Peru-Bolivia 2017: A Month in the Andes (page 1 of 8)

Here we go...

It’s been almost a month since we got back, and my head is still over there... Just like every time... For my own sake, I know travel journals are useful for travelers planning a trip to a country. But selfishly, they’re also helpful for me—to put the final stone on each journey and revisit it from time to time, just for the memories...

So, this trip won’t be any different, and I invite you to follow along on our Andean adventure, from Lima to the Southern Lipez, from December 16, 2016, to January 14, 2017. It’s a chronological journal because I don’t know how to approach it any other way. It doesn’t hold any absolute truths—just my experiences and feelings, which are obviously personal and not objective!

But if it inspires you to visit these magical countries (and I assume you’re already interested if you’re here) or gives you a couple of tips, then I’ll consider it a win!

So, let’s hit the road for the land of wide-open spaces!

The Itinerary:

Let’s start at the beginning—this’ll be super classic because it’s tough to skip the must-sees on a first trip...

We’ll arrive in LIMA and stay for two days, ignoring the naysayers who say the city isn’t worth the detour 🤪. A flight will take us to AREQUIPA for another two days, before catching an afternoon bus to PUNO. There, we’ll spend two days visiting LAKE TITICACA on the Peruvian side, including an overnight stay on AMANTANI. A quick transport (we’ll get back to that) and we’ll ring in Christmas Eve on the other side of the border, in COPACABANA. Two nights later, we’ll be in LA PAZ for two more nights. Another flight will take us to SUCRE for two days, followed by an overnight bus to TUPIZA. There, we’ll spend a day before heading out for 4 days and 3 nights outside of time and space, celebrating New Year’s in the SOUTH LIPEZ and SALAR DE UYUNI.

Back to reality in UYUNI, where we’ll fly back to LA PAZ, then catch a daytime bus to CUSCO after a short night!!! CUSCO, 7 packed days to explore the region and end with the MACHU PICCHU!! With stars in our eyes and hearts full, we’ll take the morning flight back to Lima, where our flight to Paris—and our train to Geneva—will be waiting...

It’s a busy but totally doable schedule—we never rushed. On the contrary, I love wandering the streets and visiting sites at a relaxed pace. The itinerary is also balanced between Peru and Bolivia, with routes crossing but ending with Machu Picchu and the Salar de Uyuni/South Lipez. Finally, it’s a mix of cities and landscapes, monuments and people.

As for planning, the route was set: Most accommodations and domestic flights were booked, but *everything* was changeable or cancellable (easy to do on Booking...). The only reason was we didn’t know how we’d handle soroche (altitude sickness), and I wanted the flexibility to adjust until the last minute... Plus, we tweaked the route along the way, adding an extra day in Cusco. For everything else—Lipez excursion, Machu Picchu entry, train, and other activities—I didn’t book anything in advance, since it was the "low season" (despite South American holidays).

I can't wait to read this. It might be my next trip, and we have roughly the same number of days there (I might have two fewer).

Is it possible to include the price of flight tickets in your story? I'm worried about getting tired from too much bus travel, but I'm also afraid of blowing the budget with internal flights.

Thanks so much for sharing your story!

Hi Bruno, Awesome! A travel journal about Peru and Bolivia on top of that. I can tell I’m gonna love it 🙂 For us, it’ll have to be 3 weeks in August—no choice with vacation time—so I think we’ll stick to Peru🙁. But in the meantime, thanks for making us dream😎 Isabelle

Yes and yes 😉 Definitely, I agree that you can quickly get "fed up" 😉 with long bus transfers, even if they're "cama"—they’re not always the freshest. But yeah, the budget can really add up fast... You’ll have all the numbers! Well, not *all* of them...

Knew I’d find you here! Come on, let’s move on a bit...

Some Stats:

30: The number of nights away from home, including two spent at the airport, one on a plane, and one on a bus.

7000: Roughly the number of kilometers traveled on the ground, including over 4000 by domestic flights 🙂

562: In euros, the cost for two of those four domestic flights (yeah, tell me about it...).

17 to 62: In € still, the price range for our accommodations, for two people including breakfast.

16: In soles, the price of the cheapest full meal for two (4.5 €).

245: In €, the round-trip price of the world’s most expensive train!

15: In hours, the time it took us by bus to get from La Paz to Cusco (including 5 hours at customs...)

65: Still in hours, the time it took us to get back to Haute-Savoie!! I’ll tell you all about it...

18: The number of kilos in my backpack—12 for my girlfriend, and 4 more on the way back!!

5090: The highest altitude we reached (not counting planes!), in the Southern Lipez.

10: At least! The number of girls we met during our trip who "were on exchange in Brazil, Argentina, or elsewhere and were spending their vacation road-tripping here." Drives me crazy!!!! 😉

2: The amazing girls (we’ll never forget them and hope to see them again soon) we shared the Southern Lipez and Salar tour with! Big shoutout to the Colombian girls from Nice!!

And last but not least, the big one: 1940: That’s 1940 € per person for the trip, excluding international flights and pre-travel transport. A budget, sure, but an incredible journey!!

More stats to come as I go through my notes (I wrote everything down! ), but let’s stop here and get to the travel stories...

Hi Bruno,

Great to see a new travel journal! If all goes well and the budget-route is doable, we’ll be heading out for 3 weeks in August 2018. August because of our school-aged kid, so we’ll just have to deal with it this once. I’m starting early to get the best tips.

Really looking forward to this read—sounds fascinating! ;-)

Myriam

Day 0: Welcome to... MIAMI!

The perk of booking tickets directly with the airline is you get to choose your schedule. And since American Airlines (chosen purely for financial reasons...) makes us stop in Miami to reach Lima, we’ll shift our layover by a few hours to enjoy a little American flair. We arrived at 3 PM and won’t leave until the next day at 1 PM. A one-hour local bus ride will drop us right at South Beach, where I’d booked a hotel—the Viscay Hotel (still $100, though!!).

And we’ll indulge in all the American clichés: a nighttime stroll on Ocean Drive, a giant hamburger in a classic US diner, a sunrise (thanks, jet lag!) on the beach, and breakfast on Collins Avenue! The temperature contrast with what we’d left behind was striking, but so was the cultural shock of what awaited us...



If that’s not a cliché...



PS: I called it Day 0 because it doesn’t really count...

DAY 1 & 2: LIMA, here we come!

We arrive in Lima around 10 PM. Customs is quick, and the taxi arranged by our hotel—given our late arrival—is right on time. First impression: rough. The driver speeds through the capital’s streets at breakneck speed. We’d deliberately ignored everything I’d read and booked in the historic center to be closer to the "real" life, at Hotel España Peru (65 soles per night, no breakfast). A truly quirky hotel, just steps from Plaza de Armas—you’ll either love it or hate it. We loved it!



The night was short, but breakfast on the hotel’s terrace (with parrots and peacocks for company) was hearty—though a bit pricey in the end. Off we went to explore the capital, or at least its historic center. First shock: entry to Plaza de Armas is filtered by a swarm of police, and only "presentable" people—mostly tourists—are allowed in. Imagine the Champs-Élysées banned to suburban residents. It shocked me... But the upside? No crowds. A must-see: the Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace (meh), and then we watch the changing of the guard under the scorching sun. Music and folklore! We leave the plaza’s surroundings to dive into the bustling, commercial streets of the center. So many people, honking horns—we stop for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant packed with locals. Our first menu for 8 soles per person! Filling and super fresh—a great surprise!

In the afternoon, we head up high. We hop on a double-decker bus for 10 soles on the fly at the corner of Plaza Mayor, crossing the Rímac district to reach Mirador San Cristóbal, which offers an incredible view of the city’s sprawl!!

Rímac with their Corcovado in the background

We return to the plaza late due to traffic and treat ourselves to our first ceviche—lobster, please—and by far the best of the trip! Found this spot on Tripadvisor.





The next day, we take an LC Perú flight to Arequipa at 6 PM. The day is dedicated to visiting Miraflores and Barranco, with a stop at the "Puente de los Suspiros," a local attraction. The trip from the historic center is via the Metropolitano, a super-efficient metrobus for quickly crossing the city.

In the end, I preferred central Lima to Miraflores. Much livelier and more vibrant, it has an electric, eclectic vibe we really liked—even if the seaside’s calm and quiet are nice. Either way, you can tell these aren’t the same crowds living there!....

Hi Bruno,

I’m jumping into this adventure since it might be my 2018 destination! 😊

Thanks for sharing!

Myriam

Day 3 & 4: AREQUIPA the White City

I just reread my post and realized I’m really telling you my life story... So, let’s try to keep it shorter so I don’t lose you!

We arrived in Arequipa at night. The airport is about twenty minutes by taxi from the city center and LOS ANDES B&B, a super friendly and clean youth hostel just steps from Plaza de Armas, with double rooms and private bathrooms for 70 soles per night.

The vibe here is completely different—the city feels "human-sized" (900,000 inhabitants, but compared to Lima’s 10 million...). The morning was dedicated to a guided tour of the Santa Catalina Monastery, a must-see and stunning spot in the city. The colors are magical, the site’s preservation is incredible, and the guide’s anecdotes (in French!) were really interesting.



In the afternoon, another viewpoint—Yanahuara—gave us a great view of the three volcanoes towering over the city. It also tested our breath—we’re at 2,300 meters, and the climb is steep!

Then we visited Mercado San Camilo, a lively and colorful market. Back in the city center, we strolled through the pedestrian streets around the plaza, where we caught an evening Christmas concert performed by local kids...



The next day, we slept in and took a guided tour of the cathedral, which offered a fantastic view of Plaza de Armas.



At 1 p.m., our Cruz del Sur bus—booked that morning at a downtown agency—took us (already!) to Puno through stunning Andean plateaus. Along the way, we spotted our first wild llamas and crossed our first 4,000-meter pass, rewarded with a magical view of Lake Titicaca...

Welcome Myriam, Thanks for your interest in my little adventure! Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! Bruno

Hi Bruno, This travel journal is off to a great start—just like the one on South Africa that I devoured! And no, you’re not oversharing your life; on the contrary, it’s the little anecdotes that make a travel story so engaging.

So, as you’ve probably guessed, I’m tagging along for the ride, even though we don’t have any concrete plans for South America right now… Looking forward to the next installment! Christine

Hey Bruno, Oh yeah! The clichés... that's what makes it charming, but they also reflect reality😉. We were there for Christmas 2014, and it was hilarious seeing people on the beach wearing those red and white Christmas hats😎. Isabelle

Okay, let's not get sidetracked, we're here for Peru 😠 But you're already in Puno! That’s going way (too) fast...

Day 5 & 6: PUNO, AMANTANI, TAQUILE: Gaining altitude...

We arrived at SUITES ANTONIOS after 8 PM, having booked it that very morning for 80 soles a night (a double room with a private bathroom, as you’ve probably guessed...).

I chose this hotel because it offers excursion services that are super useful for the rest of our trip. We wanted to head straight to the Peruvian islands the next day—visiting Uros, spending a night with a local family on Amantani, and then Taquile. I’d read that you could do this circuit without a tour operator, but we were short on time, and in the end, the price they offered (85 soles all-inclusive per person) suited us perfectly.

We took the opportunity to drop off our first load of laundry, which we’d pick up on our return. A quick trip into the city center—nothing extraordinary, very touristy—we were constantly approached for restaurants, excursions, and other offers. We grabbed a quick pizza and headed back to the hotel, as we were set to leave at 7 AM the next day.

And then, the first hiccup of the trip: bam, altitude sickness hit! Puno is at 3,800 meters, and despite the two days in Arequipa, or maybe it was the pizza that didn’t sit well, either way, my night was hellish—terrible headaches and non-stop vomiting... I’ll spare you the details, but I seriously considered canceling the next day’s excursion more than once.

But my mental strength 🤪, combined with a ton of meds (brought by my amazing girlfriend...) and a 10-minute session the next morning with the oxygen mask kindly provided in the hotel lobby, helped me power through this (painful) ordeal. In the end, the treatment was a few days of ibuprofen, Diamox for the week, and we managed to avoid any more serious complications...

But back to our excursion!

We’d left our big backpacks at the hotel and boarded with about twenty other tourists (a few French folks) for our first island: Uros. The guide was friendly, explanations were in English and Spanish, and the vibe was good. The people of Uros live on reed islands—it’s pretty fun, but I’m not a huge fan of group tours... Oh well, you play the game, listen, and find what interests you. In the end, a couple of expats with their two little ones made the morning pass in good spirits.



We were dropped off on Amantani late in the morning, a small island home to four Quechua communities, where families take turns hosting tourists.



For us, it was Felicidad who took care of us and led us to her modest home, at least 300 steps from the lakeshore... We were at 4,000 meters, my head was pounding, and my heart was struggling...



But after a magical quinoa soup and a short nap, we set off to explore the island with the guide and the brave souls who would pay homage to Pachamama and Pachatata at the island’s peak, 4,500 meters high! For the more romantic among us (which we were!), a magical sunset over the lake and a descent in the fading light wrapped up the walk.



That evening, after dinner with our host, a little celebration was held in our honor by the whole community—local musicians and Peruvian dances on the program! It was super kitsch, but we got into the spirit, and the community’s enthusiasm didn’t seem fake...

After a (short) night under 50 kilos of blankets and a hearty breakfast, Felicidad walked us back to the boat, where we glided toward our third island, Taquile.

Still Quechua communities here, but a different vibe on this island. Much less arid, we hiked a bit (steep!) to settle into a restaurant with an amazing view of the lake, where we devoured a grilled sea bass that was *so* good!!!



Some free time and a two-hour boat ride back wrapped up this little escape on the lake. A great way to get close to and live among the locals—yes, it’s touristy, but it’s also their real life. Despite the communication challenges (they speak more Quechua than Spanish), the exchanges were genuine (you should’ve seen her face when I showed her my house under the snow!!).

Back in Puno by 4 PM, but the day wasn’t over yet! If you’ve been following, it was December 24th...

But that’s for next time...

Hi Christine! And thanks for following along (again!) this far!! Bruno

It’s true we had to make some choices and it might seem fast-paced... But everything was done without rushing, at our own pace, and the plane really helps with getting around!! (Though not so much with the budget...)

Before continuing our journey, let’s take a moment to relive the "Pékin Express" moment of our trip...

We had planned to stay an extra night in Puno after the excursion. But our first impression of the city—and the idea of spending New Year’s Eve there—didn’t thrill us. We were backed up in this by two young French women, disappointed they couldn’t dock before 4 PM and would miss the 2 PM bus to Bolivia... Especially since their plans included a New Year’s Eve Savoyard fondue (well, Bolivian-style) at a famous restaurant in Copacabana! Challenge: How to get to Copacabana, and especially to the border, before it closes at 7 PM?! The solution: Hire a private taxi and put the challenge in the driver’s hands! We asked our guide, who, after a couple of calls to a friend, found us the vehicle (and its driver) to save the day—at a reasonable price, too, since we split the ride with our two travel companions... Picked up right after getting off the boat, we had to stop at our two respective hotels before hitting the road. Luckily, the driver was experienced, the car was new, but the kilometers flew by, and the border still wasn’t in sight!!! Finally, we made it past the barriers at 6:50 PM!!! We still had to find a hotel. Hotel UTUMA was chosen for its proximity to the port and that famous restaurant, where we met a charming owner who was *absolutely* sorry he was fully booked that night—especially after we told him about our adventure (to butter him up...). So, New Year’s Eve was spent at another restaurant, enjoying Bolivian traditions with panettone and a cup of hot chocolate... But don’t worry, we made up for the fondue the next evening after making a reservation!!