end of homestay & parade in Puno

A three hour sunny boat ride later we arrived Puno, where I spontaenously bought a Pan flute with some nice carvings for 10 soles (20 NOK). At this point, the streets of Puno were filled with people in fantastic costumes parading through the city. The university in Puno had a fifteen year anniversary and the people of Puno recognized this event as an excellent opportunity to dress up and parade the streets. The parade went on from 2pm to 8pm! [...] Read more

Homestay at Taquile on Lake Titicaca

At the dock we got on a boat and cruised off onto Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits at a staggering height of 3,812 m above sea level, making it one of the highest commercially navigable lakes in the world. This is also largely the reason to why it is a bit cold as the average temperature is about 9 degrees. Another reason may be its depth as its average depth is 107 m. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America. The lake itself is massive with a maximum width of 80 km and length of 190 km. It is said that the name Titicaca actually means rock/stone view perhaps because of its more than 42 islands.. The big islands houses from 10-15 families and altogether about 350 families resides on the Titicaca islands. [...] Read more

Heading for Puno

Had breakfast at 8.30am before taking a taxi to the bus station only to find that the bus was delayed. Once the bus arrived, it turned out to be another one than the one we had bought tickets for, but somehow our tickets had been transferred to this lower class local bus. We were definately the only gringos on the bus. 7 hours and an extremely weird movie (displayed on TV with only red and green color) later we arrived Puno. Luckily we randomly met a guy representing the hostal which we were aiming to stay spend the night at, next to the toilets at the bus station. [...] Read more

the muddy pools of Aguas Calientes

Checked out of Kcuychi hospedate 9.30 am and went swimming in the hot pools that gave the town its name – Aguas Calientes. The entrance fee for gringos were 10 soles (5 NOK), while the locals only had to pay 3 soles (1.5 NOK). A bit unfair maybe.. Don’t think it would very popular if this scheme was introduced in Norway… It was 2 soles (1 NOK) to rent swim wear and 1 soles (0.5 NOK) for a safety locker and yet another 2 soles (1 NOK) to rent a towel. The pools were all rather dirty, but if you kept repeating to yourself that its caused by all the minerals in the water, you’ll be just fine;) [...] Read more

Inca Trail – day 2

22.October: During the night I woke up at about 2.30am to take a piss. This was not something you would like to do when it’s pitch black and freezing cold.. At about 5.30 we heard some scratching on the tent sail. It turned out to be a couple of porters, that wanted us to know [...]

Inca Trail – day 1

21.October: Got picked up by a minibus at hostal Girasoles 5.20am. Stopped in Ollantaytamba for breakfast. Met three nice blokes from England: Tom, Milan and Collin. In total we were 16 people in the group; – 4 Sweedes (Rolf, Margarita, Angelica & Robert) – 4 Americans (Scott, Joan, Sara, Lauren) – 5 Englishmen (Tom, Milan, [...]

the Sacred Valley Tour

The day before we had booked a bus trip (80 soles), so early in the morning (way too early as we had a bit of a bash the night before) we jumped on a bus along with Nicole and Robyn. Our designated driver was called Alex and there was even a name for our group: Ausangate. This made me a bit uncomftable. But what made me even more uncomftable, was our guide Jenny. Jenny was a non-stop loudtalker spitting out all kinds of information like a water hose! She was very strict as well, and we were informed that anyone arriving the bus too late, would have to get a taxi(!) [...] Read more

Cuzco never knew what happened

19.October: We arrived Cuzco from Lima after a night at the airprt and no sleep. We checked into hostal Girasoles at 9am. Slept till 1pm. Had a walk in the beautiful city centre and went to the Peru Trek office to pay the rest of our Inca Trail trip. At the office we also got a short briefing of one [...]

the Amazon – part III

The morning started yet again out with a bushwalk through the jungle. Only this time a more remote location than earlier, so we had to go by boat first. We came to a village were they mainly grew Yucas – a kind of potato. Their crops relied heavily on the barta (the flood) and the actual growing fields were very far away from the village itself. As a result, we could see people in their fiftees carrying huge sacks weighing about 80 kilos full of Yucas from the plantations to their houses. This walk was very hard as they had to follow a narrow, muddy and slippery path for about one hour(!) before they reached their houses (huts). [...] Read more

the Amazon – part II

Everyday (especially in the morning) outside our lodge we could hear a little bird making a sound that resembled bobling water. This little fellow, the Oropemdula, contributed to a really exotic atmosphere every morning when we got up.

The day started out with a bushwalk in the jungle. We got to taste a piece of Caniagre, which is in the family of ginger and good for headache and fever. A bit later, the guide showed us a suri larva that has the habit of eating long spiral formed channels inside palms. The larva itself is can be eaten and is supposed to be quite tasty. You can cook it or fry it. [...] Read more