WanderingWhy…

This post is a supplement to WS’s ten observations of Latin travel as we prepare to leave South America.
1. If you find a bathroom with soap, toilet paper, AND papertowels, you are probably not in South America.
2. Always carry toilet paper. See observation #1. Consider hand sanitizer as well.
3. The further south you go, [...]

As we bounced along on a crummy 7 hour bus ride to Lake Titicaca, WD started to feel more and more miserable. By the time we arrived in Puno she complained of a raging headache and couldn’t even shoulder her backpack. Looked like I would be wandering Puno alone as well.
I dropped [...]

WD insisted I book a tour into the Colca Canyon alone, and with her looking like she would be in no shape to do it with me anytime soon I relented. I figured I’d meet some other solo travelers and have some fun hiking over the next few days.
I laid out [...]

I had my downtime in Quito, Ecuador but in Arequipa, Peru it was WD’s turn. I have no idea what she caught or how, but it was a great weight loss plan however miserable the experience. Thankfully she picked a good place to get sick—Arequipa turned out to be one of my favorite [...]

Here are some stupid unrelated observations and rants I’ve had while traveling in Latin America (don’t take any of this too seriously):

The queue is a figment of the North American imagination… or perhaps gringos are invisible due to our blinding white skin. I swear I’ve [...]

Touring archeological sites is one of the high points of travel for us. We come from a very young country and don’t have access to some of the mindblowingly old sites there are to see in other places in the world. The Nazca lines are a very unique site to tour since the [...]

South of Lima, Peru is an oasis among the sand dunes. The area is called Huacachina, and it was a playground for the rich in years gone by. Huacachina is a few kilometers away from the main town of Ica, but it feels much further than that.
We arrived in Ica after dark [...]

Traveling down the coast of Peru, we decided to spend a night in Lima. We were here last year and decided to stay in the hip, trendy, Miraflores area of the city again.
Many of the little towns and villages we have stayed in on this journey may have just a couple of restaurants, and [...]

The north of Peru is quite poor and has a reputation as being fairly dangerous. The majority of the world’s population lives in poverty, but it’s the dangerous part that concerns me (although the poverty does too). Our guidebook and the travel boards are filled with warnings of attacks around the tourist sites, and [...]

We’re finally in Peru. Being the geographically challenged American that I am, I had no idea the north of Peru is mostly desert–serious desert. Arizona may be desert but there is a lot of vegetation compared to here. The bus ride after our border crossing from Ecuador led us through some spectacular [...]