We arrived in Puno early evening, after a strange bus trip, which amongst other things, left early, didn´t have a toilet that was promised, had passangers arguing with the ticket collector, stopped plenty of times and without warning or without being told by anyone from the bus company an hour out from Puno we had to jump off our bus and jump on to the bus in front (which was moving), whilst we prayed that they had moved our luggage. And of course the new bus we moved to had no seats left so we had to stand the final hour. It is the joys of South America! I think when you buy the ticket from the company if you asked them does the bus trip involve intergalactic space travel they will probably tell you it ... read more

Up early we loaded the bikes to start our Inca Jungle adventure. We headed out to Ollantaytambo, where a local lady sold me the nicest tasting banana cake, as we stocked up with additional supplies (i.e chocolate). The car climed up to 4300m at a pass where once after the highest point we unloaded the bikes for our downhill ride. It was very cold and overcast up there, obscuring our view out. It drizzled a little, but the ride down was very exhilarating, we went down to about 1200m. The first 2 hours were paved and the next hour on gravel. The paved part was more relaxing, it had been a long time since we had been on bikes, Deb was a little nervous, but she was fine once we got going, she really enjoyed it. ... read more

Arriving in Arequipa I was quite surprised at how dry the surroundings still were. We searched around town before finally finding a basic hotel near the Monasterio Santa Catalina. The temperature was lovely so we decided to take a stroll around town. It has a great Plaza de Armas, one of the best we have seen in South America. A massive catedral sits on one side with the massive mountains of El Misti (5822m) in its perfect cone shape and Chachani (6075m) looking more raggedy with a snow capped peak. Much of Arequipa is built from sillar, a white volcanic rock. It looks very nice and rustic but with only narrow streets in the centre of town it gave off plenty of glare. We spent the afternoon in the brilliant Monasterio Santa Catalina, it is definitely ... read more

Only 3 hours South of Lima on the Panamerican Highway we were to arrive in Paracas. The Highway was again through the dusty desert, this time near the coast with many desolate beaches where the desert meets the sea. Paracas is only a newly built town (although like most Peruvian towns it may not look new) after an earthquake and tsunami in 2007 destroyed the town. We are here to see the Ballestas Islands or poor mans Galapagos as they are also known. We know we are now well and truly on the tourist path, there are many, many camera toting middle aged continental Europeans in this town! We were off early the next morning out to see the islands. The trip was surprisingly very good. You pass El Candelabro first, a sort of cactus shaped ... read more

Absolutely amazing is the only way to describe the Cordillera Blanca. It is the second highest mountain range outside of the Himalayas and has 22 peaks over 6000m. The scenery has been stunning, glaciated peaks, pristine lakes and valleys. We stayed in the capital of the Ancash area, Huaraz. It was quite a busy town, with around 100,000 inhabitants it really had a lively feel to the place. The indigenous people in their colourful constumes coming and going. The area sees the Cordillera Negra (Black) on the west side then a long valley cuts through north to south where the main towns are situated, Huaraz, Carhuaz, Yungay and Caraz. And on the east side is the Cordillera Blanca (White). The Cordillera Negra acts as a natural guard and enables many of the peaks of the Cordillera ... read more