The highs and lows of the Inca Trail...

Day 30
The long-awaited day had arrived - I was starting the Inca Trail today! Linh and I had booked through Loki Travel at a base cost of $400USD each plus a porter to carry our belongings for an extra $110USD for the four days. There are many tour operators offering packages for the Inca Trail but this one seemed to be the cheapest plus it had great reviews. I guess a downside though was that it was a pretty big group (22 people) so it wasn't as intimate and personalised as some of the other groups I saw on the trail. Nevertheless, it was a good group of people to spend four days trekking with!

Surviving Death Road to ring in Cusco 2016...

Day 24
My overnight bus from Uyuni got into La Paz around 6am where I then made my way uphill to my charming little hostel Residencial Latino. After the past week of very restless and sleepless nights it was great to have a private room to recuperate in. A much-needed nap later, we were off to do the walking tour at 1:30pm. La Paz is such an interesting city, blending the modern with the traditional. We'd walk through an urbanised part of the city, turn the corner and be in a market where the cholitas would be selling their fresh produce, another corner and we'd be in the Witches' Market where there were all sorts of trinkets and potions for sale (including llama foetuses). Anyways not much to this day besides the tour, eating and resting.

Desert fun: Salta to Uyuni salt flats...

Day 18
When bus plans fall through, you take an impromptu road trip! Ended up with a group of four (Linh, Davi, Niklas and myself) hiring a car and driving up north to Purmamarca and Tilcara to see the amazing desert and mountain landscapes. The highlight of this north route from Salta is Cerro de los Siete Colores, a mountain range famous for its many different coloured mountains (different elements in the rocks).

Flying through Argentina: Patagonia, Buenos Aires and Salta...

Day 10
Pretty much a travel day. I was on the 8am bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate, very much regretting the early morning bus after my four day hike. After about an hour, we approached the border between Chile and Argentina. The process was pretty straight forward. On the Chilean side, they stamped the exit stamp and collected the immigration card. We then drove through no man's land for five minutes before reaching the Argentinean checkpoint and getting the entrance stamp. And contrary to my fears, the bus driver made sure everyone was back on board before driving off.

Hiking Torres del Paine's W-trek...

So last I left off, I was getting ready for my four day hike through Torres del Paine National Park. Right now, I'm back from the wilderness and scrolling through all my photos from the 75km W-trek. I'm still just gobsmacked at how beautiful it was, and just how blue the water was! This is somewhere I'd definitely recommend going. Even if you're not a hiker, you can marvel from a distance. It has to be seen to be believed!

My South American travels begin...

A year in the making (albeit most of the planning occurred in the last month), my South American trip begins!! I had actually booked my flights to South America way back in January when there was a 10% sale on points redeemed for flights. As such, on a whim, I traded in 90,000 of my hard earned Qantas frequent flyer points (plus $750 in taxes) and got myself return flights to Santiago, Chile. Now that the 10 month wait is over, let the South American adventure begin!!

You're OK Boracay...

After the amazing experience of swimming with whale sharks, it was now time to head to the tropical island of Boracay, famous for its pure white sandy beaches and crystal clear blue waters. As with most places in the Philippines, it takes quite a bit of time to get anywhere but after after a taxi, a flight, a van ride, a boat and another van ride, we were finally at our beachfront hotel La Carmela in the heart of the island's busy strip. Boracay Island is split into Stations 1, 2 and 3, with Station 2 being the main hub for all the restaurants, bars, shops and clubs, and conveniently where our hotel was located!