Last of South American Travels

Garrett and I in La Paz, Bolivia
see all photos »

Hello Everyone!!

I am finally back in Buenos Aires from Garrett and I traveling. I actually leave today to go back to the states, which I am way too excited about!!  I have been back in Buenos Aires for the past couple of days to get all my stuff and say all my goodbyes. It is kinda sad really. I will miss my host family a lot. They are really great.

Garrett and I left about a month ago to ski at Las Lenas Argentina. Unfortunately, the snow was not good at all, so we ended up leaving 2 days early. We stopped in Mendoza Arg, to do a couple of wine tours, which were wayy too much fun. ha. Then we traveled up to Salta, Arg which nothing was really there. That night we got on a local overnight bus to get to the border of Bolivia and Argentina. We got there in the middle of the night and crossed the border walking like a couple of immigrants. ha. An experience to say the least.

The main plaza in Cusco, Peru. A very old, European feel town.
see all photos »

Well..the trip just gets more and more interesting really. We then took a bus from the border town in Bolivia straight to La Paz, which was a 20 hour bus ride. However, it was the crappiest bus I have ever seen..and the only way to get to La Paz. We were the ONLY white people on this bus with the rest of the people being indigenous. We are talking screaming babies, smelly people...a broken bus that stopped over 20 times....the works..let me tell ya.

We finally got to La Paz thank god. La Paz was a pretty cool city. We then left for Copacabana, Bolivia on Lake Titicaca (the biggest lake I have ever seen). On this lake is more than 35 islands...including floating islands! We went to Isla del Sol island which was gorgeous.

Sunset in Copacabana, Bolivia at Lake Titicaca
see all photos »

The next day we went to Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca in Puno, Peru. We met some really neat people there at a hostel which was a lot of fun. We went to the floating islands there which was incredibly interesting. These indigenous people made these islands for protection from the incas back in the day. The just pick up and float when they want. ha.

We then left for Cusco, Peru where we shortly began our 5 day hike up to Machu Pichu. It was very physically challenging, seeing as how we hiked 6-9 a day and up to 16,000 feet, but it was the most amazing thing. We started through mountain terrain and ended up in the rainforest. I have a million mosquito bites to prove it! ha. There were all Europeans in our group that were all sooo much fun. They all spoke French, along with other languages(countries of switz, france, belgium)..so I basically heard French for 5 days straight.  Kinda want to learn french now! ha. go figure

The floating islands on Lake Titicaca in Puno, Peru
see all photos »

The last day of the hike was up to Machu Pihcu which was amazing. Machu Pichu just made one of the 7 wonders of the world..which is cool. We got up at 3:30am to hike up 2000 incan steps that reach up to the ruins. Garrett and I stayed up there for the whole morning and then left to head back to Cusco and then to Lima, Peru. Machu Pichu was so impressive. Truly an amazing thing to see.

Overall..the trip was awesome and I am so glad I stayed here another month to see more countries of South America. Today will be sad to leave..but I CANNOT WAIT to get back to Boulder!

They even have phones and tvs on these floating islands! Crazy!
see all photos »

Talk to everyone soon!

Love

Jess