zaterdag 1 augustus 2015

Day 28: the final countdown

Today we left for home, but we would take off only at 9 pm, so plenty of time to spend in Lima. After a small breakfast, we, well Elien decided she wanted to do some shopping or browsing at least. Since we had some time left before we had to be at the famous restaurant astrid y gaston, joachim went along with the plan. 


After a few hours Joachim was tired of shopping and we went for a drink, some lemonade. We strolled around in the Kennedy park, which is also a cat sanctuary. Time flew by and we went to the restaurant or so we thought... 
Arriving at the adress where the restaurant is supposed to be according to the lonely planet, we noticed something odd. The restaurant did not look like a fancy venue, but anyway we went in and asked if this was the restaurant. Because there was no name on the door nor any indication of astrid y gaston we were very sceptic. And indeed, this was not our restaurant, it had moved to another location. Luckily the new owners pointed us the new location on the map. We rushed outside and quickly got in a cab, to get there as quickly as possible, because instead of being 10 minutes early, we were now running late! Elien was already stressed out and hoped that the restaurant did not give away our table. The traffic certainly was not helping, but after a hell of a taxi ride we made it, only 25 minutes late. Whatever we do related to Elien's birthday turns in a fiasco, everything that can go wrong, goes wrong, murphy's law! However, we were already one day later so we hoped the worsed had passed, and luckily this was the case they did not give our table away. Time for our 32 course dinner, which we both enjoyed, where we got an introduction to the whole peruvian kitchen. Every dish was a work of art, where the cooks carefully placed the food on the extraordinairy plates, having the most unusual shapes.  They were produced by several peruvian, but also european artists. 

We tried to take a picture of every dish but everything looked so yummy that we forgot some. We were too eager to eat them. Too soon the 32 courses were in our stomac and the time came to leave lima. Our taxi driver concourred the lima rush hour and dropped us off save and sound at the airport. We spent our last soles on peruvian liquor, pisco, and off we were. 
Bye bye south america! Hasta la vista! 

donderdag 30 juli 2015

Day 27: last day in Lima

After a rough night for Elien, since she has been struggling with stomac problems the last few days, we decided to sleep in. Bzz, bzz,bzz the alarm clock went at 8.30, time for a relaxing bath. After the bath and breakfast we went on a guided city tour of downtown Lima, organized by free walking tours in Peru.

Day 26: Bye bye Cusco, Hello Lima

Our final moments in Cusco we decided to explore the city one more last time. After a delicious breakfast, we went to the San Blas square.

dinsdag 28 juli 2015

Day 25: the sacred valley

Because we couldn't get enough of the impressive Inca ruins, we booked a tour to the sacred valley, where we would visit some more... you guessed it: Inca ruins. But before we could start our trip there was a more pressing matter, our first hot shower in 5 days, finally! After a nice breakfast we were picked up and off we were. 

Day 24: Machu Pichu!

The climax of our trip, Machu Pichu, still unexplored territory for us, but not for long. Slowly our trip has been building up to this moment, where we first acclimatized to the altitude, and finally we walked all the way to the trailhead of our final climb. We got up early to get a glimpse of an empty Machu Pichu. 

Day 21,22 and 23: Salkantay trail

After a pick-up at 5.30 and a rather bumby, zigzag road we arrived at marcacsa. The starting point of our salkantay trail.

donderdag 23 juli 2015

Day 20: perfect match

After a good night of sleep in a warm and cosy room we were as new and ready for a whole day of Cusco.

Day 19: squeaky flight

After yet again a short night it was time to catch our flight to Cusco! 

woensdag 22 juli 2015

Day 18: cold as ice

After a chilly night, we got up at 4h30 and packed our things ready to return to civilization.

Day 17: flamingos on ice

After the wake up call at 5am we were ready for another day in the wideness off Uyuni salt flats.

Day 16: salt, salt and more salt

Our day started with packing up our gear for our trip to salar Uyuni.

zaterdag 18 juli 2015

Day 15: day at leisure

It was a bumpy ride on the unpaved roads from La Paz to Uyuni. But in the morning we arrived in the little charmless town. 

vrijdag 17 juli 2015

Day 14: to the summit of ChacaHaya

Today it was time to improve our altitude record! 5430 meter above sea level! A good preparation for the Salcantay trail in 7 days! 

donderdag 16 juli 2015

Day 13: La plas

We started the day with an extensive breakfast buffet after which we started our city tour.

woensdag 15 juli 2015

maandag 13 juli 2015

Day 10: Dress to impress

After the delicious breakfast ( with a pancake!) it was time to say goodbye to Eudocia and her family. We took a quick picture with her, our family portrait, as a memento. Then, we set sail to our last island on the titicaca lake, Taquile island.

Day 9: Amantani

 Check, check, check, ... We went over our what to take list, thicking every item off, now ready to explore the titicaca lake! 

Day 8: the farmer's life


Good morning 'knock knock', good morning 'knock knock', good morning 'knock knock', we heard at 5 am in the hallway. Both of us now wide awake, like everyone else, except the tourists in the one room. Unlike them, we had the chance to sleep in, but they decided otherwise.

zaterdag 11 juli 2015

Day 7: Cruz del condor

Once again we had to rise early, this time to spot some condors!

Day 6: Reaching new heights

Early in the morning, 5 am ( if you can call this morning), we started our day, by packing our bags, preparing ourselves both physically and mentally for our trip to the alto plano.

Day 5: Ill in Peru

Today, we woke up quiete early, due to joachim, who spent nearly the whole night in the bathroom. It was already clear that this would be a slow day, in bed with a fever, joachim wasn't up to much.

woensdag 8 juli 2015

Day 4: Perouvian cuisine

At 8.30 we arrived in Arequipa with the night bus. The bus was luxerious but Elien did not sleep wel. After a good breakfast with eggs and bacon she was ready to explore Arequipa.  

maandag 6 juli 2015

Day 3: sand on the menu

Today, we went on to explore the vast emptiness and wideness of the desert.

Day 2: 50 schades of grey

After a good night sleep in a king size bed in Ica we were ready to discover a new part of Peru: the Ballestas Islands! 

zondag 5 juli 2015

Day 1: dónde está la...

Today we had an early start, at 4 a.m. Elien was wide awake and as a consequence Joachim too. This because we had napped earlier on the plane. As a result, we commenced our exploration of the Miaflores area in Lima quite early. We first we had a rather sober breakfast at our hotel. 


zaterdag 4 juli 2015

Day 0: In transit

Today was the big day, across the big puddle, also know as the Atlantic. First we went to Paris by TGV. We found the check-in gate easily. The flight was fine, we wached some movies, we ate the 'delicious' airplane food and we did a nap. 

donderdag 2 juli 2015

Last minute shopping

After a long and hot day at work for Joachim, we went for some last-minute shopping, completing Elien's list with the last missing items.