Hi everyone, A quick travel through Ecuador and another country to tick off our list. We spent a week in Ecuador with a visit to Quito, Banos and Otavalo. Although it was a short trip we appreciated Ecuador for their use of the US currency (no converting to local currencies!), its incredible variety (revitalized colonial districts, amazon jungle and massive volcanoes) and the ease at travelling from one end to the other in no time at all. We started in Quito. We first took a cable car to 4050 m that overlooked Quito and gave you a good introduction to the city. The ride was a bit unnerving and the panoramic view of Quito amongst the large surrounding mountains was worth it. It was not a particularly clear day so we were unable to see the ... read more

Sandwiched between our two visits to Lima was a 5 day stop in Cuzco. Cuzco is an ancient Inca capital and now the most popular tourist destination in likely all of South American because it is the jumping off point for Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. There is evidence of Inca stonework all over the town in the walls, arches and doorways. To switch things up a bit, we opted not to take the 15-20hr zig-zaging bus ride from Lima to Cuzco and instead bought ourselves the 1hr flight instead. Cuzco and the surrounding region had very serious mudslides in December and it absolutley destroyed their tourism industry essentially until the beginning of April because Machu Picchu was closed for nearly 2 months for repair to the railway. Because of this, local airlines have been ... read more

After an overnight bus from Arequipa, we arrived in Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines. The lines are etched into the desert just north of Nazca and form the shape of many things, animals, geometrical figures and other shapes. They apparently were made by three different groups according to our guide book; 1) The Paraca people 900-200 BC 2) The Nazcas 200 BC-AD 600 3) The Huari settlers from Ayacucho AD 630 The lines are best seen from the air so we took a 30min flight in a 7 seat Cesna plane (super cool!) to get an overview of the lines. It is suggested to eat only a very small breakfast before the flight because it is quite rough, and many people get nauseus and/or vomit haha. It turned out they were right! The small ... read more

Hey everyone! We just wanted to extend our gratitude to everyone for continuing to show interest in our travels and for your comments. We have great friends and family! Now for our next stop. After our jungle trip, we stayed in La Paz for another couple of days (nursing our nasty bug bites and swollen ankles, which might I add are still itchy from time to time and still visible!). We really got into relax mode (as is easy to do at this hostel - private room with ensuite bathroom, cable tv with HBO and Warner....verrryyyyy easy to relax in seclusion!). So really nothing special to note here. After our relaxation in La Paz, we decided to head to Coroico in the Yungas region of Bolivia. Some of you may know of Death Road or "Worlds ... read more

Hey everyone! From San Pedro, we travelled into Bolivia via a 3 day trip to the Uyuni Salt flats, the largest salt flat in the world! We took a 4x4 jeep with our irish and english friends and our driver, Frans. We were a bit apprehensive about the altitude, as we would be going from an altitude of 2400m in San Pedro to an altitude of 4100m at the Bolivian border...in about 40 minutes. There is no doubt, we felt the altitude, but thankfully not the extent that some people do! We were lethargic, had headaches (generally just felt hung over!) and were short of breath with the smallest amount of activity (a weird and scary feeling when you can't even walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing - you feel like you're ... read more