Macchu Picchu 13.01.16

• How to get there: There are several tours to get to Macchu Picchu from Cusco, you can book a complete tour or just transport. You can take a train or a bus to get there. The cheapest and quickest way is taking a bus to Hidroelectrica, walking for 2 hours to reach Aguascalientes and spending the night there, to leave early the next morning to Macchu Picchu. From Aguascalientes you can take a bus (USD12) to the site, or walk for over 1.5 hours up steps.
• Getting to Macchu Picchu: It receives thousands of tourists every day, so getting there as early as possible is imperative, to avoid queues. There is only one hotel just outside Macchu Picchu.

At the top of Machu Picchu!

We left Cusco at 7:30 in the morning on a small bus, and drove 6 hours including two stops, one for the toilet and one for lunch, through tall mountains and irregular roads. When we arrived to Aguascalientes we were shown our hostel room and we had dinner with the group. At dinner we were told the details for the next day. The following morning we had breakfast at 4:20 and left Aguascalientes at 4:40. We walked up to Machu Picchu and arrived at 6:35 am. We queued for 10 minutes and we were through.

The tour guide told us several theories about the story of the Inkas, however we didn't think the tour was not necessary since you can find the information yourself. He left us after two hours and then we climbed up to the viewpoint where we took the picture everyone takes of Machu Picchu. It was a bit cloudy but when the clouds started clearing up the view was magical.

There isn't much we can say about Machu Picchu that you don't already imagine. There are many hypothesis about the place but what's certain is that it leaves you breathless and feeling small to the enormity that surrounds you.

We took the bus down, as we were really tired and walked from Aguascalientes to Hidroelectrica to get the bus that would take us back to Cusco. At Hidroelectrica we had to go around all the guides looking for our bus, it was messy and a bit stressful. I do not recommend you to do the tour with a mainstream tour you find in the square of Cusco. Do your research for the best price and for the tour that seems the most organised, even if you're only booking the transport. Most tours, like ours, cost USD100 per person including the entry, the transport, tour guide, hostel and food but there are cheaper tours and cheaper packages. We booked with Machupichu express.

The walk to Aguascalientes

The walk to Aguascalientes

The walk to Aguascalientes

The walk to Aguascalientes

Rainy day at Machu Picchu

How to llama

Thoughtful Yuuki and our new Taiwanese friends

Copacabana. Bolivia 8-9.1.16

• How to get there: From La Paz we took a bus for 40 Bs each. It was more expensive due to towns that were under riots. A normal ticket any other day is 25 Bs and it takes 3hs instead of 4.
• Arriving to Copacabana: The town is ready for tourists, so arriving there you will see plenty of places to stay at and many things to do. We stayed at "Brisas del Titicaca" a hostel on the main avenue almost at the bottom, close to the lake. We paid 60 Bs each for the accommodation with shared bathroom.

The colours of Copacabana are attractive to almost anyone arriving. The few streets that make the centre are always busy and full of life, with stalls on each side selling all kinds of souvenirs.

We arrived and went for a walk around the town, stopping at an office to buy tickets to go to Cusco. When we had that sorted for the following day we were ready to have over 24hs of fun in an area that everyone seemed to recommend.

In Copacabana everything is built for your enjoyment and so, we decided to join. We went to several shops, buying small souvenirs and went for Bolivian food, me hoping for a nice warm soup that would do my stomach a favour after so much travelling around some of the highest grounds on Earth and Oliver looking for alpaca meat, exclusive to this area of the world.

If you like the "beach" and the party and you're looking to have a bit of fun in a relaxed environment. For us a day was enough to enjoy it to the fullest without getting the urge of moving somewhere new.

La Paz. Bolivia 7.1.16 - 8.1.16

• How to get there: Check our last blog on travelling between Arica and La Paz (http://pascoegoestravelling.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/journey-from-arica-to-la-paz-070116.html)
• Arriving to La Paz: When we arrived there were riots going on at the entrance, otherwise it's just a beautiful view followed by a centre full of history, religion and culture.
• If you eat street food, be very careful of where you go to, ask locals, they will tell you which places are safe for street food. Otherwise, there are many cheap restaurants that sell Bolivian food in the central area.

La Paz is in a simple word, beautiful. We didn't have long to enjoy the city as we would've liked to and in our minds we have decided we will be back for more. We arrived in the evening between tired and dizzy from the altitude, and decided to get a hotel in the centre to have the good night sleep our bodies had been deserving for standing so strong.

The next morning, we were up from 6 am to get a view from the top of the city as we had seen it the previous day but with the morning mist. The views were absolutely stunning, one of the best views we had ever seen, the mist, the red roofs, the cemetery. The taxi driver that took us there pretty much gave us a full 1 hour tour before we had to go back to the hotel for breakfast. He told us about the religion: the locals even though mainly catholic, believe in their ancestral beliefs still, holding a strong connection to the land, water and fire. He also told us that some of them praise the Devil as a connection between the so-called "Uncle" and the Goddess of Earth. The curve of the devil is where people put their candles and offerings to the Uncle, some are coloured, some are black. The black candles are to ask for revenge and dark things I didn't want to think about: in these type of offerings they use dry animal foetus, although sometimes the police has found human bodies used in the offerings. It all sounds pretty dark right?

La Paz however is not that dark: people are in general friendly and everyone is willing to help you with directions even when they don't know themselves.

We had breakfast and headed to "the cemetery" or a street nearby where you could buy tickets to go to Copacabana. We queued for over half an hour with many other tourists going in that direction.