Backpacking Through South America 12

 The straight-line distance between Lima and Huancayo, where the railway ends, is just under 200 km, but the journey takes over 10 hours. And not just because Peruvian railways are poorly organized and the tracks are rickety and poorly maintained. 

The Peruvians made a bit of a mess: they tried to modernize their railway by buying new diesel locomotives to replace the old coal-fired ones. But an unexpected problem arose. At 5000 meters, the air is so thin that the new locomotives lost almost all their power. So now they’re forced to use two at a time, or one that consequently travels much slower. Usually the latter...

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America

 So we first headed to the Peruvian Altiplano, a high plateau where almost no foreigner has dared to go for a long time.. 

We hoped the guerrillas from the insurgent movement would take a few days off, since there is simply no other route to the southeast across the plateau except through Ayacucho, which is the center of their activity.

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America

 
When I was about ten, I saw a TV report about the highest railway in the world: a marvellous mountain train zigzagging from Lima to a 5000-meter-high pass at the top of the Cordillera. 

That’s when I decided I had to ride that train someday, no matter the cost.

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 9 By Train to the Altiplano

 In mid-July, the coastal capital was muggy and full of smog. Time was pressing us, and thieves were a threat. So we left the city the very next day – would see it on the way back, if we even had any time left.

 There are two routes to Bolivia. The valley route through Arequipa is much faster and safer, but the one through the mountains is certainly more interesting, and we would be returning through the valley from Chile anyway.

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Domingo , Foto: Janin Maj

 

Domingo , Foto: Janin Maj

 

Domingo , Foto: Janin Maj

 

Domingo , Foto: Janin Maj

 

Backpacking Through South America 8 Thieves

 These thefts are most common in big cities. We’d heard that sometimes travelers have their backpacks slashed on the street, and the thieves follow behind picking up whatever falls out. 

So when we arrived in Lima, we made sure to always walk side by side on the street and watch each other, which made the job of any potential thieves much more difficult.

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 7 Sendero Luminoso

 
In the 1990s, far fewer foreigners have been visiting Peru than before. The Maoist insurgent group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) was still active and brutal, even though their leader Guzmán was imprisoned long ago. Cholera, which raged a few years before, reportedly still hasn’t been eradicated. And another issue: nowhere in the world are locals as inventive and skilled at theft as in Peru.

Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 6 Colectivo

 A colectivo is the South American version of a cross between a taxi and a bus. Most often, it's a private car or van, packed to the brim with passengers, but it doesn't have many intermediate stops.

Ours was a good 30-year-old Cadillac without bumpers and missing two windows, with corrosion having taken a firm hold all over it.

Txt & Photos: Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 5

 
Peruvian Troubles

We landed after five and a half hours. It was cloudy, humid, and hot. We wanted to get into the city by bus, but a local we’d met on the plane advised us to take a colectivo instead. The bus is cheaper, but probably none would show up for a long time, and they are extremely slow. . Janin Klemenčič (to be continued) 

Backpacking Through South America 4

 Above the Cordillera 

There was also a bit of anxiety mixed in. Even before leaving, I’d heard warnings and threats – you’ll be robbed, mugged, or even killed. Three Irish guys I met at a youth hostel in Florida shook their heads quite a bit: “You’re going to South America? And Peru, of all places? You must be crazy! Do you at least have a gun?!”

Well, everything was going to become much clearer in just a few hours...

Txt & Photos: Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 3

 Every time you experience a country yourself, many of your previous conceptions about it are shattered. But then, when you describe your own impressions to friends, you can't describe them much differently than others had described them to you before. There's no other way; they, too, will form inaccurate ideas.

The country you've gotten to know suddenly becomes "yours." From then on, you process all news about the country you visited differently, more deeply and with greater interest than before.

Txt & Photos: Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 2

 Despite being sleepy, I felt a familiar tension, the same as always when I arrive in some new corner of the world. 

I've heard so much about the High Plateau, about the Indians, deserts, jungles, llamas, mummies! I will see Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Rio and Copacabana, the Iguazu Falls.

Txt & Photos: Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

Backpacking Through South America 1

 
Above the Cordillera

The Peruvian plane was, of course, delayed. We spent the whole night stuck at the airport in Miami and did not take off until four in the morning. 

Oh well – every cloud has a silver lining. At night, we wouldn’t have been able to see the fantastic Andean peaks below us, nearly 7000 meters high.

Txt & Photos: Janin Klemenčič (to be continued)

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