Mancora is one of Peru’s top resorts Think desert meets beach, bung in a few restaurants and hotels. Add a sprinkle of Mad Max and you are here
Food here is crazy and awesome. Cheaper to eat out than DIY. AU$80 for a turkey? I think not! Will be grabbing a chook.
Put a few lights up in our pad

Have knocked up a spot of gravy, even if a few of the ingredients look unusual!
Have vegetarians joining us for Xmas dinner, may be a touch awkward.
Bloody oath mate!
Peru Hopping!!!
Spent about a week traveling by bus from Bolivia to our new home in Mancora near the Ecuador border. Â Many hours on buses, some awesome places and people, much fun had.
Bus gets on a raft to cross Lake Titicaca!
Isla del Sol
Unbelievable hostel in Arequipa! “Youth Hostels are for Youths Mum!” Not this one
Started looking like Coco the Clown’s demented dad so time for a trim!!
Dune Buggies around the Oasis in Huacachina. Surfed down the dunes on snowboards, too much fun
Jackie not convinced by the Nazca Lines! Kinda pleased that we didn’t splash out on a flight for a better view! Never forget what the Greenpeace dickheads did here!!
Eating again
Jackie’s mates in Paracas
Crazy, desert meets ocean
If you have to spend 19 hours on a bus, grab a bottle of port and hop on one of these puppies!
In Mancora now, Peru’s answer to Manly! Mad Max meets Sydney.
OMG!
This 3 day 2 night adventure blew our minds. The scenery was spectacular. Time to show you some wacky pictures!!
Salt walls on our hotel and coca leaves for brekky!
Highly sensible behaviour here, walking through super heated sulphurous steam!
An ‘island’ in the Salt Flats full of giant cacti
Lakes full of flamingoes, canyons full of llama surrounded by volcanoes
We had a heap of fun on our last night in the Salt Flats, slurping beers with new friends in hot springs under a sky full of stars, magical. 3 weeks above 3000m most of Bolivia above 4000. Looking forward to seeing the sea in a couple of weeks!
We crossed the border on foot having been evicted from our bus!!
Then boarded another bus which took us to Copacabana a small, lazy beach town, where we stopped for pizza before we headed off for La Paz.
We arrived in La Paz around midnight, dropped off our rucksacks in the hostel and headed to the bar for a free beer! At the bar we met a couple who had been on our bus and we hit it off over several more beers!
La Paz is a very poor city, the people appear to have given up hope! The political situation is a shambles. We did a walking tour of the city and listened to mad Dave a previous inmate of the infamous San Pedro prison, his stories were erratic but fascinating to actually be sitting outside the prison and hearing his tales!
We didnt dare take a picture of mad Dave or the prison! We were warned that touts still try and persuade innocent tourists to take guided tours of the prison! But after hearing of rape and mysterious diappearances we were not inclined!!
We have however downloaded the true story “Marching Powder” to get a clearer understanding of life inside San Pedro.
Onwards to the Salt Flats……..
Found ourselves in Puno on the way to Bolivia for a few hours so hopped onto a boat to check out the floating islands. I thought that maintaining a pool and sweeping up leaves was hard work! Thankfully the house didn’t sink if I missed a week or two! Sadly, despite the tedious maintenance and traditional reed boats, many areas are only really here for the tourists.
La Paz, Bolivia and the Salt Flats next
Cusco is an awesome town but it is time to move on. Jumping onto a bus tonight for the long drive to Lake Titicaca then onwards to Bolivia and the Salt Flats of Uyuni. Some photos here of the Witches Markets with the traditional dried llama fetuses that they put in the foundations of new buildings, some highly suspect looking roast Guinea pigs, (Cuy), and a few other market morsels!
We had a glorious night in a hotel in Aguas Calientes, where we showered for the first time in five days!! Then met the group for our last dinner!! Early start 03:30am to reach what we had trekked so far to see. Machu Picchu was now only a matter of hours away!!
We were one the first groups to go through the entry of Machu Picchu, hence you can see by our pictures no-one around. It was an amazing experience to wander around these grand mysterious ruins.
Built in the 15th century and later abandoned, the history of Machu Picchu and what it’s function was, remains hotly disputed amongst archaeologists and historians. However one thing is for sure, the essential magnificence and mystical majesty of Machu Picchu is undeniable.
Four days, four nights, 100km to cover at altitudes up to 15000 feet. We had 4 days in Cusco to acclimatise to the altitude, just walking up the hill to the hostel at 11000 feet had us both panting in the thin air. What could possibly go wrong?
Day 1
4am start and a 3 hour drive to the start point and a fairly easy 3 hour hike to our first camp site
Lunch followed by a siesta then a distinctly less easy climb to Humantay Lake at almost 14000 feet. This climb is used to give an indication of how we would cope with the high pass on day 2. Yippee, the rest of the group were all under 30 and shot off at a near trot! Still full from lunch and chomping on mouthfuls of coca leaves, we completed the climb in about an hour. The lake at the top, utterly spectacular, time for a few awesome photos and a few more leaves before trying to beat the approaching storm back to the camp site.
Calling the Sky Lodges a camp site is not strictly accurate. Massive glass roofed domes with a double bed, comfy mattress and sleeping bags rated to minus 18.
Everyone knackered, in bed by about 8pm!
Day 2
Coca Tea at 4.30am and the obligatory altitude sickness checks
Brekky and straight into the brutal climb up Salkantay Mountain. Nobody made the overeating errors of day 1! 12900 feet to 15200 feet doesn’t sound too bad if you say it quickly. The reality is a little more challenging including the trail of the 7 snakes. We counted 11 of the buggers. The last few hundred metres is known as the Gringo Killer. It didn’t, but there was plenty of huffing and puffing and a few more chomps on the friendly leaves!
Getting down probably worse than the climb. Steep, slippery descent down a rocky path we finally made it to camp 2. Dinner was a struggle followed by early bed for all!
Day 3
4.30 am Coca Tea and a gentle 20 odd km stroll following the river to camp 3
3pm arrival at camp 3 meant an afternoon at the hot springs which turned into an impromptu drinking session! Possibly not the wisest of choices when facing a massive hike on day 4!
Day 4
4.30am again and feeling a little seedy for the 2000 plus foot climb and descent into Hidroelectrica.
Then a 3 hour walk in the pissing rain along the rail tracks into Aguas Calientes. Almost 100km walked/staggered/stumbled over 4 days. Felt emotional and unbelievably happy that we not only completed this but managed to keep pace with such a wonderful bunch of people half our age. Properly chuffed!! Many thanks to our wonderful group and our awesome guide Odi from Salkantay Trekking
ATM experiences in Cusco
We love living in a First World Country where $2 ATM withdrawal fees are merely an annoyance when using another bank’s ATM. God forbid being charged a fee overseas at the ATM then another hefty one back home for having the cheek to use a different bank. For the life of us we never did find NAB or Commonwealth Bank anywhere in South or Central America! In addition, no Australian Travel Card has the ability to load ANY South or Central American currency. US$ on Travel cards also f@ck all use unless you are happy paying $5 per transaction PLUS 5% exchange fee!!
Fortunately, Citibank have a handy, fee free card that is free for transactions and charges no fees for ATM withdrawals. Some local banks tickle you for a few bucks, many, especially those with Citibank affiliations are free. Just the exchange rate at the time.
First ATM withdrawal was in Lima, Peru. In goes the card, PIN entered, 400 SOL please, (About AU$160), clunk clunk, whir whir! Receipt first, thankyou for your transaction. More clunks and whirring! Screen flashes up a message.. TRANSACTION CANCELLED, PLEASE TRY AGAIN. Not fucking likely! Same procedure in a different flavour of ATM ended with the desired 400 SOL in the wallet. End of story? Not so fast! Back in our accommodation, we check Citibank Online to find TWO X $160 withdrawals! Transaction cancelled my arse! To make matters worse, all communication with Citibank has to begin by obtaining a secure PIN through your mobile. No dramas in Oz. No dramas if you are on a fully paid plan whilst travelling the world. No use at all when the d!ckheads in the Telstra shop have set you up on a plan that has no coverage in most of South America. No problem, will find somewhere to make a phonecall in Cusco tomorrow..
Remember those dodgy phone booths in Internet Cafes that you could use and pay when finished? That is as good as it gets in Cusco and pretty sure it was the only one in town. Heaps of fun as you navigate your way through the infinite number of options before arriving at the not wholly unexpected, please enter your 4 digit one time PIN number! Are you fucking kidding? Shouting OPERATOR into the handset a lot and jabbing the 0 key a few times got me to a slightly more promising, “Please hold whilst we transfer you to an operator”. Please hold whilst the counter over the telephone shows the cost of this call escalating faster than Australia’s National Debt!
Eventually, I am informed by a very distant, but very helpful lady that this is a rare occurrence but will take up to 90 business days to solve.
Rare occurrence?! 2 days later, different card, different bank, 700 SOL please. You have to be kidding? Same script as last time! This time however, we are in a bank branch and go straight to the counter with the hope of a swift resolution. No chance! The ATMs are operated by a third party, you must contact your bank in Australia and have them investigate. Personally, I would have thought the easiest solution would be for you to hand me the 700 SOL that my statement currently informs me should be in my sticky hand! Back to the phone booths tomorrow!
Then to add insult to injury, this bank only allow ONE ATM withdrawal per month, anywhere in their network. Including incomplete withdrawals that effectively steal your cash for 90 business days.
OK, 89 business days later, both transactions were reversed. We are still nervous every time we use an ATM, waiting for the folding stuff to emerge!!
Almost immediately we knew that we had arrived somewhere special! Cobbled streets, color, lambs, llamas, markets!!
Cusco is 14,000ft above sea level and boy do you feel it when you arrive! We got a cab to our hostel and we’re greeted with coco tea, to help with the altitude dizziness!!!
Our hostel Kurumi was perfect for us! Own room with ensuite, views and breakfast included, only $140 for 5 nights!! Walking distance to the main square and surrounded by wonderful little restaurants!!
 