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Showing posts with label Perú. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perú. Show all posts

Saturday, 5 October 2024

Country Guide: Peru

Name: Peru (in Spanish: Perú)

Continent: South America

Capital (and Largest) City: Lima

Languages: Spanish, Quechua and Aymara

Currency: Sol

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Peru Standard Time (UTC -5)

Adaptor Types: Type A and Type C

Description: Peru is a country on the western side of South America, bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. It has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean on its western side, as well as the Andes mountain range in the centre and the Amazon rainforest in the east. Best-known for its archaeological sites and traditional culture dating back to the Inca period and earlier, Peru is a destination on many people's bucket lists.

Why You Should Visit: Of course, Machu Picchu is the place that everyone wants to visit in Peru, and with good reason - it's absolutely spectacular - but there are many other interesting places to visit all over the country. Personally, I've visited two regions of Peru: the Cusco region, which is beautiful and fascinating, but very touristy, and the Tacna region in the far south, which is rarely visited by anyone other than Peruvians or Chileans. Despite being off the radar, Tacna has some great architecture, interesting archaeological sites and dramatic landscapes, and I'm sure the same applies to every region of the country.

Fun Fact: Peru is home to over 70% of the world's alpaca population!


My Blogposts About Peru


UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Cusco and Machu Picchu)

- Movie Travels (Cusco and Machu Picchu)

- Our Day Trip to Peru (Tacna region)






Travel Tips: The Best Hotels I've Ever Stayed in (Cusco and Aguas Calientes)








































Clockwise starting from top left: Aguas Calientes, Cusco, Chinchero, Tacna, Machu Picchu, Maras

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Sunday, 21 July 2024

My Year of Adventurous Travel

As this blog is called Charlotte's Travel Adventures, it seems only right to write a post about adventurous travel!

Of course, I like going on holiday to relax, and visiting places to see interesting sights...but travel is also about having new and different experiences.

The 15 months that I spent living in Chile were a time when I made an effort to go on some exciting and sometimes a little extreme adventures. Though of course, there were plenty of challenges during that time (which I wrote about in this recent post), I feel like I really made the most of it and had a lot of fun travelling and trying new things across South America.

Here are 5 of my biggest adventures from the year!


Indoor Surfing in Santiago

Though I'd tried windsurfing in 2016, I'd always wanted to have a go at classic surfing. Surprisingly enough, even though Santiago isn't by the sea, you can surf there - Mall Sport offers indoor surfing lessons, and Claudio and I took one in May 2022. 

This experience was actually the most extreme of them all, I'd say! You basically get have to try to stay afloat against powerful jets of water, and if you don't manage it, you get thrown across that big curved area you can see in my pictures. Though we had plenty of bruises and even a couple of scrapes afterwards, we had a lot of fun. 






A Speedboat Ride in the Pacific Ocean

Our weekend in Papudo was one of our most low-key trips away during my time living in Chile, but it was actually one of my favourites. We saw so many beautiful animals there, from adorable pet cats to incredible marine life. Plus, the town and its beaches are absolutely beautiful.

Our time there was mostly very relaxing, with the exception of a boat trip we took to Isla Los Lobos. To my surprise, the boat was actually a dinghy with an engine, and it went incredibly fast - it was fun, though I was slightly scared that either I or my stuff would fall in the sea!

But the sights we saw on that trip were incredible: Humboldt penguins, sea lions and even a beautiful dolphin. We finished off the ride with a jump into the water at a beautiful, secluded beach. It was such a memorable experience!











Ziplining in the Andes

Another extremely memorable experience was going ziplining in the Andes mountains. This was something I'd always wanted to try, and I was really excited about it...until we actually got there and saw it!

The experience took place at Cascada de las Ánimas activity centre in Cajón del Maipo, which is such an enchanting and beautiful place. But the zip-line is suspended 25 metres above the River Maipo and looks pretty daunting! We were both pretty nervous when preparing to set off, but it was such a fun and exhilarating experience!

In fact, we liked it so much that we did it again a few months later at Parque Aventura in Santiago








White-Water Rafting in Argentina

White-water rafting was another sport I'd wanted to try for years, and I took the opportunity to try it while renewing my visa in Argentina. Although my day at the activity centre was rather long without a lot to do, the activity itself was so much fun, and the landscapes of the Andes and the Mendoza River were beautiful. I definitely plan to go rafting again at some point!











Backpacking Solo to Machu Picchu

We had several adventurous trips during the 15 months, but the most adventurous was when I went to Peru for a week on my own with just a backpack. 

During my time there I took in the sites in and around Cusco, and travelled around the Sacred Valley of the Incas, before taking the train to Aguas Calientes and hiking up hundreds of stone steps to the famous citadel, Machu Picchu.

It was a trip I'd dreamed of for several years and took quite a lot of organising, but it all turned out really well. I had an amazing time!








In my opinion, trying new experiences and adventures like these are a great way to get out of your comfort zone and create memories that will last forever.

There are still several other adventurous experiences I want to try, such as surfing at a beach, paragliding, and maybe even scuba diving.

Perhaps there will be more extreme adventures to come on this blog!

Sunday, 15 October 2023

Travel Tips: The Best Hotels I've Ever Stayed in

Seeing as I won't be going on any "big trips" for at least a couple of months, my plan for the blog is to alternate between writing posts about my travels and day trips around Bristol and beyond, and writing posts about other travel-related topics, in order to keep things varied.

My latest post was about a local trip, so this one is going to be something a bit different. I had a look through the list of post ideas I've built up over the years (quite a few!) in order to decide what took my fancy to write about today, and in the end, I decided to write about the topic of hotels, as it's something I haven't really done before!

Generally, these days, I'm happy to stay somewhere clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. I used to try to look for more unique, characterful places to stay, with somewhat mixed results - I remember regretting staying at the old-fashioned pub/hotel in York that was freezing cold with a smelly bathroom, and the supposedly fancy boutique hotel in Bournemouth where my room was tiny and the shower didn't work. Both times I wished I'd opted for the reliability of an Ibis or Premier Inn! Having said that though, when you do stay in a hotel that's really special, it definitely makes your trip that extra bit special too.

I like to think that nowadays I'm quite good at choosing hotels that are both good value and super nice places to relax after a day of exploring. I've stayed in quite a few really great ones over the years, particularly during the last couple of years, and so I've decided to put my favourites together into a list.

Here they are!


Admiral Grand Hotel, Slano, Croatia


















Image by Rachel Claire from Pexels.com

This hotel in the Dalmatia region of southern Croatia is one of (I think) only three 5* hotels that I've stayed in during my life so far. I went there with my family in 2012 and we had a wonderful week in the hotel, which is located in the village of Slano, and also took day trips to Dubrovnik, and Neum and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hotel is pretty huge, and has lots of facilities, including an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, various bars and restaurants, a nightclub, and a beautiful private beach surrounded by mountains. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera phone at the time, and I've got no photos to show of the hotel, so enjoy this nice image of Dubrovnik instead!


Cedar Manor Hotel, Windermere, England, UK





























My parents actually won a competition to stay at this 5* hotel in the Lake District, and seeing as Covid kept me still living at home in 2020, I got to come along with them! My room was huge, with a four-poster bed, dressing table, and a bath the size of a hot tub, so staying there was quite a special experience. It was also great to be surrounded by the beautiful nature of the Lake District, and overall, it was a really relaxing few days. I actually enter travel competitions on a weekly basis and hope to win something like this myself some day, but it hasn't happened yet - maybe I'll be lucky soon!

Read more here!


Novotel, Arica, Chile























My partner Claudio and I both loved staying in this hotel located right on the beach in the city of Arica in the far north of Chile. The room was so comfortable and luxurious, as well as being reasonably priced, and the view from the window of the beach and Morro de Arica was absolutely stunning. I hope we'll get to go back there again at some point in the future!

Read more here!


Ayenda Estancia San Pedro, Cusco, Peru





















My solo trip to Peru in October 2022 was a week where I really tried to immerse myself in the Peruvian culture and history as much as possible. I spent my first four days in the historic city of Cusco, which I used as a base to take day trips around the Sacred Valley of the Incas. During this time, I stayed in Ayenda Estancia de San Pedro, which is actually a hotel created inside an old colonial building. It's a beautiful place and really added a sense of authenticity to the trip.

I also want to give an honourable mention to Machu Picchu Adventure House, the hotel I stayed in in Aguas Calientes after my time in Cusco. This place was super comfortable and had very nice Inca-style décor.




















Read more here!


Park Inn by Radisson, Puerto Varas, Chile
























There are actually two Radisson hotels in the charming town of Puerto Varas in the south of Chile: a more expensive one right on the shore of Lago Llanquihue, and the more affordable Park Inn further into the town. We chose to stay at the Park Inn during our trip and found it so cosy and comfy. The hotel was built in a traditional German style, typical of the area, and has beautiful views across the rest of the town and the lake.

Read more here!


B&B Vergilia, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy




















I earned some hotel vouchers from doing weekly surveys when I was living at home between 2020 and early 2022, but wasn't able to use them while I was living in Chile, and had to quickly decide what to do with them before they expired in May this year. I chose to use them on a stay in B&B Vergilia during my trip to Sicily in June and was very happy with my choice! This is one of these sorts of hotels that are quite common in Italy (I stayed somewhere similar in Florence), which are built inside grand, old houses, meaning that all of the rooms are incredibly spacious. B&B Vergilia is also a family-run hotel, and the owners are super friendly and welcoming, so I'll definitely be staying there again if I return to Syracuse in the future!

Read more here!


39 St. George, Victoria/Rabat, Gozo, Malta






























This hotel is located in Victoria (also known as Rabat), the capital of Gozo, Malta's sister island, and is a really characterful place. I loved the Medieval vibe of the building, as well as its amazing views over the stunning St. George's Square. It was also super comfortable, which made a nice change from the hostel that I was living in in Malta at the time!

Read more here!


I had a fantastic time staying in all of these hotels, and they were great bases to come back to after days of exploring incredible places. I hope to continue with my run of choosing great hotels, and then perhaps I'll have another one of these posts to write in a couple of years' time!


Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Machu Picchu

Visiting Machu Picchu had been a dream of mine since I started planning my Year Abroad back in 2016 - I initially intended to spend a few months volunteering in Peru, and hoped to include a trip to the iconic Inca citadel during that time. But then my plans changed, and I ended up spending a crazy, eventful and ultimately incredible semester in Chile instead.

Four years later, I've found myself living in South America for the second time in my life, and I knew that this time, I couldn't let the opportunity pass to visit this archaeological site, which is considered to be one of the most incredible sights to see in the entire world. In fact, it was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007, which made me want to visit it even more, as I'd never been to any of the 7 Wonders before!

So, as you can imagine, I was extremely excited to finally go to Machu Picchu last month. But I was also very nervous that something could go wrong - I'd had a couple of problems with the information on my ticket, and although I'd been assured via email that everything was okay, I was still worried that somehow I'd be denied entry. How awful would it have been to have gone all the way to Peru and spent a week there, and then to be unable to visit the place I'd wanted to see most! 

For this reason, I barely slept the night before my visit to the citadel, and I got up in the morning not feeling too great. I'd planned to hike to the site rather than taking the bus, both to save money and because I wanted to feel like I'd earned my visit to Machu Picchu, but I started to wonder if the bus might be a better idea, given how I was feeling.

However, once I got out into the main street of Aguas Calientes and saw the huge queue for the bus, I changed my mind again and decided to hike after all! 

The first part of the hike is just an easy walk along the river, which took me about twenty minutes, walking reasonably fast. Once you reach a checkpoint next to a bridge, you have to show your ticket and passport, and then you begin the hiking trail itself, which is basically just lots and lots of steep and uneven steps cutting through the zigzag road that the buses take up to the site. It's considered a moderately challenging hike that's meant to take around 60 minutes on average. I was a little daunted by it but very motivated!

I entered the trail, and was instantly surrounded by sweltering jungle, with exotic butterflies and swarms of mosquitos flying around. After putting on some sunblock and insect repellent, I was ready to begin climbing.



The hike was certainly challenging - walking up hundreds upon hundreds of steps is an exhausting task, so much so that I took the longer route around the zigzag road a couple of times, just to have a bit of a breather. Although I enjoy exercise and consider myself reasonably fit, I usually do more varied workouts of around 30 minutes or less, and rarely do exercise as long and relentless as this. 

However, the hike is enjoyable too, because the views you get of both jungle and mountains are so spectacular; this is truly a unique area of nature.




Two people passed me on my way up the trek, and maybe around ten passed on their way down, but the trail was surprisingly quiet. I had expected more people would want to do the hike (it's free, unlike the 12 dollar bus ticket!), but it seems that the bus is overwhelmingly the more popular option. The quietness of the trail made me feel even more adventurous and intrepid!

When I finally reached the top, I was dripping with sweat and panting with exhaustion, but feeling very proud of myself for completing this challenge! Despite having taken the longer route around the road for parts of the hike, I'd still managed to do it in around 60 minutes as expected, so I was really happy.

And at last it was finally time for me to enter Machu Picchu!

The first thing you see when you enter isn't the iconic view we've all seen on social media and travel guides, but it's still pretty amazing!




After walking up some steps (I was very tired of steps by this point!), you finally get to see the citadel laid out in front of you.




And a little bit further along, you get that absolutely iconic view that really takes your breath away. To tell the truth, I had been a little worried that Machu Picchu wouldn't live up to my expectations - after all, I'd already seen it countless times in pictures and videos. But to actually be there, seeing it with my own eyes, was an incredible experience that I'll never forget. It had taken two flights, an Uber ride, a train journey and a challenging hike to get there, but it was so worth all the time, money and effort to finally just be there, take in the spectacular views, and soak up all the atmosphere and history of the place.










The tour of the site lasted around two hours, but it felt like 10 minutes! Being at Machu Picchu was like being in a dream, and I couldn't quite believe it was really happening. But I tried my best to retain at least some of the information from the tour, which was very interesting.

People have various theories about the purpose of the site, but the most likely one is that it was a spiritual retreat, which makes sense, as it has several temples. It's amazing to see how well the buildings have been preserved since the site was built around 600 years ago. 













It was nice to see some cute llamas at Machu Picchu. But the guide explained that, unfortunately, the llamas have been taken out of their natural habitat, which is the dryer areas of the mountains, and that this jungle environment isn't good for them.







On a happier note, we also saw a viscacha (like a big rabbit), which is native to the area. He or she was sitting in the window of a temple and looked very cute!




Overall, visiting Machu Picchu was a real dream come true. I remember sitting in my parent's house last year, unable to go anywhere and not knowing when I would next see my boyfriend. During that year in which I didn't travel abroad at all, I daydreamed a lot about the places I'd visit around Latin America when I finally managed to move to Chile, and Machu Picchu (along with a few more of the places we've already been to this year) was definitely one of the ones I thought about most! 

Although this year has had its challenges, I feel incredibly happy that I have at last managed to move to Chile, that Claudio and I now live in our little apartment together, and that I've had the opportunity to visit amazing places such as this. 😊

After the tour, it was time to hike back down the way I'd come up. This time the trail was a little busier than before, but there were still huge lines of people waiting to take the bus back to Aguas Calientes. To be honest, I would encourage anyone able-bodied who's visiting Machu Picchu to at least hike down afterwards - yes, the way up is challenging and you need to be reasonably fit to do it, but the way down is much easier, and you get to enjoy walking through the jungle, and you save yourself 12 dollars! It's a no-brainer really!

When I crossed over the bridge at the end of the trail, I felt super happy to have experienced this amazing morning of hiking and exploring one of my bucket list destinations. I also realised that from the bridge, you can see another archaeological site, which made me even happier!






All in all, it had been a real once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I'm so happy that I was finally able to realise my travel dream of 6 years! But to be honest, even though seeing Machu Picchu was the reason I took this trip, the entire week I had in Peru was incredible, and I'll always have great memories of my travels in Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Maras and Moray, and Aguas Calientes.

And although for many people, Machu Picchu and the surrounding area are Peru, I've read a lot more about the country while planning this trip and our trip to Tacna in June, and I now have so much Wanderlust to explore other Peruvian destinations in the future! Most of all, I'd really like to go to Lima, the Ballestas Islands and Máncora, but Arequipa, Iquitos and Trujillo also interest me. As I'll have to leave Chile at least for a short while next February for visa reasons, perhaps I'll end up returning to Peru then, but otherwise, I hope to return at some point in the future! This country has so much to offer, and I'm glad to have experienced one beautiful corner of it during this unforgettable week. 😊