The Latest!

When our tour finished we were dropped off in San Pedro De Atacama, in Chile... we passed the border with no problems at all! We spent the day in San Pedro, which was small and very touristy. We had delicious fresh juice, went to an archeological museum and enjoyed some shopping.

At 8PM we got on a night bus to Arica, Chile-- about an 8 hour trip. We got in at 5:30AM and thankfully the hostal let us in so we went straight to bed. The night bus was miserable and we were very tired. In the afternoon we went to the main center of town, walked by the ocean, and enjoyed a Sunday market. The architecture was colonial and amazing. Later in the afternoon we grabbed our bathing suits and borrowed boogie boards from the hostal and went to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful and very refreshing! Arica was a great city. We definitely noticed the difference from Peru and Bolivia.

The next morning we explored Arica a little more and then headed to the border of Peru (again no issues) and made it to Tacna around 3PM where we waited for our night bus to Nasca. We had a first class bus this time and it was much easier to sleep.

In Nasca we went on an awesome tour to 2 different lookouts to see the Nasca lines and also the Cahuachi pyramids. We also went to a small pottery museum where we learned about the methods the Nasca people used thousand of years ago (that they still use today)! Seeing the lines was amazing and the pyramids were very unique and interesting. There are only 3 pyramids that are uncovered, and there are 24 kilometers of land filled with pyramids that are still covered by sand. Overall, the Nasca city wasn't very exciting, but the history was incredible! What a great day! :)

We departed for Ica early this morning! 

Highlights of the Tour

Our 3 day tour to the Salt Flats and Atacama desert was phenomenal! We had an amazing adventure and saw so many interesting sites. Our guide was great and we also had some pretty cool people in our group. 

Here are the highlights:
- The train cemetery-- seeing and climbing on old rusted trains from the 1940s that were used to transport silver
- The salt factory where we learnt all about the way the salt is processed
- The salt flats themselves which are the largest in the world stretching over 10,000 square kilometers-- we took a lot of silly photos and drove to the very middle of them! The feeling was surreal as we were in the middle of nowhere and for miles and miles all you could see was white flatness.
- The fish island (on the salt flats), that is home to hundreds of giant cacti, humming birds and rabbit like rodents. We hiked to the top and could see a 360° view of the flats.
- Sleeping in a hostal made of salt bricks and in a bed made of salt.
- Lagoons-- we went to several lagoons over the three days, and each one was unique. They are home to 3 species of wild flamingos which were spectacular to see. One lagoon turns red during the day because of the large amounts of plankton being stirred up because of the wind. Another turns green because it contains 70% arsenic. Overall the lagoons were very neat, and beautiful!
- Seeing vicunas and andean foxes
- We saw many volcanoes along the way, some active and some dormant which were quite cool!
- Driving through the desert was amazing, very rustic and a new experience to be in the middle of absolute nowhere. 
- On the second night we stayed at a tiny hostal that was right by some hot springs, so after dinner we walked to them and sat in the relaxing warmth while enjoying the stars (which were stunning).
- Going into the crater of a semi-active volcano and seeing the geysers and steam jets-- possibly the weirdest and most unique part of the trip.

Salt Flats Tour

Sucre

We had a slightly panicked journey to the airport in La Paz-- we couldn't find a taxi anywhere and thought we'd miss our flight. But, nonetheless we arrived in Sucre around 12:30 after our flight was delayed about 30 minutes.

First we checked in at our hostal, and then we began our exploration of the city. We had a delicious lunch at a vegetarian restaurant and then hiked up to "La Recoleta" which gave us a fantastic view of the whole city. Then we went to a costume museum which displayed intricate Victorian outfits in a colonial house-- it was very interesting. Next we walked down a few unique streets, enjoyed the main plaza and had ice cream! We also visited "La Casa de Libertad" which was a museum with a variety of displays from contemporary art to swords to flags. We also explored a massive market that had anything you could possibly want. Sucre is a beautiful city and we wish we could have stayed longer!

This morning we got on a bus to Uyuni, unfortunately it left late. About 3 hours into the ride, we were further delayed because the driver got lost for about 2 hours (which was very frustrating). So we arrived in Uyuni around 7:30 pm after about 9 hours on the bus.

Tomorrow we begin our 3 day salt flats tour, there probably won't be internet so I will post again when we arrive in Chile!

La Paz!

Lake Titicaca and a Cactus

Off to Bolivia

On Friday after the rest of the family left, Erica and I hung around Puno until it was time to catch our bus to Copacabana (city right near the border in Bolivia). We crossed the border with no issues at all,  it was quite easy! We enjoyed the evening in Copacabana and a beautiful sunset over Lake Titicaca.

On Saturday we took a boat to the Island of the Sun, about two hours away. We started on the north side of the island and hiked about 10km to the south side. It was absolutely stunning.  There were Inkan ruins along the way and the views were incredible. (See photo)

On Sunday we caught a 10 am bus to La Paz, the biggest city in Bolivia! We wandered around for a few hours after we arrived and had an early night. 

Today we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum and church, Calle Jaen, a few markets and the Ethnographic and Folklore Museum. A few museums we wanted to see were closed because it's a Monday, so that was a bit disappointing. It as great to wander the streets and do some shopping though. For dinner we went to a delicious Indian restaurant.

Tomorrow we fly to Sucre!