Day 329 - Sunday 24 August We'd arrived into Mexico city international airport at midnight and checked into our hostel. Its quite expensive here compared to South America so we'd had to book an 8 bed dorm. However on arrival they've put us in a 4 bed room and we've got it all to ourselves. Result. With lots to try and fit in today we forced ourselves up at 9am. Were actually staying right next door to the main plaza and the aztec ruins of Temple Mayor. Mexico city used to be the capital of the Aztec civilization and right were [View Full Entry]

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Day 328 - Saturday 23 August Today we finally leave South America after 5 months and head to Mexico. First off though we have a stop off in Costa Rica. As we hadn't got back last night until 4 am by the time I was up and packed it was time to go to the airport. We were in the queue at check in when the police came over and started asking loads of questions. How long have we been in Ecuador, where have we been, where did we stay, where are we going. They also looked at all our stamps [View Full Entry]

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Day 324 - Tuesday 19 August My bus arrived into Piura just after 9 am and I successfully managed to find the CIFA International bus offices. This is the only company in town that runs direct to Ecuador and will hopefully save me a lot of hassle at the border. Its notoriously bad for robberies and rip off merchants. The next bus doesn´t leave until midday so I had a couple of hours to kill. I decided to use the internet. At midday I was off on my way to the border and Ecuador. Crossing the border was easy for me [View Full Entry]

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Day 323 - Monday 18 August A Peruvian girl had been sat next to me on the bus last night and she hadn´t stopped talking to me. It was obvious she liked me but I'd only just said goodbye to Yolanda a few hours before. However its good to know that my Spanish has returned and thankfully she wasn´t very good looking so I wasn´t tempted. I´d even managed to fiegn sleep for some of the journey to avoid talking to her. Like me shes also come to explore Cajamarca before taking another bus later tonight. She suggested we hang out [View Full Entry]

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Day 307 - Saturday 2 August I watched Arsenal's pre season friendly in the Emirates cup before Yolanda came to pick me up. Everybody I've met has told me that Limas a horrible place, its very dangerous and at this time of year its cloudy every day. That might be true but with Yolanda acting as my personal guide I think I'll have a different experience. She took me to Miraflores, the alternative travellers hangout to downtown. Its also supposed to be where I'm staying in a dormitory in a hostel if anybody in her family asks. Even though its cloudy [View Full Entry]

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Day 306 - Friday 1 August Huacachina is surrounded by huge sand dunes so a few companies have set up offering dune buggy rides and sandboarding. Although I've done the sandboarding twice already, the dune buggies different and is supposed to be really good, a bit like riding a rollercoaster so I've decided to give it a go. It really was great fun, the driver was crazy I cant believe the buggy could do some of the things it did without flipping over. It really was a bit like riding a rollercoaster. As its my third time and the boards were [View Full Entry]

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Day 304 - Wednesday 30 July Russ had told me to expect to be dropped of at the bus station and have tonnes of people try and sell me a room. I should therefore be able to pick up a cheap one. However my bus company dropped me off at their offices on the outskirts of town and no one was there to greet me. Instead I had to set about walking into town. En route someone did stop and offer me a room at a reasonable rate. However the flyer they gave me turned out not to be their hotel. [View Full Entry]

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Day 303 - Tuesday 29 July I seem to have adapted to only getting a few hours sleep a night and because I'd had a reasonably early night I was up bright and early. I've really enjoyed my time in Cusco its probably been my favourite place in the whole of South America but its time to move on. I went down to the bus station and bought a ticket to Nazca. My bus doesn't leave until tonight so after checking out then using the internet for an hour there was still a few hours to pass. Luckily Russ was knocking [View Full Entry]

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Day 301 - Sunday 27 July Yolanda has to travel back to Lima today so after saying goodbye I went back to bed. Although Im going to miss her it will be great to actually get more than a few hours sleep in every night. At 11 I went to pick Russ up so we could make our way to Ollantaytambo. Unfortunately once again he kept me waiting for ages. He really is a nightmare to travel with when hes with a girl. Early afternoon we eventually made it onto the bus to Ollantaytambo. Theres an old Inca fortress on the [View Full Entry]

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Day 291 - Thursday 17 July We arrived into Cusco the old Inca capital at about half five in the morning, and after quickly finding some accommodation it was back to bed for a few more hours sleep. Around lunchtime we were up and about again and headed off to another English pub. I think i'm starting to miss English food again after all this time away. They also had English magazines and after such a long time it was good to flick through one. With dinner over we headed over to a few travel agents. We wanted to walk the [View Full Entry]

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