Hola again Amigos and Amigas, Arriving back to Guayaquil from the Galapagos Islands went off without a hitch. We retraced our steps of 12 days ago to the main bus terminal and found ourselves a few hours later on a 7 hour bus trip to Baños. We managed to slip in our first McDonalds meal at the bus terminal prior to our departure. We just had to. It had been nearly 3 months. It was time. Baños, translated in English, means bathroom. The small mountain town is famous for its natural, therapeutic hot baths. So yeah I suppose that’s where the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola again Amigos and Amigas, Our days in the sun of Mancora afforded us plenty of time to plan ahead for our next country, Ecuador. It seemed that now was the timed to make Chris’ dream come true and visit Ecuador’s amazing archipelago... the Galapagos Islands. We took a 9 hour night bus from Mancora, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador. The border crossing was less than smooth, 4 stops including a handheld luggage search of all passengers. At the Ecuador border I was asked by the Immigration Officer if I spoke Spanish (in Spanish) to which I gave him a blank look. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola again Amigos and Amigas, Last time I wrote I promised a good travelling story, but one that was kind of unsavoury. So here it goes. Check this one out... You may recall that we took a long haul bus from Cusco (10 hours) to Arequipa. It all went good, really good in fact. It was easily the best bus and bus company we have used since being in SA. I actually managed to sleep for 6 or so hours - very rare! I say it all went well that is until we were about to leave the terminal of our [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola again Amigos and Amigas, Our travels from Ica to the nation’s capital of Lima only took about 4 or so hours in a pretty ordinary bus. 4 hours on a bus is easy these days. Lima is the biggest city in Peru with a population of close to 8 million. It’s a city with many faces. When I visited in 2006 most of my time was spent in the tourist zone of Miraflores, this time though would be very different. We were fortunate to have met a local girl from Lima during our time in Cusco named Ana. She took [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola Amigos and Amigas, So we had just been fleeced by the Bolivian immigration office, albeit only about $2 each when our bus pulls into the main bus terminal at Puno, Peru for a change over en route to Cusco. We had only been travelling for a short time, maybe 2 hours or so and it seemed a good opportunity to relieve ourselves. As always in South American you just never know how many times a “wee” stop might occur so you must jump at the chance. Into the terminal we go locate the SSHH or WC or Bano or whatever [View Full Entry]

---

---

Buenos Dias Amigos y Amigas, Our travels took us to La Paz, Bolivia. At 3,660m above sea level it is the World's highest capital city. It is frequently described as breath taking. And it certainly is... in more ways than one. It is certainly breath taking from the altitude perspective - you are forever taking an extra breath or a deeper than usual breath. It is also breath taking due to the amazing layout of the city. La Paz is built on the walls of a giant canyon. Its buildings appear to struggle to stay in place as they pile atop [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola Amigos and Amigas, Our second week in Sud Americano took us from Sucre to Potosi and then onwards to the salt flats and deserts surrounding the particularly unattractive southern town of Uyuni. It would remiss of me not to mention that I turned 34 (and 35 - more to come) on August 13 (thank you to all of you who sent well wishes via email - this is my thank you reply). You see, we had heard that Potosi was “not much of a town” and our travel plans had us hitting Potosi smack bang on my special day. In [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola Amigos and Amigas, Before I start I should note that all figures noted herein and in all future blogs are in Australian Dollars and certainly do not include GST! I will always report the figures as it will blow your mind as to how damn cheap it is over here! It is also worth me telling you that the national currency of Bolivia is "Bolivianos"- I could only wish for our currency to be called Australianos! How good would that be? We commenced our Sud American travels in Santa Cruz, Bolivia after 30 something hours of travel from Hamburg Germany. [View Full Entry]

---

---