June is not necessarily the best time to visit Lima, Peru. However, it is the best time to visit Machu Picchu – which I unfortunately did not do. I chose to visit the Bolivian Salt Flats instead, as Machu Picchu is much easier to reach. Unfortunately, while in La Paz, Bolivia, a blizzard covered Uyuni and the national park was closed. Lima was covered in fog the whole time, so to see the sun, it was necessary to go on side trips.
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| The path along the cliffs in Miraflores, the neighborhood we lived in. |
Yungay, Laguna 69
The first weekend we went to Laguna 69, north of Lima and stayed near Yungay at Llanganuco Lodge. From Lima, we took an overnight bus to Yungay (the buses are quite comfortable!) and then were driven 45 minutes over dirt paths to the lodge. The lodge is about 4000m above sea level and it was my first time at altitude. Luckily, my only symptoms were not getting any oxygen, but by Sunday when we hiked to Laguna 69, I was fine. I highly recommend this trip.
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| Llanganuco Lodge |
Yungay was destroyed by an avalanche May 31, 1970, caused by an earthquake. It was a Sunday and most of the 25,000 inhabitants died that day.
Acclimation hike the day of arrival. This was right behind the lodge.
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| View from first hill towards lodge |
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| First acclimation hike |
The next day, we went on a longer acclimation hike (5 hours) to a glacier. The locals in Yungay come up to the glacier and harvest ice, at great danger to themselves. There is one ice-picker who has survived several avalanches and is a local hero. The ice-pickers then sell snow-cones in the town with the ice.
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| After an hour climb, we see the glacier in the distance |
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| After an hour and a half of climbing, the glacier is closer |
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| At the glacier – we were told not to descend to the glacier because possible avalanches. |
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| View from glacier towards lodge (where we came from). |
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| Run-off from glacier |
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| Back at the lodge. We were completely k-o. |
The next day we hiked to Laguna 69, which was at 4700m above sea level. It took about 7 hours there and back.
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| Sunrise breakfast |
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| Sunrise breakfast |
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| The first 45 minutes were relatively easy, slowly ascending through meadows |
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| Starting the actual ascent |
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| Views along the way |
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| Laguna 69 |
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| The way back |
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| Back at the Lodge – too tired to walk the 30 minutes to watch the sunset |
La Paz
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| First view of La Paz |
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| It started off sunny and cold |
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| We had to start with blessing our bikes with a local alcohol. |
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| And then take a sip ourselves |
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| I didn’t find it that tasty … |
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| Views on the way down |
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| Views on the way down |
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| Action shot |
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| Pause in the middle. Maybe it was better we couldn’t see the drop the whole time? |
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| Our van broke on the way back and we waited about 1.5 hours for another to get us. |
The next morning, we woke bright and early to fly to Uyuni. We ended up spending 8 hours in the airport until they told us the flight was cancelled. We headed back to La Paz and visited Valle de la Lune.
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| On the road there |
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| Beginning the hike – no glacier in view yet |
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| Still walking |
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| Some views along the way |
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| Turning point. The smooth part in the middle is the glacier we would then need to hike to the top of. Would probably have taken at least another 1.5 hours. |
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| Watching the sunset from the van while waiting for the rest of the group |
The van driver amused us while we waited for the others with videos and stories (in Spanish). He had been the driver for these Australians who skied in Bolivia. Watch the video!
Bolivia is stunningly beautiful – and I didn’t even make it to the salt flats yet. I highly suggest visiting. A very eye-opening book is Marching Powder by Thomas McFadden and Rusty Young. Bolivian Express is a free, English language, local magazine that publishes pieces that will give you some insight into the changes Bolivia is undergoing as well as the challenges it faces with a little bit of history thrown in.