Planned years ago but then, the pandemic threw a monkey wrench on our travel calendar for 2020. Postponed a couple of times, we finally managed to pull through this 2024 minus some friends originally in the list. We’ve settled on Chile and Peru but not without some major iti changes like dropping Atacama Desert and instead including Patagonia. We were also close to implementing “Plan B” as half in our group have not obtained Chilean visas a good week before the trip. In the end, all of us but one got our visas. The one who didn’t just caught up with us in Peru for the second leg of the trip.
While I spent 3 weeks in Sydney prior to this South American adventure, I caught up with the group at the Sydney Airport for our trip to Santiago, Chile. They flew in from Manila for the connecting flight Down Under. The others chose to fly in to Chile from California. We also planned to enjoy 3 rest days prior to the start of the tour to rev up our energy, especially considering that this travel itinerary involves 6 domestic and regional flights. And that does not include a 10 hour bus ride from Cusco to Puno. Thinking back, it sure is a hectic, tiring and challenging journey. Only our excitement and sworn resolve to endure were going for us. And true, the familiarity and tested friendship helped along.
The second leg of the journey spawned a few health concerns. Altitude sickness hit some of us especially as we moved from Cusco towards Lake Titicaca. It helped that the novelty and the magnificent scenery helped us endure some ailments, and that our hotels were well-prepared and accustomed to deal with such adversities. Not to be dismissed is the fact that we had very good guides in Patagonia, Cusco, Machu Picchu and Puno. We drew a lot of comfort in that. As we dwelled on our travel joys and woes, we all agreed that while the trip is longer and more tiring than most of our previous travels, we totally enjoyed it as the spots we visited are simply magical and breathtaking.
lifeisacelebration 