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24 mag 2015

Discovering Machu Picchu - Peru

My trip to Peru, two years ago, could not miss one of the new 7 wonders of the modern world: the Machu Picchu. A place that excites curiosity to million visitors from around the world not only for its beauty, but also for the veil of mystery that still surrounds it.
Built in the fifteenth century in the rocky promontory at 2500 meters above sea level which combines the two mounts Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu is a granite city that was house to an ancient Andean Inca population. This lost city remained hidden in the heart of the Andes for 400 years, until in 1911 the American explorer Hiram Bingham discovered it "officially". And from there, the lack of written records about its origins and history still left many enigmas and mysteries that archaeologists from around the world are still trying to solve: temples, altars, houses ... Machu Picchu was a sanctuary, a royal residence, or what? How could a population who ignored the use of the wheel create such a work of engineering and architecture, in such a narrow place? Even today, these questions continue to fascinate us.

How to get to Machu Picchu?
Machu Picchu is located in the department of Cuzco and is about 130 km from Cuzco, which is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, then considered the navel of the world - A visit in this beautiful city is highly recommended!! at least a couple of days. The ways to get to Machu Picchu are essentially three:
* In helicopter, from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, the village with tourist facilities located at the foot of Machu Picchu. - fast but expensive!
* By bus and train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, which takes about three hours. This is the way that the majority of visitors chose, mainly for reasons of time (and cost, compared with the helicopter).

* By train from Cuzco to the "82 km", from which you can start a hike towards Machu Picchu, along the fascinating and challenging Inca Trail. In three or four days you can walk along the steep paths along the gorgeours valleys of the sacred Inca Urubamba River, arriving in the early morning of the 3rd/4th day, in front of this wonderful hidden city, and stare in front of the sunrise.

The train to Aguas Calientes

Te small town of Aguas Calientes, below the Machu Picchu

Once you get to Machu Picchu, for access to which you have to pay an entrance fee (for tourists it ranges from US$74 to US$84 depending on what areas you want to visit - you can check the latest prices on this site, Ticket Machu Picchu), you get the impression of going back in time. The view is simply breathtaking, and the lovely llama strolling quietly within the walls of the village just add to the site an idea of "far".

Recommendations: I recommend using comfortable shoes, drink plenty of water, use insect repellent and sunscreen. Alos, don't forget to bring a swimsuit, since in Aguas Calientes there are thermal baths where you can relax after the trek up the mountain! The best time to visit? From July to September is the ideal, but also the spring-autumn are good. Instead, in January, February and March should be avoided because of the rains!
Peru is a unique country and Machu Picchu is one of the things that you should visit sooner or later in life. Happy travel to those about to venture into this beautiful country!

7 mar 2015

10 reasons to travel to Bolivia

Bolivia is definitely one of my favourite countries in the world.

Those who know me, know that I always apply "this is one of my favourite..."/ "one of the best..." to pretty much every situation, but this time this is particularly true! Here's at least 10 reasons why you should go to Bolivia in your life, especially if you are young (but not only!):

1. The highest capital in the world
La Paz, at almost 4000 meters above sea level, is the highest capital in the world. That's why it is often called "la ciudad que toca el cielo", (=the city which touches the sky). When you land at the airport of El Alto, the view is breathtaking: the city itself is located in a sort of deep "hole" in the valley, and the contrast between the bricks of the houses and the white mountains of the Cordillera de los Andes behind the city is really unique.

La Paz

Plaza Murillo

2. The biggest salt lake in the world: el Salar de Uyuni
Bolivia would be worth a visit just to see this. El Salar de Uyuni, at about 40 minutes by 4 Wheel Drive from the city of Uyuni, is a 11-km²white salt flat which will leave you breathless. Go there in the dry season to see the salt white like snow and to do the 3-day camping tour around the whole Salar, or go there while it's wet to see the spectacular effect of the sky reflexed on it! Pictures will be amazing. Little curiosity: the lithium of your smartphone's battery comes from el Salar de Uyuni with most probabilities!!

It looks like snow - but it's salt!

4 wheel drive cars crossing the salt flats

Pink flamengos during the 4-day trip across the Salar

Heading to the volcano

3. The most dangerous road in the world: la ruta de la muerte
Just outside La Paz there is what used to start the most dangerous road in the world: Los Yungas, i.e. the Road of Death. The road has now been replaced by a larger, safer road, but in the past there have been several terrible accidents: the road is thin and made of soil, and buses literally slipped down the road and were swallowed by the deep amazonic forest. While it starts from the high and cold Ands mountains, it descends about 3500 down to arrive to the warm and humid amazonic area. Now you can do it by bike (and then come back with a little van) and enjoy the whole 57 kilometer road, passing through the mountains and then through the green, amazonic forest.

The amazonic part of Los Yungas road

Starting the 57-km road from the Ands

4. Cross the mine of Potosì
Only after visiting this city I realised why my Spanish grandma used to say "vale mas que un Potosì" (= "it is more valuable than a Potosì"). The mountain Cerro Rico host one of the country's richest mines, with silver and many other precious metals, and you can actually cross the mountain in a 2 or 3-hour hike entering from one side of the mountain and getting out at the opposite side. It is hard to see and realise how difficult it is for people to work inside the mine :( . Hard but unique experience!
Potosì, at over 4000 meters above the sea level, is one of the highest cities in the world. The air is really rarefied and you will realise how hard it will be even to do a 15 minute-walk!

The entrance to the mines

Potosì

Walking inside the mines and crossing Cerro Rico mountain

5. Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca, right in the border between Peru and Bolivia, is the largest lake in South America (by volume), located in the Central Ands with an average altitude of 3800 meters. It is also often called the highest navigable lake in the world. If you visit it from La Paz, you should go to Copacabana (which is not the Rio de Janeiro beach, in this case!), a village in the Bolivian side of the lake from which you can go visit La Isla del Sol, an island in the middle of the lake. If you visit the Peruvian side, you can't miss the navigation through the floating islands ("Islas Flotantes"), and sleeping in indigenous' houses in the islands of Taquile and Amantanì!

View to the Central Ands from Amantanì island in Lake Titicaca

6. La ruta del "Che" - the road of a revolutionary
La Ruta del Che is a 800-km path that the Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara last followed with his men before being executed by the Bolivian Army the 6th of October of 1967. If you have the chance to pass through La Higuera and Vallegrande, you will find the place where he has been assassinated and buried (respectively), with a lot of history and many symbolic places. Really really interesting.

Vallegrande's central square

7. One of the most biodiverse countries in the world
Bolivia: the country which does't touch the sea, but still is one of the most biodiverse and beautiful in the world, with its various geographic areas such as the Cordillera de los Andes, the Amazony and many more. Moreover, the succession of the Aymara, Quechua, Inca and Spanish has made of this country a unique culturally diverse place.

8. Food
Bolivia is a land rich of Quinoa, potatoes (about 200 varieties!!), corn, chicken, rice and beans. Even if the country itself is really diverse, the cuisine (with regional differences, of course) is a little bit less diverse, highly based on those ingredients. Anyways, food is deliciouos. Try the empanadas salteñas, chicharron (pork-based), Pique Macho, fried chicken, quinoa/potatoes soups, Manì soup...

9. Pure & unexplored
If you are looking for a unique travelling experience and visiting a still quite 'unexplored' area out of the top touristic destinations, where you can mix adventure, culture, nature, history, Bolivia is the right place. If you are a backpacker, you don't even need to make reservations for a hostel: just get to main square of the city/village and look for a hostel around there - you will be surprised how many lovely hostels for how cheap you will find!

Kids, in Samaipata

10. Unexpensive
...And the prices are really "affordable", especially if you come with euros or dollars. You will be able, therefore, to explore the country in a very complete way, and possible do all the activities worth doing.

Our lovely and cheap hostel in Vallegrande

...Buon Viaggio in Bolivia! Happy travel to Bolivia!

28 ott 2014

Mi Buenos Aires querido - the most alive city in the world by far !!

"Mi Buenos Aires querido....cuando yo te vuelva a ver no habrá más pena ni olvido."

El puente de la mujer - Puerto Madero

Carlos Gardel's words and melody will always echo in my mind. This spectacular tango wants to transmit the feeling of those who had to leave Buenos Aires for some reason, but will keep forever the city inside them and will always dream about coming back. Well, that's exactly how I have been feeling after I left BA, last year during my exchange semester in Universidad de Belgrano in July 2013. Buenos Aires literally traps you in its arms in a way that I cannot describe it, you just feel so linked to that city that you have to come back, sooner or later.

I have been travelling a lot and I have no doubt in saying that Argentina is the most beautiful country in the world and Buenos Aires the most beautiful city. Not only it is just magnificent on its own with its green parks and its history - Buenos Aires offers a way of living, a human "heat", a never-sleeping multicultural environment, funny parties and people, excellent food, a careless and free state of mind that I rarely found somewhere else. Every morning you wake up, you see that deep blue sky, you walk among European splendid architecture of la belle epoque, sometimes perfect, sometimes more "decadent"...but always alive in its 48 barrios and 13 million inhabitants (the whole conglomerate).

The land of Dulce de leche, Carlos Gardel, Mafalda, los alfajores, Plaza Armenia, Recoleta, La Boca, el colectivo, el Subte, Che Boludo, Tango, Teatro Colòn, Puerto Madero, parrilla libre, las empanadas, los submarinos, el mate, las medialunas, el Rosebar, la reserva ecologica, la Casa Rosada, San Telmo, Plaza Dorrego, Fernet con cola, choripan, la Bomba de Tiempo, los parques de Palermo, Café Tortoni, Avenida Corrientes, la mitica Universidad de Belgrano, casa de Poppy/BenBi/Orin/Scott, las casas de cambio, los helados de 1/2 kilo de sambayòn, Scalabrini-Ortiz, the ISHBA family, Siga la Vaca restaurant ....a million things remind me of Buenos Aires !!!!!!!!!!

Here some pictures that represent Buenos Aires for me... You will see that many famous places are missing (such as La Boca, Recoleta Cemetery, etc) but I couldn't put them all! Y mis amigos de Buenos Aires...aunque no estén todos les amo a todos!!!!