We had to go back on ourselves a bit here, but it was the only way we could incorporate our cheap flight to Montevideo and still get to BA. So we found ourselves back at Colonia, then onto the next COT bus to Montevideo, with a quick pit stop for lunch, and then the next bus to Punta Del Este. Bus travel has become part of our psyche, it involves however a bit of thought and mostly the stubbornness of a mule. I have developed a respect for all of the old folk that travel back home that go on the [View Full Entry]

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Wow, wow, wow. What a fab place BA is! It is busy and bustling, constantly noisy, full of life and intrugue. It is a really big city comparable with London or Paris, but with a Latin twist. After getting off the catamaran from Colonia we managed to get a taxi from the port to the Hotel even though we didn't have any pesos and had to pay in dollars, which probably cost more than it should. The Hotel Bolivar was situated in San Telmo, which is a suburb about 20mins walk from the centre. It is full of narrow cobbled streets [View Full Entry]

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The bus from Montevideo to Colonia del Sacremento was fairly uneventful. We both slept our way through it. It was a civilised 3 hour journey on a comfortable bus passing through green fields and countryside. It was good to see greenery again after the constant desert and dusty villages of northern Chile and Peru, which can start to look quite drab. The bus terminal at Colonia was small and efficient, and just a short walk from the centre. In fact, Colonia is pretty small and everything is a short walk away. Firstly, we had to find somewhere to stay. We abandoned [View Full Entry]

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Sorry that the photos have the wrong heading but as you can assume they are of Monty. When planning the trip, the country of Uruguay really did not conjure up any real pictures, the reason for this was that neither Em nor I had really heard about it. No films or media reported stories; the only main aspect was that it was close to Argentina. However our travels have brought about great recommendations and the research done before setting foot on the plane over from Peru brought great hopes of a wonderful eclectic place. We had got a good deal to [View Full Entry]

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As we have been travelling for a while now we reviewed our progress as we sat in Miraflores, one of the nicest suburbs of Lima. The chifa restaurant that we sat in allowed us to take stock of our progress and nibble on a prawn wonton at the same time. We collectively agreed that the pace that we had undertaken for most of our travels perhaps brought the most experiences towards our door but at this point in time we wanted to slow down and just chill out somewhere. So we thought that we would head up the Peruvian coast towards [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Lima via a very comfortable flight from Cusco, it took us an hour to cross the mountains and touching down in Lima was a pleasant sight. We had done a bit of research and from the LP´s description we thought that it would be a mass of people all scurrying around in a hoard of unkept buildings and dirty streets. Well too be honest we could not be so far from the point, it is a very modern, developed and in lots of places, an upper class metropolis. Sure it has some areas that any realistic hostel owner [View Full Entry]

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We left Puno on the 16th November, with our Inca Trek booked for the 20th, and headed for Cusco on a Cruz Del Sur bus. The company is probably the most reputable of Peruvian bus operators. In order to prevent accidents and hold ups they put you through strict security procedures akin to getting on a plane and apparently the drivers are breathalysed. Firstly your luggage is 'checked in', then you and your hand luggage are scrutinised with a metal detector, and you are filmed getting on the bus and again in your seats. It is both scary and reassuring at [View Full Entry]

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We had only hoped that we would have either enough time or be in the right area to visit Lake Titicaca, try and say that after a couple of Pisco Sours, it will get your tongue in a right twist. The whole idea of visiting the lake was to coincide with our original route towards Cusco. Lake Titicaca is famed as being the highest navigable lake in the world, without sounding all David Attenborough, it also has great heritage for a group of native Peruvians who live on reed islands. There are many points on this mass of water that you [View Full Entry]

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So there we were on the bus for the 8 hour journey through the highest border in the world, on our way to the highest capital in the world, passing by the highest navigable lake in the world. All in all, there were a lot of highs. The bus journey started well, on time and comfortable, we were even given snacks on the way. They played really bad Spanish comedy films, a la Benny Hill, that had all the locals on the bus roaring with laughter. We started ascending from sea level almost immediately as we moved inland, winding up the [View Full Entry]

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Well we ended up having to stop in Arica anyway. Our original intention had been to stop for a look because they have some of the biggest waves in Chile. But then we heard that it wasn't the most interesting of places and we had just seen huge waves in Iquique, and besides the clock was ticking for our booked Inca Trail trek. We needed to get to Peru. We were hoping to do it in one hit and get a 20 hour bus all the way to Puno. We had some reservations about it, as the advice in the LP [View Full Entry]

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