Got back late yesterday from our three days out of range in southern Bolivia. 🇧🇴. It’s another 5am start as we have a travel day and head to northern Argentina. I can’t sleep so I’ll write instead.

In still trying to process everything that we’ve seen , the spectacle of it all, so many highlights, so many wonderful moments, truely been a highlight of this leg of our adventures.

As is always the case an early start and we were off in our 4WD. It’s kinda cozy the 6 of us plus the driver, but from the outset we regularly rotate. The back seats being a particular squeeze!

By this stage we are still on dirt or gravel roads , that will change to something that doesn’t even resemble roads , but for now our very skilled driver keeps us on track, but it’s bumpy and we are in close proximity! Unfortunately our guide Tina is in another car, so we only get to see her on breaks. We are kind of going into this blind, never really sure what’s next, how long to the next stop but we just ride with it.

After what seems like an hour and a half or so we stop for a photo op and leg stretch and it becomes the first of many just wow moments in that you find yourself a tiny speck in this magnificent and huge landscape. We are told that what we are looking at is both Chile and Bolivia. And that we are only 5kms from the border ( you know I love a border!), and after taking a few pics we head that way. Kinda joking that it would be fun to quickly crossover. Well, before we know it we are at the border and we are crossing into a demilitarised zone. Our driver doesn’t speak English and for all intents and purposes it looks like we are going to cross. We head straight to the border arm and then take a sharp left and just like that, it’s Chile on our right and Bolivia on our left. And off we go. Driver is completely unperturbed, bd clearly this is a normal route , but we had no idea what was happening! 😂

We were at the Tofagasta crossing ascending back into the mountains! Turns out that a lot of the next few days will be on the border between Chile and Bolivia. Bit of history there I’ll dive into in my next post ! But fair to say for now Bolivia not happy with the outcome ! Even though it’s been over a 100 years.

Next stop was a volcanic lookout. Everyone was quite excited because Mt Ollague was active and smoking. Let’s be clear this was no White Island scenario! There was the odd whisp of steam coming from a vent , which was great. But t in be honest we were both getting used to the thin air over the 4000m mark.

With that done it was back in the 4WD off to see some high altitude lagoons , where , we were told if we we were lucky we would see Flamingo”s. Turns out we were going to be very very lucky.

We were heading to a series of lagoons , each different and with its own characteristics, almost all of them with Flamingos along with other wildlife. This is high/back country. It’s only accessible by 4wd there are no shops, or anywhere to eat, no running water and apart from solar and generators no electricity…getting there is no day trip so what they’ve done is set up a few spots where tourist operators çan bring their guests, but you bring the food with you and they “venue” is essentially a picnic spot. No waste , what you bring with you you consume or take back with you. The venue provides tables chairs cutlery, and I expect some hearing facilities! All very civilised .

Anyway back to the Flamingos 🦩 they were spectacular. They did their thing and you could from the shore watch them, they seemed unbothered by our presence and our gasps of delight!

So up and up we went and by now the roads, if you could call them that are pretty dodgy we are essentially fully off road now, driving up the moraine of old glaciers , pebbles , rocks that seem at times to be a kilometre wide. The sheer scale of this is impossible to capture with a phone camera. It was stunning, at one point a member of the group said she was running out of adjectives, we all agreed and simply reverted to simple wows. Totally inadequate as those expressions were

And so back in we pile after volcanos , lagoons , flamingos and spectacular scenery what else could possibly be next. Well, how about this for cute?

Not sure how this came about but on this outcrop of rocks in the middle of nowhere, an extremely arid environment is a colony of Chinchillas, they’ve clearly become used to visitors and expected to be fed , cute! I swear that the one above eating bananas was almost tripping with delight. ( turns out I was not too far wrong as the sugar gives them a high and is not good for them). Normally they eat bark, grasses and cacti. But in the meantime feast your eyes on these little cuties.

By now are cup runneth over but apparently the day is not yet over so onwards we drive !

We eventually make it to the gate of Sernap national park. Tina arranges our entry for our final lagoon viewing for the day. And it’s a doozie. The pink lagoon ! Yup. Pink. As a result of the thermal springs in the Lagoon you get a lot of pink/red algae which the Flamingos feast on! We stopped and just watched them for half an hour it was stunning.

We then made it to our accommodation for the night, quite basic , only ran on solar and generators , first time I’ve been somewhere where a shower was an additional cost, but to be honest it was a bed and that’s all we needed. We had a birthday to celebrate and it was a 4:30sm start the next day so we were in bed by 8:30 grateful that the two “old” dudes had yet again been given their own room. What an extraordinary day. And there is still more to come.

So back up at 4am at over 4500m it’s -5 degrees as we pile into our vehicle. Been vague promises of perhaps an opportunity to get into a hot spring so togs are on under the hats and scarves ( really do we want to swim?). No point grumbling get on with it , even if packing with a bloody head torch is a pain and you’re sure you only just went to sleep.

And then we climb, up and up I realise when I see David’s hands are beginning to tingle , that’s one of his altitude symptoms. I check the compass app ( offline function) and sure enough we are at 4800m , we just about hit 5000m ( remember Everest base camp is 5200m so this is high) and I realise we are on the lip of a volcanic crater… in we plunge. I had no idea that this was going to happen. And next I knew we were next to what was being called a geyser ( but was actually a steam vent ) that was in full blast. Out we pile, no guard rails , no warning signs just it would seem get in amongst it. We then had a look at a few other active spots that were bubbling away in the cauldron. Of course for David and I the tragedy of whaakari/ White Island was not far from our minds. Clearly was not on anyone else’s as others peered over the edges. Way too close for my liking, but that’s a “they” problem !

Fair to say as well at that altitude the thin air, the fatigue we were feeling the effects, so we were pleased when we started to descend!

So by now the sun is rising and we are racing down the side of a volcano with no discernible roads, towards our next destination the hot springs. We see another lagoon this time with thermal springs and a group of Flamingos literally taking a spa. Without hesitation its gear off and in we get. Didn’t even feel the sub zero temps. It was a huge amount of fun.

Next stop and again another vista. This time just ten minutes up the road. To a spot where the apparently Dali had been inspired. While I can absolutely see the parallels, turns out Dali never came to Bolivia. So looks like some poetic license on this. Regardless, stunning.

We then started the long drive back to Uyuni. Via the valley of the rocks. Hard again to see the scale of these and I’d be fascinated to know the geology. But to be honest, beginning by this stage to get a bit tired, keen for a shower, a comfy seat and a bit of down time. While the rest of the crew were heading back to the salt flats for more reflective pics, as we were going past the hotel David and I bailed went back to the hotel, had a shower washed some clothes and repacked our bags. Another 4:30am start and off to 🇦🇷. Thanks Bolivia you’ve been great.

As we leave Peru I have noted a few observations.

Take all of these with a bucket of salt! Do not take them seriously at all.

Volkswagon beetles are everywhere!

It’s amazing and must be the climate, but they seem to be everywhere. I love it

Peruvian dogs

of those that I have seen they seem really happy, confident, tails up. Even the strays seem to be happy looking,, well fed! One highlight, unfortunately I did not get a picture we saw a mother dog with two puppies in the countryside walking along , while the pups played and tackled each other. Then a 4th larger dog joined them , I’m probably romanticising the image, but I reckon it was the dad.

Houses always look unfinished.

The houses always look unfinished and unkempt. Our guide suggested that this is because finished homes are then subject to tax. Consequently they are never really finished!

There is no vaping!

Nada, nothing , not seen one person vaping and the only people smoking seem to be foreigners. It’s great! Good thing we gave up before we came.

A Rainbow but not as you know it

Rainbow flags are everywhere, but it doesn’t mean they are a super gay city. It’s the flag for Cusco!!

Where are the fences?

The countryside is bizarrely bereft of fencing, certainly in the areas we have driven through, have not seen “herds” of livestock but animals tethered to ropes. The visual effect is one that creates a sense of vastness on a grand scale.

Australian invaders

There are eucalyptus trees absolutely everywhere! It’s a full on invasion. And yes they are Australian origin eucalyptus trees , when and how did this happen I need to know.

Apparently they thrive in the relatively dry environment, grow fast and are a source of construction material, but those things have definitely gone rogue.

Peruvian Food

The food is very carb heavy and protein low, potatoes, potatoes, sometimes with rice.

It’s really not fair for me to comment too much, I get that on these types of tours you have to try and direct groups to reasonably priced, variety typed foods that you know are safely prepared ! You don’t want gastro on a bus. But it does mean you end up with pretty bland middle of the road fare at tourist prices. Add in the odd alpaca steak and Guinea pig everywhere.

I was reading a WHO study that was done between 2019-2022 and malnutrition affected 19.5% of the population. For children that can mean permanent growth stunting which may explain the anecdotal observation that as a whole they appear to be shorter in stature.

Covid

Horrible stat, Peru suffered more deaths per head of population than any other nation in the world. 6600 deaths per million , compared to the 490 in New Zealand.

Politics

The common refrain is that corruption is an ongoing issue . You see political party slogans on walls everywhere ! Our guide mentioned to us that there are 20 parties standing in the 2026 elections.

It’s a poor nation the average salary is about 2500 soles or $1250 Nz a month.

From the little I have seen , the Peruvian people are industrious, hard working , smart people. They have a nation of incredible resources and diversity. The foundations for greatness are there , I hope they find them.

Christmas Day for us was an extremely quiet affair. We were leaving Cusco to get a 7 hour bus south to Puno. On the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Initially there had been plans to make our Christmas Day celebrations on the bus, wine was purchased, cakes, treats but that was all blown out of the water when yours truly decided on Christmas Eve we should go to a gay bar. I had some crappy family news and I was drowning my sorrows a bit. So off we went to Chango , and I danced and danced and drank too much with a lot of the group. David wisely stepped out. So I arrived back at the hotel very late, very drunk and very wet as it was pouring! While I may have took the lead, I was definitely not the only one. So by the time we hit the bus station dishevelled and with sore heads at 7:15am, the Christmas spirit had waned. It was fun, managed to do 30,000 steps that day so the dance floor got a pounding.

Many of you will probably know this, but South American long haul buses are simple next level. Practically lie flat beds, air conditioned, charging ports and phone stands. They are great. So we spent the time driving through some spectacular scenery , nursing my sore head and arrived in Puno 7 hours later. Still I do get to say I was at lake Titicaca on Christmas Day!

We are stayed in an old school hotel in Puno. Expecting chemist as day to be quiet the streets were packed with families walking, we had a quick dinner, some more panadol for me and off for an early night.

So next day it was onto a boat to have a look around Lake Titicaca. The lake is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m, and even though it’s the middle of summer the altitude makes it cold. We woke to 3c. Brrrr..

So off we went in our little boat and about an hour and half later we hit our first destination one of the 150 Reed islands that families have been living in for centuries!

It’s was raining and cold so we felt a bit miserable, as we hopped onto the spongy squelchy raft. We had a bit of presentation and then when the rain stopped we could have a look around.

The island is bloody tiny. 5-6 dwellings with a family of 11 , traditionally they would have lived off fishing and trading. But in recent years tourism is creating a new economy for these families.

It looked like such a hard life. Despite the new income from tourism.

So back on the boat to head to our next destination which was for a homestay.

Fair to say there was a fair amont of trepidation about the honestly, the Intrepid description had said it was basic accommodation in mud brick homes and that there were no showers , language is also a barrier and with it being cold and wet we didn’t know what we were getting into.

I expect for our hosts it would have been equally as nerve wracking, they have no idea who they are going to end up with either, right?

So we arrived. We were greeted by two women in vibrant traditional dress and taken to our respective rooms. Ours was super cute and way exceeded expectations.

We then sat down for lunch with our host and tried as best we could to get to know each other. Our host Yula was 33, married, two kids Sébastien and Natalie. Her parents in law lived next door.

It’s never easy communicating when you don’t share a language, but it’s amazing what a big smile, an open attitude and some sign language could achieve we felt very welcome immediately.

We had a wee bit of free time before we had to do some “chores” so wandered up to the plaza. This is a remote area with a tiny population the inhabitants spoke Spanish, Quechuan , and Aymara. All completely different languages.

The hat with the two baubles indicates she is married , while there is a different hat for those who are not married- more on that later..

We made it back to the house where we were assigned jobs to assist the household, we got to sort dried potatoes, from those that were whole to those that were broken!

After our jobs we got together to play volleyball, locals versus visitors and talk about an ice breaker – it was so much fun and really brought everyone together!

They then gave us the option of dressing up in traditional clothes , ordinarily I may have resisted but it’s incredible what a few hours of camaraderie, laughter and good will we do. Before we knew it we were all in our outfits.

From there, while in attire we all had to go upstairs and help cook dinner , chopping, peeling vegetables,

We then ate together, laughed some more and were all back on our rooms by 8pm.

It was a wonderful experience, and so wholesome!

This has been an intrepid initiative, they have supported the set up , and done so in a respectful way, using local resources, and local guides. It doesn’t feel contrived, and the response from those we are engaging with feels genuine.

They structure thing’s themselves, so at this time of the year when it’s low season, there’s only one group a week coming through, so each community group gets rotated through so the whole community benefits. It’s been rough since Covid and with the ongoing political instability, but things will hopefully continue to recover and more people get to engage with these wonderful communities.

It was then time for dinner, which we had to help prepare.

It was a nice touch, and once we had eaten , we all had an early night. No TV , no WIFI so no choice but to sleep. Bliss.

Next morning breakfast was fried bread, herbal tea and an egg.

So simple yet so delicious!

And then our host walked us back to the boat. but before she left she presented us both with a wee flower and it was hugs all round

Next stop was a trip to tequil island, population 2000 about an hour away and with completely different cultural identities… extraordinary! A hike for an hour up over the hill to the main plaza. This was the hometown of our guide so he had a few things lined up.

The walk is tough at altitude, at almost 4000m, slow and steady. Views were great but as it was raining it felt a wee but miserable. While I haven’t been the landscape, stone walls and clear blue water made me think this is what Greece must look like.

When we arrived at the plaza we inundated the tiny local cafe, especially when it was here , for the first time in weeks we heard the whir of freshly ground coffee beans. Yum!

Then the locals came out to perform. Which was fun. There were school mates and family members of the guide. The change in local dress remarkable!

We then had some lunch and then it was back on the boat to Puno for a free afternoon, catch up some packing. Package up the latest fabric purchases and then try to find a post office to send them home.

Lake Titicaca is friggin huge. 8500sqkm and shared by two nations Peru and Bolivia.

Three native fish, all very small and two introduced species , trout from Canada and kingfish from Argentina.

The lake is in serious decline, pollution is an issue from the 5 rivers that flow into her, mercury from gold mining as well as sewerage discharges. Local species are under threat. Add to that the changes from global warming where the essential rains each year are getting less and less and the largest fresh water catchment in South America is in trouble. Interestingly it’s not purely fresh water , with 1% salt it makes the water unsuitable for irrigation! It’s am amazing piece of water and we only got a glimpse. It is absolutely well worth a visit if you get the chance, Lima and Cusco get the lions share of tourist visitors.

So that’s about it for Peru. Tomorrow we are back on a luxury bus and head to the Bolivian border. It’s been an absolute blast. Can’t believe we have such a long way to go on this trip. We have 4 nights in an Airbnb before we start this all again with another Intrepid trip for 13 days.

Peru so far has been about under promising and over delivering.

Christmas Eve here is a free day, so can rest from the full on pace or do your own thing.

I had heard about Rainbow mountain and spoken to Marco our guide about it. He was nonchalant, you know a lot of those pics are with filters, it’s rainy season there may be cloud, it’s 4 hours there and 4 hours back- and then there’s the altitude it’s over 5000m, let’s just check the weather closer to the time and see..

Well we are closer, and the weather looks good , so Marco how about it?

Four of us were interested in going, so with a quick word and $109us we were booked and told to be ready for a pick up at 5am for a 4 hour drive to cover the aprox 200km.

I had heard about rainbow mountain, seen teams of two puff their way up on Amazing race , seen various versions of pictures from relatively bland to over the top technicolour. They are a new attraction, first “discovered” in 2016, the result of snow melt from climate change. Yeah, I know that does put a lense on things.

But undeterred I confirmed and was ready for the pick up at 5am and the long drive with our guide and a huge mini bus.

Breakfast was arranged and included ( thanks intrepid) and then we turned off the main road where we started going up, and the roads got narrower and windier, up and up we went. Ears started to pop, the landscape thinned out and we saw less and less vegetation. The housing we passed was becoming more and more basic, lamas started appearing, then we were above the snow line and still we kept ascending, to 4700m. Looks like I was going to get a white Christmas after all.

Our intrepid guide had decided we would go to Palcoyo , a new site only open in the past year. Less tourists , less of a big incline hike, and the chance to see multiple rainbow sites. Folks this is a brand new site the roads have only just been graded to allow tourist vehicles, and currently they are averaging 20 visitors a day. That is about to change. Once the IG crowd get hold of this it won’t be that way for long. I’ve got mixed feelings about the whole thing but I’ll talk about that in a bit. The scenery was unlike anything I have seen before. Trust me , these pictures do not give it justice. The scale, the colours even. Just incredible!

You immediately felt the altitude, but that shouldn’t be a surprise Everest base camp sits at 5200m and we would peak at 5000m, for me it starts with a headache, breathlessness and then my eyes hurt, dizziness from the lack of oxygen, I had my blood oxygen reader with me and I hit a low of 74. I’ve been in the 90’s and at sea level below 90 is hospitalisation level , so that’s you’ll definitely notice it and that became evident as I ascended!

There was so much to see up there, glaciers, Lamas, mountain ranges incredible rock formations, people and these pictures do not give justice to the colours we could see. Partly it was overcast so that dulled things , but on the ground, there were blues, green, yellows, reds…just incredible!

We also got to see some glaciers these are particularly important as they were where their mummified ancestors were kept. They are, like everywhere in retreat.

And then there were the rock formations, just incredible.

With more rainbow on the background.

Then there is the flora and fauna , delicate and unique,

So why uncomfortable, well, a few things. Firstly , we were, as you can see from the pictures, trampling all over these sites. We were within the rules , and they did have guidelines, but still, once numbers increase, I hate to think what will happen.

The local people are it seems desperately poor, no services, subsistance living on potatoes and lamas and it feels like they’re about to be exposed to the world of mass tourism. I have no idea how this is being managed, if at all for their benefit , but you had grandmothers posing with their lamas for a few soles and children selling bits and pieces to the passing tourists.

What this means for them, I have no idea, we bought a couple of key rings from the boy. We told him to keep the change ( probably $2.50) he looked at us and said. Thank you for your gift, now I must give you something and gave us both a chocolate bar. I fear how that type of innocence will be exploited but in the moment it was so lovely!

Am I participating in this? Probably, even writing this with good intention is not necessarily helpful, and I strongly suspect that is why this was not a formal part of the intrepid trip , I don’t think this would meet their community standards. Which is great.

As a tourist, it was an incredible experience, and I was very fortunate to get in when I did, I do hope that this is being done in conjunction with the local people.

Could this trip be any more diverse ?

It’s hard to put in words experiencing something that you’ve read about and seen in pictures, but then you’re in that pinch yourself moment where you’re there. I’ll try, but I’m still processing the magnitude of being there, seeing and experiencing what we did today.

It was an early start. And from what I had previously read and seen in videos can be an absolute nightmare, but Intrepid took care of all that, leave your bags they’ll be at the station later , 5 minutes later and we were on a bus.

But what a hair raising ride, narrow steep incline up a series of hairpin turns where it constantly felt like you were going to go off the edge, huge drops, and yet somehow or another it was two way and buses would pass each other. serously look at that road!

It was very cloudy and moody when we arrived, we disembarked and started the trek up to the viewing platform in what seemed like a relatively thick fog. Were we going to see anything at all? even the sun was straining to be seen

So we waited , and waited. and we wondered if we would see anything at all,

But slowly it started to turn, but it needed to hurry up as the next allocated group were hot on our heels.

And then the clouds started to part and the cameras came out as we all hustled to find our spots, friggin hilarious. Our guide warning us not to give up our “territory” hotly guarded territory at that

I should probably about now give a little Incan history, our guide had time to fill and I took notes so here it goes.

By the 15th century the Incan empire covered area in what we now know as Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile. A vast population of 10 million people. Cusco was the capital , designed specifically to have paths in each direction of the empire. However, the ruler had a brother who had a falling out with his brother , who had set up a secondary capital in the north in what we now know as Ecuador. The Spanish arrived in 1532 , with their religion, in search of gold and silver and Malaria and other diseases. There were only an initial 152 Spaniards , they sought to exploit the brotherly feud and got lots of details on who was who and what the politics were in Cusco and used that information to assassinate the leaders in Cusco, and for his efforts , they murdered the brother too. I suppose that dealt with that feud. Colonisers, they’re special aren’t they?

By 1536 the invaders had got into sacred valley and word spread to Machu Picchu who at that time decided to abandon and retreat to another site.

And so it lay abandoned for centuries, slowly being consumed by the surrounding landscape. And given how remote it is , it could have stayed that way.

It was rediscovered by a local farmer in 1902, but he was not believed. And it wasn’t until 1911 when an American archaeologist from Yale university on the request of the Peruvian government came to start looking for a lost city. He offered a reward that was picked up by a young boy and in 1911 he was taken to the overgrown site.,,

It wasn’t long before his discovery was being published and Machu Picchu was back in the eyes of the world, opened up to tourism in the 70’s and named a unesco heritage site in 2007.

History lesson over. Back to the blog.

There is so much to see and do, I still csnt get my head around why there , it’s so remote , so inhospitable. But they had their restons.

The Incans like many indigenous societies were deeply connected to their environment, a deep sense of balance that they saw around them. Machu Picchu means old mountain. But it is balanced by new mountain , and either side of that are happy mountain and sad mountain.

Massive stone sculptures designed to only reveal their secrets st sunrise on Solstice.

As well as a sun temple they had a moon temple and it is from there you can see that Machu Pichhu as a whole is designed in the shape of a soaring eagle. Representing the sky , where Cusco is in the shape of a Puma, ( the earth) and a neighbouring town is a snake representing the underworld.. it’s tingling the parallels to Te Ao Māori.

But that wasn’t all the flora was fascinating too, over a thousand types of orchids grow here too

What a treat we had. Truely incredible! And I’ve even managed to write this on the bus on the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow for us will be Christmas Eve and I’m heading up to Rainbow mountain, a 5am start , a hike up to 5200m. Yikes. Wish me luck.