Last time I told you that after my days in La Paz I went to Lake Titicaca in Peru. That is not completely true. Copacabana at the Lake Titicaca was my next destination, which is actually still in Bolivia. But because I had so much to tell about Bolivia and my post got longer and longer I decided to put it in the next post. And since the Lake Titicaca is at the border of Bolivia and Peru, I guess it doesn´t matter anyway.
When Dennis and I arrived in Copacabana we had not really a plan what we could do. We only knew that we want to see the Isla de Sol, a Island on the Bolivian side of the Lake. So before we took a ferry to the Island we spend the day walking around in the city. The view from one of the mountains was very nice. The locals also use this mountain to pray for their god by lighting candles and fireworks.
Shortly after this we took the ferry to the Isla de Sol. The ride was quite long and the lake much bigger than I expected. I forgot to put sunscreen on and got a massive sun burn, again! Will I ever learn?
On the Island we started to hike from the southern part to the north. It was a beautiful walk on the mountain ridge with a great view on the rest of the island, the lake and the Andes in the distance.
After a pretty sunset in one of the bays and a quiet night we took the ferry back to Copacabana and then a bus to Puno, which is on the Peruvian side of the Lake. From there you can get to the floating Islands of Lake Titicaca, what we did. But I won´t talk about that because it was all about selling tourists some stuff and a huge disappointment for me. But the story about it is quite cool, so google it if you’re interested (google Uros).
Therefore Dennis and I didn´t spend much time there and took a bus to Cusco the same day. Cusco is one of the hot spots of Peru, mainly because a lot of tour agencies offer different kind of trips to Machu Picchu, starting from there. This is probably the most famous sight in South America and one of the seven world wonders. But Cusco is definitely a beautiful city itself and worth to see even without Machu Picchu.
After a few days of relaxing and exploring the city I went on a trip to Machu Picchu through the jungle and parts of the old Inca trails. I was lucky to do this trip with a amazing bunch of people. Anna, Paula, Maxime and Thomas, two Austrian girls and two french guys, who where my age, easy to get a long with and funny people. Also our tour guide Juan Carlos was our age and super fun. We had great 4 days with party, hiking and easy times together. Experienced hangover days, hilarious little stories and beautiful landscapes together.
The schedule for the first day was 3 hours downhill biking along a twisted but easy road. Then lunch at the company’s own lodge and rafting in the afternoon. I´d say, it was a good start for this trip.
The next day was all about the nature in this the valleys and and hiking through the jungle. Our guide Carlos told all about the local farming, which is basically all kind of tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, papaya, coconut and banana) as well as cacao and coffee beans. But there are also a lot of coca plantations! Carlos insisted that the plantations we saw are legal because the locals only sell the dried leafs on the marked.
Bolivians and Peruvians chew these leafs for the taste. It´s a kind of green tea ish and a little bit herb taste. Chewing these also fights altitude sickness symptoms. I chewed them all the way up to the huyana potosi. If it was placebo or not, it helped me a lot.
Selling and chewing the leafs is perfectly legal in Bolivia and Peru. But they can also be used to produce cocaine, which obviously is not legal.
The path continued through the jungle, up to a mountain, and along the old inka trails. We stopped here and there to talk about the culture, paint our self’s with indigenous color (some kind of seats which have a great red color) and took pictures with a giant guinea pig. At the end of the day we could relax in hot springs.
Later that night Maxi, Thomas Carlos and I went out to party a bit in a small town. It turned out to be a wild and long party night with a massive hangover as a reward.
Never the less we started the next day with sip lining through the valleys. During the sip lining me and the others felt pretty good. The adrenalin and the view was a good cure while it lasts. I even went up side down. (Kunibert zip-lining)
But I tell you, when we were back on the track hiking towards aguas calientes, it hit us really hard. We suffered all the way till the end. There was no party that night!
Aguas Calientes is a town at the foot machu picchu. From here you hike up to the Inka city. Lazy people take the train to Aguas Calientes and then the bus up to machu pichu. Of course we didn´t! Since we wanted to see the sunrise on the top we started hiking up at 5pm.
That was incredible! Even the mass of tourists could not ruin this moment. The Inka town in this landscape is truly an eye opener! Carlos took us to the important spots in the Inka Town and told us about the architecture, the structure and other facts of this incredible place.
Then it was time to say goodbye to my part time family and go back to cusco. There I met Dennis again and we traveled further to Lima, the capital of Peru. I was not really in the mood to explore the city and spend my time writing my blog and to figure out what to do next. So unfortunately the two days in Lima where not so exiting.
Dennis and I decided to go north for a few days at Beach and good weather. Mancora at the border to Ecuador seemed like a perfect place for it. I had not much time left for south america and still wanted to see Ecuador and Columbia. Therefore I needed to hurry up a bit and skip Huaraz and the activities around that area.
Our days were really laid back. Most of the time we chilled in the hammocks in our hostel right at the beach and ate mango and all kind of fruits. Or we fed the baby rabbit that chilled with us all the time. The only thing I was struggling with was another stomach disease. I don´t know how many times I got this in south America. I guess eating fruits all day didn´t help but it was so cheap and tasty!
One highlight was definitely the snorkeling with giant turtles. There were around ten of these huge turtles at the pier and we swam right next to them. I actually grabbed them at the shelf and they pulled me with them. It was great.
Then it was time to say good bye to Dennis with whom I was traveling with for almost a month already. I left Mancora and drove to Ecuador.
It was about to be a short but intensive stop on my journey. I mean when do you get the chance to stay at the bottom of a erupting volcano.
Kuniberts Reisen 