(Note: A draft of this post inadvertently was sent out a few days ago before it was completed so I needed to recall it. Sorry for the inconvenience)

We knew it would be tricky to enter Bolivia. Bolivia requires a visa for travelers from the U.S. We could have possibly obtained one before leaving but time constraints necessitated that we attempt to get one at the border. To complicate things, we decided to cross into Bolivia at a small out of the way border crossing on a Sunday. Hmmm.

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Hypoxemia, when your blood oxygen levels are low, can be dangerous and even deadly. I always thought it was hypoxia, but according to the Cleveland Clinic, Hypoxemia is low oxygen levels in your blood and hypoxia is low oxygen levels in your tissues. Hmm, learned something new. Symptoms to look our for are: Headache, Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, Rapid heart rate, Coughing, Wheezing, Confusion, Bluish color in skin, fingernails and lips. Continue reading →

Urubamba is a smaller cousin to nearby Cusco and is the jumping off point for people wanting to visit the Sacred Valley region of Peru. Just what we wanted to do. Again, thanks to our friend Ivan in Lima, we found ourselves at the excellent Hotel Amaru Valle. We took a day off for rest, laundry and a private tour of some of the local attractions including the Moray site, and the Salt Mines of Maras. It’s worth clicking on the links to read more about it and see some professional pictures. Ok, here is one Deby took of the Salt Mines, it was pretty cool to see but made me thirsty. Continue reading →

This is a long post with a lot of pictures and adventure but I think it captures the essence of adventure travel in Peru. I hope you enjoy it. Continue reading →

Duck Canyon

Now the fun begins…. after the morning stop at the museum with the mummies we continued south on ruta 8B. This was a day of highs and lows but mostly highs as we climbed up and over two mountain ranges. Here is the elevation plot for the day.

The first half of the day was spent climbing towards almost 12,000 feet. The road started paved with beautiful vistas of the green foothills. Continue reading →

Into Peru

We left Vilcabamba well rested after three days of relaxing and getting caught up on the blog and book reading. We were within a few hours of the border crossing into Peru and had two route options: the “jungle” crossing that was due south of us on a dirt road, or we could double back and enter Peru on the “mountain” crossing on the Pan-American Highway. I asked around at the hotel and checked online and maps and decided to go for the closer but more difficult jungle crossing. Continue reading →

Ok, it really is a awesome. A country of beautiful green mountains and nothing but curvy roads often climbing to over 10,000 feet into clouds and misty rain then back down into sunshine and warm temperatures. Totally enjoyable riding with roads alternating between new four lane blacktop to pitted out gravel and mud. A little of everything I suppose. But wait, how did we get in? Continue reading →

That would be the Darian Gap, that nearly impenetrable section of land that separates central from south America. It’s been in the news lately as thousands of migrants are making the dangerous trek through the gap into Panama. We were feeling guilty as we flew over in a modern Boeing 737. Our only worry was about the possibility of a passenger door falling off. Continue reading →

Well rested after three nights in our comfortable cabana on Island Ometepe in lake Nicaragua, we slowly packed up and made our way back to the ferry and the short ride to the border with Costa Rica. The morning was warm but overcast and the winds were still howling over the lake with high wind warnings showing on my phone’s weather app. It’s hard to get a picture of high winds but you might get the idea from this picture of a ferry just like the one we were on going the other direction. Continue reading →