September 6, 2018 – September 9, 2018
Further down the Sacred Valley, in the direction of the famous Machu Picchu, lies the town of Ollantaytambo. We were going to use the town as our base for our train and bus journey to Machu Picchu, but the small village itself became one of our (many) favourite places in Peru.
August 27, 2018 – August 29, 2018
Huacachina is a tiny, oasis resort town surrounded by huge sand dunes. It was once the playground for elite Peruvians, but is now frequented more by tourists who rent snowboards or skis to first climb up, then swoosh their way down the sand dunes. We stopped in town for some lunch and watched boarders climb the enormous sand dunes in the hot midday sun, we didn’t see many coming back down though; maybe they were reluctant to climb back up again. After lunch we decided to move on.
The lagoon in the middle of town.
August 19, 2018 – August 24, 2018
The Cordillera Blanca (White Mountain Range) of Peru, according to our guide book, is,
“the world’s highest tropical mountain range and encompasses some of South America’s highest mountains”
As we drove, snow and ice capped peaks began to appear behind the nearer mountains that lined the valleys. The steep valley slopes were terraced and green evidencing centuries of farming knowledge. We drove through rural town centres, filled with fruit and produce markets, traditionally dressed indigenous locals, and backpacking tourists readying themselves for long treks in the Andes of Peru.
July 21, 2018 – July 23, 2018
The Quilotoa Loop is a 3 or 4 day backpack that you can do, partly on trails, partly on roads, that takes you through small indigenous towns and stunning mountain scenery. Backpackers generally do the loop staying at hostels found all along the way. We decided that instead of stashing the truck somewhere, renting gear, and trying to find places that would accept us with the dog, that we would drive the loop with our truck and camper.
July 12, 2018 – July 17, 2018
We had been a bit anxious about crossing the border from Colombia into Ecuador. We had read that there could be line ups of thousands of Venezuelan refugees at the border, having walked, hitch hiked, and stowed away on vehicles across Colombia, hoping to land somewhere where they could restart their lives. We had read accounts of it taking 8 or 10 hours to get across the border….a small inconvenience for us in light of what the Venezuelans are facing, but a daunting prospect, none the less.
July 8, 2018 – July 12, 2018
We were heading up a hill, when suddenly Derek took his foot off of the gas and the truck responded, instantly slowing to a crawl. I looked at Derek, I looked to the road immediately ahead, and then back at Derek. There was no animal, no debris, no tope in the road. “What’s up?”, I asked. “I have no steering”, Derek said.
July 2, 2018 – July 8, 2018
Tierradentro, meaning “inner land”, is known for its underground tombs built by a civilization that was at its height from about 600 – 900 AD. Little is known about the people who built the tombs and many of the sites were subject to looting before the area became protected. This part of Colombia was rarely visited by tourists for many years due to guerrilla activity and poor roads, however it is now considered quite safe to visit.
June 29, 2018 – July 2,2018
We got on the road about 8 or 9 am for the long slow drive along the back country roads from Salento to Ibague. We knew what the first 20 kilometres of so were going to be like, as we had ridden down it on a bike the day before with Doug and Lindsey, but we were excited to see what else the day would bring.
June 29, 2018 – June 30, 2018
The next day the four of us were up early for a bike tour…some, if not all, with a bit of brain fog from the celebrations of the previous night. We jumped in the box of a pickup truck and were driven out of town for about an hour, the fresh, crisp mountain air helping to clear away the cobwebs.
June 22, 2018 – June 25, 2018
We drove, yet again, through the city of Medellin to a great hostel set high up in the mountains around Medellin, called Hostel al Bosque. They had a great indoor space for campers and backpackers to use, hot showers, laundry, and a TV room.