So we left country number 9 (Bolivia) for Peru, as always were a little nervous about the border crossing (would we have to pay a 'fine' for anything, would we be allowed to cross at all?). It turned out to be another easy (and free!) crossing, followed by a minibus to Puno. Once in Puno, we changed to a comfy double decker bus to continue our journey to Cusco - the starting point for trips to Machu Picchu. As we neared Cusco, the bus pulled over and we began to smell smoke inside the bus, so we all piled off onto [View Full Entry]

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Been a while since the last blog, we have been super busy travelling the length of Bolivia and loving every minute of it! After we left Potosi behind we headed further north to Sucre on a fairly pleasant but bumpy six hour bus ride, a little sceptical about going to another big city but we were very pleasantly surprised. We spent a good day or so just pottering about the city tasting the local market foods and of course the local beer! We decided that it was about time we did a bit of exercise so we hired a couple mountain [View Full Entry]

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And so to Bolivia - a big change from the places we'd been prior to this in South America. The poverty level was evident from the moment we crossed the border, however we were still greeted at each small street stall with a smile and a friendly run down of their wares (and without the high pressure sales techniques we'd experienced in South East Asia). We had heard a few horror stories about the buses in Bolivia, and were a little anxious when we saw the state of the first bus we had to take to get to Tupiza... however it [View Full Entry]

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So we left Mendoza, and took our first overnight bus in South America - wow! We paid a little extra to be in 'First Class', so we had an actual bed to sleep on. It went completely flat with a nice pillow and blanket, we even got Champagne (OK so it was fizzy wine, but still wow!). We only journeyed for 10 hours (we've done longer on a day bus) to Cordoba but thought as we're in a country renowned for its bus travel we should give it a try - we weren't disappointed. Cordoba itself was nothing amazing, just another [View Full Entry]

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Sorry it´s been a while since our last blog - since New Zealand we have travelled a fair few miles! We flew from New Zealand after what was an amazing experience touring one of the most amazing and beautiful countries ever! After a long eleven hour flight, we landed in Santiago, Chile confusingly about four hours before we left New Zealand! We were both a little worried about arriving in South America as to whether we would be bombarded by taxi touts and agents trying to sell us things, but we were pleasantly surprised. Very relaxed and friendly people greeted us [View Full Entry]

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On Thursday 30th we continued our roadtrip to Wanaka which is a lovely little skiing town towards the south west of the South Island. We quite literally drove up the side of a mountain to Treble Cone ski resort, had a hot mulled wine and some lunch and watched the skiing! The following day we decided to take the 'scenic' route - or the more scenic of the routes - through the mountains via Cardrona to Queenstown. En route we had a light snow shower which turned into a heavy snow storm which would have have if in the UK ground [View Full Entry]

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We've got our own wheels - and our own home again (even if it is rented!). As with most visitors to New Zealand, we decided the best way to see the country (well, the South Island at least) was to hire a campervan. Some may say we're mad to do it in the middle of winter, however we got one with its own gas heater that has done an admirable job of keeping us toasty overnight (even in below zero temperatures). It also has a shower and toilet inside so no midnight dashes in freezing temperatures to go for a pee! [View Full Entry]

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Wow, what a temperature change! At last we are feeling the benefit of carting walking boots, fleeces, thermals etc all around South East Asia where it was averaging 35 degrees. It's now averaging 15 degrees! We arrived in Sydney after an all night flight from Bangkok and decided to stay awake the whole day to get our body clocks into Oz time - we did very well and were looking forwards to feeling the benefit the next morning, had we not been rudely awakened by a bunch of gap year kids partying away till 3 am - the joys of backpacker [View Full Entry]

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We have been in Cambodia for a week - in comparison a relatively short stay but after our time in Vietnam, just the respite we needed! We travelled in a very comfy and spacious bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh - the capital of Cambodia. What should have been a relatively straight forward border crossing was somewhat complicated to say the least! In true Vietnamese custom, taking a bus load of tourists across the border is another way of making a few extra quid! On getting on the bus we were all asked to hand over our passports [View Full Entry]

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After our hectic but exciting adventures on two wheels around northern Vietnam we felt the need to chill and relax for a day or two before continuing south down Vietnam. We booked ourselves on to a Halong Bay trip - one of the few 'package tours' of our travels. We were picked up from our hotel (sixteen of us in total) in the pouring rain, dark grey clouds looming and were reserved to the fact that we had paid a small fortune to go and see and experience some of the most amazing sceneries in the world - only to be [View Full Entry]

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