Peru, Bolivia and Chile

South America

July - September 1997


The mountain town of Tarma at 3000m		A village fete near Tarma

Drying food and mud houses		A market in Huancayo

Peruvian terrace farming, mostly potato		On the Inca trail

An ancient Inca settlement.		Macchu Picchu on my 18th Birthday

Nancy and myself at Macchu Picchu		On top of Huayna Picchu, the imposing mountain behind the city

Bright Peruvian trains in the town of Agua Caliente		The temple of Sacsayhuaman (pronounced 'sexy woman') above Cusco

The Incas shaped the stones by repeated hitting with smaller harder stones. Every stone fits together perfectly - must have taken forever...		Our two day hike from Cusco to Cochabamba took us away from everyone

Looking down the Urubamba valley to Cochabamba		Copacabana on the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca

One of the high mountains surrounding La Paz		At 5500m on top of Mt. Chacaltaya near La Paz

Nancy and Jono on the summit		The Salar de Uyuni is vast...

...12,000 km² of entirely flat salt.		We made it to one of the 30 or so islands, Isla de Pescados, with its own unique ecosystem of mostly flies and cacti

They harvest salt directly from the floor		The tiny town of San Juan is about as remote as it gets

San Juan central street		Laguna Colorada is an entirely red lake due to a special algae

Hot springs at 5000m. The water was 50C and the outside air -20C - note the thick ice...		Lost in the steam

Thermal vents at Sol de Manana		Crazy wind-sculpted rock at, aptly named, Dali's desert.

Laguna Verde with our jeep driver, cook and group for the four day tour from France, Holland and Israel		Train jumping...

...at the train cemetery		Crossing the Andes between Bolivia and Chile

The border control with volcanoes and spectacular sunset		Parque Nacional de Lauca in Chile

Pacific waves at Arica		Palms at Moro head, Arica

Volcan Misti from the roof of our hotel in Arequipa, Peru		Santa Catalina monastery was a haven of solitude...

...peace and quiet...		...and colours

A Golden Eagle		The Colca Canyon is supposedly the deepest in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon

It's also the perfect place for Condor spotting		The South American condor

The Nazca cemeteries - the bones are on the surface from grave-robbers		Sandboarding at...

...the 'highest dunes in Peru'...		...by the Huacachina oasis

The trip:	The day after finishing my A-level exams before University, my sister Nancy and I headed for a two month trip to Peru, Bolivia and Chile. And of course, two months is way too short. You need two years (photos are scanned directly from the old film accounting for the low quality of many)
Peru:	Leaving Lima quickly we headed to the tiny mountain town of Tarma. From Tarma to Huancayo and on to Ayacucho - not a tourist in sight. We did the Inca trail from Cusco to reach Macchu Picchu on the dawn of my 18th birthday. A 2 day hike in the remote mountains around Cusco and then taking the 10hr train ride down to Lake Titicaca. We spent time in Puno and visited the floating reed islands of the Uros people on Lake Titicaca and then crossed into Bolivia at Copacabana on the Southern shores of the lake...
Bolivia:	Really enjoyed La Paz, and the 5500m Mt. Chacaltaya. We headed South to freezing Potosi and its mines, the 'highest city in the world' at over 4000m.We then headed to the very Southern tip of Bolivia and the awesome salt desert of Salar de Uyuni, volcanoes, the red Laguna Colorada, freezing flamingoes, geysers and vents at 5000m in Sol de Manana on the Bolivian side of San Pedro de Atacama. Back to La Paz before a night bus to Arica in Chile...
Chile:	We came across from Bolivia at the Parque Nacional de Lauca. A high pass over the Andes studded with fantastic volcanoes and wildlife. We stayed in the Pacific town of Arica also visiting the Atacama Desert before heading by train back to Peru.
Back to Peru:	Stopped at the desert cemeteries of Nazca and spent time in Arequipa. Headed to the coast and the oasis of Huacachina for sandboarding before through Lima to Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca further North. Returned to Lima for shopping before heading home and starting University...