Ok, I must admit I have been putting this blogpost off for a while, for various reasons – poor wifi, feeling overwhelmed by the thought of creating this post lol :/ and wanting to do 100, 000 at one time. But, without further ado, here it is:
I left Ecuador on Thursday 18th May; accompanied by like 10,000 bags, my passport, a wad of dollars, and an excited heart, I took an overnight bus from Quito to Cuenca, a large city in the south of Ecuador. If I’m honest, I was unsure about going to Cuenca, but I decided to go anyway since it would make for the perfect stop off point as I journeyed south into Peru.
Travelling is not always glamorous, but it is an eye-opening experience! Picture long, overnight journeys on a large coach accompanied by the wonderful stench of body odour, vomit, sweat and morning breath combined as everyone heads to their next destination. But, somehow each time I reach my expected destination, I’m so grateful for my safe arrival, being in a new town and yet I forget the awful smells and am ready to embark on the another vomit-scented journey to my next destination – I think that accepting this, is the beginning of becoming a genuine backpacker.
So far, this has been my journey:
Cuenca 19.05-20.05 (Technically still in Ecuador but it was the official start of my solo travels :))
Hostal: Yakumama
I arrived in Cuenca around 6am on Friday morning, had a quick nap in my hostel and went on a free walking tour. To be honest, when I first arrived in Cuenca in the early hours of the morning, I thought it looks so similar to Quito and doubted whether it was worth a few days of exploration. However, going on the free walking tour, opened me up to the city which is famous for its super religiosity as it boasts around 152 churches and
Looking out onto the city of Cuenca.
Ingapirca ruins, Ecuador’s largest site of ancient ruins.
It was like a large maze, the detail and precision is insane, especially considering it was built without any modern machinery.
Máncora 20.05 – 21.05
Hostal: Casa Nomade
I took an overnight bus from Cuenca to Máncora with a bus company called Azuay. I had heard good things about this company and since the border crossing was at night decided it was worth paying a bit more to ensure a safe, hassle free crossing. Beach town on the northern coast of Peru which is a popular stop off point for many travellers heading south from Ecuador. It is not the prettiest town but despite this it was so calming being so close to the ocean.
First time trying Peruvian ceviche (on the left), I was not disappointed. The seafood fried rice was beautiful too 🙂
Beach in Mancora, reminded me of the Santa Cruz island of the Galapagos!
Main street in the city of Mancora.
Chachapoyas 22.05- 25.05
Hostal: (will update when I remember)
Canon de Soñche with Marina and Bartosz (friends who I met in Mancora and I managed to convince them to travel to Chachapoyas with me – lol!).
Real life skeletons on local people who were mummified :0
The East coast of Peru stretches for thousands of miles and is mostly desert – like this photo.
Canon de Soñche, Chachapoyas.
Kuelap is a pre-Incan ruins site known to be even older than Macchu Picchu. It is often referred to as ‘Machu Picchu’s older sister’.
Largely undiscovered until 2005, Gocta Falls lies in the Peruvian rainforest. The hike including the journey to and from the waterfall took around 8 hours. It was a long day, however, the view of the waterfall was so amazing – simply worth it. During our hike to the waterfall, we caught this beautiful glimpse!
Underneath the huge waterfall with Marina, a friend made on the journey.
Huaraz 25.05-28.05
Hostal: Residencial Norandes
Laguna 69, it took us about 3 hours of walking to reach the lake and then about 2.5 hours to get back to the starting point. It was so worth it!
I was squinting because of the sun – lol! This is Laguna 69, the water was this blue, so incredible!
Beautiful view on the Laguna 69 hike – of course, I had to get a photo taken here, in my classic pondering pose.
Yup, it was this blue! There are 200+ lakes in Huascarán National Park in Peru, this is one of two that I visited!
Ok. 1. It’s really all about the people – Marina, Marijn and I travelled together for a little while and it was so lovely! 2. I look like a little boy.
So I’ve been on the road for 9 days now (as I write this) and it’s been an adventure. Days and cities have mixed up into one whirlwind adventure and whilst it’s been a great experience so far, I’ve realised that I love travelling slowly, mainly because I love getting to really know a new town or city without the pressure of having to constantly be on the move. Part of the reason, I LOVED Ecuador was because I had a base in Cumbaya and was able to travel on the weekends knowing that I had a ‘home’ to come back to. So, with all of this said, I am currently reconsidering my travel plans to allow me to spend more time in each place and enjoy each destination even more.
Lima 29.05-03.06
Hostal: Airbnb
My angel (Naomi) came to visit to visit me in Lima. We laughed, I cried, argued, ate and were stared at ALOT.
Lima’s beach in the distance.
Delicious ceviche (raw fish cooked in lime juice) which is a Peruvian delicacy and this particular ceviche was one of the best that I tried. It was SPICY!!!
Tagliatelle cooked in Black Squid Ink. It was delish! I highly recommend this restaurant in Lima – Punto Azul – the food was amazing.
Paracas 03.06-05.06
Hostal: (will update when I remember)
I mean, I love jumping shots!
Paracas National Reserve, where the driest desert on Earth meets the ocean.
So many birds…
Lol, these sea lions were DEFO posing for the camera.
Never seen a beach like this, how incredible, right?! The red sand is a natural phenomenon caused by the rock.
Huacachina 05.06 – 07.06
Hostal: Can’t remember the name, I arrived and a local taxi driver took me there. Although I wouldn’t recommend it so it’s probably good that I can’t remember the name.
Lol, watch me sand-board down this huge dune! Almost didn’t do it as it looked really high, but it was totally fine and actually very fun in the end! Always face your fears!
I said I love jumping shots…
It was too beautiful, I had to!
Cute little oasis town, Huacachina.
Arequipa 07.06-10.06
Hostal: (will update when I remember)
I won this hot chocolate on the Free Walking Tour that I did in Arequipa. It was delish!
Watch the Andean Condor (native to the Colca Canyon) soar above in the video below! It was taken whilst waiting for condors to appear at Cruz del Condor in Colca Canyon (World’s deepest canyon!).
This cutie Alpaca, called Lucas, was living his best life, laying in the sun and receiving endless cuddles from tourists, like myself.
Looking back to make sure you’re in awe of my kingdom as much as I am 🙂
Incredible views, it looked like a painting in real life!
Cusco 10.06-16.06
Hostal: Apu Wasi, Sami’s House
Lol. First of all, where is my neck in this photo? Secondly, this shows the reality of travelling at times. Myself and a friend decided to do a bus tour of the city of Cusco and excitedly when to sit at the top of the open-top tour bus. It was raining and freezing. It was a good guide to the city, despite feeling like my hands would fall off, lol!
The incredible Machu Picchu! Did you know ‘Machu Picchu’ means old mountain in Quecha (one of the native languages of the Incas and Andean region) and the city was abandoned for almost 400 years before it was discovered by a young American explorer?
Rainbow Mountain. When I had to wake up a 4am to get ready for this hike, I very much questioned why I was doing this, lol, but in the end it was very worth it. 🙂
Lovely friend, Monique, who I met during the Rainbow Mountain hike.
Puno 17.06-19.06
Hostal: Suites Independencia
Would recommend this hostel. The workers were very friendly and helpful. I took an overnight bus from Cusco to Puno (with Bolivia Hop) and whilst changing from the large bus to a smaller minibus which took us to the hostal I lost my travel pillow. The owner of Suites Indepencia helped me to recover it and when I came to my room it was there waiting for me.
Looking out to Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side in Puno, Peru. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and it straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia.
The floating islands of Uros are a huge tourist attraction on Lake Titicaca. The indigenous communities actually live on the lake on islands made from the reeds pictured. They worship the lake as it is a life source for them. They use the water to drink, bathe, cook and fish.
The Uros people dressed us up in their traditional clothing which is known for being very bright and colourful. It was SO bright, the lake reflects the sun and becomes a huge mirror, hence my closed eyes in the picture!
Currently I’m in Bolivia, I crossed the Peru-Bolivia border on June 19th. So far in Bolivia, I’ve visited Copacabana, La Paz, Cochabamba (surprisingly beautiful and warm) and am now in Sucre as I write this post. I had doubts about coming to Bolivia as I had seen so many beautiful landscapes in Peru and was getting very tired of the cold weather (lol!) but I’m so glad that I did, it has exceeded my expectations (next post will touch on expectations and why we should let them go! ) in so many ways.
My current travel plans (of course, as always, subject to many changes): Northern Chile, Northern Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba and then back to LONDON!!!! I’m loving travelling and meeting so many people from literally all over the world, it’s such a great, inspiring experience, having said this, I miss my family, friends and London SO much! I was last in London in January :0, it feels like such a long time ago, I’m equally excited for the rest of my travels and coming back to London. 2018 has been so good to me already and I know the second half of this year will be even better – THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
"Maybe home is nothing but two arms holding you tight when you're at your worst." - Yara Bashraheel
