After the excitement of our Lares trek and the culmination in our visit to Machu Picchu we had to sit down and think what else we would like to achieve in our ever dwindling time left in South America. We had read about the city of Arequipa and both agreed that it sounded like a great place to vist and so off we set on the long road south. 12 hours later we arrived a bit sore and stiff, nothing new. We checked into our wee hostel and prompty headed out to explore our surroundings. We soon discovered that Arequipa is [View Full Entry]

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As I'm sure you all know we have both been looking forward to what for some is the jewel in South America's crown of amazing sights: Machu Picchu. However the actual "Inca trail" is booked up almost for a year in advance so we had known for some time we could not do the traditional trekking route to Machu Picchu but there are several alternative routes to trek which offer very different experiences. We have moaned before about booking treks but this experience has to take the biscuit. As mentioned in the previous blog Cusco was very touristy and you could [View Full Entry]

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Cusco and the famous Machu Picchu was our next destination but on our way we managed to stop off at some lovely peaceful ruins called Raqchi and these are the remains of the temple of Viracocha, the sight of a massive and important religious centre for the Incas. When we finally arrived in Cusco city itself, unfortunately there was a mix up with our hostel booking which was a real drag because they had to arrange for us to stay in a 4 star hotel called Inca Dream instead, which was nice! So after initially being rather upset things turned out [View Full Entry]

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Another bus journey, another border crossing...having got our exit stamp from the Bolivian immigration office and walked across the border to Peru we felt a wee bit emotional. We were very sad to leave Bolivia, it has been abosolutely fantastic and we wish we could stay longer. Why have we loved it so much? The stunning scenery, the fascinating culture and traditions, the noises, the colours, the smells but most of all because of the people. The Bolivians have been so warm, happy and friendly, we will never forget them, particularly the children! However, time dictates that we keep moving onwa [View Full Entry]

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At the Copa, Copacabana! Yes, as we travelled to Copacabana, on the edge of Lake Titicaca we couldn't refrain from singing Barry Manilow's cheesy tune either. As we arrived at the shores of the lake we were waved off the bus, confused we asked the bus driver ¿Que pasa? He pointed us to a little boat and told us the bus would meet us on the other side of the lake. Fair enough, we were a bit confused as to why but compliantly hopped aboard. Then we saw our bus drive towards the water and onto a barge. So as we [View Full Entry]

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Leaving our monkey life behind we headed to the bright lights and busy traffic of La Paz. This involved a couple of bus journies back to Cochabamba and then onwards to the city itself, but we are well used to such lengths of time on buses and amazingly our bus to La Paz happended to be our best yet, it was full 'cama', which means the seats go fully horizontal, a great help when trying to catch up on some much needed hours of sleep after all our hard work! We arrived with our friends Carolyn and Tom but as we [View Full Entry]

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It is not easy to know where to start with an adventure like this. To begin with this entry will cover a period of almost 4 weeks, so thats a lot to cram in! Please accept our apologies for the length, there is just so much to tell. Before we left we both discussed our desire to volunteer with animals or children in every country we were to visit if it was possible. Unfortunately we soon realised that the reality is "volunteering" is big business and often costs a lot to get involved with. It is also not easy to offer [View Full Entry]

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After a busy few days on the Salar it was lovely to get to the scenic city of Sucre for some chilling and relaxing. The climate here is sunny and warm and we spent most of our time here wandering around enjoying defrosting in the sunshine. The city, which is set in a valley surrounded by mountains, is perfect for strolling around. Its pretty streets are lined with beautiful whitewashed buidings and green parks perfect for lazing in and watching the world go by. Our arrival in Sucre coincided with the start of the European Championships, so we have to admit [View Full Entry]

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Bolivia - land of extremes, a country we have both been looking forward to so much. Leaving San Pedro de Atacama in Chile was no real hardship, as ever we really enjoyed our stay but the future weeks to come in Bolivia were just so tantilising, our first stop was Uyuni and the famous salt flats. You may remember the bone shuddering discriptions of Ruta 40 on which we travelled for hour upon hour in Argentina oh so long ago it seems, well we can safely say that Ruta 40 is an absolute breeze when compared to the arduous trip which [View Full Entry]

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After all the rain further south it was fantastic to feel the warmth of the sun as we stepped off the bus in San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile. The town itself was lovely and quaint, much more picturesque than we'd expected considering it is in the middle of the desert. The town is not much more than a few dusty, adobe streets and a pretty tree-lined plaza with a nice church. However, it has a really lovely relaxed vibe that we found infectious and as well as lots of cycling we enjoyed lazing around the town watching the locals [View Full Entry]

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