Stranger to Stability: September 2015

I was really busy the past months, which is the reason i didn't update my blog. For one month i was backpacking with my best friend in Peru and Bolivia. It was my first time backpacking, therefore an incredible experience. We started our tour in Lima, from there we went to Paracas, where we went with Quads to the Paracas National Parc. Our next stop was Huaccachina for the amazing sand boarding experience. From there on we took the bus to Arequipa, because we wanted to see the Colca Canyon. After a couple of days and a visit to the doctor we went to Puno. In Puno we did a tour to the floating islands on the titicaca lake. It's hard to believe but people actually live on those small islands. The next day we took the bus to Copa Cabana, Bolivia. We stayed for 2 hours and then took the next bus to La Paz, Bolivia. In La Paz we straight went to a hospital because i still didn't feel better. I had to stay for 4 days due to parasites and salmonella- but i survived :D Because of this loss of time we could only do a 1day tour in the salt flats of Uyuni. Nevertheless it was an incredible experience, a whole desert made of salt. On the next day we took the bus back to Copa Cabana, where we stayed for the night and then went to the Isla del sol (titicaca lake). For the first time of my life i saw the milky way! After getting back to Copa Cabana for the bolivian national day we went back to Puno, where our 21 hour nightbus was waiting for us. In the early morning we arrived in Cusco, Peru. We were staying at Ecopackers, a hostel that i highly recommend- clean rooms, good service and perfect location to explore the city. In Cusco we visited some museums, old inca ruins, did a cooking class and of course hiked machu picchu. To get to machu picchu we first had to take a van that brought us to a train station somewhere in the middle of nowhere. From there we decided to walk 3 hours to aguas calientes, instead of taking the train. The walk was one of the nicest experiences of the whole trip, because you get to see wonderful nature. Aguas calientes itself isn't very beautiful, very touristic and loud. On the next morning we woke up at 4am, we started our hike up to machu picchu at 4:30. The first 30 minutes were chill, but after crossing the bridge to the area the tough part started: approximately 45 minutes of just stairs. The way up was hard, it was rainy, dark and we were sweating like animals, but when we reached the top we felt like the kings of the world (or at least peru). Sadly the weather wasn't as nice as expected, but in-between the clouds cleared up and we saw the inca ruins. All in all it was one of the best experiences from the trip. From Cusco we flew to Lima to spent a last day in our party hostel, called Pariwana. With drinking games, a guy doing magic tricks on the rooftop terrace and some funny stories we ended our trip.
For now i will only upload the panorama pictures i took, but more will follow!