Week 43: Puerto Inca, Huacachina, Huaraz 
Tuesday, November 8th

We woke up in our amazing tent campsite, practically alone on a beautiful beach, and for the first time in days there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately we were out of food and it was time to move on. We ate our remaining food for breakfast and then went to the black sand beach. The sand is rich in minerals and absorbs the sun so it’s very warm. I wanted the therapeutic benefits so I had Sarahi bury me in the sand. We had fun looking at the black sparkly sand and I felt awesome afterwards. We packed our things and at the perfect time a taxi arrived with a few guests. We returned to Chala and ate lunch. I had some nice fish called pejerrey. I’m not sure if it’s freshwater or saltwater but it’s a small tasty fish with filets that are easy to remove from the spine. We found a collectivo (12 passenger van taxi) to Nazca, the city famous for the Incan Nazca lines. We decided not to go because you really need a plane flight to see the lines and it costs USD $80 per person for a 15 minute flight. Instead we hopped on a bus headed a few more hours through the desert to Ica. We found some cheap Chinese food and then took a ten minute taxi ride to Huacachina at the edge of town. Huacachina is an oasis with a pond and Palm trees nestled among massive sand dunes. We arrived before sundown and walked around the lake until we found a cheap hostel that was awesome. We had a whole eight bed dorm to ourselves and great common areas for hanging out. After checking in we got cleaned up and then headed out for a night time walk. We bought a bottle of rum and wanted to play a drinking game for the presidential election. I told Sarahi I thought Clinton would win by the time Florida’s results came in. We were so surprised when Trump started winning everything! Unfortunately I fell asleep in Sarahi’s lap and missed the results in the end. 

 11/9:

The next day we still couldn’t believe Trump won so we spent quite a bit of time reading the news and Facebook reactions. 

We found a breakfast place right next to the oasis. After a big breakfast we sat by the oasis pond for awhile. We returned to our hostel and relaxed for awhile. We bought hamburgers, chips, avocado and beer for lunch and took them to the shore of the pond. After lunch we booked a buggy tour for the afternoon. It cost less than $10 per person and lasted from 4pm until sunset at 6. The dune buggy was fun to ride in and then we started sandboarding. These sand boards are home made and much lower quality than the snowboards we used in the desert of Chile. But you can easily lay or stand on the board and we slid down several different sand dunes. Plus the buggy drives you around so we barely had to walk up and sand dunes. We met a nice guy and a few older ladies on our tour. Then we watched the sunset and had a great view of the oasis. It was a really fun tour. Next we got cleaned up and headed to dinner at a Thai restaurant that was quite nice. 

11/10:

Sarahi was quite upset with me on this day so we ate breakfast separately. I bought some snacks and ate them on the beach. We met up later and took a pedal boat out on the oasis pond. Later I swam in the pond, but some other tourists seemed disgusted so maybe it was a bad idea… We packed our things, ate a quick lunch, and then headed to the bus station at around 3. We arrived in Lima at around 9 PM and then quickly found a night bus to Huaraz. We ate a snack and then hopped on our bus and tried to sleep even though it was freezing cold. 

11/11:

We arrived in Huaraz just after sunrise and it was cold outside. We were tired so we found a cheap hostel from my lonely planet book and were soon napping. We woke up and had some relationship discussions until we realized the day was half over. We headed to lunch and by the time we left it was three in the afternoon! We attempted to visit the hot springs but they were closed by the time we arrived. We spent the evening preparing for the Santa Cruz Trek, which we planned to do ourselves. We weren’t feeling prepared also we signed up for transportation to the Laguna 69, a famous day trek a few hours away. We went grocery shopping and spent $40, but we bought five cans of tuna, fruit, pasta, and everything else we needed for our trek. We ate dinner and prepared day packs for the next day. 
11/12:

We woke up before five am and waited for awhile to be picked up. Then we rode two hours in a bus and stopped for breakfast. We stopped again to pay the park entrance fee and then stopped for pictures at an amazing blue green lake. Soon we arrived and began hiking. The trail was beautiful with a glacier fed river, nice trees, and green grass. Soon we started hiking steeply uphill for a couple hours. There were amazing glacier capped mountains and waterfalls all around us. It was beautiful. Finally we reached the Laguna 69. Just above the lake is a huge glacier and large waterfall pouring into the lake. It was simply stunning. We ate lunch here, took pictures, and sunbathed until it was time to head back. The walk back was much easier and soon we were at the bus. We walked about 12 miles but we felt pretty strong. We returned to the hostel, showered, and then went to dinner at chili heaven. This restaurant has Thai, Indian, and Mexican food, but specializes in anything spicy. We had Indian and Thai curry and both dishes were so spicy but delicious. We took care of some last minute things before our trek and headed to bed. 

11/13:

We woke up at 4:45 am after another poor night’s sleep. We grabbed our bags and walked to the corner where we took a combi (Peruvian term for collectivo taxi) and rode for a couple hours to the next town. From there we took another combi about three hours, just past the road to Laguna 69. We continued until we reached a very small town and began hiking down the trail. Most people take a guided trek of the Santa Cruz trail for about $250 per person, but we only paid around $100 for both of us. We were a bit sore from the previous day and found the trail to be harder than expected. We stopped for a lunch of tuna, cream cheese, crackers, blueberries, and grapes. We walked downhill then slowly uphill through a valley along a beautiful River. We had nice views of the distant snow topped mountains. After another four hours of hiking we arrived at the first campsite. It was at this point we realized we had packed light. So light in fact that we didn’t bring a pot for cooking our food. (Sarahi forgot it). We had mostly noodles and oatmeal and had no other way to cook our food. We decided it was just about impossible to cook our food and didn’t want to starve for three more days of hiking. I couldn’t see another option besides eating a cold dinner and walking back the next day. Sarahi was on the verge of tears and I was quite disappointed as well. Just then a German couple arrived who we had seen on the bus on the way. The guy asked us if we were ok, and Sarahi half jokingly asked if they had an extra cooking pot. He went to consult with his girlfriend and said that they had a small pan that served as the lid to the pot. But because of the altitude and cold, it’s almost impossible to boil water in a pot without a lid. It seemed we would both struggle to cook if we took their lid/pan, but we asked if we could just camp near to them and borrow the pot/lid combo for cooking. They said sure so we continued another thirty minutes trekking to another suitable campsite. They made dinner first and then we borrowed their pot. We made pasta with tomato, cheese, and pepper sauce, and added onions and a can of tuna. It was delicious and so nice to have a hot dinner. We started a fire and hung out with our new friends for a little while. We were all tired and headed to bed by 8 pm. That night it was freezing and we could barely sleep. We woke up with frost on our tent and it was really hard to go out into the freezing cold! 

Week 42: Cusco, Arequipa, Chivay, Cabanaconde, Chala

10/31

Halloween!! Tonight was going to be our last night in Cusco. We were moving to a different hostel but planned on going back to the Point to hang out with our new friends.

After a disattisfying cheap lunch, we wandered more around the city and moved hostels. 

We went shopping for our Halloween costumes after researching and hanging out at our new hostel for a while. 

We ended up buying toilet paper to wrap ourselves up as mummies. 

We bought groceries for dinner as we attempted to make blt, plus cheese and avocado. They worked out well after a little bit of practice. 

Afterwards, since we were planning on getting up early to see some more ruins we took a nap to rest before our long night.

We finally got up and went to our old hostel. Fortunately for us, they had Halloween costumes we could borrow! I picked the ugliest wig and Luke picked a bunch of random things including a Canadian flag as a cape! 

We hung out, met new people, and had late night McDonald’s before losing our friends and going to bed. 
11/1

This next morning, we tried to go early to the Saqsaywaman  (pronounced sexy woman) ruins since we heard that we could get in before they opened at 7. Unfortunately, we got there and we couldn’t get in. We didn’t want to pay the $70 soles each so we went around and viewed them from the outside. 

We ate a pretty good breakfast and made plans for the day. We had a lot to research and do before we left Cusco! 

We decided that we were going to finally do the walking tour and so we did that and learned a lot about the celebrations in October and the beginning of November. 

We ate a wonderful lunch of ceviche and soup for only $8 soles each before we went to book a tour to Rainbow Mountain for only $80 soles each. Afterwards, we ran errands like returning the costumes, picking up groceries like dried fruit for our trip, and packing for our next couple days. 

We went to bed pretty early after a really productive day. We had to be ready by 3:20 in the morning to head to Rainbow mountain as well!

11/2

We got up very lazily around 3:00 in the morning. We finished packing our stuff and then waited for them to come get us!

We loaded up and then headed on a long but beautiful 4 hour drive to breakfast – sleeping a majority of the time. 

After a really nice breakfast of eggs and bread and coffee, we went on another 15 minute drive to the entrance of the trail. We met a very nice Dutch couple who we pretty much walked the whole way with. 

The hike kept getting more and more difficult since we were 1k meters higher than the city and working our way up about another 1k meters.

It took us a really long time to finally get up to the top but the hike was worth it! Every bit of it was beautiful and the end was even more amazing. It was cold and windy and started snowing on us but we got some great views!

Finally, we decided to go back down. After another long and beautiful hike, we made it back to our bus. We were taken to another really great traditional Peruvian lunch of Lomo salteado before another drive back to the city.

We were nervous that we’d be late for our bus, but we showed up with enough time to shower. We were going to have ceviche again but they didn’t have it so we went to the bus station. 

Unfortunately, the bus station was crazy and ran out of chicken so we ended up going to some tiny markets and picking up chicken sandwiches and such for our bus ride to Arequipa.

We spent the rest of the night in the bus.

11/3

We arrived to Arequipa early the next morning and had breakfast of egg sandwiches and coffee. We had to decide where we were going next and were told that Chivay was better than Cabanaconde. We finally found a bus at 9:30 so we hung out until the next bus.

It took us 5 hours to finally get to the next stop, Chivay, a town at the beginning of the Colca canyon! The Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world, beaten by another Peruvian canyon that’s 200 meters deeper. it’s around five times deeper than the Grand  Canyon.

We found a cheap hostel right away that had wifi and a hot shower so we went to that one. We had lunch at a cheap restaurant for only $5 soles each! Afterwards, we wandered around the city to check out some view points. We went to some miradores and saw a smoking volcano at sunset before it got too cold and we went back. This volcano fully erupted only a few days later and covered most of Colca canyon in ash. We’re pretty sure we were the first ones to see it erupting and would have been famous for the discovery had we known! 

We wanted to go to the hot springs so we went back to the hostel to get dressed. We went to get a tuk tuk but then found out that the hot springs  were closed!

So instead, we went to get some amazing fried chicken and then hung out at the hostel before going to bed early.

11/4

We had to catch the bus by 7 so we woke up early and packed our bags.

We hurried to the bus station but had time to grab a few cups of coffee before we loaded up to head to Cabanaconde for an afternoon!

After a breathtaking bus ride, we finally got there and headed straight to the miradores around the town. We spent a few hours wandering around and taking in the sights as we planned our future traveling trips. While we sat there a condor was circling around and it was truly majestic. 

After heading back, we bought our bus tickets to Arequipa. 

We had amazing pizza for lunch and worked on some Instagram posts before picking up our luggage and loading up on the bus. We spent the rest of the day on the bus before we got to the city.

We found a cheapish, nice hostel close to the main square. 

Once we got checked in, we went to wander a little and find some food. We ate at this place that had different types of peruvian potatoes with all sorts of interesting toppings. We went back to the hostel and did some laundry – it was well needed! After cleaning up and hanging out a little bit more we finally went to bed.

11/5

The next morning, we went sight seeing around the city for a bit after packing our bags and having a delicious breakfast! The city of Arequipa is gorgeous and we couldn’t get enough of the architecture around the place. 

We splurged on a museum ticket ($20 soles each) to the mummy museum and saw the original Incan mummy, Juanita! She is only out a few months of the year so we got really lucky that we saw the most famous one instead of the others that they rotate. 

After the tour of the museum, we decided to check out a French restaurant which had a nice, fancy lunch for only $8 soles a person (drinks included!).

Since we weren’t going to leave until later, we decided to wait for the rest of the city and head back to the hostel for the heat of the afternoon. We hung out for a few hours and charged our phones and relaxed before heading out to a place our hostel owner, Luis, told us about.

We walked for about 30 minutes before we headed to a park overlooking the city. Little did we know, as we showed up we saw all kinds of street vedors and a band was playing! We had perfect timing to catch a little concert in the park. 

We grabbed some beers and some really delicious ribs that were cooking right in front of us as we listened to music and watched the gorgeous sunset fill the sky. 

We shared one last beer as the stars came out and we stuffed our faces with Churros listening to the music before we reluctantly headed back to get our bags and a taxi to the bus station.

We barely made it to catch one of the last busses to Chala! 2 companies only had 1 seat left and the one we took was going to leave in less than 10 minutes! 

We loaded up and got as comfortable  as possible for our night’s sleep.

11/6

I was planning to arrive closer to 5, but we arrived closer to 4 instead. Our plan was to hang by the beach until sunrise to catch a bus to Puerto Inca, a secluded beach a few km away, but it was too early so we snagged a room at the closest hostel for only $30 soles! 

We finally got some sleep before we had to wake up, pack our bags, and find some much needed breakfast.

Once we ate and picked up groceries, we found a cab to Puerto Inca. Puerto Inca is a private hotel located next to two beaches and surrounded by Incan ruins that are in surprisingly good condition. Although the rooms are quite expensive, you can camp for only $8 US a person which includes the pool, hygienic services, the ruins, a table with an umbrella, electricity, and a game room. we were pretty much the only people there camping! 

We set up camp and decided to enjoy the sun and the beach because we thought it might be the last time we were going to be camping on one. 

It was cloudy but we still got slightly sunburnt! 

After a lunch of tuna salad and left overs we decided to wander around the Inca ruins to the right of the beach. We saw a few building with what looked like human bones in it! 

Unfortunately, it was cloudy so we ended up going back and getting firewood for our dinner. We made this delicious tuna pasta that we devoured quickly! Afterwards, we hung out for a bit but got cold then went to bed.

11/7

No wifi meant we had to amuse ourselves for the day. It was definitely more cloudy than usual but we soaked up the warmer weather as much as we could.

We had a pretty lazy day and had fried seafood for lunch from the only restaurant in the area. It was so delicious!

Afterwards, we went to the black sand beach that was just a little further down and then walked to the bigger Inca ruins.

We spent a lot of time walking around them looking at the different structures.

I admit, I dug a little bit because I swore there was a burial ground under our feet. I still swear to it since I found some seashells and fabric. Then I felt guilty and stopped digging but I totally felt like Indiana Jones for a good moment there.

Luke decided to go down and I decided to stay up at the top to see if there was going to be a good sunset. 

Closer to the end of the not so amazing sunset, Luke joined me to snap some final shots. Afterwards, we headed down to play some pool before cooking another dish of quinoa, sauce, avocado, and tuna. Not as good as the night before, but definitely a good meal. 

We hung out for a little more reading our books and hanging out before finally heading to bed.

Over all Peru has had some amazing views like foggy mountains in Cusco, beautiful architecture in Arequipa, massive canyons in Cabanaconde, and desert beaches in Puerto Inca.

Although we didn’t explore as much as usual, we definitely saw a lot of what Southern Peru has to offer and it was breathtaking! We already made plans to come back and see more and do more in this part of the world. Amazing!

Week 41: Puno, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Machu Pichu; Peru
Monday, October 24th: 

We woke up on the reed island and ate breakfast. We enjoyed the tranquility as we barely saw another person. Until nine o clock when hundreds of tourists began showing up in the boats. I sat on the edge of the island feeling the rocking while I tried to draw the scene with colored pencils. We met a nice Mexican couple. We headed back to the mainland at around noon. We ate some nice and extremely cheap food at the bus station and bought a bus to Cusco in the afternoon. It was two hours delayed from the start but eventually we got on the old, crowded bus with no bathroom and prepared for the eight hour bus ride. We made several seemingly long and unnecessary stops but soon the bus was cruising as the dark set in. The bus swerved a couple of times in a way that made people scream and think we were about to tip over. I put on my seatbelt and tightened it up. Everyone on the bus freaked out and starting yelling and banging on things until the bus driver pulled over. Once they were assured he wasn’t drunk we continued on. The swerving happened again and chaos broke loose. Some very angry Italians led the rebellion, while old men cried and women yelled shrilly with frustration. There were chants of “stop the bus” and most people yelled out the varying speed limits they thought safest. The bus stopped again for quite some time as the passengers argued for a new bus. In the end a passenger rode in the front and the bus did not go above 60 km per hour, which greatly added to the time of the trip. We survived and arrived by 1 am. We went to a hostel I’ve read about and found the upstairs bar in full party mode, and a couple of empty beds. We were asleep by two, thankful to be alive and in a stationary bed. 

10/25:

We woke up and took the best, most needed showers in a long time. Sarahi was ready to head to Machu Pichu but I was worn out and wanted to check out Cusco first. It’s a beautiful city with a lot to offer. First we checked out a couple of the nearby and beautiful plazas. We wandered around the touristy area and then headed down the food street. I tried the fried pork ribs, which are just as delicious and fattening as they sound, and Sarahi had the menu of the day with mystery meat stew (turns out it was cow intestines – chewy and weird but didn’t taste badly). We returned to the hostel to relax a little. Then we went to one of the fifteen markets in Cusco. Here you can buy any kind of fruit, veggie, meat, or any other food produced in Peru. They also have souvenirs, restaurants with meals for less than $2, and lots of other things for sale. We loved it and bought tons of fruit, dried fruit, nuts, juice, and fried peppers stuffed with ground beef and veggies. We relaxed at the hostel some more, and then decided to get a massage. They’re very cheap in Cusco – from $6 for an hour. After that we went to the chocolate museum where we had lots of nice free samples and only spent $2 on a chocolate bar at the end. We went to a nice Asian fusion restaurant for dinner but decided the prices were too high. So we went to a cheap hamburger restaurant instead. We packed our bags for the next day and left some stuff at the hostel. 

10/26:

Today we started out Machu Pichu adventure! I made some friends after an early breakfast the next morning so we got a slightly late start. We went to the wrong bus station but eventually our bus, which was also late, left the station. It was a 6-8 hour bus ride to a small town called Santa Maria. In our case it took 8 and was a rough bus ride. Once we arrived there we took a collectivo (shared taxi) to the next town, Santa Theresa. From here it was another hour to the hydroelectric station. From the hydroelectric station you can walk along the train tracks until you reach Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Pichu Pueblo. The alternative method of transportation is a train, which is arguably the most expensive in the world at around $100 one way, or take a multi day trek which costs hundreds of dollars. Our method cost $35 soles ($12) and was much more satisfying. We started the 2-3 hour walk down the tracks and realized it would be dark long before we arrived. We stopped to enjoy an incredible jumping school of fish in the creek. We continued slowly through the dark and stopped for pizza in Aguas Calientes. We backtracked thirty minutes to a campsite at the base of the trail to Machu Pichu. We quickly pitched our tent and went to sleep. 

10/27:

We woke up at 4:30 the next morning and only snoozed for a few minutes. We got packed in the dark and headed towards Machu Pichu. We found a line of fifty people at the first checkpoint and worried we had gotten up too early. The line moved quickly and we were soon hiking up very steep stone steps with hundreds of other early risers hoping to beat the crowds. We passed a lot of people in the nonstop uphill hour hike but saw a few tour busses beating us up the hill. We waited a few minutes in line and then entered quickly, having bought our Machu Pichu tickets the prior day. We didn’t know much about Machu Pichu so we walked up some stairs and then started wandering toward the parts that looked cool. I think everyone else went up above for the iconic picture with no one around, but we found ourselves completely alone for maybe twenty minutes. We had no idea at the time but I ate a snack and Sarahi put on some make up while we sat alone in the sacred temple, probably the most famous site at Machu Pichu. It was amazing. It was a very foggy day which added to the incredible views. As clouds would roll away, while new sections of Machu Pichu would be revealed. We took some pictures of the amazing views we had. We walked around the various sections of Machu Pichu and stopped for a snack. We hiked all the way back to the entrance and exited the park to find at least 100 people in line for the bathroom. This was frustrating as we paid $50 a person to enter Machu Pichu. We had a snack at the snack shop and then re entered Machu Pichu. We hiked up to the upper level where we entered the Machu Pichu Mountain, which costs a bit extra. The hike to the top provides a birds eye view of Machu Pichu, but it is a brutal hike to the top. It’s a straight uphill hike for two hours. The entire trail is made of Incan stone steps, but that doesn’t make it any easier. We had to stop several times but we eventually made it up the mountain despite the rain and fog. Sadly, when we reached the top, we could see nothing except clouds a few feet away. We ate almost all the fruit we were carrying and then headed down the mountain. It was tough on the way down as well. We reached the entrance and continued walking all the way back to our campsite. We were in pain and very tired when we arrived. We changed clothes and packed our tent before walking back to Aguas Calientes. We ran into our Portuguese friends who we had met a few days earlier at the lake. We stopped at a restaurant in town and ate alpaca steak. It was pretty good but maybe just beef. We asked about train prices but found it would be very expensive. We were worn out and it started raining so we decided to stay in Aguas Calientes for one night. We found a nice room with private bathroom and hot shower. We cleaned up and rested until we went out for Chinese food dinner. It rained all afternoon and all night so we were really glad we didn’t camp or hike back in the rain. We slept super well and woke up early the next day to hike back. 

10/28: We ate fruit and bread for breakfast and then began our walk back along the train tracks. We met a nice Colombian guy who was 19 and traveling around for a year eating at soup kitchens and doing soccer tricks for money. We said goodbye and got on a bus back to Cusco. We changed busses in Santa Maria, bought some snacks, and then drove the five hours back to Cusco. We returned to our hostel and got cleaned up. We drank a beer and ate good hostel food. We were very sore and went to bed quickly. 

10/29:

We slept in and had a lazy morning the next day. We ate breakfast in the hostel and then went to the mercado for lunch. It was less than two dollars for soup and a plate of rice, avocado, egg, and salsa. That afternoon we tried to visit the papa museum but it’s been closed for awhile. In the same building was a massage place that offered us a good deal. We had an amazing massage and then returned to our hostel. We looked for Halloween costumes and wandered the city a bit more. We relaxed all afternoon. Sarahi told the guys at our hostel that it was my birthday and they made me take four shots of tequila. It was awful. Then we went to dinner at the number one rated restaurant in Cusco called Organika. I had alpaca steak and Sarahi had beef steak. We also had smoked trout salad and trout ceviche. It was a great dinner and not too pricey. We returned to our hostel where I took a little nap. Somehow I woke up and rejoined the party. We played beer pong and later went to a club. We made it back to the hostel well after sunrise. It was a great birthday! 

10/30:

As we went to bed after sunrise, we both slept in late, until noon at least. Sarahi wasn’t feeling well so I went to bring back some food. After eating and showering we relaxed for awhile. We tried to go for Korean food but the restaurant was closed so we had Chinese instead. We took naps in the afternoon. We didn’t feel like leaving the hostel so we ate some pretty good food from the kitchen. We were worn out from the previous night so we headed to bed early. 

The highlight of the week was Machu Pichu. It’s so much bigger and more incredible than I imagined. It may be the most amazing thing I’ve seen. Cusco is also a really nice city with beautiful buildings and ancient Incan walls. The area around the city had beautiful mountains with many Incan ruins.  This is a place everyone should visit! 

Week 40: La Paz, Copacabana, Isla del Sol; Bolivia, Puno, Peru
Monday, October 17th:

I decided to mountain bike down death road, while Sarahi decided it wasn’t for her. I woke up early in the rain and walked to the tour agency. I met some nice Germans over a meager breakfast and then hopped on the bus for a couple of hours. We climbed up even higher into the mountains (just La Paz is at 4,000 meters of elevation and is the highest capitol in the world). Then we unloaded the bikes. I rented the cheapest version and still paid over $50 for the day. We flew down the steep paved road at first. I’ve never gone so fast. Then we stopped for lunch at the beginning of the death road. Then they told us that the villagers had blockaded death road and wanted 100-200 bolivianos to pass. The plan was to drive two more hours around the road then drive halfway back up and ride bikes back down. At this point there was anarchy. The tour agency had not been honest and we paid full price for half of death road. Many people went back for a refund at this point. I would have but we planned to leave La Paz the next day. Finally, we’re back on our bikes flying down gravel roads with huge cliffs dropping off the side of the road. It was cold and raining but I had a blast. We ended the bike ride at a small house and restaurant in the jungle. We had started the ride at over 5,000 meters of elevation amongst the clouds where there are no plants or animals, and you can barely breathe. We ended in the rainforest at around 2,000 meters where I saw multiple types of monkeys and was warm in a tshirt. It was an amazing experience despite not actually biking the entire road. I returned to my hostel and had a great dinner and a great woman waiting for me. She had spent the day searching for open museums, shopping, reading, and drinking coffee. 

10/18:

The next morning we made breakfast in the hostel and packed our bags. We headed to a random street where we caught a minibus to Copacabana. It was a miserable long drive over dirt roads and I had a large Quechua woman with several layers of baggage and a baby that was half laying in my lap the whole ride. We had to take a ferry and finally the beautiful but claustrophobic ride was over. Copacabana is a small beach town on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at over 4,000 meters. The lake is massive. Roughly the size of Massachusetts or Vermont I believe. In the mid 1900’s, the U.S. gave trout eggs to Bolivia or Peru, and the trout population in the lake is huge. The other fish species are being wiped out by the trout. But if you like trout you can find it in every restaurant in Bolivia and Peru, and generally for $3.50 or less. Copacabana is a beautiful town and we found a hostel with a private room for only $7 for both of us. The wifi was fast and we even had a tv! After checking into our cheapest room yet we headed to the beach. We had a nice walk on the beach and took pictures at sunset. We had dinner for about $7. I had decent trout and Sarahi had spaghetti. In Bolivia and Peru nearly every restaurant has a menu of the day. This always includes a big bowl of soup and a few choices of entree. If you’re lucky it might include and appetizer, drink, and desert as well. Believe it or not, we love eating in these countries, especially Peru. After dinner we watched netflix with our fast wifi before bed. 
10/19:

We slept in a bit and then headed to the central market where they have super cheap breakfast. We ordered two coffees with milk, three egg cheese and tomato sandwiches, six Bolivian doughnuts called bunuelos, and api, a hot, spiced and thick purple corn drink that is actually quite nice. It all cost around $4 and was very nice! We lounged in our room a bit longer, packed a day bag, and then grabbed some chicken salteados, the Bolivian version of empanada. It looks like an empanada with burnt edges, but it’s much more saucy on the inside and delicious. We hopped on a boat for a few dollars per person and sat on the roof with a nice Russian girl. It was freezing yet my nose got very sunburnt. After an hour or two we reached the Island of the Sun, a huge island with steep terraced hills. It’s amazing that the people in this region carved small strips of farmland out of steep mountain sides. After getting off the boat we had to pay a few dollars entrance fee and then walk up the Incan steps along the steep mountainside. After some exhausting hiking and confusion, we found a decent hostel for around $4 per person. We shared a room with “Sasha”, our Russian friend, and had a lovely view out the window. We all went to dinner which wasn’t very good. We were worn out and it was cold and stormy. We got in our cozy beds and were soon asleep. 

10/20: 

The next morning we ate cereal for breakfast and enjoyed the view. We packed our bags Sarahi and I set off hiking. We walked down a very steep hill through the Incan terraces until we reached the lake. We laid down on the rocky “beach” and enjoyed the serene and tourist free spot for hours. We watched the birds, donkeys, and locals at work. After a grueling hike back up, we collapsed in rocking chairs at a pizzeria with great views overlooking the lake. We ordered some nice grilled chicken (+soup and sides as is the custom) and had a well earned beer. After lunch we headed back down to the boats and bought a ticket. We waited with Sasha and new friends for an hour and then took the ride back to Copacabana. We checked back into our lovely cheap hostel and then headed to dinner. We found an amazing Italian restaurant where whey were making noodles by hand right in front of us. The gnocchi and pasta was amazing. We were worn out and after some more Netflix went to bed. 

10/21: 

We woke up and returned to our favorite breakfast place in the market. We were sad to leave the cozy town (and our fast wifi) so we decided to stay another day. We spent most of the day laying in bed and watching our Netflix shows. We checked out the massive cathedral in the center of town and ate Hawaiian pizza for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon napping and watching Netflix. That night we went to a great Asian restaurant that serves several courses and desert for a good price. They also had mango lassies which are essentially milk shakes with mangoes. So delicious. 

10/22:

We returned to our favorite breakfast place and ate like kings once again. We returned to our rooms to pack but just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave. Apparently we really needed some r&r so we decided to stay one more day. Sadly, about fifty people showed up for the weekend to the generally empty hotel, and our Netflix didn’t really work after that. I tried some fish native to the lake for lunch, which was pretty good, while Sarahi opted for more pizza. We had a lazy afternoon before hiking to the top of the hill overlooking town. It was a brutal climb but we had some really amazing views at the top. That night the Asian restaurant was full so we tried the Mexican restaurant in town instead. It was delicious and we headed to bed soon afterwards. 

10/23:

The next day it was really definitely time to move on. We returned to the breakfast place, really for the last time, and met a nice family. They had bought a new car, so they brought a small model of it to be blessed by the Virgin of Copacabana. We bought our tickets for one o’clock and relaxed until lunch. We had pizza again and then hopped on the bus for Puno, Peru. Border crossing was pretty easy, but I’m nervous because my passport is filling up with visas and stamps. We arrived to Puno around four and arranged for a boat to take us to the floating reed islands. It took about one hour by boat to arrive at the first island. There are hundreds of islands made from reeds in the lake that float together in a community. It’s a really cool but bizarre place to visit. After walking around on the springy reed ground, we took a reed boat for a few dollars to the next island. Here was the capital island which consists of one snack bar/ passport stamp office, one restaurant, several gift shops, and a few buildings for guests. We decided to stay on the island for about $10 per person. We had our own cozy shack made from reeds. We ate some overpriced but delicious trout for dinner as a massive thunderstorm raged overhead. There was a nice cat who wanted to cuddle in our bed all night ( and I let him). We slept pretty well on our floating reed island inside our reed house! 

We had a great week exploring lake Titicaca and relaxing! Peru is the last country we will visit on this trip; I know it’s sad. Bolivia has some amazing sights but it’s not our favorite country. We’re glad we went, but happy to make it out in only two weeks with extra time to enjoy Peru!