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The Peruvian Amazon Is Not One Destination
Saying you are going to the Peruvian Amazon is a little like saying you are going to the mountains. It identifies an…
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The Road Into Machu Picchu
Most people arrive at Machu Picchu after a train and a bus. The Inca Trail changes the first impression by making the…
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Peruvian Food Refuses to Be One Cuisine
Peruvian food is usually introduced as a fusion. The word is useful until it starts making centuries of migration, trade, colonization, adaptation,…
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Budgeting for Peru Means Budgeting for the Andes
Peru can be affordable, but the old price list promising five-dollar beds and fixed-cost trips to Machu Picchu was never going to…
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Bolivia’s Best Treks Begin With an Altitude Reality Check
Bolivia makes mountain travel look close. La Paz sits beneath the Cordillera Real, high passes appear beyond the city, and roads fall…
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Bolivian Food Is Built for Altitude
Bolivian food rarely arrives trying to impress you. It arrives hot, substantial, and prepared for a country where mornings are cold, cities…
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Two Weeks in Bolivia Means Choosing a Direction
The old two-week itinerary crossed La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Sucre, Potosí, Uyuni, Tupiza, Tarija, and Santa Cruz. It was less a vacation…
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Isla del Sol Is Not a Spiritual Prop
Isla del Sol rises from Lake Titicaca high enough that the light seems to have fewer places to hide. Terraced hills fall…
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Salar de Uyuni Needs Preparation, Not Mysticism
Salar de Uyuni is difficult to describe without sounding as if you have swallowed a tourism brochure. In the dry season, salt…
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Bolivia Is Affordable Until the Route Gets Remote
Bolivia is often described as one of South America’s cheapest countries, which is true in the broad, unhelpful way that hides every…