To the ends of the Earth!

And first to Peru. The first impression was very good, a bit simpler, cheaper, and more chaotic than Colombia and Ecuador. In Jaén, we spent only one evening/night before heading towards Kuelap and Chachapoyas the next day. Upon arrival, we went straight to one of the highest waterfalls in the world, and at 771 m(!) high, it is truly impressive! I actually thought that after the Galapagos Islands, there wouldn’t be any more wow moments, but it just keeps going, and I can’t stop marveling. Unfortunately, the photos don’t do justice to the scale of the place.

The ruins of Kuelap were also impressive; after a 20-minute cable car ride over a 250-meter-deep gorge, we arrived at the top feeling refreshed. Allegedly, the ruins can rival those of Machu Picchu; I’ll see, I’ll report on it later in my journey. The ruins are definitely impressive and beautifully located on a plateau, though they are not quite as photogenic since there is no view of the remains from a higher position.

On our last day in Chachapoyas, we wanted to visit a cave and an ancient burial site where people were previously mummified in wooden statues and displayed in caves suspended high above the ground. However, I received a message that the flights I was watching to Punta Arenas had dropped in price, so I had to book those first. Unfortunately, it took a little longer, and we didn’t make it to the caves. It’s a shame, but now I have my flights to the ends of the Earth. Trujillo confirmed my first impression that Peru does present a significantly poorer image than the last countries in Central and South America. However, the streets are much livelier, and there is more street food, although it mainly consists of skewers, corn, or sandwiches, which, to put it mildly, look rather mediocre. The food in general is not getting any better; I’m giving up. We visited the Temple of the Chemu in Chan Chan, which was later conquered by the Incas.

Before continuing south by plane to Lima, 600 km away, we also checked out the Sun Temple of the Moche. Unexpectedly impressive, I had compared it to Angkor Wat, the Mayan ruins, and the pyramids in Giza. The temples were made of mud bricks (earth, sand, shells, lime, and water, called adobe) and dried in the air; everything was surprisingly well-preserved because after the Spanish conquest, the pyramids became covered and preserved by sand due to their proximity to the desert and strong winds. A lot can still be seen of the temple; over generations, the Moche built new levels, and the pyramid continued to rise. When a king died, he was buried on a level along with gold, silver, and other treasures. The Spanish cleared some graves, but access to the deeper graves is still not possible today without causing the pyramid to collapse. Since government funding has been stopped, excavations are progressing only at a snail's pace, and we are just glad if the status quo can be maintained. So far, only about 5% have been discovered.

A quick stop in Lima confirmed my further impressions. Peru has a significant garbage problem. Trash is everywhere, really everywhere, even in the capital, trash lies in green strips and between the lanes. Between cities, garbage piles up at the roadside. The only clean places are the central squares of cities or villages. A striking contrast to the much cleaner countries (Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador).
After another 8-hour bus ride, we got off in the city of Nasca to see the famous Nasca lines. For us, it was just to a viewpoint, unlike most people who take a plane. 130€ for half an hour was too much for me, and you can also see 4 lines or animals from a viewpoint tower. The lines were 'built' by the Nasca over 2000 years ago. They either removed the black stones to reveal only the white sand or placed stones on the sides of the lines to create a corresponding contrast. There are actually only theories about why the figures and lines were created. During the summer and winter solstices, some lines are exactly aligned with the rising sun. Some images are said to symbolize zodiac signs, others the animals from the rainy Amazon (monkeys, spiders, etc.), they are supposed to bring rain and were likely used for rituals. The German scientist Maria Reiche spent almost her entire life researching, protecting, and making the lines famous. Until her death, she lived in Nasca, became a Peruvian citizen, several places were named after her, and she was eventually buried at her old residence (a shed in the desert). Additionally, there are old graves and bone remains everywhere in the desert, of which we visited a few.

Heading back north, as my next flight is from Lima to Punta Arenas. The plan was to be much further south, but autumn is already beginning at the ends of the Earth, and I don’t want to be there in winter, so I’m flying now and then going back north by land. However, we stopped in Ica and Huacachina, a small oasis in the middle of the desert. Had I needed to paint an oasis in my childhood, this could have served as a model. A small lake in the middle, surrounded by green palms, trees, and behind, in every direction, 100-meter-high sand dunes.

Most people only stay one night or come for just a day; we stayed three days plus travel time. We went to the dunes for sunset once and another time for sunrise before it got too hot. We spent one day by the pool writing texts, sorting photos, reading, and planning my further travels. Then we spent another day in the city and took a buggy ride through the dunes. It felt like a roller coaster, zooming up and down the dunes at full speed. In between, we swapped our vehicle for a sandboard and went down the steepest dunes we could find; it was so much fun :)

Back in Lima, I still had to run some errands. My rain jacket is leaking; I had given it for washing and impregnation; I have no idea whether it was washed incorrectly or if it is too old after 6 years. I also needed a warm jacket, another sweater, another pair of hiking pants, and I had to get my shoes repaired. However, here you never know if you will get what you expect, so everything takes a bit longer. For example, at the cobbler, everything was supposed to be ready in 20 minutes, and because we had booked a 'food tour,' we agreed to come back the next day. And lo and behold, of course, nothing was ready at the agreed time the next day. But this has been the case throughout Central and South America so far. While we have 4 people working in a restaurant, here there are at least 10 people. One takes us to our table, the second takes the order, the third brings the drinks, the fourth the food. Two to three people in the kitchen, one more person is at the checkout, and finally, someone is cleaning from time to time. Meanwhile, they all like to sit on their phones. Construction sites or entrances are not controlled by traffic lights; here, someone actually holds up 'Stop' and 'Go' signs. Well, in the end, I was able to take care of everything, and we checked out the old town, the seafront promenade, and watched a football match.

There was plenty of action, a seated stand, and three standing terraces with 4 different fan zones, and correspondingly, we heard everything mixed up, which was a bit more than I had expected. However, they really threw punches at each other. The south terrace was separated into two parts by many police, apparently, the two groups are not always on the same page; interestingly, it was not the two groups that clashed, but people within the same sectors. First, there was a proper brawl before the police intervened, calmed the situation with batons, to then again start breaking everything up and taking the instigators. Good entertainment, the mediocre game ended 3 to 0.

After that, Finas and I went our separate ways again, and after 3 months, I am traveling alone again; let’s see, I’m still not really in the mood for hostels. I may have gotten a bit too used to double rooms and decent hotels....
My flight was from Lima via Santiago to Punta Arenas. During the layover in Santiago, I already had a bad feeling about my luggage because I had to go through passport control and switch terminals; I looked on the baggage carousel for my backpack but couldn’t spot it. In Punta Arenas, I was the last one at the baggage carousel, and there was neither luggage nor fellow passengers in sight. So, I went to the check-in desk, and a report was sent to the airline. They will contact me as soon as possible. When I hadn’t heard anything the next afternoon, I called the airline. “We see your report and will get back to you as soon as possible.” Slowly, it became clear to me that I didn’t even know if it had been found. The next three days were really terrible, without any feedback or information; I didn’t have much appetite for food and managed only a small sandwich in those three days. I also started to think about what happens if the backpack is gone. Should I go home, buy everything new here, let someone at home get everything, and send it here? With each day and every hour without feedback from the airline, my hope dwindled; how long can it take to put a backpack on the next plane when there are three flights a day? On the fourth day, I went back to the airport. Allegedly, my backpack had been scanned in Santiago and would arrive on the next evening’s flight. They will contact us...I was already skeptical, and of course, no one contacted me. On Sunday, there was only one flight, and I didn’t even go to the airport. So the first week was over, and my mood was at an absolute low. In the meantime, I managed to buy a toothbrush, toothpaste, two t-shirts, a few pairs of boxers, and some socks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t explore the surroundings, as my newly purchased jackets were in my backpack, and at 10 degrees and windy, I preferred to stay warm. After more calls and emails, I received the relieving news on Monday that my backpack had arrived and could be picked up. I was still a bit skeptical, but after 6 days my backpack finally arrived, and I could proceed. In the taxi on the way to the airport, I thought for the first time about the following: It doesn’t matter how much it costs, I would actually love to go to Antarctica since I’m so close! Based on my research from home, a tour costs at least €7,000 to €8,000, too much, but supposedly, there are last-minute offers, and indeed, in two weeks an expedition ship to Antarctica departs for €5,000 for 11 days. Still a lot of money, but when will I be here again, and it won’t get cheaper. So I transferred the required amount, and in two weeks, I will be heading to Antarctica on a research ship with dozens of scientists; I still can’t believe it. 😍😍😍
But since the anticipation is the best part, I went to the next highlight, Torres del Paine; if you didn’t know better, it could also be the three peaks in South Tyrol. Just the scenery with massive lakes, glaciers, and the rough weather is actually a little bit more beautiful! The hike was truly lovely, wide meadows, small paths, forest sections, suspension bridges, and a short, steep ascent accompanied by strong winds, revealing the wonderful view of the three towers.

The hike was somewhat marred by the sheer number of people and the truly disproportionate prices. Starting at 7 a.m., several buses depart from Puerto Natales for the two-hour journey to the national park (costing €14 each way), and then you have to switch buses a few kilometers before entering, paying another €5 for the next bus. The entrance fee is a whopping €33 for a simple hike, mind you. All the hikers started at the same time; I tried to overtake many people right away, but had to keep waiting. Many were just poorly equipped and tried to compensate for their inappropriate footwear (sneakers) and lack of fitness with trekking poles; I believe nearly 90% of the 'hikers' had rented them. I had never seen so many trekking poles, and there were people who fell, had bloody knees, or just couldn’t go anymore. Each time, you had to wait accordingly. Furthermore, there are hundreds of tents and camping sites in the camps, from where hikers start in every direction; it was simply too much for me. Most people book these hikes 6 to 12 months in advance. I’m happy if I know what I’m doing the day after tomorrow, so that was not an option for me. Honestly, the scenery up there also looks similar to the Alps; sure, you are further from civilization, but on the trails, you don’t notice it. For me, this destination is absolutely overrated; the further away hikes may be better, but to fly here just for that?

I actually wanted to visit a nearby glacier the next day. It would have been another €14 each way for the bus and €50 for the ferry. Unfortunately, that was already fully booked and would only be available two days later, by which time my ticket for the park would have expired, and I would have had to pay another €33, so a whopping €110 for a hike! So I went 'only' on a short 5km hike in a small park where I could also see a nice cave, we saved the again completely overpriced entrance fee of €13 by climbing over the fence somewhere :)

Puerto Natales appealed to me much more than Punta Arenas; it is greener, neater, cleaner, and the restaurants and bars have a nicer decor, which is probably also due to the significantly higher number of tourists. Nevertheless, I will go back for two days to Puerto Natales before continuing to Ushuaia.

Ushuaia was very nice to me, and despite the fact that one or two large cruise ships dock here almost every day, the crowds seem to scatter in the city. I went hiking for three consecutive days to crater lakes and glaciers. The hiking trails could be easily reached from the city by taxi or after a short bus ride. Carnival was also celebrated here; I discovered a small parade with many children and teenagers spraying foam on each other. Other than that, not much happened here, which I also found fine as someone who is not into carnival :) I did my laundry and made a few last purchases before finally setting sail on a ship (of course a much smaller one), to be precise, the M/S Expedition. I feel like a little boy :)