Next stop - after a very slack border crossing in which we didn't even have our bags checked - was back into Argentina. We got the bus to Salta for a couple of days relaxing and some slightly (for one person in particular, not mentioning any names) wild nights. After Renee had sobered up long enough to get on another bus, we had a 20 hour trip to Iguazu, where we met up with Rod. In Iguazu we encountered torrential rain, but the soaking we received was well worth it to see the spectacular Iguazu falls, the fifth largest waterfalls in [View Full Entry]

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Another quick update...We´ve just arrived in Iguazu, Argentina and are waiting for my uncle Rod to arrive, so this one will be brief. Our next stop in Bolivia was Salar de Uyuni to do a three day tour of the salt flats and surrounding areas. Day 1 involved a trip to a ´train cemetery´just outside Uyuni, a visit to a hotel made entirely out of salt, climbing up a coral island in the middle of the desert which was covered in massive cacti and, lastly, an overnight stay in the small town of San Juan where we visited a 500 year [View Full Entry]

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After a couple of days in La Paz Tucky and I headed to Sorata, a very pretty town three hours away. We left Susie behind as she is not as keen on walking as us. Evans had stayed behind in Rurrenabaque to do a jungle boat tour back to La Paz. It was a really nice couple of days of walking and relaxation. We almost didn´t get there as the road out to the hostel was blocked due to some sort of landslide and our taxi couldn´t get through, so we ended up having to walk through some very muddy roads. [View Full Entry]

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Well, I think I´m almost a month behind in my blogs, so there might be a bit of catching up to do! From Cusco, we got a bus across to Copacabana in Bolivia. As far as South American bus rides go, this one was pretty standard, apart from a freezing three hour wait in the bus terminal at Puno on the Peruvian border. Upon arrival in Copacabana we checked into a hotel, as there were no hostels, lured by the promise of 24 hour hot water. Of course, we managed to pick the day when there was a blackout in the [View Full Entry]

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Next up we had about five days in Cusco (about 3800 metres above sea level) to have a look around and to help us prepare for the high altitude of the Inca trek. Cusco was the centre of the Inca Empire and is therefore a major tourist attraction on the way to the Inca trail. It is surrounded by Inca ruins, five of which we visited: Saqsaywamán (which sounds suspiciously like ´Sexy Woman´), Q´enqo, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay and Pisac. Pisac was the most impressive - It´s the ruins of a city, situated up the top of a large hill, with terrace [View Full Entry]

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Day 1: 12 kms. Km 82 (2600 metres above sea level) to Wayllabamba (3100m) Our Inca trail began at 6 am (without Evans, who did a different trek) when we were picked up from our hostel and almost ended half an hour later, when our bus broke down. I don´t think there was much car knowledge amongst our crew, as they seemed to think throwing buckets of cold water at the bus was a good solution. Fortunately, there were three other Peru Treks (the company we did our trek with) buses following us and our group was split between them. After [View Full Entry]

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Sorry in advance - the photos are a bit grainy (think because I saved them to my USB, and didn´t put them on straight off my camera, but you´ll get the general gist). Since my last blog we´ve moved on to Peru and have been here for about two weeks. First stop was the capital, Lima, which is on the coast of Peru. We had two days there to relax and meet up with Susie´s brother, Andrew. He was a day late, unfortunately, as his flight from Perth was delayed, because some goose decided to put an oxygen tank in their [View Full Entry]

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Next up we headed to Chile. It was a very impressive trip to get there, with some spectacular scenery, driving through the mountains. There were also some pretty dangerous roads. Just after entering Chile we went from the very top of one mountain all the way to the bottom on a road with about a hundred corners and no guard rails (see picture). It had to be done very slowly on a double decker bus! It took our bus nearly two hours to clear customs between Argentina and Chile. One hour for all of us (Susie got a bit of a [View Full Entry]

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Bike riding in Bariloche turned out to be a big day. After negotiating the bus system and arriving at the bike hire place, we set off (me on my junior sized bike), with three other travelers and began the Circuito Chico. The circuit was only 25kms, but had some bloody hard climbs - which required a small (or large towards the end) amount of walking. The hard work was worth it, though, for the very speedy downhills and the amazing views over some of the lakes of Bariloche. We had plenty of stops along the way including at a small beach, [View Full Entry]

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Hola Amigos, Well, we´ve just arrived in Bariloche - which is in southern Argentina near Patagonia - after a 21 hour bus ride = gross!! Actually, the bus wasn´t too bad, despite the lack of scenery, given that we had recliner seats, movies and three meals, even if the meals were based around tuna, tuna and more tuna (it took us a while to realise it was Good Friday). We also did have some classic music on the bus, featuring: I just called to say I love you, Stevie Wonder; Lady in Red, Chris De Burgh; Careless Whisper, George Michael; I [View Full Entry]

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