- FOOD: Rip off in the restaurants surrounding the plaza. - AREA: So full of their official flags which are rainbow coloured it feels like a gay pride is going on. Very touristy and the prices reflect that. Big plaza with huge cathedral. The area of San Blas has narrow cobbled streets and is nicer to stay in. - PEOPLE: Lots in traditional dress, but only for the tourists sake. Selling everything you could (and couldn't) want. - WEATHER: Typical Andean, high altitude - hot in day, freezing at night. Wed 15th June: The bus arrived in Cuzco (Inca meaning 'belly [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Home cooked alpaca lunch, good food throughout the 3 days. - AREA: Very steep but stunning, colourful canyon. Killer 3am start on final day to climb UP it. Basic but sweet accommodation made of bamboo and thatch. Mirador Cruz del Condor - such graceful creatures. And HUGE. - PEOPLE: Jam packed onto the bus, stubborn as hell. Nice guide and lovely tour group. - WEATHER: Cold at night but luckily lots of blankets. Warm enough to sun bathe one day. Sun 12th June: Got up early to go on a 3 day tour to the Colca Canyon. The Turkish [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Real coffee at breakfast with real cream - the luxury. Chicken nuggets (wasn't expecting them). A posh meal in celebration for Jo and Hannah's 30th Birthdays - ripe avocado filled with chopped ham and potato, a typical Arequipan dish of stuffed pepper with cheese, egg and potato and a proper coffee to finish it all off. Plus a big glass of wine of course. - AREA: Easy border crossing (once you fight off the taxi drivers), smooth roads in Peru surprisingly enough, 'luxury' hotel room to myself. FANTASTIC city (close second to Sucre for me). "Ciudad Blanca" mark II. [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: 3 course meals at lunch are the cheapest way to eat. But I don't think Chile has a 'dish'. - PEOPLE: So very friendly (but do they really speak Spanish?) - totally surprised as the Chileans have a reputation of being snobbish. Lots of gypsies and fortune tellers. - AREA: A bit run down and tacky. The plaza isn't great but has an Eiffel designed iron church. Street full of posters of naked people covered in paint! Restaurants with staff that aren't in a hurry to serve. El Morro cliff with war museum at top and fab views. - [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: 3 course free meal served on the bus! Such a nice salad, great food all round with avocado in nearly everything, desert at last, pisco sours and LOTS of Chilean wine - AREA: Smooth bus journey but complex border crossing. Tiny, dusty town with a very touristy feel but with a perfect hostal. Restuarants with tables around open fires. Expensive (drinks at near to London prices). El Tatio geyser which is unmissable with a thermal bath; fake village?; Valle de la Luna which must be seen at sunset (intense colours). Archeological museum (lots of mummies) - PEOPLE: 3 roommates [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: More empañadas, good Italian food - AREA: Old colonial house hostal with cute puppy (why didn't I come here before?); wobbly cable car to top of mountain with lots to do and see; De Boca en Boca world music band live. - PEOPLE: Friendly dog who did not want me to leave - WEATHER: Same as before Sat 4th: This time it was the younger woman's turn to talk incessantly about the shower. Escaped without having one (far too much hassle) and got greeted by the friendly dog who kept following me around yesterday. He was quite protective of [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Banana licuado (had forgotten about this Argentinian joy), food loaded with salt (had forgotten about this Argentinian obsession), lovely wine and cheese, more lovely wine, wine flavoured ice cream (that I didn't get to try) - AREA: Nice, small little town with hardly anyone around - just what I like; nicer than HI hostal with rooms around an orange tree courtyard; relaxing long walk to the Finca Las Nubes bodega (one of many) - PEOPLE: Crazy hostal woman obsessed with showers - WEATHER: More sun Thurs 2nd: I escaped the hell hole as soon as poss and recovered in [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Media lunas again but smothered in sugar, NO dulce de leche, intestines (they were as I thought they would be), empañadas again. - AREA: Big sunny plaza with lots of cafes to watch the world go by - very European, LOTS of choice of tour companies, quite a big city with lots of traffic - not what I've been used to recently! ANOTHER cathedral and church. Crap park. - PEOPLE: Hostels sellers who hassle you to hell, stereotypical backpackers that irritated me (see rant below). - WEATHER: Hot sun to while away the hours in. Wed 1st June: I [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Steak (yeah) with blood (yeah again) and nice wine (mmmm). Thank you Argentina. - AREA: 2 horrible border towns but then ahhh, what sophistication - smooth roads with ROAD MARKINGS!, proper pavements, shop with a big choice of goods. Lots of illuminated signs which did my head in. Luxury hotel with lots of goodies. - PEOPLE: Are fashionable! Police manically blowing whistles in an attempt to control the traffic. - WEATHER: Hot sun - how nice. Tues 31st May: A 3am alarm wake up was not so nice to get the bus to Villazón, a horrible border town. We [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: The remains of the eggs and horrible gringo restaurant food after Braulia had left us. - AREA: Small, wild west feel town with red mountains and canyons and lots of cacti. Luxury hotel (it had hot water anyway) with ice cold pool. Another horse ride experience. - PEOPLE: Good masseuse, friendly locals. - WEATHER: Hot enough to sunbathe and get burnt - hooray (except for the burn) Sun 29th: After having a UFO ('fried' object) breakfast (we could tell Braulia was running out of food and ideas) we had a day of pure driving ahead. We didn't see condors [View Full Entry]

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