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)