Day 20 - Tupiza After an awful night sleep we have another early start so we can get out of this horrible place and hopefully recover in Tupiza. The bus again was full of locals and we were the only westerners on the journey. It was a very interesting trip and we were glad to take the day bus this time. After about an hour of tarmac we finally hit the dirt on bumpy un-felted roads. There were several river crossings along the way, one of the river crossings took us about 30 minutes. One bloke jumped out to throw rocks [View Full Entry]

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Day 19 - Potosi After the worse bus ride of our lives we arrive early into Potosi. A bus journey can be bad due to the driver, the roads or the quality of the bus but above all the worse thing the worst thing is a bus full of stinkers! We had two smelly Bolivians behind us and one sat next to us in the isle on the floor. After covering our faces we managed to get some sleep before being rudely awaken by the Police to check everyone's identification. We expected to arrive in Potosi at around 8am but surprisingly [View Full Entry]

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Day 18 - La Paz Part 2 In the light of the day La Paz appears less threatening, it a shame to arrive places at night as they always seem scary. The first thing we had to do this morning was buy our ticket out of here! The hotel manager was really helpful and told us which bus company to travel with, but we still had to go to the bus terminal to purchase the ticket. The traffic in every big city we have been to in South America has been crazy but we think that La Paz has the worst [View Full Entry]

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Day 17 - La Paz This morning we finally got a lie in until about 10am and went back to the same restaurant for beans on toast. The bus left for La Paz at 1pm just as it was starting to rain. We tried to buy a ticket for a decent bus although it turns out that it doesn't matter which company you buy the ticket from it is the same bus! This was the worst coach we have been on so far but at least it was for only a few hours. On the bus we chatted to a lad [View Full Entry]

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Day 16 - Isle Del Sol Today we arranged to go on a boat trip on Lake Titicaca to the Isle Del Sol. The Isle Del Sol is the legendary birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. As we approached the ram shackled jetty we see the small wooden tourist boat nearly full of people but we managed to get a seat near the front. It is mainly full of foreign tourists however there were also some local people who must use it like a bus to get to the island. People continue to squeeze on the boat both on the [View Full Entry]

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Day 15 - Bolivia - Copacabana - Lake Titicaca Not a very good journey as this was not a very comfy bus and we arrived into a cold bus terminal in Puno at 5am. Here we had to change buses and the next connection did not leave until 7am. This bus was to take us over the border into Bolivia so more forms had to be filled out. Just as we were catching up with our sleep we arrived at the border crossings. Here we had to queue up have our passports stamped by the Peruvian immigration and then we had [View Full Entry]

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Day 14 - Machu Picchu Part 2 Another day, another early start: 5.30am (still dark) we join the other hundred people in the bus queue to take us on the 25 minute ride up the hill to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We are both very tired but excited for what the day has in store. The road to the top of Machu Picchu was very steep and narrow with a large drop to one side. The wet mud road climbed up Machu Picchu in a zig zag fashion and passed many trekkers en route. Reaching the entrance we joined another [View Full Entry]

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Day 13 - Machu Picchu Today we had anther early start 4.30am (thought we were on holiday, I don't get up this early at home!) as we had to get the train to Aguas Calientes which is also known as Machu Picchu town. The Perurail train is now owned by an American company and they have made it so expensive that the locals cannot afford to use this transport any more and it is mainly just for tourists like us. The train is busy and we sit next to some Russian girls from St Petersburg. It is an old traditional train [View Full Entry]

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Day 12 - Cusco After a 14 hour sleep recovering from the last week on the road we opt out of the usual free bread and jam breakfast. I had a bacon sandwich and Laura had a massive pancake with fruit, which was nice for a change. Whilst in the breakfast room we spent the rest of the morning updating the blogs and booking the next part of our trip. Our only other plan for the day was to visit an Inca ruin Saqsaywaman. This was a fort located 2km above Cusco. After purchasing a large hat to stop me getting [View Full Entry]

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Day 11 - Cusco Last night we took the overnight bus from Arequipa to Cusco a 10 hour journey. This time we booked the bus in advance and managed to reserve 1st class seats for only £10 extra. The seats are big leather recliners and would be much more comfortable if the bus driver did not slam on his brakes every few minutes during the night for speed bumps in the highway. Cusco is a city sat in a natural bowl created by the surrounding peaks. It has a very commercial feel despite being a city full of history. It has [View Full Entry]

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