Top 5

Top fives and interesting facts and figures from our 6 1/2 month adventure.

Number of countries: 6

Number of hostels: 54

Number of places slept (camps, etc.): 97

Highest elevation by foot: 4750m (Whistler/Blackcomb reaches 2200m....... just sayin')

Highest elevation by car: just over 5000m

Cheapest sit down meal: Bolivian almuerzo (lunch) - 7 Bolivianos = $1 CDN

Cheapest hostel: Hostal Cultural (Isla del Sol, Bolivia) - 15 Bolivianos (per person) = $2 CDN

Longest bus ride (non-stop): 23 hours (Buenos Aires - Puerto Iguazu)

Top 5 Hostels - NZ
1. Brian's Place, Tokomaru Bay
2. Beaconstone Ecolodge, Charleston
3. Maraehako Bay Retreat, Maraehako Bay
4. Kerikeri Farm Hostel, Kerikeri
5. A-Plus Lodge, Turangi
Just short of the cut: Juggler's Rest, Picton; Barnyard Backpackers, near Te Anau; Lochlea Farm, Wanstead

Top 5 Hostels - South America
1. Planeta Hostel, Esquel Argentina (the only hostel in S.A. with duvets... siigh)
2. La Posta, Ushuaia Argentina
3. Residencial in El Cerro, Valparaiso Chile
4. Kwashkar, Puerto Natales Chile
5. Home Sweet Home, Cusco Peru
Just short: Hotel Mitru Anexo, Tupiza Bolivia

Top 5 Foods
1. Medialunas (mini croissant-type pastries from Patagonian area)
2. Fergburger (Queenstown, NZ)
3. Empanadas (especially from Chile)
4. Dulcede leche (a caramel type spread from Argentina- served best on crêpes)
5. Completos (crazy hot dogs from Valparaiso, Chile)
Just short: Fried plantains; Uruguyan beef

Top 5 Drinks
1. Fruit/wine drinks from Valparaiso, Chile (Julian's favourite: vino tinto con frutilla y banana; Meaghan's favourite: vino blanco con manzana y pina)
2. Malbec wines from Mendoza, Argentina
3. Jugo de papaya con leche (papaya juice blended with milk)
4. Jugo de pina (pineapple juice blended)
5. Mate (Argentinian traditional hot herbal drink obssesively drank by both Uruguayans and Argentinians)
Just short: Cusquena beer from Peru

Top 5 Hikes
1. Torres del Paine Circuit (8 days at the very south of Chile- highly recommended)
2. Routeburn (near Queenstown, NZ)
3. Kepler (near Te Anau, NZ)
4. Santa Cruz (near Huarraz, Peru)
5. Fitz Roy (El Chalten, Argentina)
Just short: Lares (near Cusco, Peru)

Top 5 Places (South America- towns/cities)
1. Valparaiso, Chile
2. Esquel, Argentina
3. Arequipa, Peru
4. Mendoza, Argentina
5. Ushuaia (outskirts, not town centre), Argentina

Top 5 Sayings
1. "Mas o menos" meaning: more or less. It was the answer to almost every question. For example: What time does the bus leave? At 6.... mas o menos. (The bus would probably leave around 7).
2. "De Canada? Que frio!!" meaning: you're from Canada? It's so cold there! Apparently every South American thought it was perpetually minus 25 in Canada.
3. "Tranquilo" meaning: calm down. Resulting from a hostel owner telling Julian to calm down every time he asked him a question. This led Julian to become much, much less tranquilo.
4. "Siiipo" meaning: yes. The added 'po' is a Chilean-ism.
5. "Hermanos? Esposos?" meaning: siblings? married? Apparently a guy and girl only travel together if they're brother and sister, or married. It's kind of religious down there. Our answer of "no, novios" (boyfriend/girlfriend) was often met with silence.

Top 5 Annoyances (South America)
1. Andean music, Cumbia, and Reggaeton. These three genres of music were incredibly annoying, particularly when they were blasted throughout the entirety of an 8-hour bus ride.
2. The runs. Our stomachs didn't exactly take well to Bolivia and Peru. (We both lost about 15lbs in 3 months.. take that Atkins!).
3. Bolivian hospitality.
4. Honking taxis.
5. Traveling hobos.

Top 5 Weird Places (South America)
1. Calama, Chile (equivalent of Fort McMurray)
2. Caldera, Chile (in the off-season)
3. Perito Moreno city, Argentina
4. Sorata, Bolivia
5. Uyuni, Bolivia

Top 5 Most Annoying Tourist Destinations
1. Cusco/Machu Picchu, Peru
2. Iguazu Falls, Argentina
3. Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
4. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
5. La Paz (witch's market area), Bolivia

Santa Cruz Hike

With a week left in Peru we went on a 4-day hike in the Cordillera Blanca near Huarraz. Note: all mountain peaks in the following photos are at or around 6000m.

The drive to the start of the trail took about 7 hours in packed collectivos.


Classic porridge breakfast. Check out the bags under Julian`s eyes and my crazy eyes. Lack of oxygen works in funny ways.


Second day was raining. Laugh at the bright orange cover all you will, it helped some lost Danes regain the trail.


After climbing mas o menos 1200m to cross the pass at 4750m. A little tired.


Second night`s camp with fellow hikers Nigel and Julie. We were surrounding by about 6 peaks. Suffice to say it was a stellar spot.


Sunset at second night`s camp.


Third day.


Third day.

Side trip to a climber`s base camp at 3500m.

So many mountains.

Basically just lots of hiking in Peru

Due to logistical problems, please scroll to the bottom and work your way up. It will make much more sense.


Mountain views on the Lares.

View from the pass. (Lares).

But with so many alpacas. They're just so furry. We spent a good 15 minutes sitting and laughing about alpaca-llama furriness. See the brown alpaca for material. (We probably found this far too amusing given lack of oxygen (4400m)). (Lares).

Needing to get away from tourist-central Cusco and Machu Picchu, we went on a 3-day trek into the Lares Valley. Our first day was marred by a bout of food-related stomach issues. But the second day provided better health and views sans tourists.

Disclaimer: more sarcasm heading your way.

Ahh, the lovely view of the Incan ruins on Machu Picchu. And the zig-zagging road to accomodate roughly 100 buses per day. And the green-roofed 5 star hotel literally 100 metres from the ruins. We love tourism.

Ruins and Wayna Picchu in the background.

Did you know that roughly 60% of Machu Picchu is "restored"? (see ladders and workers in bottom right). Considering no one has any real idea of what it originally looked like, Machu Picchu is now subject to the interpretation of the Peruvian authorities. We are skeptical.


Ahhh there it is.

The last day we woke up at 4am to climb a ton of stairs to see Machu Picchu. At sunrise. Do you see the sun?

View of Wayna Picchu. (Salkantay).

4th day was exhausting. And wet. (Salkantay).

On the 3rd day we were in pseudo-jungle-cloud-forest-area. (Salkantay).

This is a 5-day hike. There are a lot of pictures. (Salkantay).

More Salkantay.

Over the pass and into another valley. (Salkantay).


At the pass (4600m elevation.. mas o menos.. either way a heck of a shlop up). The air is miiiiighty thin up there.

Hiking up to the pass with Mt. Salkantay in the background. (Salkantay).

View from our first night's camp. (Salkantay).

From Cusco we did a 5-day trek to Machu Picchu- the Salkantay. Here is a view from the second day.

We happened to be in Cusco at the time of Inti Raymi (sun festival). Apparently everyone is Incan around this time.

Typical street in Cusco.

After Arequipa, we went to the tourist overflow that is Cusco. This is the view from our hostel.

While in Arequipa, we visited an old monastery. There were many rooms with windows, some with Julian in them.

View from the last day of our hike in the Colca Canyon.

More Colca Canyon.

First night's accomodation. (Colca Canyon).

This is part of the Colca Canyon near Arequipa. We did a 3-day hike here to check out the world's 2nd deepest canyon and take in some "culture" (served on a silver platter to tourists).

From La Paz to Lake Titicaca

La Paz was a pretty crazy city:



The black market is the main area where people buy anything and everything:



From La Paz, we decided to bike down "the world's most dangerous road". It was touristy, but fun. The kilometre drop-offs were less fun. Even more less fun (does that even make sense in English?) was driving back up the world's most dangerous road at night in the rain (our driver decided not to return via the safer alternative route.. ugh). Anyways, we survived, and here are some photos:

From the jungle (see other post) we went back to La Paz. What was supposed to be an overnight stay turned out to be a bit longer thanks to the Bolivian specialty that we´ll call ¨stomach and fever attack¨. We eventually left La Paz for Sorata, where we were thinking of doing some hiking. Upon our arrival we were informed that there was a ¨possibility¨ (although we were assured low) of being robbed at gunpoint along the hikes. This little nugget of information was enough for us to make an executive decision to leave Sorata the next day. That morning we took a 14 passenger van to a drop off point, and then another 14 passenger van to Copacabana. No gun-point robberies (to our knowledge) in Copacabana so we decided to make something of it. (By the way, when we say '14 passenger van', we mean that there are 14 seats, not necessarily 14 passengers. At one point there were 17 passengers, 3 kids and a dog.).

View of the valley where Sorata is located.

The drop-off point (Huarina) where we changed vans to Copacabana. The driver of our first van confidently told us that another van would show up soon and that we should wave it down. Surprisingly, a van showed up 5 minutes later.

A view of where we stayed on Isla del Sol (Lake Titicaca). It´s a small town called Challapampa, at the North end of the island.

Sacrificial table where the Inca would offer goats and young girls for protection from the gods.

Along our walk of the ruins on Isla del Sol.

Scenery of the northern tip of the island.

More scenery. (We quite liked the island).

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When on Isla del SOL (Google translate if you find the need), watch the sunset. Side note: We did not watch the sun RISE as this would have involved getting up at the coldest point of the night, walking to the look-out point and then claiming to enjoy the sun rise and say that it was worth it.

Setting, setting, setting.....

Hasta manana.

View of the Lake at night.

Sometimes people think they´re clever and can take ¨cool¨ artistic pictures. (Julian, FYI).

On one of the days on the island we walked along the coastal path to the southern end of the island. We walked through villages and said ¨hola¨ a lot. It was pretty.

View of the Cordillera Real with Lake Titicaca in the foreground.