This was the first time I took a long vacation in 4 years. Mostly of the time, I would attach 1 or 2 vacation days to a weekend or a work trip. The most I have taken was a week. So this was definitely something special for me.
I took 2 weeks to see Peru and Bolivia but this was definitely not enough. Of course in the span of 2 weeks, I did my best to see the major cultural points in the 2 countries. Or at least what I wanted to see.
Here was my list of to-do.
For Peru:
- Machu Picchu
- Vinicunca/Rainbow Mountain
- Sacred Valley Tour
- Humantay Lake or 69 lake
- Huacachina (Dune Buggy)
- Nazca Lines Tour
For Bolicia:
- Uyuni Desert
- Ride the teleferico
- Witch’s Market
- Valle de la luna/Moon Valley
I knew I didn’t have a lot of time. So I had to compromise on what I can see and do. I heard the beauty of 69 lake from other travelers but that was quite far from where I planned on going and it would not be a day trip. So instead of 69 lake, I decided to visit Humantay Lake. From reviews, many travelers said that if the weather permits, Humantay Lake is also beautiful. I took a chance. I also wanted to see Nasca Lines since it is close to Huacachina. However, it was another compromise I had to make since I would need to stay in Huacachina for a night and I wanted to do a day trip.
Also, I knew I was going to have only a day to see La Paz because of Uyuni. I have been told that Uyuni’s weather can be unpredictable and if you want to see the salt flats as you see on the internet, you might need to stay extra days just in case.
So with this in mind, here is the schedule I made.
So when a plan, I was pretty set. Now, I just needed to pack.
Packing was a bit challenging. I did not want to take too much but since the weather was all over the place, I had to basically pack summer AND winter clothes. Overall, the weather was going to be in the high 60s to mid 70s. However, Uyuni Desert was something else. Everyone said to take winter clothes, lots of layers.
So things I packed:
- Travel essentials (toothbrush, paste, shampoo, skincare, etc)
- 2 Long sleeve and 2 short sleeve
- 1 sweater
- Water proof winter jacket
- 2 Jeans, 1 jogger, 1 yoga pants
- Pajama
- 1 hiking boots and 1 rainboots
- 12 packs of disposable heating pads
- Flashlight, wide brimmed hat, disposable raincoat
- Camera (Sony A5100)
- Phone (Samsung Galaxy note5)
- Portable Wifi (GlocalMe U2)
- All the charging cables
- Journal and pen
I made sure to book accommodations that offer laundry service for a fee. So I planned to pack as little as possible.
Of course, with traveling, there are always mishaps even if you try to account for everything. So even though this was my plan, I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to. I will write about my day to day and how my travel plans changed. I will also do reviews of the travel companies I used and the accommodations I used throughout my trip.
Moons on the Move 