WRITINGS ON SOUTH AMERICA:
Rainbow Mountain – a must-climb in Peru
Rainbow Mountain is quite a spectacular rock formation located about 3 hours outside of Cusco. If you happen to find yourself in Cusco, a day trip to Rainbow Mountain is one I would highly recommend....
Cusco – a Peruvian favourite
Cusco really surprised me. Upon arrival I didn't know what to expect, and simply wasn't prepared to like the city so much. However I love a good surprise, and was happy we had a few days to explore....
A short stay in Arequipa and Colca Canyon
Arequipa is known as the white city of Peru, and one of the prettiest cities in the country. I didn't get to explore the city as much as I probably should have, but I still enjoyed my short stay in Arequipa a lot....
Lima to Nazca, through Paracas and Huacachina
At one point I thought that I would end up spending quite a few days in Lima, but that plan quickly changed as I decided to go trekking instead. I therefore quickly rushed away from Huaraz the same night we finished the trek, and got on the night bus slightly tipsy after taking a few well-deserved celebratory drinks with some locals in a shady back alley. At least it made me sleep perfectly on the bus that night, and sometimes you’ve just got to embrace those oh so local experiences. I arrived in Lima early in the morning and...
Huaraz and the amazing outdoor adventures that came with it
“I have some time to kill, I might as well make a stop in Huaraz to do some hiking”. And that’s how my plan of spending a couple of days in Huaraz only to be able to visit Laguna 69, which looked so amazing in all the pictures, turned into seven consecutive days of hiking in very high altitude. If someone had told me before I left Norway that in a few months I’d find myself doing a five day self-guided trek in the Peruvian mountains, carrying my 57 litre backpack with tent, sleeping bag and food for the...
Máncora
As I left for the airport to head back to the mainland from The Galapagos, my main aim was to catch a night bus to Mancora that same evening. Getting an email about a 1,5 hour delay of my flight definitely wasn’t a part off my plan, but being the cheap backpacker that I am I still left for the airport on the last possible bus, which leaves as early as 8am. That would give me about five hours of waiting at Seymour Airport, but also save me 20 USD so I decided it was worth it. Upon arrival...
Travel summary: Ecuador
I spent three weeks travelling in Ecuador and managed to squeeze in so much during that time. Here is a quick travel summary from my time in Ecuador....
The Galápagos Islands
After two days of doing absolutely nothing in Cuenca and getting way too comfortable at Mi Casa Hostel, it was time for new adventures. I caught a 5 am bus heading for Guayaquil, only to catch a flight to one of my dream destinations in South America. I was treating myself to a week in the Galápagos Islands. I had been going back and forth for weeks wondering whether it be worth it spending so much money in one place over one week. Eventually I decided that I might only be in Ecuador once, and that this was something...
Baños
The day I was gonna make my way from Latacunga to Baños started with a relaxed breakfast. We were a group of five heading for Baños that day, and we were all equally convinced that direct buses ran quite frequently. It's only a two hour ride so they should be, right? At the bus terminal we were told otherwise. After some confusion were sent of on a bus to Ambato where we were told that we would find a connecting bus. That didn't quite happen. After being told different things by a numerous amount of people and having run...
Trekking the Quilotoa Loop
Hiking the Quilotoa Loop has definitely been one of the highlights of my trip so far. Beautiful hikes during the days and cozy evenings with great food and good company in the evenings; it doesn't get much better than that. Most people I have talked to in Ecuador seemed to be visiting the Quilotoa lake on a daytrip, but for anyone who has the time and a certain appreciation for hiking I would definitely recommend doing the whole loop. The loop can be done in different ways, so this is a guide to how I ended up doing it....