The small friendly town of Ollantaytambo was easily my favourite stop along the Sacred Valley, with its impressive Inca fortress, stunning views and grid like Inca town planning it was a fascinating place to spend a day. The Inca Emperor Pachacuti built a town and ceremonial centre here when he conquered the region in the mid-15th century and the rebellion leader Manco Inca later retreated here in 1536 after his defeat by the Spanish at Sacsayhuaman. Francisco Pizarro's younger brother Hernando followed with his troops, determined to capture the rebel leader, but at Ollantaytambo they met fierce resistance; the Inca's forces showered them with arrows, spears and rocks before flooding the plains below the stronghold making it difficult for the Spanish horses to manoeuvre. Hernando ordered a hasty retreat and Ollantaytambo became the only place to ... read more

In keeping with the bad habit I fast seemed be developing (and seriously needed to lose!!) it was dark by the time we finally pulled into Puno bus station. OK so we hadn't helped ourselves by having a lazy morning, not leaving Arequipa until lunchtime for what I already knew from experience to be at least a 7hour journey, but on the upside at least this time I had company!!! We pretty much jumped straight in a taxi as soon as we arrived, picking a random hotel from the guidebook and heading straight there - we even managed to haggle the room rate, although perhaps not as well as we should have seeing as we later discovered we were the only guests! After a night when even I got cold (Puno sits at 3860m and with ... read more

'Hold onto your bags!!!' At least I think that's the message the lady from the bus company was trying to give as she waved us onto the night bus from Uyuni to Potosi, a trip memorable only for the record breaking number of potholes that we jarred and bounced our way across during the next 8 hours! I think there were actually more potholes than road! But the lady was really sweet and seemed quite determined to tell us to watch out for our bags in case some undesirable decided to relieve us of them in the middle of the night. Nice too that she thought we might be able to get some sleep.... Potosi: Mines and Mints Needless to say the bus arrived late and slightly disorientated we finally pulled into Potosi at @ 2am, ... read more

I really shouldn't complain considering that ALL the buses I've taken in Bolivia have been far better than any I had the pleasure of 'experiencing' in Africa or India. I mean in Bolivia I've not been on one where it seems everyone but me is puking (some into a receptacle, others not...), I've not sat next to a young girl with diarrhoea and a bus driver who refuses to stop for her (I'll let your imagination do the rest with that one....) and hey, I've even had a whole seat to myself! But you see Argentina and Chile have spoilt me. These days I'm used to smooth roads and 'semi-cama' buses - fold out leg rests, seats that recline so far you can almost convince yourself you were in a bed, empty buses that mean as ... read more

Iquique hadn't featured on my original plan and I'd rather ended up here by accident. Or you might call it a lack of planning ;0) Basically I hadn't booked the bus from San Pedro to Salta in Argentina in time (even though I knew it only went 3 times a week, derrr), didn't want to wait a few days for the next one and decided a loop around Bolivia instead sounded like a much better idea. Look at a map of the region or try the buses in Bolivia and you might challenge the wisdom of that one! In the end it turned out to be a great decision..... except of course it wasn't quite so straight forward. The easiest way into Bolivia is a 3day Salar de Uyuni tour from San Pedro itself. But it ... read more