Suzanne here... It took much longer to get to Salvador than anticipated. Brazil is vast, so even a domestic flight took two and a half hours. Then once at Salvador airport we chose our usual money-saving bus instead of taxi option. It was easy enough to get the bus (straight through the multistory carpark in front of arrivals then turn right - no signs but easy to find). The bus was cheap, but it did go the long way round so took over an hour to reach the Centro Historico. But on a budget it is probably the right choice. Originally we were going to head north of Salavador for a couple of days. But then we read about Morro de Sao Paulo, on the island of Tinhare. It sounded lovely, so we revised our plans. ... read more

Suzanne here... Back in Santa Cruz, it was a relatively short walk to our hotel, the Backpacker Apart and Suites. It was fine. Clean and bright with very friendly staff. The only drawback was a pitiful shower. We went staight out to grab some lunch, keen to try Alexander's where we'd had coffee and cake at other branches before. This one proved to be miles out of town, and the food wasn't even that great tbh. Still, it was ok and did the job of giving us the energy to explore the town. I'll admit this didn't take long, but it is quite nice. After a wander, and freshening up at the hotel, came the most important decision of our day, where to have dinner. We were not bowled over by our choices so decided to ... read more

Suzanne here... I was not looking forward to the flight to Sucre as I was still feeling really ill. I suspect food poisoning, but am not sure enough to point the finger of blame. In any case, before the flight I made sure I was dosed up with loperamide (Imodium) and in possession of sick bags, and luckily managed the short flight without shaming myself. As per usual, we tried to avoid getting a taxi at the airport. Luckily there were minibuses (some were Amazonas branded, but available to everyone) outside arrivals for 8Bs each. After a short journey, and a little bit of a walk, we arrived at Hostal CasaArte Takubamba. Quite backpackerish, but our room was quite nice, the bed was comfortable, and there was hot water. Much as I could have just gone ... read more

Suzanne here... The flight from Rurrenbaque to La Paz was great. We were in a tiny little propeller plane, with single seats each side of the aisle. Our obsession with arriving at airports early paid off too, as we were on the front seats, just inches away from the cockpit, which was fun. Landing in La Paz, we decided to ignore the taxi drivers and try the colectivo service. Minibus no. 212 left from just outside arrivals and took us all the way to Plaza Isabel la Católica, a two minute walk from our hotel. At 2bs each (about 23p) it was a great saving compared to the 70bs going-rate for a taxi. We felt quite pleased with ourselves. Our hotel was Casa Hermanos Manchego. This was a last minute change from Casa Skyways B&B, who ... read more