Where we stayed: Peru

Lima: Most visitors to Lima stay in either upmarket Miraflores or slightly bohemian Barranco.  The old town is reportedly not very safe for tourists at night, although there are hostels and hotels there too.

The highs (and lows) of our visit to the Bolivian salt flats

Our trip to Bolivia’s salt flats and other worldly landscapes of the country’s southwest was somewhat cursed from the start. First off we missed the bus that we had intended to take to Uyuni (where most tours to the salt flats start), as we struggled to find a taxi and then the police decided to check our taxi drivers papers. We arrived at the bus station, just as the very full bus was leaving. This was not too much of a problem as there was another bus in an hour, but if only we’d known it was a sign of things to come!

Into the Colca Canyon

At the start of the trek

Arequipa is a ‘jumping off’ point for lots of hiking and adventure activities, including trekking into the Colca Canyon, which was thought to be the deepest canyon in the world at 3,400 metres, until its neighbour the Cotahusi Canyon was found to be 135 metres deeper.

There are lots of companies in Arequipa offering tours into the Colca Canyon, but having read up on it, I could see that there was a very doable round trip into the Canyon (with a night at the bottom at the ‘Oasis’) that we could do on our own. And generally we like to try and do things by ourselves where we can, particularly where the route looked as straight forward as this one did. 

On the Gringo Trail

On the coast south of Lima, there are a number of sights and activities, which collectively have become known as the Gringo trail.

I hadn’t actually realized this when I was planning our trip. However, looking at what there was to see and do between Lima and Cusco (from where we are booked on an Inca Trail tour, starting on 23^rd March), I unknowingly managed to map out a perfect Gringo Trail route. So much for trying to get off the beaten track!