Billie Besos

Well then…I’ve been in 3 different countries within the past 10 days and have packed in A LOT. So much so that I can’t write about everything I’ve done but I will post some cool pictures and write some little captions about what I’ve been up to. Then I want to talk about where I’m at, how it feels to have properly started travelling completely ALONE, and what I’ve got coming up as I get closer to the end of my trip (I might actually be coming home pretty soon as my bank account hates me).

My last post showed all of the incredible landscapes of Peru, but I can assure you that the beautiful scenery did not end there, and I must admit that I have been completely amazed on so many occasions by just how incredible this world is.

I travelled east through Peru and was able to visit the lovely city of Arequipa, which is filled with colonial architecture and made me feel like I could be back in Spain.

Some beautiful buildings in Arequipa, Peru

I then travelled to one of the most eastern points of Peru, Puno. I didn’t spend much time in the city itself because I travelled out into one of South America’s largest lakes, Lake Titicaca and stayed overnight with a local family on an island called Amantani. This was one of the coolest experiences- I got to live like a local, and explore some of the islands in the middle of the world’s highest navigable body of water (this is a fun fact I keep repeating when possible).

Pictured: me standing in front of the beautiful Lake Titicaca (left), me sitting in front of the sunset (top middle), a pretty arch way in front of the lake (bottom middle), buildings made from straw on the Uros floating islands that I visited (top right), and friends and I dressed in traditional dress while at a local dance with our host father (bottom right)

The view from our host family’s home!

I then travelled across the border into Bolivia and headed to the bustling capital city of La Paz. I had not done any research whatsoever into La Paz so arrived with an open mind, and I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve been told now that a lot of people don’t like La Paz, but I really enjoyed the couple of days I spent there. The Bolivian people were fun, if not a little crazy, and there were some really cool spots in the city.

Calle Jaen

La Paz’s main square

A cute lil’ doggo that I met

Funky street art

Just me acting natural on a wall in front of the city

I don’t think the people of La Paz like the police… (anyone who understands Spanish will understand)

La Paz’s Moon Valley (above and below)

From La Paz I decided to sign myself up for the infamous ‘Death Road’. For anyone who is not familiar with this, the clue’s in the name. This is basically a 64km bike ride along one of the world’s most dangerous roads. To be honest, I found it pretty fun and wasn’t actually that scared (surprisingly), despite the fact that I was literally riding a mountain bike at high speed scarily close to a sheer drop (sorry mum). I survived to tell the tale and here are some pics to give a bit of background info.

Pictured: me feeling proud of my achievement (left), friends and I sitting precariously on the edge of the road (top middle), me pretending to be a biker chick (bottom middle), more posing with the sign (top right), a more zoomed out view of our nice seat (bottom right)

After this, my group’s driver drove like a maniac (as all Bolivians do) to get me back in time for my overnight bus down to Uyuni, from which I would begin my tour of the famous Salt Flats (basically the attraction that everyone goes to Bolivia to see). We were in a group of 6 for the tour- this included a French family which actually forced me to practise sooooo much (I definitely spoke more French than Spanish). The tour was an absolutely incredible experience and I am genuinely so surprised by how diverse the landscapes of Bolivia are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. The French woman on my tour said she had never been anywhere so colourful before, and I am inclined to agree. I know that the Salt Flats themselves are the main thing everyone goes to see, but they weren’t the only incredible part; there were lagoons, mountains, hot springs, desert, the works.

Just some of many pictures I took during the tour

And then after these few days, it made sense for me to cross the border to Chile as we could see the mountains of Chile from our tour. This was when I said goodbye to my friend Mehdi who I had spent the past week or so travelling with, and ventured off solo (ooooooh). Sorry for being dramatic. I was pretty excited to be going off on my own, if not a little anxious because I actually haven’t spent a day travelling solo yet since I arrived in January. I think I was ready for it, but I still think I had become quite reliant on someone else being there. Whether it was to check we were getting on the right bus, to lend me some money to go to the toilet, or whatever it may be. This was actually a bit of a pain at first as I was soooo desperate for a wee when I got to the border crossing with Chile because I had run out of Bolivian currency. (Sorry TMI). I also had a bit of a scare when I first went off in my shuttle to meet up with a bigger bus in order to cross the border; I told the driver the name of the bus company that would take me across the border and he responded somewhere along the lines of ‘Oh good luck with them, they’re not the most reliable’. Brilliant.

Luckily it all went ok though, and I was feeling pretty relaxed. The border crossing was not fun as we had to sit in a queue for at least an hour because the Chilean border control was supposedly ‘very strict’ and would search you and your belongings thoroughly. Ha. What it actually consisted of was 3 youngish guys making jokes and playing ping pong while on the job. One of them looked at my bag and then proceeded to say in Spanish while giggling ‘any drugs in there?’ as if he was absolutely hilarious. So that was fun.

I eventually arrived at my destination which was San Pedro de Atacama in the north of Chile, but of course, I was completely unprepared; I had no offline maps downloaded on my phone and no hostel organised yet. Luckily though, I heard two Brazilian guys talking when we got off the shuttle and they were staying in a hostel I had read about online. So I walked with them and managed to check into the same hostel (which I have now spent 3 nights at). I could do this whole ‘solo travel’ thing. I just need to try not to put too much pressure on myself and enjoy everything. It’s pretty cool because I can organise things as and when I want. And I haven’t really been particularly alone because you meet people so easily in hostels. In hindsight, this may not have been the best place to start seeing as there isn’t that much to do here after you’ve visited the desert, and it’s SO expensive. I had porridge for dinner last night lol. But anyway, all is well and I have managed to get myself organised. I am doing an astronomical tour tonight because EVERYONE has recommended it and then I fly down to Sanitago (the capital of Chile) tomorrow where I will spend at least a couple of days exploring. From there I’m hoping to travel over to the coastal city of Valparaiso and try to find some work there for a couple of weeks to save some money (I’m running out faster than expected, oops). And then from there we shall see.

Thanks for reading!