Along with another Australian lady staying at our hotel in Cusco we left for a day trip through the Sacred Valley, (ending in Ollantaytambo where we were going to spend the next few days) in a taxi. Our young driver was a law student during the week, a taxi driver on weekends, driving his brand new car, which he unfortunately dented slightly that day. An hour driving through very pretty countryside took us to the Inca fortress near Pisac, a small village renowned for its tourist markets. The agricultural terraces surrounding the fortress, set high on a hill above the village, were very impressive. We spent a couple of hours walking the cliff-hugging footpaths and staircases around the large site. After that we headed into the Pisac markets - dozens of stalls all selling the ... read more

Our guide picked us up for our trip to the Colca Canyon - it was a stunning drive. We passed through the outskirts of Arequipa which wasn’t at all attractive - literally hundreds of shacks, many without running water or electricity. Carlos (our guide) told us that people come in from the countryside, settle into these tiny brick or tin houses, set up communities and eventually the government builds schools and puts in power and water. They can wait for years for it though! From there we passed through desolate, though very beautiful, high country. Bare brown land, snow capped mountains in the distance, lots of herds of llama and tiny wind blown mud brick villages. We were above the tree line so there were no trees, just low scrubby vegetation. It would be a very ... read more

We had extended out time in Lima due to my bout of the flu and though I still wasn’t feeling great we decided it was time to move on. A spur of the moment decision had us booking a day bus for the eight hour trip north to the region of Peru which is home to 22 mountains over 6000 meters making it the highest mountain range in the world outside of the Himalayas. The region is known as the Cordilleras and includes Mt Huascaran at 6768 meters which is Peru’s highest point. It was a very scenic trip - first it followed the coastal highway - not particularly scenic as it was a sand desert, but interesting all the same. We passed many sad villages - hundreds of tiny shacks, without running water or electricity, ... read more

The bus trip from Alausi to Cuenca was twice as long as we expected but we did eventually arrive at the bus station in the modern suburbs of Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city in the south of Ecuador - certainly not as grand as Quito but the old centre’s cobbled streets are lined with dozens of pretty houses and shops, most with lovely carved wooden balconies over the street. It was placed on the UNESCO’s world heritage list in 1999. We found a room in an old courtyard house and were given a suite out the back in the garden. It was great to have some space to spread out into for a change. We even had an armchair! Luxury after tiny little rooms, most which don’t even have single chairs in them. And ... read more

After our exhilarating wind blown ride on the back of the truck we arrived in Latacunga and headed straight for the bus station after collecting our large bags. We had no trouble catching a bus to Ambato as they left frequently. It wasn’t a long trip - Ambato is the next major town on the Pan American highway and was just a place for us to spend the night. We had some more great views of Cotopaxi as we headed down the highway. Ambato didn’t have much to offer in the few hours we spent there and we were up early next morning and off to yet another bus station. Bus stations are interesting (usually lots of local colour) but can be very chaotic and you really have to watch your belongings in them. We’ve seen ... read more