Sunday 2nd February (Odyssey Day 86) Breakfast was at 0615 this morning and departure at 0700. It’s about 10 hours to Cusco apparently and the roads are open according to the bus station. We passed some beautiful scenery as we drove today. It rained on and off and some of the roads had mud or rock slides and a couple of places were being cleared and we had to wait our turn to go past. We were heading up into the mountains and for the first time in well over a month, the weather was expected to get cooler. I did manage to spot a stunningly beautiful metallic blue butterfly fluttering around one of the streams we stopped by though. I have never seen anything like it before. We stopped to buy our own lunch in ... read more

Monday 27thJanuary (Odyssey Day 80) We had breakfast in the parking lot again this morning before heading out today. We departed the hotel at 0700 as it was to be a very long day. We gave Leen a lift about an hour down the road so she could head back home and then we continued on North West, heading for Jaru. I sat at the front of the truck again today and this is my favourite place since I can sit on the front bench easily from here. I like to be able to lounge and spread out along the front. When others have the front seats, they leave too much stuff on the bench and it’s harder to sit there, but when its my turn at the front, I get the front bench. It’s much ... read more

Thursday 23rd January (Odyssey Day 76) We had a relatively late start today, departing at 1030. I believe the main reason was because we had to collect our laundry and it didn’t open until 0700. As it turned out, we needed the extra time because it was a bit complicated to get our clothes back. It was all mixed up and they tried charging double what was quoted. It certainly served to exasperate everyone. I was one of the fortunate few who got all my clothes back – there weren’t too many who could say the same (and there were a few people who got a shirt or two back the next day as people went through their bags and found more things that didn’t belong). We headed for Pousada Bom Jardim, a campsite not too ... read more

Friday 17thJanuary (Odyssey Day 70) We departed camp this morning at 0900 after taking the opportunity to fill the water tank, seeing as we are heading for a bush camp tonight. There was some arguments about seating plans this morning, and really I wish people wouldn’t come to me to complain. I get complaints about the seating, and then when we try and fix the problem I get more complaints about it all. It’s not like it’s a difficult concept, sometimes it seems like no one can think for themselves. Ironically enough (though not unexpected) it is the people who complain who are generally the ones who are being selfish about the whole issue anyway. The ones who do the right thing all the time don’t tend to complain. The bush camp tonight was on a ... read more

Saturday 11th January (Odyssey Day 64) We had a nice lazy start this morning, as we didn’t depart until 1000. Donna and Glenn decided to stay a few extra days in Rio, so they will catch us up later in the trip, likely in Brasilia. The rest of the group are sad to leave Rio, but made the most of the late start to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and one last trip to the beach. We made a lunch stop in Petropolis, a lovely town not too far from Rio. It’s one of the older towns and is still used by the wealthy as a holiday spot. A lot of the roads are paved and there is the Imperial Museum, which was once the Summer Palace of an Emperor of Brazil. Our camp tonight is in ... read more