#machu picchu

This is Part 1

for part 2 (Eastern Europe) click here

and for part 3 (West Africa) click here

I’m currently planning on going to Europe in December to spend Christmas with my German family.  One of my American friends from boarding school will be around because he is working in Germany for a year but not going home, and so I’ve invited him to Christmas with my uncle.  Because of the way the holiday, and New Year’s Day, falls in the middle of my Sun-Thurs work week, it’s very easy to take off the next week as well, and so we’re now planning a little jaunt around German speaking Europe.  It’s all very tentative, but I’ve started looking at prices and things to do around and routes to take, and I map the itinerary below:

It’s fun because it takes us through every Germany speaking country: Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria, and because it is pretty short, with the maximum travel time less than 6 hours.  We would have about nine days to do it- probably the first four going quickly point by point and then a slower five in Austria.  Who knows if it will materialize or how much of it we will do, but it looks like a lot of fun!

In getting excited for this trip, I started thinking of other overland tours I would like to take, looking into whether or not they’re possible, and fantasizing about when I could do them, who with, and adding extra fun components like making a documentary of the journey or something.  It all sounds up in the air and like a dream, but I’m sure I will actually do at least one in the next five years.  I always say, “always be dreaming 10 amazing things, then if you only accomplish 1 or 2, you’re still being amazing!”  So, I’ll add these to my list of amazing ideas and see where they go.  

So without further ado, the trips!

The W®est of South America 

This trip would hit all of the things I wanted to do in South America but haven’t yet.  It hits three of the four countries on the West of the continent, as well as the rest of the Spanish speaking countries I’ve yet been to, so I call it the W®est trip.  It would start in Buenos Aires where I would see my wonderful Italian relatives that live in the Capital.  I would then head up to the triple border of Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil to see the Iguazu falls, which are the last waterfall on my list of the top 5 (the others being Niagara, Angel, Gullfoss, and Victoria).  I would then head up through Paraguay to Bolivia, stopping to revisit the family of a friend I stayed with in Santa Cruz, the Potosi Salt Flats, and the Mile High city: La Paz.  I’d then head into Peru, spending time admiring the Andes, and of course seeing Machu Picchu near Cusco.  I’d then head up through Ecuador before finishing in Bogota, Colombia!   

The yellow highlighted bits are “optional” thoughts that I would consider depending on time.  The first is to explore Argentine Patagonia, supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world.  The second is to take a flight to the Galapagos islands (or maybe Easter island?) from Ecuador.  A third one not included on the map would be a quick jaunt over to Suriname and French Guinana- so I could officially say I’d been to every country in South America!

Bonus trip (I haven’t put too much thought into but in talking with some friends, thought to include): Southeast Asia- somehow incorporating Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and maybe Myanmar? 

Study reconsiders name of Peru’s Machu Picchu

“According to Bauer, the most definitive connections to the original name of the Inca city are preserved within accounts written by Spaniards relatively soon after the region came under their control in the late 16th century.

"We end with a stunning, late 16th-century account when the indigenous people of the region were considering returning to reoccupy the site which they called Huayna Picchu,” he said.“