Border Mission: Peru to Colombia

Iquitos was a very different city once we returned from our trip into the Amazon. It was early afternoon and everybody was in town, the streets were literally buzzing with rickshaws, it was so noisy and almost impossible to cross the road as there was so much traffic. Such a contrast to the serenity we’d just experienced in the jungle! 

Amazon Adventures With Jungle Man

Our journey to the mighty Amazon jungle began in Lima, after a couple of days hanging out in the trendy bars and restaurants of the Barranco neighbourhood, we boarded our $80 flight to Iquitos. Our decision to venture into the Amazon was made just one week before whilst we were in Cusco. After a few hours research and a couple of emails we chose to stay at the native owned Abundancia Ecolodge over the many American owned luxury lodges also near to Iquitos. Our guide would be Miguel aka Jungle Man! 

Learning To Sandboard

When we first heard about the huge sand dunes in Huacachina we were a little skeptical about them. In Vietnam, we’d visited the pretty but underwhelming dunes at Mui Ne the year before. Fellow backpackers and bloggers assured us that sandboarding in Peru was something we had to try. All buses from Cusco to Lima go via Ica so there was lots of choice on buses, as it was 14 hours overnight we decided to treat ourselves to the 'Cama Total' seats downstairs. 

We Made It To Machu Picchu!

Cusco is the gateway to the incredible mountain top Inca village of Machu Picchu and it would have been a major fail for us if we didn’t at least try and visit. The scenic, adventurous route was no longer an option (see why here) so, we decided to see if a local travel agent could help get us there another way. 

"We made it!"

Cusco - The Centre of the Inca Empire

In total we spent just over two weeks in Bolivia and after a sunny couple of days on Lake Titicaca it was time to board a night bus bound for Cusco in Peru. Copacabana is less than 15 minutes drive from Bolivia’s border with Peru and for the first time in South America we had a supervised border crossing by the hostess on our bus, this meant we were herded like sheep from one immigration office to the next. The Peruvian immigration office looked in need of some renovation but we were very excited to be in Peru. So many travellers had raved to us about Peru and we couldn't wait to explore.

"Welcome to Peru!"