Bariloche (Patagonia) & Mendoza, Argentina

From Pucon, we took a day bus to Bariloche in Argentina. The benefit of the day bus meant that we were lucky enough to see more of the Lake District, with its beautiful scenery in all its glory. We crossed the border back into Argentina and it immediately felt good to back on Argentinian soil. I am not quite sure what it is, but Argentina has by far been my favourite country, maybe the people, maybe just the atmosphere, I´m not sure but have definitely enjoyed being back here.

Bariloche has a population of 120,000 people, what was once a small town has grown and spread its settlements in and around the mountains. Everyone it seems in the last 100 years has wanted to live in Bariloche and I can understand why.
The town is surrounded by beautiful landscape, more snow capped mountains and situated on the Lago Nahuel Huapi, a stunning, large lake, part of the National Park. The town itself is heavily influenced by the Swiss and you can easily let yourself believe you were in Switzerland with the lakes, mountains, and Swiss-German street names not to mention the numerous chocolate and jam shops.

Bariloche is located next to the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi which is popular for a number of activities including trekking, rafting and kayaking. We opted for a 3-4 hour hike in the National Park which was more like a gentle stroll on a Sunday afternoon, a pleasant change from the hikes and treks we have been doing over the last few weeks. The trek took us through forestland and finally finished by the lake where we were looking forward to a leisurely kayak, however, typically the weather was against us again and the wind would have made it tough going and rather unpleasant. The next day didn´t prove any better, so we left Bariloche without having Kayaked and took an overnight bus (19 hours) north to Mendoza.

Mendoza is a cosmopolitan, tree lined, large city with a European come Argentinian feel. At low altitiude (760 metres above sea level), flat streets, funky shops, a warm and sunny tempo made this city a pleasure to be in. I definitely took to Mendoza after a nice walk around town, lunch in the Plaza Indepencia and a nose in the boutique shops.

The afternoon of our first day was more adventurous as we had locked ourselves in to hurling ourselves off the top of Cerro Nerco, and paragliding down whilst admiring Mendoza from above. Gear on, instructor and parachute attached, we ran, ran, ran until the wind swooped us up into the air. We launched ourselves into the sky at 1,700 metres and the wind took me as high as 2,300 metres (an increase of 600 metres). My instructor Eduardo had 22 years and over 1,200 flights under his belt, and so all I could do was trust him, sit back and enjoy the flight... and that I did!

The afternoon wind was perfect and the flight lasted 20-25 minutes, Eduardo said I was priveleged to have had such a long and good flight. After a few parachute acrobatics, we descended and landed at speed. Somehow, I managed to land on my feet rather than on my bum like previous skydiving experiences. Paragliding was awesome, a strange feeling comes with just floating through air, all chilled and relaxed.

Mendoza produces 70% of the countrys wine and so a wine tasting excursion should definitely be on the agenda as it certainly was for us. With 1,000 wineries in the region still in operation we were spoilt for choice. We spent the morning being taking around wineries, both industrial and traditional boutique style, sampling their produce as we went.

The highlight of the day however, HAD to be the lunch... 2 and 1/2 hours of just eating and drinking wine. Copious amounts of GOOD food just constantly flowing from the kitchen and into our bellies whilst the waiters continuously topped up our wine glasses. No more smelling or swishing the wine around our mouths, this went straight down the hatch and was appreciated in just the same way. Lunch was finished with yummy Almond ice cream (Dad, you were not far from my mind at this point... you would have loved it), and all was left to do was jump back into our bus, get to our hostel and not move for the rest of the day as we were too full and rather exhausted from all the eating and drinking.

After Mendoza we headed 8hours through the scenic Andes mountain range which will take us to our final week in South America. A week of pure relaxation by the Chilean coast.

San Pedro de Atacama (Desert) & Pucon (Lake District), Chile

San Pedro de Atacama is the entry point for all travellers into Chile from Bolivia... and boy does this town know it! A funky little town, with a small plaza, church and numerous dusty streets full of overpriced bars, restaurants and tour agencies - food and drink prices here, could easily be compared to the UK.

A quick stop in an overpriced San Pedro (1 night), and then it was off to Calama where we were catching a flight to Santiago, to kick start a day ´in transit´ before reaching our destination, the South of Chile. We hadn´t always planned to travel to the Lake District, however, our travel bugs got the better of us and we were keen to see what is meant to be the best part of Chile. It was the best decision we could have made - Pucon is amazing!

Pucon is THE adventure town of the Lake District, with enough adrenalin activities to keep you busy for days if not weeks! With just 2 days in Pucon, we were eager to choose our activities carefully. First up, Canopy... 20 minutes outside of Pucon, we were stuck in a harness & helmet and sent on our merry way - 3km of canopy wires allowing us to swing through dense forest like Tarzan (or Jane!). The views on the way (if you could bare to look down) were of the forest and the Villarrica Volcano.

After 6 canopy swings and feeling like pros, we landed back on safe ground feeling thoroughly pumped and in need of some well deserved beers in the gorgeous sunshine. Once the sun went down, we were blessed with clear skies full of millions of stars and the volcano in the distance glowing red with magma spurting from the top - a scene that I will struggle to forget. This sight made me even more excited, as the next day we were climbing the Villarrica Volcano - one of the most active volcanoes in South America!

Villarrica is 25km from Pucon and situated in Parque Nacional Villarrica. The volcano is 2847 metres high, and our climb began at 1800 metres. The hike itself was fairly easy with a series of switchbacks allowing the snow filled ascent to be up gentle slopes. The hike however, was made much, much tougher (on the verge of dangerous) as strong gusts of winds were building up the nearer the top you climbed (typical, the day we climbed a volcano the weather was horrendous!). We were climbing above the clouds, and fighting hard against the winds to stop us being blown over, only our imaginations could have told us the views below the clouds - forests, moutains, lakes, maybe? Who knows, we certainly couldn´t see them!

After 4 hours of climbing we finally reached the summit, the mouth of the volcano! Large amounts of smoke was bellowing out the huge hole, however, no magma was to be seen on this day :o(. After a quick stop here, and before the wind could blow us into the crater we began our 2 hour descent - a fun, blinding and freezing experience. The quickest way to come down from the top of the volcano was to slide down on your bum... this was the easiest and most fun option! Snow managed to get everywhere and once we reached the bottom we were tired, cold and soaked to the skin - still we had made a great acheivement, we climbed to the top of an active volcano (not to mention the treacherous weather!). All that was left to do, was to get home, have a hot shower, eat and sleep!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Bariloche, Argentina for much, much more of the same!!! Bring it on!

Salar de Uyuni, SW Bolivia

10 hours from La Paz, one of the most magnificent tours awaited us. South West of Bolivia is home to the worlds largest Salt Flats (Salars), at 3653 metres above sea level. We arrived from La Paz at 7.30am, and started a 3 day / 2 night 4x4 tour almost straight away. The salt flats originated from prehistoric lakes around 1000 years ago that dried up leaving 11,000 km sq of salt.

Pure white salt stretched out before our squinting eyes, with volcanoes and numerous snow capped mountains as the backdrop. A blindingly white desert with only 4x4 tracks to lead the way from one settlement to another - Colchani and Llica. In the middle of the salt flats the land is dry & barren, and so hundreds of Cacti can be found here. The 1st day of our tour consisted of driving across the Salars, regularly stopping to explore the land and take numerous photos (some in an artistic manner). Our lunch stop was at the Isla de Pescadores, home to an island of giant Cacti and a gorgeous view point. The night was spent in the middle of no where (San Juan) in accommodation made of... salt! The floor, the walls, even the light shades were made from salt!

The next morning we rose to a stunning sun rise before travelling through the desert to get a look at numerous volcanoes and various lakes (Lagunas). 3 species of Flamingos can be found on all of these lakes, leisurely plodding around in different shades of pink. The highlight of day 2 was reaching Lago Colarado, a large ´red´lake with lots of white minerals surrounding the outskirts. Now, our guide did not speak the best English and we are certainly not fluent in Spanish just yet, however, from what we could gather, the lake turns red in colour from the wind and also the suns reflection on the water (the water isn´t really red...). As for a more scientific explanation, you will have to wait until I Google it!

The last day brought memories of the Inca Trail flooding back - a 4 am start! No electricity, freezing cold winds outside and a flat tyre on our 4x4 to start the day. However, once I remembered where I was (Bolivia, with beautiful scenery ahead!), I wrapped myself up all snug and hopped in the 4x4 to check out the natural geysers. A strong smell of sulphate (bad eggs) certainly did the job to wake us all up, if not the gorgeous sight of the sun rising over the desert with the bubbling noise of the mud inside the geysers. Final stop of the tour, Laguna Verde (Green Lake), again the wind and sun was the answer to the colour of this lake. The mountains were red / brown in colour and reflected down on the water - a breath taking view once more.

The whole 3 days on tour was magnificient, the natural beauty of South West Bolivia is 2nd to none, the scenery just blew me away in the same way as Macchu Pichu. It was so peaceful that I found myself on many occasions standing sliently, looking across at the lake or mountain or whatever stood in front of me in the middle of no where appreciating that there is more to the world than the one you can easily get caught up in, normally existing of a 9-5 job and the London underground.

The tour ended at the Laguna Verde where we took a transfer into San Pedro de Atacama, Chile... another border, another country.

More Cusco (Peru), Copacabana, La Paz - Bolivia

We returned to Cusco after Machu Picchu and spent another couple of days strolling around the streets, and looking in the markets. This time we had a chore, we were looking for local football shirts and Sunday we were off to support Cusco in a match again a rather strangely named team from Lima - the Sports Boys! Their strip was black and pink and amazingly enough they even played like girls...! A 1-0 win to Cusco left us leaving happy supporters and proud to be wearing our footie shirts, blending in with the locals.

That evening saw the end to our time in Peru with an overnight bus to Copacabana, Boliva. Apart from the unfortunate robbery on the bus which meant I was now camera and phone-less the journey was ok and got us to Bolivia in one piece.

Copacabana is a cute, enchanting town around Lake Titicaca (one of the highest lakes in the world at 3820m above sea level) and covers 9000 sq km, straddling the Peru-Bolivia border. Our first day here was filled with chores including getting a police report, (can you believe they still use type writers here!) and arranging our insurance documents. However, the 2nd day in Copacabana was where we celebrated my 26th birthday. Gareth had booked us into a little lodge overlooking the lake as a special treat for mine and Nadia´s birthdays and was an idyllic place to spend the special day. The morning was a lazy one, followed by a short hike up a mountain to check out breath taking views of Lake Titicaca and Copacabana, including Isla de Sol. We then enjoyed a bottle of red in our little garden, snuggled in fleeces, gloves and hats which overlooked the small fishing boats on the lake and up above were shining stars with the Southern Cross spartkling above our heads. Not bad huh! Thanks Nadia and Gareth for sharing such a lovely birthday with me.

After another day in Copacabana we then hopped on another bus to La Paz. La Paz is the world´s highest capital with a population of 1.5 million people. It is elevated 3660m above sea level, and is clear to me to be the poorest South American capital. We spent the day walking through the smog filled streets, walking passed numerous market stalls selling anything from fruit and veg to clothes and everyday goods. Through the streets on a clear day you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the triple peak of Illimani (6402m mountains) which makes La Paz a city with a difference.

We walked through the Witches Market(Mercado de Hechiceria) which sold a range of magical potions, herbs and shriveled Ilama fetuses (not for the faint hearted) which are intended to cure illnesses and protect you from evil spirits (I think I´ll stick to Boots pharmacy thanks very much!). A short stroll then into Plaza Pedro D Murillo which is the main square housing the Presidential Palace, Iglesia de Santa Domingo and various other governmental buildings.

This was our final day with Gareth which marks the start of our 3rd leg in South America consisting of just Nadia and I. We are in La Paz until Monday night when we will then leave for Uyuni and spend 3 days / 2 nights on the Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni).

Inca Trail & Machu Picchu, Peru

Hurrah, the day has arrived for what we´ve all been waiting for, the start of the Inca Trail. The day started off at a reasonably hour 7.45am, when we took the bus to KM82. From here the hike was a gentle stroll walking along the River Urubamba before stopping at our 1st archeological site in Llactapata. The following 2 hours was uphill all the way to lunch in Wayllabamba which was the first test. Now, there were no worries about not being fed on the Inca Trail, our very own chef cooked up a feast each day, with breakfast and 2 3-course meals to keep our strength up. After lunch, we experienced our first test with an hour worth of a steep incline, this stretch made me realise that altitude sickness was setting in as the energy in my legs felt as though it had been zapped. Still, the moto for the trail is ´slowly slowly´ as without fail you will reach the intended destination which for us was our 1st campsite for the night - situated 3,300 metres above sea level.

Day 2 started with a 5am wake up call, and was to be the most challenging day of them all. The morning consisted of a 4 hour steep uphill trek to reach Dead Womans Pass, this was to be an incline of 900 metres. The 1st 2 hours were ok, however, the 2nd half was the struggle - at 3,800 metres I felt the altitude sickness, with dizzy spells, sickness and again just no energy. I always knew I was going to make it to the top of the pass and ´slowly, slowly´ again did the trick. Once I reached the top - 4,200 metres above sea level (the highest altitude of the whole trek), the views were amazing and just made the gruelling few hours worth it. Day 2 was the longest day, and so after lunch we had an hour and a half of downhill, which although much easier it is very tiring as you are clambering down steep steps and cobbles which is pretty harsh on the legs. The Runkuraqay High Pass was soon to follow which luckily was at lower altitude (3,800 metres)and I could immediatey feel myself get much stronger. The descent down to our 2nd campsite was truely amazing, the scenery was breathtaking with huge montains, a river winding itself round the valley and mountains, plus great thick cloud making its way over to create a view that cannot be explained. A 6am start the next day so needless to say we were all tucked up in our tents by 8pm.

Day 3 was the easiest day with only a 20 minute trek uphill before a more gentle walk for the next 2 hours. Today we were to reach our 3rd pass Phuyupatamarca, however, the whole morning was cloudy and so the view at this point was obscured. Not too disappointing as we were grateful for the weather the day before. An early finish on day 3 which meant we were at our next campsite by 12.30pm. The afternoon was for relaxation, recharge of camera batteries and a couple of well earned beers! We had finally reached the end of the trail... what an achievement!

Our wake up call for the final day was 3.45am, surprisely enough everyone was upbeat and full of energy, springing out of our sleeping bags... why? Well, today we were walking to Machu Picchu - our goal! All tour groups sleep at the same campsite on the final night and so it was a race to get to the check point to make sure we were the 1st group to reach the Sun Gate! Fleeces on, torches flashing we made it to the check point and were 1st in queue - well done us! After a 50 minute trek we reach Sun Gate around 6.15am to see the 1st glimpse of one of the most magnificent sites in South America, if not the whole world. We were overlooking Machu Picchu with the sun shining down on it - after a few high 5s and many photos we walked a further 30 minutes down to the site. Although very tired, everyone was running on pure adrenalin and couldn´t wait to get a close up look of this historical site.

Our group, Nadia, Gareth, Tom, Matt, Lynsey, Andy, Tracey, Matt, Martin, Ram, Sushell
and our wonderful guide Percy had spent the last 4 days walking through some of the most beautiful highlands, made new friends, achieved personal challenges and were rewarded with one of the most phenomenal sites I have ever laid my eyes on. Percy educated us with the history of his ancestors, a lot of information to remember but what I will never forget is the experience and the feeling of finally reaching our destination and being presented with something very special. BIG thanks goes to the whole group who were great people to share the experience with, your encouragement and banter throughout the trip was fantastic!

Some words of advice of anyone thinking of going to Peru and Machu Picchu... do the Inca Trail if you are fit enough to get the true experience. No train ride from Aguas Calientes will ever do it justice!

Cusco, Sacred Valley & Ollantaytambo

Cusco meant the start of the Inca Trail Discovery tour... we spent one day & night in Cusco before heading off to the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo where we would have a small hike to get us geared up for the infamous Inca Trail.

Cusco is a cute city, with endless cobbled streets where you could spend hours walking around exploring each nook and cranny. Cusco is situated 3326 metres above sea level and so this is the time to allow your body to acclimatise to high altitude before beginning the trail.

Initial signs of altitude sickness for me consisted of slight dizzyness and fatigue but figured if that was all I had to put up with then I would be fine at 4,200 metres which would be the highest pass on the trail.

Plaza de Armas is the main square in Cusco, with an great cathedral as its centre piece, and many streets leading off it that you could spend hours getting lost around.

We will return to Cusco after the Inca Trail where more exploration will take place. Next... onto the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo!

45 minutes out of Cusco we visited a small village surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges - this was the beginning of our tour of the Sacred Valley. Peruvian women sat around making hats, scarves, socks, gloves etc.. out of Alpaca wool whilst the children happily milled around the field which was also home to a herd of Alpaca.

The Sacred Valley was were the educational tour of the Inca Period began, Percy our guide was extremely good at explaining the history, and with a true passion he explained all there was to know about his ancestors. A hike around the Sacred Valley got us into the swing of what magnificent sites were to be seen on the trail due to start the following day...

First though, a good nights sleep in the small town of Ollantaytambo before 3 nights of camping along the trail...