mountainess terrain on the South end. We were dropped at the North end and had a bit of a walk around and walked around an Inca site. We then took the boat to the South end and spent the night at a hostel. The Island was quiet and not as touristy as I thought it would be. Our hostel was on the cliff and had a great view of the lake. It was so peaceful and pretty so we sat outside and enjoyed the view. There was a restaurant at our hostel and the little old lady that worked there cooked us dinner. It was pretty cold and there wasn’t much happening so we ended up in bed by 8:30pm!

It was so nice to finally have a sleep in. We got up at around 9am to get the boat back to Copacabana to get our bus at 1pm to La Paz. 

 Copacabana + Lake Titicaca

 View of Copacabana

 Isla Del Sol - North end

 Enjoying the view outside our hostel

 The view again

Our hostel on the hill

Puno + Lake Titicaca, Peru

On the bus to Puno we got stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours because of a teachers strike. They had blocked the road and some buses had been stuck there since early in the morning. Some trucks even tried to get round it by driving across the river and got stuck. Unfortunately this meant we didn’t have much of the day left when we arrived in Puno.

Puno wasn’t a very interesting town but we were there to do a tour of the floating islands. Luke, an Australian guy we met on the trek, met us in Puno the next morning and we bought a boat ticket to Isla Los Uros, one group of the floating islands. The local boats have to wait for 10 people before they leave so we had to sit around for awhile before we could leave. The floating islands are made out of reeds and the locals showed us how they are made. It is amazing what a basic life these people lead and how much they now rely on tourism. It was a bit of a tourist trap as they tried to sell us their handicrafts and then we had to pay for a trip on one of their reed boats to one of the other islands in the area. It was really interesting though!

We then just had a bit of a lazy night because we were all really tired. 

 Puno + Lake Titicaca

 Demonstrating how they build the islands

 Reed boats

Part of Isla Los Uros

Salkantay Trek + Machu Picchu

The trek was 5 days/4 nights and was an awesome experience. We met some awesome people, had some great food and of course had some amazing views! Over 4 days we walked about 84km, and the highest point was 4600m and then on the 5th day we hiked to Machu Picchu. On the first morning we waited around for the bus in the cold for quite awhile and then there was a lot of time wasted weighing peoples bags for the horses to carry but from then on the organisation of the trip was great. There were 2 groups of approx 13 people that set off at the same time and although they kept us separate for meals, we camped in the same spots and were together a lot of the time. My group was called the Sexy Llamas and the other group were the Sexy Pumas. The first night we camped at 3900m and the snow capped mountains almost looked like they were glowing because the sky was so clear. 


The 2nd day was the hardest day with 3 hours uphill in the morning to the highest point of the trek. It was hard work and some people took horses but it was worth the satisfaction of walking once we reached the top. Once we got to the top our tour guide explained to us the spiritual connection of the Incas with the mountains and more about their beliefs. I actually found the second part of the day much harder because we had about 10km of downhill which is hard on your legs and requires much more concentration. The second night was much warmer because we camped at 2900m.

The 3rd day was much shorter only walking about 5 hours to lunch and then after lunch we got a bus to our campsite at Santa Teresa. It was an interesting drive because we were squashed into two old vans and the road was pretty dodgy. Our cook from the trek was sitting on the roof for most of the trip but then we were stopped by the police. After the campsite was set up they took us to the hot springs in Santa Teresa which was so nice and relaxing! We also felt much cleaner because we hadn’t had showers in a couple of days. The hot springs were in a pretty spot next to the mountains and the river. There were lots of different groups there from different treks so there were lots of tourists around. That night we all sat around the campfire and they had music going and some people were drinking but we still had to get up early and walk the next morning.

The walk in the morning was a bit boring because it was just along the road for 3 hours but then the rest of the day was beside the train tracks which was a bit nicer. Unfortunately I had some big blisters on my feet but it was a tolerable pain. We got into Aguas Caliente around 2pm and checked into our hotels and had a nice hot shower. We all hung out at a restaurant and had some food and drinks and watched the Euro Cup final. Aguas Caliente is the town from where you can walk or bus to Machu Picchu so it was very touristy and quite a bit more expensive than the rest of Peru. It was a really cute town though. We all went to dinner at a restaurant which was included in the price of our trek and the guides gave us a packed breakfast for the next day. After dinner some of us went to a bar to have another drink but we had to get up at 4am so we were in bed by 10:30pm.

The guides were meeting us at Machu Picchu the next day so it was up to us to organise what time to meet and to make our way up. You could get the bus but most of us decided to walk. We met everyone outside the hostel at 4:10am and started our walk in the pitch dark with our torches. We had to line up at the bridge which opened a bit before 5am and then we had 1700 steps (2km) between us and Machu Picchu. Half the climb was in the dark and it was really hard work! However, we made it to the top before Machu Picchu opened and the first bus arrived. There weren’t too many people ahead of us and we didn’t have to wait too long to get in. It was awesome to be able to get photos before the crowds arrived and I couldn’t believe I was finally at Machu Picchu!

Our tour guide met us there at 6am and gave us a short tour of Machu Picchu and then we were left to do our own thing. It was absolutely freezing but it was so beautiful seeing the sun come over the mountains and once the sun was out we warmed up very quickly. We were climbing Waynapicchu at 10am so we sat up at the Guard Tower (where the postcard photo is taken from) for a couple of hours in the sun enjoying the views and taking lots of pictures. Waynapicchu is another mountain that is higher and has a great view of Machu Picchu. It was only 1km up but was very steep and had very narrow stairs. After 4 days of walking and 1700 steps in the morning, everyone was getting tired and could definitely feel their muscles. It was worth it once we made it and it was so nice at the top sitting in the sun. Machu Picchu looked so insignificant and small from the top! The walk down was pretty slow and there were even some steep stairs to walk up at the end which was the last thing everyone felt like doing. At this point we were all very tired and hungry but we still had the 1700 steps to walk back down to Aguas Caliente. We decided that was better than paying $9 for the bus (this is a lot of money in Peru!) We also got our Machu Picchu stamps in our passports.

When we finally got back to Aguas Caliente we had ice cream and pizza which was very much deserved. Some of us had a train back to Cusco at 7pm and others at 9pm so we all hung out at a bar and had some drinks until it was time to leave. Louise and I were so happy to have the train at 7pm meaning we would get back to Cusco at around 11pm rather then 1am. When we got back I had a shower and straight to bed because we had to get up at 6:30am to get a bus to Puno. No time to rest!

 The Sexy Llamas at 4600m

 Hot springs at Santa Teresa

 Waiting for the bridge to open at 4:30am

 Machu Picchu

 Top of Waynapicchu

The steep descent down Waynapicchu

Cusco, Peru

We arrived in Cusco pretty early in the morning but luckily we were able to check in to the hostel and went to bed for a couple of hours. We stayed at Loki Hostel which was in a really cool old building. It was a party hostel with something happening at the bar every night. This wasn’t our smartest move because we wanted to get some good rest before the trek to Machu Picchu but we were woken up by people in our room every night. The Inca Trail at this time of year books out months in advance so we decided to do the Salkantay Trek because you can still walk to Machu Picchu. The first day in Cusco we wandered around a few different travel agencies to book the Salkantay Trek to leave in 3 days. We decided to stay 3 nights in Cusco before the trek because it is at quite a high altitude and it is recommended to spend some time acclimatising. Our hostel was on quite a big hill and you definitely ran out of breath very quickly. All the prices for the treks quoted over the Internet are much higher so it is better to book through the local agencies when you arrive in Cusco. I was so glad we had finally booked it but we were getting nervous reading about it – described as the hardest trek to Machu Picchu at one point reaching 4600m.

Cusco was a really cool city and we wandered around the markets which were full of Alpaca clothes and juice stalls. We were on the search for cheap Alpaca jumpers but decided to wait until Bolivia where everyone said they were cheaper. We continued with our set menus for every meal because it is a much cheaper way to eat and we had some awesome soups!

Instead of paying to do a tour of the Sacred Valley we decided to do it ourselves and save money – much more successfully this time compared to our attempt in Mexico. The Sacred Valley includes all the big Inca ruins sites. We got a collectivo to Ollantaytambo and then another collectivo and then a bus to Pisac. Ollantaytambo had lots of stairs to get to the top of the ruins but it was a really nice view. We had read that you could walk to the top of the ruins in Pisac but it was quite a big walk up some steep stairs and we thought we might run out of time. Because we were so indecisive the taxis kept lowering their prices and so we finally decided to get a taxi to the top. The ruins were huge and had awesome views of the city. We were so glad we taxied up because it took us about 40 mins to walk down and it was quite steep. At altitude it would have been very hard work! Once we got to Pisac we had a quick look at the markets and bought some Alpaca socks and gloves. The Alpaca clothes are so soft and I definitely needed some warmer clothes for the trek. I now had an Alpaca beanie, socks and gloves!

We had one more day before the trek so we spent the day getting ready and relaxing. There are lots of shops in Cusco with trekking gear so we bought some Columbia and North Face jackets for about $30 – knock off ones of course – and bought snacks and other necessities. We had a really early night because we had to be ready at 4:30am to be picked up from our hostel.

 Cusco

 View from Ollantaytambo ruins

Top of Pisac ruins

Pisac ruins

Arequipa, Peru

The bus to Arequipa was about 16 hours overnight. We were pleasantly surprised because it was a really nice bus, we were served dinner and breakfast, some of the movies had English subtitles, and we even played a game of bingo to win a bus ticket (unfortunately we didn't win). When we bought the bus tickets the guy was laughing at how excited we were that we were getting food on the bus - the little things while traveling!!


Arequipa was a cute small town so we spent a bit of time wandering around the markets and the plaza and then organised our Colca Canon Tour for the next 2 days. We found another local place with a set menu for lunch - 6 soles even better! It became a bit of menu roulette because we weren't quite sure what half the food was. When we were wandering around we bumped into Will and Gerard who are my friends from home and had been on exchange in America. Such a crazy coincidence because I had no idea they were in South America! We were staying at the Wild Rover Hostel which had a bar so they came over later for drinks and then we headed out to a club. We didn't get home until around 4:30am and had to get up around 8am to go on our tour!

The Colca Canon Tour was 2 days/1 night. On the first day there was a lot of driving but we stopped a couple of times at some markets, tried coca tea, saw lots of llamas and alpacas, had great views of snow capped mountains and finally arrived in Chivay where we spent the night. Coca is a plant that is very popular in South America and is one of the ingredients in Coca-Cola and Cocaine. You can chew the leaves and they give you energy and can help with altitude sickness. As well as chewing them you can use them to make tea and you can also buy coca lollies and coca energy bars etc.

Once we arrived in Chivay we were all dropped off at our hotels and then went to the hot springs. There were 3 pools, 2 outdoors and 1 indoors, and there was a beautiful view of the mountains. It was so nice and relaxing but very hard to get out because it was really cold! We definitely weren’t ready for the cold weather. After the hot springs we all went out to dinner and there was a folk band playing and some people performing traditional dances.

The second day we were picked up before sunrise and stopped in a few small towns to look at their markets and churches. We then continued on to some view points of the Colca Valley and then to the Colca Canon to watch the Condors. The Colca Canon is the 2nd deepest canon and the view was amazing. The Condors are big birds that glide around the canon and are really awesome to watch. We then had a lunch buffet and I tried some Alpaca - not bad. You can also do Colca Canon tours where you hike into and camp in the canon. We were considering doing this but it was more expensive and we decided to rest up for the hike to Machu Picchu!

Once we got back to Arequipa we hung around at the hostel for a couple of hours before our overnight bus to Cusco.

 Hot springs

 Condors

 Colca Valley

Alpaca

Lima, Peru

We arrived in Lima reasonably late and were ready for a good sleep but unfortunately they overbooked our hostel room so we were woken up several times while they tried to sort it out!


We decided to get the bus to Arequipa the next night so we just had one day in Lima. Lima is just a big city and there is not a whole lot to do so this worked well. We checked out the beach, checked out the shopping mall on the cliff overlooking the ocean and went to the Huaca Pucllana pyramids. We also went to a hole in the wall local place for lunch where they have probably never seen tourists before and had our first of many set menus to come - soup, main and a drink for 7 soles (approx. $3)!

 Beach in Miraflores

Huaca Pucllana Pyramids

Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

There are a couple of ruins you can go to in Merida but we decided we had seen our fair share of ruins and decided to do something different. The first day we just had a relaxing day and wandered around and checked out the markets. Our second day we went to the San Ignacio Cenote, which is a natural pool in a cave. It was quite a long way to get there but it was really cool and we just swam and hung out there for awhile. From there we then headed to Progreso Beach which was also quite far but it was a sunny day so we thought we could relax on the beach for awhile. Unfortunately when we got there it was super windy and so not so pleasant! We decided to walk around the town while we were there but there wasn’t a whole lot going on so we headed back to Merida.

The hostel we stayed in was really cool and had a really nice pool. Also, a guy came in each night to teach free salsa lessons. We did the free lesson on our second night and lots of people got involved and it was really fun. Unfortunately it was a Tuesday night so we couldn’t go out to practice our moves!

Being our last days in Mexico we also tried to eat all the cheap Mexican food we could.

The next morning we headed off to the airport to fly to Mexico City and then on to Peru!!

Motorbike taxi to the Cenote

 San Ignacio Cenote

 Progreso Beach

 Pool at the hostel

Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

We took a day bus to Palenque which was nice for a change and only took about 5 hours. We got to Palenque late afternoon and took a taxi to El Panchan which is an area just out of Palenque in the jungle with lots of cabanas, a restaurant and a couple of bars. We stayed there one night in a cute cabana and it was nice wandering around in the jungle. 

We booked a tour for the next day to the ruins and two big waterfalls, Misol-Ha and Agua Azul. The ruins were very cool and definitely my favourite ones in Mexico. The Misol-Ha waterfall was crazy! We walked behind the waterfall and it was like being in a really intense storm. Luckily we put rain jackets on because you got soaked instantly. The Agua Azul waterfall was huge with a few different sections that you could swim in. There had been quite a bit of rain so the water was a bit brown and murky, not the beautiful blue we saw in all the pictures, but we still went for a swim!

Once we got back we had dinner at the restaurant in El Panchan and then got an overnight bus to Merida.

Our cabana

 Palenque ruins

 Misol-Ha waterfall

The poncho that saved the day

Agua Azul waterfall

One of the swimming areas