Bolivia

Bolivia has been a treasure in the last days of our travel. Getting out of Peru is a story in itself as the  computers were down and the line wasn't moving anywhere but thanks to our handy guide and the local police we were able to make our connection.

We boarded our catamaran for 2 lovely days on Lake Titicaca in Casablanca. The border crossing into Bolivia was less than 2 minutes.

Having received a blessing from the priest on Sun island we posed for a photo opportunity. Lovely island. Would have been good to spend more time here exploring.

Back to the catamaran for yet more food!

Peaceful sunset from our cabin window. Rainy overnight but clearing in the morning.

One of the villages we visited. Had to take a small boat to this village and then rowed to the next archeological site through the reeds. Fortunately we were just passengers.

Vantage point in La Paz. Could have spent more time here too. Busy but a lovely feel. Average height above sea level: 3800m.

On one of the cable cars. Great way to travel in the city. All part of new infrastructure in the city so very new.

Medicinal herbs etc. in the witch doctor's market.

Moon valley and in the distance  - the flat green area- (squint and you'll see it) the highest golf course in the world.

To Puno

Long bus voyage to Puno today. This church is fully painted inside and intact. The Sistine chapel of Peru. Beautiful. 

One of the view stops. Beautiful textiles here. The alpaca wool was beautiful. If I ever come back I'm bringing a spare suitcase and not to knit Peggy squares. Lol.

Most of the way was like this. Beautiful country. As came closer to the lake there were heaps of service stations in a row. Apparently for money laundering???

The city before our destination shocked us all. We were praying our bus didn't have to stop. Here's an intersection with a s ample of tuktuk.

And at last - Puno. Beautiful from across the lake but not for wandering.

Sacred Valley

We headed out of Cusco through the winding narrow roads of the city with construction sites everywhere. Wharton we have found out is the locals are never finished building because of the costs of materials etc and the situation where they have to pay hefty taxes on completion. Dogs everywhere are contented, friendly and socialised. Apparently most have families and come home for dinner but are free to roam throughout the day. With the busy traffic it's interesting to see them looking both ways and going for the gap...Have only seen 2 that didn't make it in our whole trip.

Textile centre and showing us how they use alpaca.

On the hills above Cusco - more archeological sites. Martin can remember the name of this one. Sounds like Sexy woman.

In the Sacred valley. A really comprehensive agricultural, fortification and religious structure. 27 storeys!

View from the top. Olle... Will look it up. :-)

Our lovely hotel at yuk any was a paradise.

Train trip to the village below Machu Pichu

In the bus heading up the switchbacks . Actually the road was terrific. Paced with concrete set with stones on the corners and sneaky wider bits to pas on. 

Made it and it really is amazing,

As you can see it may have rained unexpectedly. My hair emulating the peak behind but it was a great evperience. Would have been good to have another day here to explore.

Cape gooseberry snack on the train back to Cusco.

Colca Canyon

We arose early hoping to see some condor flying n the gorge and were well and truly rewarded. At one stage there were 15 of these majestic birds in the air!

The canyon is over 3.5 km deep in places. I didn't stand very close to the edge. 

Looking at the terraced farms back down the valley.

Gorgeous day.

Cusco

We literally dropped into the centre of this lovely Inca city. I couldn't see an airport and all of a sudden we were in the ground with a large concrete wall in front of us. 

Afternoon tour took us to some super sites. Here we learned about the sacred sun temple which was all but demolished by earthquakes and the Spanish.  Photo below shows how the blocks were joined internally. 

A spectacular cathedral with superb Cusco style art pained in the European style with a Cusco artists twist like the last supper with a cuy (cooked guineapig) on the deciples table.

Inside a convent which used Inca ruins as foundations. Clever!

Looking over Cusco. Spot the runway. I can't but am assured it's down there.

Martin with drinks lined up. Must confess- the 2 free ones are mine. Lol!

Arequipa to Colca

The last two hours on the bus to our destination were fantastic. Drove through huge mining areas. Tunnels and very narrow roads. Very dry and steep. At times we could see no vegetation at all. One corner we rounded gave us views of an open mine wayyyyy down below. The trucks looked like matchbox toys. We arrived in Arequipa at 9.30 and it was a relief to get off the bus and have a shower at our hotel. In the afternoon we took a city tour. Lovely vistas with volcanoes. Shanty towns all around the area. The city has grown from 400,000 to 1.2 million people in 25 years so infrastructure only in the central areas.

Martin can find an ice cream anywhere. Local ice cream - delicious.

One of the streets in an old convent.

Heading through a high plateau to this evening's destination.

 Panoramic views. Vicuña, alpaca, and llama grazing,

Another great view. Time for a hot coca leaf tea before we really strike some altitude.

Okay, so we weren't that high but 4,900m does take your breath away. Lol, puff puff.

Our destination for the night down in the valley. Colca Valley here we come. Back down to 3,400m and breathing and moving much easier.

Local lady playing a pottery pipe. 

In the village. Spent half an hour in the local mineral springs. So refreshing. Lovely vistas as the sun was setting.

Lima

Great flight to Lima. unfortunately the lady by the window pulled the blind and slept so we missed all the views but perhaps it was cloudy?? Stayed in the centre of the new part of Lima and traffic was a nightmare. Lol. Roads near us being used for international walking races. Looked like age group champs.

This is a cheat picture. The air here is usually foggy due to sea currents and air temps. May - November is worst. The city sits above the sea on high cliffs and goes on forever. Great surfing and lovely beaches below. Cleaning up the area for families and very visitor friendly.

Afternoon city tour. Traffic! The drivers of new cars seem very polished but older cars have dings in every panel. We wouldn't consider driving here. Apparently frequent tooting helps as does being biggest and arriving at an intersection first.

Beautiful cathedral in central old city plaza.

Pisco sour museum. Peruvians claim to have invented this declcious cocktail based on the whiskey sour. Yum and dangerous. 

Government house. Changing of the guard on the hour.

Day 2 and driving south to Paraca. The bus was amazing - like first class only the food service was more basic-  and in fact we had 3 bus trips over the day. The first was 4 hours south with superb views of mostly the same terrain with the odd interest spot thrown in. The area has 1.8mm rainfall annually so very dry. Some rivers bring water from the Andes and there can be crops. Otherwise dirt & dust.

Local taxi in Paraca. The tooting here was phenomenal. 

The port here is busy. Lots of fishing and trips in the bay. Large commercial boats take tourists for a speedy whiz. Seats for 40 at a time.

Over the coast of Peru near San Andres airport on our way to Nazca. It was 30 minutes of amazing country each way as we flew to Nazca and then 20 minutes of amazement and spine tingling terror as we circled the ancient pictures made in the desert. Wowee! You'll have to google Nazca lines to see what we saw. Photos simply didn't do it justice.

The airport was a trick. Huge, modern and international but currently only being used for Nazca flights, so empty. Staff are using us for practise though...passport checks 3x, baggage checks, and X-ray for everything. 15 minutes wait when we finally got through security (all 12 of us). Just had to laugh when we sat down in the waiting area with seating for at least 500. Good luck to them. Hope they do get those international flights. 

Boarded our overnight bus in Paracas, changed at Ica after 1 1/2 hours and settled in for 13 hours to Arequipa. Very comfy. 😊👍❤️🤓🚌🚍🚌