Whoopee, it's Sunday, and a travelling day, so a double whammy of less traffic outside anyway, and being up earlier than anyone else in town, so woken by the alarm rather than sodding cars and buses.

Our final breakfast at Hotel Milan is good and it has been nice enjoying the views from this 4th floor breakfast room.

After settling up (excellent value here for 20 bucks a night) we grab a taxi straight outside and the friendly driver (we didn't speak, but he had a nice face) gets us to the main bus terminal in time to catch the 8.30 bus to take us to Banos.

Not quite a straightforward journey, and we'll have to change about 7 hours into the trip in Ambato. Whilst we're one of the last on the bus, we seem to have been given seats at the front (a little more dangerous in the event of a collision) which are legroom-heaven. The trip to Ambato is $16 for two.

Easy journey, well, we're just sitting here, and we have some tasty vanilla wafers to munch along the route.

Countryside a delight as we thunder through, and we get a varied selection of traditional dress as we make our way up and down the hills. Lots of greenery around and the patchwork effect of the remote, but very productive, fields as we pass by reminds us of home.

Not sure where the bus will drop us in Ambato, as it will be heading on to Quito, so perhaps skipping the main bus terminal here over the other side of town. Turns out to be a side-of-the-road job, but the conductor suggests the terminal isn't far away.

Decide against bothering with the terminal, we¡re on the main road to Banos anyway, so we do as the locals do and wait by the side.

Just a couple of minutes later we're on the Expresso Banos, where we experience the best ever example of something doing what is says on the tin. How we didn't die, at least 23 times, on this bus is a miracle, though the suggested travel time between Ambato and Banos is thoroughly smashed. Hopefully the driver wasn't. Probably the scariest bus ride of the trip so far, and we've been on some real crackers.

At the main terminal we walk towards the recommended accomodation, though it's a fair walk across to the other side of the smallish town. We checkout the Posada del Arte, a small but charming place seeingly run by an American couple. The room is lovely and we're told the breakfast is very good, though it's $35 a night and a little too much, especially without Cable telly.

Just a little way along is Hotel Volcan, though just walking towards reception we feel that we'll be outpriced again. Looks very nice, but even more expensive at $56 a night.

Try two other small places, without success, before seeing what Hostal Carolina has to offer. The room is small but clean, usualy private facilites, cable TV - all for $10 a night, which is the cheapest for a long time. Snag a room at the back to increase our chances of a quieter night/morning. Really didn't think we'd be paying so little in this tourist town! - means we can splash out on some better food.

After settling into the bargain room, we head back to Cafe Ali Cumba, a nice little place on the central square (there's a couple of squares, this one has some trees and a wooden 'Puente de Amor'). It's run by a Danish woman and her Ecuadorian husband - we met her in the street when we were looking for the hostal.

Great sandwiches, coffee, smoothies, chocolate cake were promised, and we were glad to go back and enjoy some of her stuff. Being gringo-owned, it's a touch more expensive, but worth it, and we'll surely be going back.

Pick up some goodies on the way back to the room, including white chocolate.

TV entertains us in the evening, watching a rerun of the Brit Awards 2007, which seems to be suffering from terrible subtitle translation. Oasis performance only spoiled by Liam's poor vocals.

Monday 18th June

Seem to have picked a winner with this accommodation - hardly a noise from outside, though it does make us rise a little later than planned.

Breakfast not included with our room, so head back to Ali Cumba to get some energy ahead of our planned walk for today, our first exercise in far too long. Best fried egg bap since.......

The walk we're doing is the 'loop' up behind the town, which should give us nice views of Banos.

The start of the route takes up us quite steeply, and we're soon feeling very unfit. We heard that there had been many days of straight rain before we arrived, and we can see the follow on effect of some landslip, which we can just about navigate, though it's pretty slippy.

After less than an hour we get to the Bellavista mirador and get a nice view of the town below. It's staying dry for now, though there's clouds all around us, threatening to open up on us.

We don't hang around too long and head further up the trail, making our way to the cobblestone-type road that leads to the Runtun Spa. Got barked at by a couple of dogs, but then welcomed by an aging milk farmer a little further up the track.

We joined him for some fresh tea, and had the longest chat in Spanish than the rest of our time in South America, out together. Surprised that we did so well, and grateful that he spoke slowly for us. Stayed for about an hour, then made our way on up the road. Slipped him a couple of bucks.

Walked further than planned and got to the volcano lookout, though not a chance of seeing the summit with all this cloud around. Heading on, we make our way down the steep and slippy (would be a nightmare in the rain) trail towards the "Virgen statue". Shame to see a religious 'spot' decorated with graffiti, but hardly a surprise nowadays.

A couple of hundred steps lead back down to town and we fancy a smoothie, heading back once again to Ali Cumba. Energy levels back to normal after a piece of warm chocolate cake. Also nice to read some mags here - Newsweek, National Geographic etc, despite them mostly being well out of date.

Hang around for a while before facing up to the internet, and another go at getting us up to date.

Nothing interesting to report for the rest of the day, though had a nice Mexican for din-dins at Pancho Villa on the main street. Looking forward to biking tomorrow.

Tuesday 19th June

A delight to wake up to very little noise, though don't rush to get ot of bed.

Head back to Ali Cumba for breakfast, and leave pleasantly full.

Instead of bikes today, we'll have a walk around town and visit one of the thermal baths. We choose to check out Piscina El Salado and follow the map to the narrow stream, where there's supposed to be a bridge.

We pass some unfriendly dogs down the little path, only to find no bridge, and it looks a little tricky to cross anywhere else, other than the traffic bridge at the bottom of the stream.

We walk it anyway, needing the exercise (though thighs are aching after yesterday's jaunt), but arrive to find the pools full of screaming, and grubby(!), kids. We decide to walk back into town and try and find the other recommended pools, Piscina de La Virgen.

Get thoroughly lost and frustrated trying to find it from the map - we wish someone had said 'just head towards the pretty waterfall that you can see from anywhere in town' - it's right beneath it.

It's mid-afternoon and unfortunately pretty busy with kids, swimmers etc, but it's nice in the water anyway and we stay for a couple of hours, chatting to the couple we met at breakfast yesterday. Paul feels quite good that they are also looking forward to going home, a couple of days after us.

We have a shower back at the room, before heading back to Pancho Villa for more good mexican food. Paul's feeling cheeky and asks if he can have an extra tortilla with his fajitas - no problem. Share a starter too tonight, nice beans and cheese nachos.

Watch some telly in the room before falling to sleep...

Wednesday 20th June

Not a lot today - Paul spends 5 hours straight in the internet (not cheap either in Banos, 2 bucks an hour), but it's great to finally get the blog up to date.

Had a short walk around town, and visited the mirador overlooking the rought river below.

Banos also 'quite' famous for its sticky taffy, which you can see being prepared in shop doorways, with the vendors pulling/stretching it and slapping it back over the hook repeatedly. Tried a small fresh piece of the sweet but subtly flavoured stuff we hope the guy preparing it (without gloves on) has nice clean hands....

Returned to the Pancho Villa on the main street for another excellent Mexican.

That's it for today!

Thursday 21st June

It started raining yesterday afternoon, and continued through the night until we prepared our packs and dressed them in rain covers and walked out for breakfast.

Hoping to get to Quito today, about 3 hours away on the bus.

We hear rumours that there have beenlabdslides on all routes out of here, though the bus company sell us $7 worth of tickets for the journey, and we're due to leave in 40 minutes, at noon.

Noon comes and goes, and we slowly hear more info - sounds like there's 10 crucial metres of road missing. Whilst we wait on the bus we hear the Mayor on the radio, essentially, telling people not to travel today, it's too dangerous.

The bus people suggest tat there'll be more news at 5pm, so we jump off and head back to the accomodation and make the most of the afternoon.

The river is very rough today, and very brown from all the mud it must have been dragging from the riversides way upstream.

Walk around, before stopping for an icecream and then, to cheer the frustration, buy some KIT Kats from the supermarket and escape the ongoing rain to watch TV. Manage to get 5 hours of back to back cop shows, though realise we've missed dinner.

It's still raining at 2am...

Friday 22nd June

Up earlyish to check out the status of the buses. Tourist Office, with a smirk, suggest we'll not be heading to Quito from here for a couple of days, though we can take the roundabout route via Puyo...

We're due on a trip into the jungle on Monday, but need to be in Quito by Saturday to pay for it. Thankfully, we've received an email this morning that offers the chance to pay when we're back in Quito - that's very handy, and very trusting of them.

After a final breakfast at our favourite Cafe Ali Cumba (thought we'd get a discount after daily patronage), we head off to the bus station and get our tickets for the 12.30 bus.

12.30 comes and goes, and we finally leave at 1.20, for the 5 hours to Tena. The ride was fine and it was nice to experience the road that we would have done the bike ride on - shame the rain never, seemed, to stop whilst in Banos.

Obvious evidence of fresh landslides, but we felt safe most of the way along. More waterfalls than usual, thanks to all that rain, though of course this place is also referred to as Highway of the Waterfalls. It follows the Rio Pastaza canyon, dropping from Banos at 1800metres, to Puyo at 950metres.

We're the only tourists getting off in Tena, with the others heading on to Quito. The bus station is a little out of town, though just a few minutes walk towards the centre. We had a couple of places in mind to stay, but walking past Hostel Yasuni ($12 a night, though no breakfast, or hot water - probably won't need it desperately) we're beckoned in and the rooms turn out okay, though we forego a double bed for twins as it looks like it's quieter at the back of the building. Oh, we also forego a toilet seat, but hovering is good for the thighs.

Certainly 'jungle' temperatures here, though the drizzle is probably helping things keep a little cooler.

It's evening now, so we first make a couple of enquiries at rafting shops, though the first one we go to (River People) say that the rivers are too high and they're unlikely to go tomorrow - a little dangerous, and we're grateful for their honesty.

Went into Rios Ecuador next, and they seem to still be taking bookings, though we're put off with the fact that we'll lose 100% of our money if they cancel in the morning. Double pleased we went to the nice/honest people at River People, who perhaps should be called Honest River People.

Dinner followed, at Cositas Ricas - nice enough, though there's not much choice in town.

Nothing after that, and we went back to the room and watched the box, though no AXN channel. Saw a mediocre Denzil Washington flick instead.

Saturday 23rd June

Quietest night's sleep for a while, and we get up later than usual, returning to Cositas Ricas for breakfast.

Nice to see some blue sky too, and that 'tshirt and shorts' feeling - big smiles as we walk to the bus station to buy our ticket out of here for tomorrow, to Coca.

Not much to do in Tena (this is moreso our route into the jungle), though it was nice to visit the small island/jungle reserve in town. It's $2 to visit the spot, where there's some monkeys (sadly some in a cage, though we're told they are rescued), and some other monkeys loose around the place, including a funny looking rat/bat/monkey, called a Tika (maybe wrong spelling). Also some snakes in glass houses, though disturbingly, one of the 'houses' was open at the back.

Several huge Boa Constrictors were kept in a larger cage, and were hanging off a tree.

Various birds flying around the place, and also some Toucan's in a too-small cage, looking bored and frustrated, and some ducks and an Emu too.

The foliage is also nice, and gives us something to look forward to in our trip starting Monday. Not sure if the snakes will be in cages out there though....

Met a nice English couple, Vicky and Mark (Hello guys, if you're reading this - see you in Quito next week!), just as we were leaving and found out that they are in the first week of a year away, and it sounds like they're doing a similar route to us, but the other way around - South America, NZ, Australia, Asia.

Keen to share some hints and tips, we all head off to Cafe Tortuga for some drinks. End up staying there for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying various drinks and some tasty chocolate cake.

The chat continues through dinner at a pizza place just a couple of doors up - Paul says, best pizza in a long time, though it's not the cheapest restaurant in town.

Halfway through dinner, all the rain in the world seems to fall in this town, but times it well enough to stop when we leave to find the ATM, which in turn doesn't work.

Back in the room and we pack to leave tomorrow, up at 6.30. Several puddles in our room following the rain, one dripping near to the ceiling light.

Pleased to be moving on, though not looking forward, too much, to the bus journey tomorrow - supposedly 6 hours.

Sunday 24th June

Groggy start to the day, but jump to it and into the cold shower. Soon woken up.

Thankfully the ATM is working today and we've got enough to cover the next few days in the jungle. No charge for using this ATM, just by the footbridge over the river.

The town is quiet this morning, and only a couple of the shack-shops are open. Our bus leaves just a few minutes after 8am, and slowly makes its way out of town. We assume it was dragging along in the hope of picking up more passengers - there's only about 6 of us on here.

The nice green scenery takes our minds of the snailspace progress, just.

Pleased we snagged seats at the front, for the extra legroom, though we're right in the path of everyone who gets on, and they seem to have other things on their minds than where they are putting their muddy boots. Right on my shiny new trainers. Grrr.

Journey starts to drag as we get towards 2pm and we've just passed a sign that suggests 'Coca - still a little way to go...'.

Football day obviously on a Sunday here too - each town/village we passed seemed to be hosting a kickabout today.

Finally arrive, after countless stops to pick up and drop off other passengers, in Coca and walk the few minutes towards the centre of town.

Checkout the Hotel San Fermin, though find it's closed, and walk on to Hotel El Auca, which looks a little more pricey, though nice for just the one night.

Manage to work our way down from an airconditioned room at $40 a night, to a pretty wooden cabin with ceiling fan for $24. Got the usual private bathroom, Cable TV, as well as a minibar - good for keeping the shop-bought choccies nice and cold.

It has a pretty backyard - lots of trees, and hammocks, together with a handful of various animals and birds - monkeys, parrots and Paca's (cat-size rodent things).

Off to find some internet, though a little concerned that we've read it's $7 an hour....

Phew! - there's a fancy internet place just across from the hotel (it's got an orange colour front), and relieved that an hour online is 'only' $1.40, though you get free popcorn, and waitress service for drinks.

Started to pour with rain next, though we managed a quick look around the smallish riverside town, before having a bite to eat at the hotel, and stocking up on some edible goodies.

Not much else for the rest of the day, it continues to pour with rain, drowning out most of the sound on the TV.

Monday 25th June

Not being picked up for our trip into the jungle until 11.30am, so have a nice breakfast at the internet place we used yesterday - first pancakes in a while.

Other than the last minute packing, we spent a few minutes looking at the animals/birds in the hotel garden. Sorry to see that the parrots and a Toucan had had their wings clipped, though not sure if this is preferable to them being stuck in cages like we saw at the zoo-thing in Tena. The Toucan seems happy jumping around the place and, maybe out of total boredom, chasing Paul's shoelaces, and digging around in his pocket.

Picked up on time from the guys at Sani Lodge and we walk a couple of minutes down to the dock for our 3 hour journey down the Rio Napo (a tributary to the Amazon River)to the lodge.

Sani Lodge is an ecotourism facility, owned and operated by the Sani Isla Quichua community, there's about 500 people in the community, and they own a vast land holding of over 37,000 hectares (90,000 acres), being the largest privately held area of rainforest in all of Ecuador.

The journey is fine as we skim across the surface, weaving from side to side of the wide river to avoid sand banks. Funny that the river develops such shallow areas considering all the rain that falls in these, and surrounding, parts. Whilst we were already aware of the huge oil operations out this way, I guess it was quite sad to see a remote part of the jungle spoiled by huge ferries carrying large lorries connected with the oil industry.

The lodge is located 20 minutes up a small inlet off the Rio Napo, and we transfer to a smaller, slower, dugout canoe for the final stretch through the greenery. Thankfully the canoe has a small outboard motor to speed it through the stream, called Challuayacu, arriving at the lagoon where the lodge sits on the edge. The lagoon is called Challuacocha.

We're greeted by some of the team, including our guides for the next 3 days, Xavier and Freddy. The latter is our 'native' guide, who was born and raised in the community.

After a welcome drink, we are shown to our nice cabin, and unpack our bags, before returning to the bar cabana, which overlooks the lagoon. Not as pretty as it could be, with complete cloud above, though it's dry....for now.

It's midafternoon, and we're pleased that there's an activity squeezed into this first day - a trip across the lagoon and a few minutes walk through the (primary) jungle to a 30 metre tower that has been built around a huge tree. At the top of the tower we get a good view of the canopy, though there are still many trees around that are above us.

We're told that there's not a lot of activity at this time of day, though as the afternoon wears on, to around 5.30, we start to see some more life, though only birds, no monkeys etc. Oh, actually, there are some insects that live in the vines around the top of the tree, including inch-long Conger Ants, which are said to have a nasty bite that will stay painful for many hours. We keep a distance.

Glad we have the binoculars, though not quite powerful enough to afford super-closeup views of the many birds we see, including Toucans, and some others we can't remember the names of.

We stay at the tower until dark comes upon us, and return to the lodge for dinner at 7pm. Nothing to write about re. the dinner - it's 'okay', though portions are small.

After dinner we hang around the bar for a while, playing Jenga and chatting with Colin and his son Joe, before we meet up with our guides for a night safari, which is just a short walk behind our cabins.

Saw a stick insect, various (big) grasshoppers, two small Salamanders and a Tarantula sitting at the edge of his/her nest. Whilst not too many mozzies around the bar and our room, they seem to all be congregating in the jungle, and must be pretty hungry tonight! Survive the night walk, with not even getting pee'd on by a bat.

To bed quite early, as we're due up for breakfast tomorrow morning at 6!

Tuesday 26th June

Up for breakfast for 7am, and the food again is okay, though again we leave still feeling peckish, and we'll be waiting til 1 for lunch.

Today we're off for a visit to the 'centre' of the community - it's the last day of school today, so there's a few things going on for us to see - dancing, singing, school presentations.

Before we get to the centre, which is a 30 minute ride on the canoe, we make a stop on the riverbank and clamber up for a visit to Freddy's house, where we are shown a few medicinal plants and food, and meet a friendly little monkey that lives with the family, as well as 2 dogs and a bunch of chickens.

At the centre we see some preparations for today's dancing, which turns out to be maybe their first run-through - it's a little embarassing, as none of the girls seems to want to be there.

End of term report cards are handed out to the students and while this is happening we step out of the community hall and sit by the football field and enjoy a snack.

We were going to hang around and watch the guys play some football, but we'd rather be making the most of the mostly bright weather to catch site of some wildlife. Gladly we soon make our way back to the boat, and stop on one of the sand islands on the river to have a swim, which turns out to be a swim from one island to another, crossing a fast flowing stretch of water. Pleased that we found a balsa wood log for us to grab onto as we crossed........and missed our island by quite a distance, floating on to the next one.

Glad to survive that jaunt, and be back on dry land (in wet clothes) for a hike through the jungle.

Animals quite quiet as we make our way through, though we come across a group of Woolly Monkeys, the largest and most endangered monkey species in the region.

The rain comes down as we walk along, though we're quite protected by the canopy above, and the ponchos that Xavier magic's out of his backpack. As well as the rain, the wind gets up and Freddy is keen that we make our way out quickly. Even without wind and rain, you can always hear large pieces of shrubbery falling from above, and the trees bury themselves in quite a short depth, making them prone to toppling, though this is good for regeneration of the ground.

The canoe picks us up at the end of the trail and we're soon back at the lodge, relaxing in the bar and again enjoying the views over the lagoon, and the peace and quiet.

After dinner (no change in quantity yet), we head out onto the lagoon in the darkness to trackdown Black Caiman (the largest relative of the alligator - up to 5 metres!). The torches soon pick out the telltale eye reflections and we side up (touching distance, by both parties!) to a 2.5 metre beast. It lets us stare it out for a while before suddenly dropping underwater, making most of the boat occupants jump out of their skin.

No others found, and we're back to dry land and head off early to bed, to be ready for breakfast at 6am!

Wednesday 27th June

to be continued...

Banos, Tena and Coca, Ecuador remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Arequipa

Whilst always pleased to arrive safely after a bus journey, this wasn't the most comfortable for Paul and he didn't sleep too great. Also, his ongoing and regular colds have affected his ears this time and is in a little pain as we descend from the altitude.

Arrive at the crack of dawn, but pleased to be met and taken to the accommodation a few minutes away by taxi.

Checkin to the Home From Home hostel (50Soles a night, with apparently 'huge' breakfasts, though we'll not get that until tomorrow) and crash out for a couple of hours after the bus journey.

Late morning we venture into town, first noticing how much warmer it is here. Very pleased about that, though would be happy for a few more degrees.

Track down Cusco Coffe and enjoy a pretty good Frappucino, then find a small chinese restaurant and have an excellent feed.

Again, the day following an overnight bus usually leaves us pretty tired, so quite an easy day and an early night.

Wednesday 30th May

Yes, the breakfast was good - pancakes, bread, scrambled egg, juice, tea/coffee.

A quick go on the free internet before heading into town to get info on Colca Canyon tours, though manage to get a good deal through the hostel for tomorrow.

Visited the interesting convent of Santa Catalina in town. It was opened to the public in 1970 after 400 years as a cloister. The convent has been beautifully refurbished with period furniture and paintings. Behind the closed doors the nuns, daughters of aristocrats, paid little heed to the vows of poverty and silence. Each had her own servant and dined with porcelain plates, fine tablecloths and silver cutlery.

The convent is a complete miniature walled colonial town in the middle of the city. There are flower filled gardens, spacious patios, granite fountains as well as arches and narrow streets. The tile-roofed buildings are painted in traditional white, brown and blue. About 20 nuns still live in a section of the convent, which once housed up to 500.

Didn't expect such an interesting visit, very pleased we went along.

Grabbed some late lunch after, and enjoyed some happy hour cocktails in the early evening.

Pack ready for tomorrow, we 'll just need to take a day bag for our one night/two day trip out to Colca Canyon.

Thursday 31st May

Picked up just after breakfast, and our journey towards Colca takes us across the desert and back up into higher altitude, Paul's ear giving a little pain until it unblocks itself.

Nice views as we shoot on in the minibus - lots of snowcapped mountains/volcanoes. Stop for a short while at the Mirador de Los Andes, where we see many 'cairns', which are small piles of rocks given as offerings to the mountains.

At Chivay, the small town where we'll be staying, we start with an 'okay' buffet lunch (not included in the trip, though tonights accommodation is) before being dropped at our room. Whilst there's a dozen of us on the trip, we all stay at a handful of different accommodations - clearly a couple of folks have upgraded and it seems that the accommodations decline as we drop people off - we're last!

Actually, it's fine, though the room is pretty chilly now, so not looking forward to tonight!

We have a couple of hours to ourselves before being picked up and taken to the nearby hot springs for a soak. Not much happening in town - a small market, a small but pretty square. Public toilets here seem to offer a little more choice than usual. If you're just looking to urinate, that'll set you back 30 cents - anything more than that and you're clobbered for 50 cents. It's pay on entry, so what do you do if you're not sure???

At 4pm we're whisked the few kms down to the pools and it's nice to get into the hot water, though there's quite a few folk here. We're warned that you should only spend an hour in the water, so stick to the rules and we're back in town for 6pm, and hang around for dinner, which is a group thing at a nearby restaurant that has some traditional dancing.

Panic a little that we don't have much money, but just scrape through and pay for dinner, though nothing left for treats back at the room.

We're heading on to see the condors early tomorrow morning, so everyone heads home for an early night. Interesting dances, though similar to what we saw in Cuzco.

Chat with Emmanuel and Elani from Sweden through dinner.

Friday 1st June

Crikey, only 1 full month left of this year trip - time's been flying lately.

Though, actually, it's too early on the day to realise the date, it's 5am, and breakfast is in 30 minutes.

A little chilly out of bed, but the shower is roasting. Breakfast basic but fine to get us going.

Minibus picks us up and we start the journey out towards the condors, though we first stop in a small village, where there's a surprising amount of activity for so early in the morning, even someone trying to get a loudspeaker working.

At the condor site, we stop short of the car park area to enjoy a walk along the canyon edge - see some pretty 'green' birds along the way, though we're all in a little rush as we can see a couple of condors at the main viewing point, and they're said to only hang around for 15 minutes.

At the viewing point, with crowds of others, we get to see plenty of condors, swooping above and below as, out over the canyon. There's a few gaps of nothing but enjoying the views and relative silence, but the condors perform for us over a couple of hours. A really majestic sight.

On the way back towards Chivay we stop at a couple of viewpoints, Chris gets to try some Cacti fruit.

Spent a little more time in the small square before the few hours drive back to Arequipa, and a pitstop at Cuzco Coffee.

More travelling tonight, more overnight bus action to Nazca. A little annoyed at the hostel - we had booked the bus ticket though them, but surprised that they had charged us 10Soles 'commission' for booking it. Pretty steep at nearly 10%, where any other hostel where we'd booked a tour or bus ticket was charged at face value. A bit of a rip off, and we could easily have booked the ticket in town for no extra charge.

Hang around at the hostel for a while, repacking our bags and charging cameras.

The taxi comes to pick us up for the short ride to the bus station, though a small panic when we find that there's some road blocks and, in turn, more traffic being funneled through the remaining routes.

Thankfully the taxi driver gets us there in a hurry, though drops us off at the wrong terminal for buses to Nazca. Unable to find the company we're travelling with we soon find out that they are 'over there' and we run with our bags to the adjoining terminal. No panic necessary, they're running a few minutes late, and we have plenty of time to board and get comfy. We seem to have gone VIP and have a small section at the front of the upper deck with only 6 seats. Nice, should be a comfortable night!

continues on next thread....

Arequipa, Peru remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Thursday 14th June

Grrr, it's noisy outside!, but we both slept okay until the traffic outside wakes us just after 6am, and Paul wakes up with a rare headache - could be lack of liquids, or bus-fever. Oh, and the weather is pretty miserable outside too.

Enjoying the juice that comes with breakfast, though still not quite sure what it is - maybe Papaya, though there's something else too...could just be a bunch of sugar.

Checked some emails in the morning, and couldn't believe that my mate Jase has sorted out the MOT for our car (it passed!!!) as well as changing the battery that had died. What a good man! And he's very handsome too. Though, not available at the moment.

Tracked down the Austria Cafe for lunch - pleased to see Frappucinos on the menu, though they're not the best. Nice cakes though, and they even have a english language newspaper to read.

With the weather being pretty foul, it doesn't inspire us to do too much, though had a nice walk along the overflowing river near the centre of town, and then around the streets leading away from the square. We have been trying to track down a cinema, though from the 3 listed in the guide book, none seem to be open and one seems to now be a multistorey carpark.

For dinner we just grabbed some goodies from the bakery a couple of doors up from the hotel. Nice cheese rolls, and yummy custard-filled doughnuts.

Had a walk around the square in the evening, the fiesta continuing on from last night - this time there's some chinese-looking lanterns with some kind of flames inside that are floating up into the cloudy sky - the rising stack looks quite impressive. One of the lanterns catches fire just above the church - must be the devils work.

There's also a band playing and a few fireworks going off every so often, which we can still hear when we're back in the noisy room.

Friday 15th June

Once again, woken up to the sound of traffic. Even though we're on the second floor, it sounds like the buses/trucks/cars are right outside our room.

After breakfast, it's straight down to the internet cafe to press on with getting the blog done - we must get up to date before we leave Cuenca.

Chris heads off to visit the museum and we'll meet up in a couple of hours. The musuem is a little disappointing due to lack of information in English but Chris is amazed by the sight of shrunken heads. The musuem bought them from the Shuar community who live in the southern part of the Oriente (jungle). The practice of shrinking the heads of enemies is now illegal and so they shrink the heads of sloths. Not sure why.

Internet connections still seem to be slow here, and actually grind to a halt about an hour in to the session. Waited around for 15 minutes, looking at a blank screen, then left to find another place. Success, seems to be quicker here, and the keyboard has all the letters on it.

Hey, the PC's here even have headphones, so manage to listen to Faithless playing live from Hyde Park. I bet it's warmer in London than here...

Time flies and Paul meets Chris back at the hotel, though because she had to hand in the phone (with the clock on it) at the museum, she's 40 minutes late and Paul is just a little concerned - we still don't take safety for granted in South America, though he's sure all is well.

We meet up briefly before we bite the bullet to get some more blog done - 3 hours later we meet up and head out for a tasty Burrito at Monday Blue.

The religious celebrations in the square were due to finish yesterday, though there seems to be some action tonight - some schoolkids in a lively procession, some even on stilts and playing with fire. They seem to end up in the church on the main plaza.

Coincidentally, there's a fancy icecream shop on the square too, and we enjoy a couple of yummy milkshakes, before a slow walk back to the hotel.

Chris frowns at what we're watching on TV - more 'zombies' in Doom - she actually had a dream/nightmare about zombies last night after we saw 28 Weeks Later at the cinema last week. No CSI New York/Miami tonight, and we're missing watching Miami Ink too. Umm, I think we need to get out a little more...

Saturday 16th June

Outside noise wakes us up early again, though slept okay thru the night.

No rush out of the room today, and the rain answers the 'what shall we do today?' question.

Pleased to see that the hotel does laundry, and unlike most other hotels, there's no buggering around paying for thing by the item. Nice and simple $2 for washing/$2 for drying, up to 5 kilos, and we'll get it back this afternoon. Big relief for the one of us who has been recycling underwear for a couple of days. At least it keeps the flies of the other member of the party.

Late morning Chris attempts to cheer up travel-weary Mr Grumpy and we head for a milkshake, which goes down very well, though we're nearly killed by sub-tropical death-wasps who also hate the cold and wet outside.

Back to 'El Pedregal Azteca' for a Mexican, and to take up their cheap lunch deal.

A little shopping straight after and Chris is relieved to have found a couple of nice summer dresses to take to Cancun in a couple of weeks, as well as a 'going-out shirt and some perfect fitting jeans. Manage to convey to the friendly girl in the shop that Chris doesn't need anything else, thanks.

Paul goes back to the internet to attack the outstanding blog (it's 'behind', rather than 'marvellous'). Four hours later, he meets Chris back in room 204.

As well as a shoulder pain from too much sitting at the screen, Paul is also forced to endure Bridget Jones - Edge of Reason. Could have been worse, and over-the-top action flick 'Transporter 2' follows, to even things up a bit.

Sunday 17th June - Cuenca to Banos

Whoopee, it's Sunday, and a travelling day, so a double whammy of less traffic outside anyway, and being up earlier than anyone else in town, so woken by the alarm rather than sodding cars and buses.

Our final breakfast at Hotel Milan is good and it has been nice enjoying the views from this 4th floor breakfast room.

After settling up (excellent value here for 20 bucks a night) we grab a taxi straight outside and the friendly driver (we didn't speak, but he had a nice face) gets us to the main bus terminal in time to catch the 8.30 bus to take us to Banos.

Not quite a straightforward journey, and we'll have to change about 7 hours into the trip in Ambato. Whilst we're one of the last on the bus, we seem to have been given seats at the front (a little more dangerous in the event of a collision) which are legroom-heaven. The trip to Ambato is $16 for two.

Easy journey, well, we're just sitting here, and we have some tasty vanilla wafers to munch along the route.

Countryside a delight as we thunder through, and we get a varied selection of traditional dress as we make our way up and down the hills. Lots of greenery around and the patchwork effect of the remote, but very productive, fields as we pass by reminds us of home.

Not sure where the bus will drop us in Ambato, as it will be heading on to Quito, so perhaps skipping the main bus terminal here over the other side of town. Turns out to be a side-of-the-road job, but the conductor suggests the terminal isn't far away.

Decide against bothering with the terminal, we´re on the main road to Banos anyway, so we do as the locals do and wait by the side.

Just a couple of minutes later we're on the Expresso Banos, where we experience the best ever example of something doing what is says on the tin. How we didn't die, at least 23 times, on this bus is a miracle, though the suggested travel time between Ambato and Banos is thoroughly smashed. Hopefully the driver wasn't. Probably the scariest bus ride of the trip so far, and we've been on some real crackers.

At the main terminal we walk towards the recommended accomodation, though it's a fair walk across to the other side of the smallish town. We checkout the Posada del Arte, a small but charming place seeingly run by an American couple. The room is lovely and we're told the breakfast is very good, though it's $34 a night and a little too much, especially without Cable telly.

Just a little way along is Hotel Volcano, though just walking towards reception we feel that we'll be outpriced again. Looks very nice, but even more expensive at $56 a night.

Try two other small places, without success, before seeing what Hostal Carolina has to offer. The room is small but clean, usual private facilites, cable TV - all for $10 a night, which is the cheapest for a long time. Snag a room at the back to increase our chances of a quieter night/morning. Really didn't think we'd be paying so little in this tourist town! - means we can splash out on some better food.

After settling into the bargain room, we head back to Cafe Ali Cumba, a nice little place on the central square (there's a couple of squares, this one has some trees and a wooden 'Puente de Amor'). It's run by a Danish woman and her Ecuadorian husband - we met her in the street when we were looking for the hostal.

Great sandwiches, coffee, smoothies, chocolate cake were promised, and we were glad to go back and enjoy some of her stuff. Being gringo-owned, it's a touch more expensive, but worth it, and we'll surely be going back.

Pick up some goodies on the way back to the room, including white chocolate.

TV entertains us in the evening, watchin a rerun of the Brit Awards 2007, which seems to be suffering from terrible subtitle translation. Oasis performance only spoiled by Liam's poor vocals.

continues on next thread...

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Wednesday 13th June - Loja to Cuenca

Moving on today, heading to Cuenca, about 5 hours north.

Meet up with Catja for breakfast at 9.30 and make our way to the 'juice' place, followed by some internet time.

Actually, that should read 'waste of internet time' - appallingly slow connection, worse than dialup - tearing our hair out, and having to pay for the privilege.

Our bus leaves at 1.30pm, so grab a taxi at 12.45 so we're there in plenty of time, and can secure a ticket. We usually book in advance, but lately the buses seem to be quite empty, and fewer and fewer tourists.

We're fine for the tickets, and it's $7.50 each for the 5 hour ride. Catja joined us in the taxi to the terminal to buy her ticket for the overnight bus to Quito tonight - don't envy the 14 hours.

Said our goodbyes and took a seat in the outside waiting area - bus left pretty much on time.

Journey uneventful, though a poor little girl across the aisle from us was (physically) poorly, and we were pleased to help out by offering the grandparents our roll of toilet paper and a plastic bag to put the, er, stuff into. Not sure if there was something going on out of town, but a lot of the local folk on board were dressed up in their traditional clothes. Got a nice 'safe journey' from the grandparents we helped out.

Arrived in Cuenca early evening - wet, dark and chilly. Didn't notice until the next day, but the taxi that brought us to the hotel had an oily boot, well, it did until our packs helped soak it up.

We chose to check out Hotel Milan, just 2 blocks from the main square/park and immediately pleased. USD20 a night, with breakfast, our own bathroom, TV (no CNN!) and even a safe, so pleased that we don't have to carry around all our valuables for a few days.

Had dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant (El Pedregal Azteca) - nice bit of grub, though they add tax and service to the bill, an extra 22%, though the food and service both good, also enjoyed our first beer in a while.

Tired after another mostly travelling day, so an early night.

continues on next thread...

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Tuesday 12th June - Piura, Peru to Loja, Ecuador

Up earlyish as we're leaving Peru today, and crossing the border into Ecuador (our last land border crossing on this trip - must say that all the crossings we've had in South America have been generally really easy. Sometimes they've taken a little longer if we've been on a crowded bus. Pleased that we haven't had any of the awkward situations that you read about - no-one has asked us for money, or nothing of our things/currency been 'impounded').

Anyway, bus gets away just after 9.30am, and we have 8 hours ahead of us. Meet Brighton-living German Catja at the bus terminal and chat throughout the trip. We're off to Cancun for the last two weeks of our year trip, and she doesn't give it the best review, and apparently the shopping is crap....uh-oh.

The border crossing here was fine, and we were glad to avoid the Peru/Ecuador border crossing over in Tumbes, nearer the coast. Have heard several independent stories about shenanigans there - border guards confiscating supposedly dud currency, dodgy taxi drivers (seemingly on the Ecuador side).

The bus ride takes us out of the dry and flat desert up into the lush highlands. Nice views as the bus makes it's way along the edge of the road, and at times we pass distant valleys with low lying clouds beneath us - wish we could stop and admire the view, just for 5 minutes.

On arriving at Loja, simple job of getting the three of us into town, just a few minutes and $1 taxi ride to Hotel Metropolitano. Room there fine, though no breakfast included, and $12 each.

Little more than dropped off the bags and met with Catja and the three of us tracked down some dinner, a nearby pizza restaurant. First salad in a while, very nice, and Paul thought he'd gone for a small 4 slice pizza, which was huge. Cue doggy bag, well, box.

Again, tired after the journey and all of us happy to retire to bed (separately), and we'll meet up with Catja in the morning.

continues on next thread...

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Busy day ahead and first thing, after breakfast, is to grab a taxi to take us to the Moche site, to visit the Temple of the Sun (Huaca del Sol) and the Temple of the Moon (Huaca de la Luna), which are 15 minutes drive away in the Moche River valley, and are huge pyramid-like structures.

This major archaeological site was built at the time of the Moche culture (100 BC-650 AD), just east of a prominent, freestanding hill, the Cerro Blanco (White Mountain). It occupies a central location within the extensive Moche Valley. The complex sits about three miles inland, southeast of Trujillo and is considered by many scholars to be the former capital of the Moche State.

The complex is dominated by two huge adobe brick buildings: the Pyramid of the Sun, or Huaca del Sol, and the artificial platform called Huaca de la Luna, or Temple of the Moon. On the quarter-mile-wide, open plain between them, researchers have found many graves, most of them looted, as well as evidence of large scale manufacturing covered by a layer of sediment up to 10 feet thick. A considerable number of administrators, religious, and manufacturing specialists must have been living at this great prehispanic settlement. Like most prehispanic sites on the coast, it is located so as not to usurp agricultural land and in a good position to acquire food, building material and other resources.

The following info was nabbed from a website about the site,

The Huaca del Sol

Despite its history of destruction during the colonial period, the stepped pyramid called Huaca del Sol still measures 1,250 feet in length and towers 135 feet above the surrounding plain - this makes it the tallest adobe structure of the Americas. lt is calculated that around 50 million sun-dried, mud bricks (or "adobes"), were used in its construction. Like its counterpart on the opposite side of the plain, the Huaca de la Luna, it is oriented roughly 20 degrees east of north. Although the earlier history of the building remains a riddle, it was probably begun early during the Moche period...

The enormous cut on the west face was made back in 1602 by ambitious Spaniards looking for treasure. They intentionally diverted the small Santa Catalina River, which then washed away more than half the huaca. In colonial times, it was common practice to loot prehispanic sites in search of gold, and often such looting was organized by formal companies.

This stepped pyramid is made up of four major platforms that rise from the northeast, where an access ramp may have stood, towards the southwest where there is a fourth, lower and narrower platform. Unlike later monumental architecture, it is entirely made up of sun-dried adobe bricks. The sections, or panels, in which the bricks were laid are clearly visible in the badly-eroded eastern side. Many of the adobes have their original marks, such as imprints of hands, feet, dots, crosses, etc. These marks have been interpreted by researchers as accounting tools to distinguish different groups of brick manufacturers, which thus facilitated tracking the payment of "taxes".

The name "Huaca del Sol" is really a misnomer, as there is no evidence to connect the building with any solar cult. There are, however, no indications as to the original name of the site, which must have been in the now-extinct Muchik language, which was spoken in the region in the Fifteenth Century.

The Huaca de la Luna

Overlooking the Pyramid of the Sun lies the Pyramid or Temple of the Moon, another major component of the urban and ceremonial center of the prehispanic settlement of Moche. Ongoing excavations by Peruvian and foreign scholars are revealing the complexity of this fascinating structure.

Three platforms and four open courts or plazas take up most of the assemblage, which is built up against the lower slopes of the Cerro Blanco, the White Mountain. Overall, the site measures 950 feet from north to south and 690 feet from east to west. The access to the structure was probably located on the north side, which has been badly damaged by looting. Treasure hunters also dug impressive tunnels into its eastern flank and inadvertently exposed beautiful polychrome reliefs, sadly now destroyed. Many Moche burials, some probably dedicatory but others as late as Chimú (about 1100-1470 AD), have been excavated inside the otherwise massive adobe platform and have yielded many artifacts, such as elaborate ceramics and metal headgear.

Very tall and wide walls delimit each of the four courts, some of the which have narrow cane and pole roofs running along the sides. Access from one sector of the site to another was clearly channeled down corridors and through narrow entrances. Painted reliefs pertaining to different construction phases, at least four of which have been identified so far, have been located in several of the platforms and plazas.

For example, the head of the "degollador" or sacrificer, a motif also found at the site of EL BRUJO, decorates the walls of platform I in the southwest corner of the site. Another very fine example of Moche mural decorations found at La Luna was the mural referred to above, which depicts "The Rebellion of the Artifacts"

Large-scale human sacrifice at Huaca de la Luna became evident when archaeologists uncovered the remains of at least 34 sacrificed adult male individuals in the soft clay of the southeastern court at the foot of the mountain. They had been bound and, judging by the type of wounds that had been inflicted, were probably captured in battle. Thesacrifice represents a single ritual event linked by archaeologist Steve Bourget to a season of torrential rains caused by an extreme case of the maritime El Niño phenomenon, which strikes the coast of South America at irregular intervals and which may have caused the final abandonment of this site.

The open space between the two pyramids has recently been found to have been an area of intense manufacturing activity as well as an area of high population density. Ceramic workshops and large-scale maize-beer production are in evidence, and intensive textile production and metalworking may also have taken place there as well. The highly specialized groups of workers in charge of these activities were most probably subservient to the high-ranking individuals in charge of the administration of both the ceremonies that took place at that site and the prosecution of wars.

After the tour we stop in town for a quick bite to eat ahead of the bus ride a couple of hours along to Chiclayo.

More desert separates to two cities, and we try to follow the spanish-dubbed film playing on the TV, with little success.

In Chiclayo we first check out the Hotel El Sol, located fine for centro and the room the usual stuff, though we're initially shown a room at the front of the building, which is pretty noisy, so score a similar room at the back, looking over the grotty pool.

After a walk around the busy streets (maybe it's a Saturday night thing) we look for, and track down a tasty and cheap Chinese restaurant (Chifa) a few minutes from the hotel. Also out tonight are some Nestle street vendors with trays of cheap chocolate, which of course we investigate.

Get booked for our tour heading out to the Sican Museum, Tucume site, Sipan museum tomorrow - 60Soles each, entry fees extra, no lunch included.

Back in the room, TV, then bed.

Sunday 10th June

Of on a day trip today, collected by the bus just after 8.30am. Only one other overseas tourist joins us, a Japanese guy, together with a local family who are out for the day.

First stop is an hour out of town, the Sican Museum. Quite a disappointing visit, our guide has to keep switching between an English and Spanish tour, and it's therefore taking forever to get around, eating into time for seeing the other places on the tour. An hour into the museum, and we're less than half way through.

The guide does his best, though is unable to get another guide from the museum and Paul walks off in a huff, enjoying the sun outside instead.

Whilst it's our fault that we don't have a sufficient grasp of Spanish, but it is poor that the museum has no information in English at all. This is quite a big museum, and we've been to far more basic set ups over the last few months where we have been well catered for.

So, over an hour late, we leave for the Tucume museum and site. This time, our group is split and we have the guide's full attention. The museum is quite small, and gives a brief overview of the history of the site, and a few models of yesteryear.

Get to stroke our first Peruvian 'hairless' dogs - hairless except for a tuft on top of the head. They don't look very happy, perhaps they caught a look at themselves in the mirror - not the prettiest of creatures.

Behind the museum is the site itself, where you can see the remnants of the pyramids, there are 26 in all, spread over quite a wide area. The area can been seen well from the lookout point, a few minutes breathless walk up the hill. Unfortunately there is no access on to the pyramids, though the up-high view is pretty cool.

Time is getting on and we're told that the next stop is lunch, though we're conscious that the last stop (Sipan Museum) closes at 5pm.

We finally get to the lunch stop at 3.45pm, so we ask if we can get dropped off at the museum and we'll have a look around ourselves. The guide suggests he'll meet us at 4.15pm.

On arriving at the museum we need to hand in our cameras/bags/mobiles etc, and then when we get inside we find, again, that there's no information in English at all. Pretty bad for the supposedly best rated museum in Ecuador, if not South America.

Lacking a sense of humour, and having had his patience drained through the day, Paul walks straight out of the museum to wait for the guide (it seems such a waste of time looking at something, but not knowing anything about it).

The guide turns up 35 minutes later than planned, and there's 10 minutes to get around the museum. Thankfully, the closing time is for last admissions, and we get to have our tour of the museum.

The locals in our group are either not interested in the tour, or are happy to read the Spanish information accompanying the exhibits - either way, we have the guide to ourselves and the tour is excellent, and goes someway to make us for the frustration of the day.

Sipán is a Moche archaeological site that is famous for the tomb of El Senor de Sipan (Lord of Sipán). It is considered to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the last thirty years, because the main tomb was found intact and undisturbed by thieves, unlike many of the other sites we have visited in Peru.

There are some of the best examples of intact pottery we have seen, and also much jewellery.

The Lord of Sipán was a very important Mochican warrior priest, whose remains were founded in Huaca Rajada by Dr. Walter Alva in 1987.
In his tomb were discovered a great quantity of gold and silver objects, jewels, ceramics and carved wood of incredible value. This investigation had given archaeologists the chance to discover many more aspects of the Mochican Culture.

In the main tomb was found a guard, skeleton of a young man with a golden shield and sectioned feet.

'El Señor de Sipán', was found in a sarcophagus made of wood (this is the first event founded in South America), next to his head were the skeleton of two young women, and at his sides a skeleton of a dog and two llamas.

He was all covered with gold, silver and copper, chest protector with jewels and gold necklaces. His skull rested on a big golden plate.

Very close to this tomb, in 1989, some investigators of the Brüning Museum discovered the tombs of "El Sacerdote" (The Priest), and the tomb of "El Viejo Señor de Sipán" (The Old Lord of Sipán).

The tomb of the "Viejo Señor de Sipán" (Old Lord of Sipán) is chronologically older, and with difference among the others, was found a sarcophagus without company and wrapped in vegetal fiber. It had signs of royal importance, dressed with gold scepter, fine gold and silver jewels, chest protectors made with pearl shells, peculiar and unique pictures.

All the original pieces were restored in Germany at the Mainz Museum (1988-1993).

Glad we got to have a good look at the museum, though sorry that we couldn't take any pictures.

Got back to Chiclayo just before 7pm and headed straight out for dinner, back to the Chifa we found last night. Unfortunately no Nestle vendors out tonight, though we find some in the modern supermarket by the square.

Monday 11th June

Didn't bother with breakfast this morning, and Paul does some internet while Chris goes to the nearby market, with it's own 'Witch Doctor' section and Shamans walking around with some snakes.

Picked up some snacks from the supermarket, including a puff pastry roll with absolutely no filling, though the yoghurts were good.

Found out that the bus to Piura is just around the corner, so buy our tickets conveniently ahead of time - we can get away at 1.30pm and it's only 2 and a half hours, the shortest journey we've had for, seemingly, ever.

Realised that we used all our money up before we'd paid our hotel bill, so gutted to have to use a Globalnet ATM and pay 4 soles for using it.

Quickly pack our things and walk the few minutes back to the bus station.

Desert views all the way to Piura, so nothing to add here.

Arrive in Piura late afternoon, and feel the warmth of the desert, though Piura is a pretty big city. The map suggests that the hotel we check out is not that far, and is just a few minutes walk away. For 69Soles we get the usual type of room with our own facilities, though no breakfast.

We're only here for one night and there's nothing we're desperate to do here, so first of all make our way to the bus station where we can get a ticket to take us across the border into Ecuador. The Lonely Planet suggests that the best place to head is Transportes Loja, but sends us the wrong way - they give the wrong address - right street, wrong number. Get there eventually and grab our tickets, cost 24Soles each. There's a BCP ATM nearby if you need to take out some last Soles before you leave the country, though the smallest note issued by the machine is 50. There's a Scotiabank ATM on the main square that issues 20's.

Pleased we're sorted for our ticket out of Peru, and head back into town for a look around. A cafe recommended in LP has since closed (looks like a building site now), though there's a tasty veggie place on the square. For desert, we find an icecream place at the small shopping mall in the modern cinema building.

Back in the room, with some chocolate (no more chocolate until we get home....yeah, right) and we pack ready for tomorrow. Makes a change, we actually feel quite hot in the room, after complaining over the last few weeks of the cold, and need to use the fan.

continues on next thread....

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Trujillo

Didn't sleep too bad on the overnight bus, and arrive safe and sound in Trujillo at the crack of dawn. Pleased to see plenty of taxi drivers waiting at the bus station to take folks on to their next nearby destination.

We want to look at a couple of places and ask to be dropped at the main plaza, and we'll walk around from there. Arriving at the square it's closed off, and they seem to be making some celebration arrangements - there's several groups putting together large 'mosaic' things, using sand and other natural ingredients, like petals. The designs, whilst none look finished yet, are looking very creative and full of colour, though we see that some of the colour is being enhanced by aerosol can.

Find a hostel just off the main square, and it seems 'fine', though we generally seem to be happy with the first place we find. We checkin, but soon find out that the english channels we're promised aren't there, and ultimately decide to move on. It's not the cheapest place and if we're paying for extras, we expect them.

There's a recommended hotel just up the road, Hotel Peregrino, and we stop in to check the prices. We start at $35, which is as much as we paid to stay in the capital Lima, though the guy asks us to take a look.

Pretty pleased, it's a SUITE, and the biggest room we've stayed in. Also, not only do we have a bath, something we've craved for months, but it's a jacuzzi. The decor is a little Austin Powers, but it'll be a nice place to stay for a couple of days. Breakfast is included, and there's also a little business centre with 2 PC's and free internet access.

After the overnight bus we're happy to chill out a while, and we soon get the jacuzzi filling up (takes ages, and we're sorry for using so much water) and both of us fall asleep, despite the roar of the noisy bubble maker.

Paul happy to stay in and get wrinkly, though Chris jumps out to try and see the procession (seems like a memorial event) happening in the road behind the hotel. There's a bunch of military types and some music and commentary, though that's in Espanol of course.

Paul finally dragged himself out of the tub so we coud have some lunch - went along to Cafe Romano, and enjoyed the tastiest sandwich since we've been away, followed by a gorgeous slice of Lemon Pie.

After, we return to the main square where the ground artists are busy at work. The tourist office is by the square so we pop in for some info, and find out that the goingson in the square are preparations are for Corpus Christi celebrations later today, starting at 4pm.

Spend some more time relaxing in our room, before Chris returns to watch the fiesta/service in the square. It's packed with locals, and lots of music and singing going on. Some doves (and pigeons) released in to the air and everyone is given a balloon on a stick to wave.

Not much else today, just enjoying the rest.

Friday 8th June

Enjoyed the first night in our suite, and up bright and early-ish for breakfast.

Considered taking a local bus out to Chan Chan, to visit the archaelogical site there, but took the lazy, and still cheap, option of a taxi.

The largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan is an archaelogical site located in the region of La Libertad, about 5 km west of Trujillo. Covering an area of approximately 20 km², Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimu), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization. The vast mud city of Chan Chan was built between c.850AD and c.1470AD and was the imperial capital until Chimor was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. It is estimated that 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.

The city is composed of ten walled citadels which housed ceremonial rooms, burial chambers, temples, reservoirs and some residences. Each of these citadels has a rectangular configuration with a north-facing entrance, high walls, and a labyrinth of passages.

The walls themselves were constructed of adobe brick, and were then covered with a smooth surface into which intricate designs were carved. There are two styles of design present in these carvings: one is a 'realistic' representation of subjects such as birds, fish, and small mammals; and the other is a more graphic, stylized representation of the same subjects. While earlier civilizations concentrated on feline and anthromorphic forms, the Chimú style shows a preference for maritime motifs. The carvings at Chan Chan depict fish, pelicans, and nets for catching various sea creatures. Chan Chan, unlike most other coastal ruins in Peru, is located extremely close to the Pacific Ocean.

Chan Chan was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The city is severely threatened by erosion from El Nino, which causes heavy rains and flooding on the Peruvian coast.

Glad we paid for a guide to show us around.

We walked back across the desert fields to the small museum dedicated to the site, and spent a short time there before getting the bus back to town.

After a cheap and cheerful lunch, we spent most of the rest of the day enjoying our suite and, despite Chris protesting against the waste of water (well we are in the desert), Paul filled up the jacuzzi again and had a good soak in the bubbles.

Saturday 9th June

Busy day ahead and first thing, after breakfast, is to grab a taxi to take us to the Moche site, to visit the Temple of the Sun (Huaca del Sol) and the Temple of the Moon (Huaca de la Luna), which are 15 minutes drive away in the Moche River valley, and are huge pyramid-like structures.

This major archaeological site was built at the time of the Moche culture (100 BC-650 AD), just east of a prominent, freestanding hill, the Cerro Blanco (White Mountain). It occupies a central location within the extensive Moche Valley. The complex sits about three miles inland, southeast of Trujillo and is considered by many scholars to be the former capital of the Moche State.

The complex is dominated by two huge adobe brick buildings: the Pyramid of the Sun, or Huaca del Sol, and the artificial platform called Huaca de la Luna, or Temple of the Moon. On the quarter-mile-wide, open plain between them, researchers have found many graves, most of them looted, as well as evidence of large scale manufacturing covered by a layer of sediment up to 10 feet thick. A considerable number of administrators, religious, and manufacturing specialists must have been living at this great prehispanic settlement. Like most prehispanic sites on the coast, it is located so as not to usurp agricultural land and in a good position to acquire food, building material and other resources.

The following info was nabbed from a website about the site,

The Huaca del Sol

Despite its history of destruction during the colonial period, the stepped pyramid called Huaca del Sol still measures 1,250 feet in length and towers 135 feet above the surrounding plain - this makes it the tallest adobe structure of the Americas. lt is calculated that around 50 million sun-dried, mud bricks (or "adobes"), were used in its construction. Like its counterpart on the opposite side of the plain, the Huaca de la Luna, it is oriented roughly 20 degrees east of north. Although the earlier history of the building remains a riddle, it was probably begun early during the Moche period...

The enormous cut on the west face was made back in 1602 by ambitious Spaniards looking for treasure. They intentionally diverted the small Santa Catalina River, which then washed away more than half the huaca. In colonial times, it was common practice to loot prehispanic sites in search of gold, and often such looting was organized by formal companies.

This stepped pyramid is made up of four major platforms that rise from the northeast, where an access ramp may have stood, towards the southwest where there is a fourth, lower and narrower platform. Unlike later monumental architecture, it is entirely made up of sun-dried adobe bricks. The sections, or panels, in which the bricks were laid are clearly visible in the badly-eroded eastern side. Many of the adobes have their original marks, such as imprints of hands, feet, dots, crosses, etc. These marks have been interpreted by researchers as accounting tools to distinguish different groups of brick manufacturers, which thus facilitated tracking the payment of "taxes".

The name "Huaca del Sol" is really a misnomer, as there is no evidence to connect the building with any solar cult. There are, however, no indications as to the original name of the site, which must have been in the now-extinct Muchik language, which was spoken in the region in the Fifteenth Century.

The Huaca de la Luna

Overlooking the Pyramid of the Sun lies the Pyramid or Temple of the Moon, another major component of the urban and ceremonial center of the prehispanic settlement of Moche. Ongoing excavations by Peruvian and foreign scholars are revealing the complexity of this fascinating structure.

Three platforms and four open courts or plazas take up most of the assemblage, which is built up against the lower slopes of the Cerro Blanco, the White Mountain. Overall, the site measures 950 feet from north to south and 690 feet from east to west. The access to the structure was probably located on the north side, which has been badly damaged by looting. Treasure hunters also dug impressive tunnels into its eastern flank and inadvertently exposed beautiful polychrome reliefs, sadly now destroyed. Many Moche burials, some probably dedicatory but others as late as Chimú (about 1100-1470 AD), have been excavated inside the otherwise massive adobe platform and have yielded many artifacts, such as elaborate ceramics and metal headgear.

Very tall and wide walls delimit each of the four courts, some of the which have narrow cane and pole roofs running along the sides. Access from one sector of the site to another was clearly channeled down corridors and through narrow entrances. Painted reliefs pertaining to different construction phases, at least four of which have been identified so far, have been located in several of the platforms and plazas.

For example, the head of the "degollador" or sacrificer, a motif also found at the site of EL BRUJO, decorates the walls of platform I in the southwest corner of the site. Another very fine example of Moche mural decorations found at La Luna was the mural referred to above, which depicts "The Rebellion of the Artifacts"

Large-scale human sacrifice at Huaca de la Luna became evident when archaeologists uncovered the remains of at least 34 sacrificed adult male individuals in the soft clay of the southeastern court at the foot of the mountain. They had been bound and, judging by the type of wounds that had been inflicted, were probably captured in battle. The sacrifice represents a single ritual event linked by archaeologist Steve Bourget to a season of torrential rains caused by an extreme case of the maritime El Niño phenomenon, which strikes the coast of South America at irregular intervals and which may have caused the final abandonment of this site.

The open space between the two pyramids has recently been found to have been an area of intense manufacturing activity as well as an area of high population density. Ceramic workshops and large-scale maize-beer production are in evidence, and intensive textile production and metalworking may also have taken place there as well. The highly specialized groups of workers in charge of these activities were most probably subservient to the high-ranking individuals in charge of the administration of both the ceremonies that took place at that site and the prosecution of wars.

After the tour we stop in town for a quick bite to eat ahead of the bus ride a couple of hours along to Chiclayo.

More desert separates to two cities, and we try to follow the spanish-dubbed film playing on the TV, with little success.

In Chiclayo we first check out the Hotel El Sol, located fine for centro and the room the usual stuff, though we're initially shown a room at the front of the building, which is pretty noisy, so score a similar room at the back, looking over the grotty pool.

After a walk around the busy streets (maybe it's a Saturday night thing) we look for, and track down a tasty and cheap Chinese restaurant (Chifa) a few minutes from the hotel. Also out tonight are some Nestle street vendors with trays of cheap chocolate, which of course we investigate.

Get booked for our tour heading out to the Sican Museum, Tucume site, Sipan museum tomorrow - 60Soles each, entry fees extra, no lunch included.

Back in the room, TV, then bed.

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Nice breakfast by the pool, though it's too chilly to brave a morning swim.

Chris heads of just before 9am to go out on her flight over the Nazca lines (organised via the hotel). The coach gets us to the airport (need to pay 10 Soles departure tax), and before we're in the air there is a short (BBC) film about the Nazca lines.

6 of us go up in the small plane and straightaway you start to see the lines and triangles. Soon after you come across the various shapes - spaceman, monkey, hummingbird etc., though it's quite bright this morning and not the best view. The morning is still the best time to go as conditions deteriorate in the afternoon, strong winds causing turbulance.

Whilst it's only a short flight (30 minutes) it's very much worth it. Some of the designs on the ground look quite small from the plane and before you know it you are going onto the next.

You can visit a small tower at the side of the main road through to/out of Nazca and get a 'part' view of a couple of the markings.

Whilst there was a fair bit of banking/circling, certainly wasn't a rough flight and no one was ill.

Chris is back in time that we can just make it in time for the bus leaving at 11am for Lima, though we have to change in Ica, a couple of hours up the road.

As promised, the connection bus to Lima does leave 5 minutes after we arrive, which on this occasion is a bugger because we both need a wee, and there's no facilities on the bus. However, we do seem to have an empty water bottle - at least one of us could have a comfortable journey. Not telling you if it was used or not...

As we get nearer to the city the clouds come in, and you can sense the smog in the air.

The bus station we arrive at, like many town/cities, is outside of the centre, so we get a taxi to Hotel Kamana, and manage to talk down the price from USD45 to USD35, which is thanks to mentioning that we're with Exodus.

The room is plain but fine and pleased to have a safe to keep our things whilst we're in Lima - we're a little wary of the city, as far as safety goes, though not because we've heard any firsthand stories of woe.

For dinner we find a quiet pizza restaurant, near the buzzing pedestrian street, so quiet that when we pay they don't have change of 100Soles (about GBP16). More importantly, empty stomachs have been well filled, though perhaps not quite enough for Paul who stops at McDonalds on the way back.

Watch some TV before bed.

Monday 4th June

Our first full day in the capital and Paul gets his treat, a visit to the whopping shopping mall (Jockey Plaza), a little way out of town, and 12Soles in a taxi.

Arrive just before it opens (glad we didn't leave any earlier) and spend the morning looking around. Paul tempted, but subsequently not allowed, to buy an english language magazine to read.

Found a cinema and watched an early afternoon showing of Zodiac (Zodiaco here) - got close to thumping a couple of old dears who were quite happy to chat through the film.

Other than Paul managing to find some jeans, shirts and some running shoes, it was not much more than a day at the mall.

Back in town and we head for a Chinese, great food, though a little embarrassing when Chris swipes the glass bottle of Soy Sauce on to the floor.

Tuesday 5th June

Just to keep consistent, we wake up quite late but early enough to catch breakfast in the hotel. A quick look out from behind the curtain reveals another grey, but dry, day.

Need a Post Office today, so head into centro and find ourselves just in time to see the changing of the guard, which has attracted quite a crowd including some school groups. Some girls ask us our names and how old we are - manage to understand most of what they say, but there's a few things that completely throw us, but result in a round of 'high-5's' from the girls.

We track down the Post Office - we've got to send some stuff home to free up space in our packs. Not sure how it's supposed to work but the lady gives us a box for free, and I assume we pay for it tomorrow when we bring it back full of stuff. It's a pretty big box - you could fit a small child inside - and the box alone probably weighs over a kilo.

We drop the box off back in the room and then hail a cab to take us to the posh/coastal area of Miraflores, it's about 15 minutes drive away.

Despite being at the coast, the miserable weather follows us. Not a great deal seems to be happening in town, though we walk down to the cliff edge and watch some paragliders (not sure if that's the right word) sail up and down the face of the cliff.

Manage to track down the Larcomar shopping mall, which is built into the cliffs - quite a nice spot, though better on a sunny day. Find a Starbucks here and down a Frappucino, and just as we leave, are pleased to bump into the Israeli girls we've been travelling in parallel with since northern Chile.

Also, avoid the drizzle for a couple of hours watching zombie-fest 28 Weeks Later.

Negotiate a cab fare down from 20Soles to 10 Soles and head back into central Lima, and to the comfort of our room.

Wednesday 6th June

Up early and grabbed the hotel breakfast, before packing our things for moving on again.

Also, our large package to send home is ready to go and we walk it down to the post office, keeping our fingers crossed that it weighs just a handful of kilos. Horrified to find out that it's 8 kilos!, and therefore it'll be going home by sea rather than air, but we are glad to have got rid of a bunch of stuff, freeing up some much needed space. About 40 Pounds for the convenience!

Off on an overnight bus to Trujillo tonight, heading a little further north. Seems that there's nowhere in centro to buy a ticket so walk the 20 minutes out, past the Sheraton Hotel, to where the bus companies are grouped up. Sorted our cama seat ticket nice and easy and found our way back to town.

We must have been staying at the nicer end of the pedestrian street, cos at this end we have been offered drugs several times in as many minutes, as well as tattoos.

Take a few snaps in the small, but pretty, square, before trekking across town to Chinatown.

Not to sure what to expect, but it's a buzzing little place and we, of course, find a chinese restaurant to eat. Not the best choice, though pretty cheap and I got an Inca Kola (Irn Bru tasting drink, though a shocking nuclear-yellow) for free.

Sat in the main square, admiring the buildings surrounding it (most of which had been damaged/flattened in previous earthquakes). Whilst Chris was standing around taking photos, Paul is approached by a girl who manages to squeeze on the side of the bench that has just about enough room for one cheek, with about 5 feet of bench available on the other side. We soon make our way out of the square...

Carried on walking around town, before heading back to the hotel, where we use their lounge area for an hour.

Simple taxi ride back out to the bus station and, like most other bus trips, we leave pretty much on time, just after 10pm.

There's a little food included, and the chicken mayo sandwich tastes as good as home. Fingers tightly crossed that the seat infront of Paul remains unoccupied, and he's not wedged into his seat - the seats recline quite far, though not quite horizontal, but leaving you pinned in somewhat.

Fingers also crossed that we get some sleep tonight, we're both getting a little weary of the endless and regular long distance bus journeys.

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Nazca

Annoyingly the overnight bus, for Paul at least, wasn't a good nights sleep at all, though he must have been relaxed enough that we didn't get off the bus at our stop in Nazca, and stayed on for a further two hours, arriving in Ica, which is not on the list of places to visit.

Not a good start to the day - Paul half thinking that we might as well now just stay on until Lima (saving a few bucks on the fare), though of course Chris wanting to get up into the air and see the lines. More annoyingly, by the time we'll get back to Nazco, it'll be too late for a flight today.

A taxi takes us from the bus stop, and we're told the bus we need to take us back is far away, which turns out to be less than a kilometre. Had wished for better spanish to have a pop at the driver, but, instead, spoke the international language of 'hard cash' and gave him half of what he had asked for. Thankfully no knife of gun was pulled on us to cough up the rest.

Luck also follows into the terminal, and there's a direct bus heading back to Nazca, and we arrive just after 9.30am, tired and stressed.

The bus stops right opposite decent-looking Hotel Alegria - score a nice room for $27. There's a nice pool here, though unlikely to be warm enough that we'll use it.

They do the Nazca lines tour from here, as well as other trips, so Chris books up for a cemetery tour this afternoon, and a flight over the lines for tomorrow morning - $50 for both trips.

Relax in the room for a bit, after the nightmare journey here, before tracking down some lunch, and find a chinese place.

Paul catches up on some internet after, whilst Chris goes back to the hotel to sit by the pool and catch up with the diary.

Chris's (Chauchilla) cemetery trip heads off at 3pm, just 3 of them in the guide's car. The cemetery is an impressive collection of mummies, most of which still have their original hair (some 2 metres+ long), and their funerary ornaments. They belong to the pre- Inca Nazca culture that was responsible for the famous 'lines'. On the way back we stopped off at a ceramics/pottery shop/workshop and a gold processing workshop.

Not many other restaurants that took our fancy in town, so back to the Chinese restaurant from earlier - great portions.

Sunday 3rd June

Nice breakfast by the pool, though it's too chilly to brave a morning swim.

Chris heads of just before 9am to go out on her flight over the Nazca lines (organised via the hotel). The coach gets us to the airport (need to pay 10 Soles departure tax), and before we're in the air there is a short (BBC) film about the Nazca lines.

6 of us go up in the small plane and straightaway you start to see the lines and triangles. Soon after you come across the various shapes - spaceman, monkey, hummingbird etc., though it's quite bright this morning and not the best view. The morning is still the best time to go as conditions deteriorate in the afternoon, strong winds causing turbulance.

Whilst it's only a short flight (30 minutes) it's very much worth it. Some of the designs on the ground look quite small from the plane and before you know it you are going onto the next.

You can visit a small tower at the side of the main road through to/out of Nazca and get a 'part' view of a couple of the markings.

Whilst there was a fair bit of banking/circling, certainly wasn't a rough flight and no one was ill.

Chris is back in time that we can just make it in time for the bus leaving at 11am for Lima, though we have to change in Ica, a couple of hours up the road.

As promised, the connection bus to Lima does leave 5 minutes after we arrive, which on this occasion is a bugger because we both need a wee, and there's no facilities on the bus. However, we do seem to have an empty water bottle - at least one of us could have a comfortable journey. Not telling you if it was used or not...

As we get nearer to the city the clouds come in, and you can sense the smog in the air.

The bus station we arrive at, like many town/cities, is outside of the centre, so we get a taxi to Hotel Kamana, and manage to talk down the price from USD45 to USD35, which is thanks to mentioning that we're with Exodus.

The room is plain but fine and pleased to have a safe to keep our things whilst we're in Lima - we're a little wary of the city, as far as safety goes, though not because we've heard any firsthand stories of woe.

For dinner we find a quiet pizza restaurant, near the buzzing pedestrian street, so quiet that when we pay they don't have change of 100Soles (about GBP16). More importantly, empty stomachs have been well filled, though perhaps not quite enough for Paul who stops at McDonalds on the way back.

Watch some TV before bed.

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Cuzco

Yaaaawn - another painful early start, but looking forward to breakfast and getting on the coach for the day trip to Cuzco.

The taxi is waiting for us again and we get to the bus terminal with plenty of time to spare.

Not as luxurious as we had expected, crap legroom and we sit in a spot where the panoramic view windows have join. Not the best start, and a bunch of folks get on the bus 5 minutes after we should have left. Calm......

First stop on the altiplano (high plains) was Pukara, a little village with a museum and pre-Inca site behind it, though we didn't get to visit this, and only 15 minutes or so at the museum. We're really not becoming big fans of tourist trips like this.

Saw some 'decapitator' statues (we think from the Paracas culture) which predated the Incas by at least 1000 years.

Next stop at 'La Raya', an Andean mountain pass at 4335 metres. Here is the departmental line between Puno and Cuzco. Nice view of the snow capped mountains and a glacier, but again not much time here.

We stop next for lunch in Sicuani - nice buffet lunch, included in trip, before moving on to the village of San Pedro and the ruins of Raqchi.

Lovely little church and square, which is full of little old ladies selling the same souvenirs.

The site was built in the 15th century and it is considered by historians to be one of the most important Inca constructions. The Wiracocha Temple, 100 metres long and 20 metres wide, does now look like an aqueduct, but it was once the holiest shrines in the Inca empire.

The temple was made of adobe walls built on top of volcanic stone foundations, and 22 columns supported the roof.

We walked around the residential area made for the Inca nobles and the dozens of circular storage 'facilities'.

Next stop on the trip was at the beautiful village of Andahuaylillas (at 3039 metres above sea level). Pretty little square wit a stunning (inside decor) Jesuit church, known as the Sistene Chapel of the Americas. Built in 1580 with a Baroque interior, guilded altars, paintings and beautifully painted walls. Very pretty, even Paul was impressed, though he wasn't impressed with the a couple of folk on our trip who thought it would be okay to talk and laugh during the talk by the guide about the church. A 'look' soon shut them up.

We have 20 minutes fee time to have a look around the square before getting back on the bus for the last 60kms to Cuzco.

At the tour company shop the bus drops us off and we're joined in the taxi to the hostel by, what turns out to be, a lady who works/runs a Macchu Picchu tour company - we didn't realise this until after we had checked in, dropped off our stuff and were about to head out for dinner - she was waiting downstairs to speak to us about a MP trip. Weren't hounded as such, though we ended up going to her office by the main plaza to discuss the trip options.

Back to the accommodation, El Arcano is a nice little place a few minutes walk 'up' (we were breathless every time we walked back there!)from the square and run by friendly folks. Thought we'd be paying a fair bit to sleep in Cuzco, but pleased to pay 50Soles a night, with private facilities, cable TV, breakfast.

The main square, Plaza de Armas, looked very impressive at night, perhaps the biggest square we've encountered. Quite a busy place, and of course, oodles of tourists. Isn't long before a seemingly continuous stream of postcard sellers, souvenir sellers, drug sellers, shoeshiners are on our backs . Harmless, but irritating.

We sit with the tour lady for a bit, before leaving to find some dinner. Lots of restaurants doing bargain set meals here - we find a quiet place that's doing a reasonable selection of courses, with drink and dessert included. No complaints about the food, and is less than 3 quid.

Walked around town for a while before heading back to our room - it's a little chilly, and there's no hot water (should be) for a shower.

Despite the lack of hot water this evening, we like our cute little room at the top of the building.

Tuesday 22nd May

Slept very well, though grumbling in the morning about the 'warm' water shower - never pleasant when you're living at altitude.

Breakfast is served to us in the small lobby downstairs, though luckily we're the only ones at this time, not sure what they'd do if half a dozen folks turned up in the morning - there's only 3 seats around a small coffee table. A little chilly in the lobby, and the small wood burner would be a treat if it was blazing away.

A little info about Cuzco - it was the capital if the Inca empire (the name of the emperor was Tahuantinsuyo). It was a sacred city to the Incas, thought to be the center of the world, which is now Birmingham, Midlands.

According to legends and stories, there were 13 Incas ruling over the Huatancay River Valley, around 1200AD, controlling it from Cuzco. From here, they fortified the empire in less than a century.

After the conquest, the Spanish founded their own city (in 1534) - Inca temples and palaces were transformed into colonial mansions and churches.

Spent most of the day getting to grips with the place, and mulling over our options for visiting Macchu Picchu. Of course, we hadn't prebooked to do the Inca Trail, and there's be nothing available for months ahead. Not sure if we would have done it anyway - it's expensive, and maybe we'd prefer to do another great walk elsewhere, where there's not hundreds of other tourists around.

Had a cheap pizza set lunch for just over a pound and relaxed for a couple of hours in one of the 'video bars' watching Casino Royale and sipping happy hour cocktails.

More food and drink followed at Jack's Cafe - great shakes and tasty chips.

Then, an early night for these party poopers.

Wednesday 23rd May

We've decided against doing one of the other treks to Macchu Picchu, and opt for a simple visit to the site, which will be a couple of nights away from Cuzco. We've organised this through the administrator at the hostel, Marianella, a friendly, English speaking local.

The deal is $140 each, and this includes entrance into the MP site, 2 nights accommodation, bus transfers up to the MP site, MP guide, and the return train journey from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes.

It's necessary that we go to the train station to buy the tickets in our name, but that doesn't take too long, and we save some time by taking a taxi straight on to Tambomachay Archaelogical complex - aka, the 'Bath of the Inca' - it might have fulfilled an important religious function linked to water and the regeneration of the land.

What we're doing today is visiting several Inca sites, and combining it wit some walking exercise - the taxi takes us about 8kms out of town, and we walk bath, taking in the sites/sights along the way back to Cuzco. Weather is nice and bright today, should be a good'un.

So, Tambomachay, possibly built around 1500AD, it's a ceremonial stone bath channeling spring water through 3 fountains - it's an interesting site, though other than the main structure, there's no other buildings/ruins here.

Over the road and up a few hundred yards is the more structured site of Pukapukara - this complex though to be used as a rest and lodging area, consisting of several rooms, inner plazas and roads. Very nice views of the surrounding hills, and Cuzco valley.

Paul got into a little bit of trouble by taking a picture of a Llama in a field, to be then chased by an old woman seeking payment. Not sure what the Spanish words are for 'don't panic lady, I've deleted the picture of your scabby beast'...

Then walked on to Q'enqor (meaning labyrinth) - sacred Inca shrine. Ceremonies to the Sun, Moon and Stars took place here, perhaps in the semicircular amphitheatre.

We first visited a large limestone rock (big as a bus, but a slightly different 'boulder' shape), which is riddled with channels, neatly carved square holes and steps. The channels were likely to have been used for the ritual sacrifice of chicha or, possibly, blood.

Here, there's a funny looking, smooth, wave rock - not sure what it was used for, or even whether it's a natural formation, but it does make a good slide.

One area of the site contains some 'secret' cave-like places - it's a strange complex, different to anything else we have seen relating to the Incas.

The final site along the walk back is a short trot down to the impressive and huge Sacsaywaman site. Huge stones (varying between 90 and 120 tons - one said to be 300 tons) forming the main battlements. This is possibly a religious and military construction.

Impressive, 3-tiered, zig-zag fortifications - apparently one Inca King envisioned Cuzco in the shape of a puma, with Sacsaywaman as the head, and the zig-zag walls as the teeth of the puma. Would be interesting to have a view from above.

A quicker visit that Chris had hoped, but Paul was getting 'ruined-out', and we were both getting peckish.

Admired the views over Cuzco as we made our way back - saw some kids of homemade skateboards try to kill themselves on a steep bend nearer the town.

It's matchday today, Champions League, and we're in time to catch the second half of the Liverpool/AC Milan final, conveniently there's a big screen at the Indian restaurant we wanted to go to.

Nice to watch a game, though not the best football, and Liverpool fail to score enough goals to win. Regardless, a nice spicy curry is the winner on the day.

Wandered around town into the early evening and thoroughly chuffed to bump into a couple of Aussie guys who'd been on our Death Road bike trip and had helped Paul with his crash. Had been thinking about them recently, and had been sorry not to have thanked them for the first aid.

Made arrangements to meet up in an hour while they sort out some travel plans, end up having some pizza/nachos, and a good chat. Turns out that Kim and Tony are brothers from NSW, and a Blue Mountains Park Ranger and Lawyer respectively. Oh, that's another street hassle, the numerous restaurants desperate to drag you in off the street. Yep, easy to just walk on by, but still a pain.

Unfortunately they are heading off on a trek at 4am the next day, so it's quite an early night, but we are really pleased to see them and catch up.

We learn that the bike company we went with in La Paz had another accident a few days after our trip - sounds like a pile up and some broken bones.

Back to the chilly room, though it's fine once you're under the covers.

Thursday 24th May

Lazy morning, minimal warm water for a shower, and some internet.

Lunch at Paddy's Irish bar, good food, Chris had a yummy vegetarian Cottage Pie, then onto Jack's for milkshakes and cake.

Chris then visited the Inca museum - not particularly impressed with the lack of info, especially info in English. Interesting though to see the layout of the various civilisations and the differences in the ceramics. Overheard a guide point out some false teeth and fillings - cool! Also saw a few mummies here, and other ceramics and weavings.

Met back up with Paul, and went along to the cultural (performance) evening at a local theatre - this is included in the 'tourist ticket' that gets you into a bunch of attractions in and around Cuzco.

Of course, the show is somewhat touristy, but interesting to watch and hear the history of the various dances - there's a band accompanying the performers on stage.

Paul did a little blog updating later in the evening, and enjoyed listening to some XFM online - even managed to get a 'shout', live on radio!

Back in the room and we packed our small packs for the couple of days at Macchu Picchu.

Friday 25th May

Up at 7am and get away nice and early for our taxi ride over to Ollantaytambo, which is where we'll take the train on to Aguas Calientes/Macchu Picchu.

We've arranged, through the hostel, to have a taxi for most of the day - as well as simply transporting us to where we're going, we get to stop at some sites along the way. Cost 100Soles to have a taxi for about 6 hours.

First stop, the village of Chinchero, known to the Incas as the birth place of the rainbow. We explored the Inca ruins, simple but beautiful views, and the first sight of what was to come at MP - terracing and rocks carved into seats and staircases. Then in to the pretty colonial church, impressive painted walls, though there's some remodelling going on at the moment, so quite a few covers scattered around the place. The church is built on Inca foundations.

Nice to have the place pretty much to ourselves, and to be away fro other tourists for a change.

We then drove on through Maras village (very basic, small dirt streets) and arrived at Moray, with it's amphitheatre-like terracing. Many think that it was an important agricultural experimentation center for the Incas.The largest structure is 45 metres deep and each terrace is said to have its own microclimate, though we can't feel this.

Unexpectedly we stopped at the Maras Saltmines, aka, Salinas de Maras - these salt mines used by the Incas, and still in use today. Was an amazing sight to come across as we drove around the cliffside road above - a huge areas of white pools sitting in the valley below, contrasting against the orange soil. There's approximately 3000 salt 'wells' here.

Finally arrived in Ollantaytambo early afternoon, and stopped for lunch at a pricey but friendly pizza place.

Well fed, we're ready to visit the mountain side ruins. The site was built as a fort that included a temple, agricultural terraces, and an urban area, though we don't think that means it was occupied by gangsta rappers.

Huge stone blocks at the top, possibly the ceremonial center. The stone was quarried from the mountainside 6kms away - of course, painful, if not deadly, work for the indigenous workers.

Great views of the valley from the top and a cool fortress on the mountainside opposite.

Enjoyed visiting this site, a very cool spot, and glad we're here, though it's of course a tourist magnet.

Had some coffee and cake in a cool cafe on the main square (eek, forgot the name - it's in the top left corner as you're walking from the ruins to the square), and hung around reading some out of date mags until it was time to head to the train station.

Our train to Aguas Calientes heads off on time at 8.45pm - shame we don't get to see the views on the way, but this train ticket is quite a bit cheaper than the 'daytime' trains. Train seems to be full tonight.

Met, as arranged, by both our guide for tomorrow and the folks from our accommodation. Bit of a walk to the far end of the main street to our hostel (we thought it was supposed to be a hotel), though it's as nice as promised, and the roar of the river behind us is actually quite soothing.

Beds are comfy, though it'll still be tough getting up at sooo early for breakfast, though can't believe we'll be seeing Macchu Picchu tomorrow!!!!

Saturday 26th May

Weren't expecting it, but breakfast in included, and is a good start to the day, despite it being something called '4.45am'

In the dark, we walk down by the main square where we catch of bus transfer up to the ruins. You can walk it in a couple of hours, but the 30 minute bus sounds better, especially at this time of the morning. Tons of people around this morning!

As it gets a little lighter, we can see quite a lot of cloud in the sky - we're obviously desperate for the classic sunrise experience at the top. Arrived at the entrance and made our way through the gate - no sign of our guide, so we head in. Hang around for a while before Chris tries to track him down - he's the other side of the entrance with the 20+ other people on our tour. Two folks head off and do their own thing - this really is too big a group.

Thankfully, the Spanish never came across Macchu Picchu, so it's in good shape, and better than most other ruins we've seen.

Hiram Bingham, an American historian, stumbled across this place in 1911 (though was actually brought to it by locals) in his search for the famed Inca treasure. Nobody knows what it's function really was, or it's proper name - it was possibly a royal hacienda, as mentioned in the Inca museum.

Our guide stated that, based on the number of buildings and water availability, there were approximately 500 inhabitants living there at the time of the Spanish invasion. Likely that the inhabitants sought refuge in the jungle and took their treasures with them.

Over 50 burial sites and 100 skeletal remains have been discovered here.

Whatever its purpose, from the high quality of the stonework, it must have been an important ceremonial center.

Unfortunately, sunrise was spoiled by the clouds, but as they gradually lifted they revealed stunning views all around. Whilst the photos say it all, it really is a special setting, atop these hills - shame it's such a busy place.

We learn that the buildings would have been painted yellow and red, except the Temple of the Sun, which would have been gold. The temple is MP's only round building.

We were taken to the Sacred Plaza, saw the Temple of the Three Windows, Principal Temple and the Sacristy. Up the stairs we came t the Intihuatana, the major shrine in MP. Here is a carved rock, which was used for astronomical purposes. Incredibly it points north, south, east and west perfectly, but also magnetic north.

We then went to the residential and industrial sectors, and the Prison Group where we come across the Temple of the Condor, which contains a carving of a head of a condor - a sacred bird for the Inca.

After the tour, we walked up Wayna Picchu, though had to wait in line about 30 minutes to get on the trail. Only 400 people are allowed up daily, and the last entry is at 1pm- you need to be back by 4pm.

The walk is very steep and you need to watch where you put your feet - it's supposed to take about an hour, though we get up a a little quicker, and in one piece.

Very busy at the top, and not a huge amount of room to find a spot to enjoy the views, which were amazing, especially looking down on MP itself.

Coming down again was easier, though still quite tricky to navigate, very glad we did it though.

Take a break at the small/expensive snack bar by the main entrance. Got served a nasty 'fountain' Coke, which the girl was proud to say it always tastes like that. Managed, in the end, to change it for a slightly better Sprite. Tip - take your own food and drink for the day, you can take a small pack in with you with no problems.

Met a friendly American couple, who have moved to Uruguay and have been working by commentating on football matches via mobile phones to betting companies in the Far East!, and chatted for a while. Chris went for a walk up to Intipunku (Sun Gate) while Paul stayed and chatted.

Nice views of MP from another side, and Chris is pleased to say that she's actually done a bit of the Inca Trail! On the way back down she came across a couple looking at a huge wasp dragging a dead Tarantula - strange sight!

Meantime, Paul made his way back into the main site and found a small, quiet, terrace to plonk down and admire the views across the valley, bathed in warm sun.

Conveniently bumped into Chris as he made his way down for a wander. Pleased that we could walk around with much less tourists around - well worth waiting until later in the day to revisit the site.

Sad to leave at the end of the day, getting on of the last buses back down to Aguas Calientes.

Had a nice hot shower back at the hostel, before stepping out for some nice food in the main street - another set meal bargain, including a Pisco Sour. Not as good as a Caiprinha, but tasty anyway...

Shattered, we get to bed early, we'll be up again tomorrow morning at this curious thing called '4.45am' for the train back to Ollantaytambo.

Sunday 27th May

This time of the day could feel so much worse, must have been good to get to bed early last night.

Nice breakfast again before hurrying back down to get the train. A little panic as the train isn't where we thought it would be, though luckily a local chap points us in the right direction. Seems like the train dropped us by the main street, but returns from the actual station. Whatever, we get on board with a few minutes to spare.

The train journey is easy and most people are asleep, though Chris is eager to see the sights as we make our way back. Nice blue sky as the sun continues to rise.

Arrive nice and early in Ollantaytambo, and choose a taxi to take us to Pisac rather than the bus. Of course, costs us quite a bit more (we agree 50Soles with the driver), but we get going straightaway and direct to our next stop and in plenty of time to visit the popular Sunday market.

After some, more, breakfast, we walk around the market for a bit - it's interesting, though, like some many other places, folk seem to be selling pretty much the same stuff.

Chris went into a church for 11am mass. 10 men to the right side of the church with colourful ponchos, 6 had wooden staffs with silver, 4 only had bamboo staffs. On the other side of the church sat 10 boys in their colourful ponchos and all had shells that they used as horns. After the breaking of the bread, the boys blew into their shells, a haunting sound. At the end a man went around to each man and they kissed a silver cross with Jesus on it.

Two little old ladies sat next to Chris with their traditional bowler hats, and it was very sweet at the 'peace be with you' moment, when the locals around her gave her a big hug. A very moving service, conducted in Quechua.

Met back up with Paul, and took another taxi to the Pisac ruins. Again, these ruins placed amid fantastic views - lots of impressive terracing, though without a guide we found out little about the place. Decide that the Lonely Planet guides for South America have been pretty poor on historical information, as well as out of date information on accommodation and food. Footprint seems a lot better.....

Took the same taxi back to Cusco, driver trying to maintain the same speed on the corners as well as the straights, agreed on a price of 40Soles.

Didn't do much else back in town, after a couple of busy days and early starts.

Monday 28th May

Had hoped our reminder that our 'hot shower wasn't that hot' would have been sorted, but no and we grin and bear it through a barely warm one. Well, Chris grin's and bears it, Paul moans about it, and swears a bit.

Walk around Cusco, taking a few snaps. Chris went into a few unimpressive museums, which were included in the tourist ticket we bought. Stopped for a drink in the Norton Rats Tavern, enjoying the views out over the main plaza. Stayed longer than planned to avoid the afternoon shower.

For dinner we went back to Jack's, though Chris not over the moon with her Thai Curry. By the way, the 'Gordo' breakfast is excellent here, and served all day.

Kill a little time before heading back to the hostel to pick up our bags - off on another overnight bus to Arequipa tonight at 9pm, though pleased that Marianella has also arranged some accommodation for us there, and we'll be met at the bus station.

Set off on time, and we make our way towards the coast (though we don't go all the way there), and down a little from the altitude.

to be continued on next thread....

Cuzco, Peru remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Puno, Peru

The journey from Copacabana through the border (easy and quick) and to Puno was pleasant enough, though we arrive to clouds and a little bit of cold.

Pleased to see an (Globalnet, or something like it) ATM at the bus terminal, though, beware, it'll charge you for the privilege of using it, 4 Soles. Annoying when it doesn't tell you it's going to charge you, and you only take out 20 Soles.

A few minutes away in a taxi we arrive at the conveniently-close-to-the-centre Los Pinos Inn, which seems basic but fine. No cable TV unfortunately, and intermittent warm/hot water - still, clean and cheap enough.

Had a walk around town, quite a busy little place and a few tourists here and there. Looked around the 2 main plazas, and along the pedestrian street, where there's an element of hassle from the restaurants wanting you to eat at their place, and the ever-present shoeshine boys.

Took out a little more money from another bank and got charged again, GRRRRRR, without warning. Finally used a BCP machine and, no charge. Phew, BCP from now on. (Scotiabank are also okay, no charges at source).

Had a nice meal just off the pedestrian street, went for the set menu and scored a bargain 3 course for less than 2 quid. Still, does look as though it'll be costing us a bit more than what we were paying for things in Bolivia.

Main reason for coming to Puno is to get out onto the Lake Islands, so we'll be geting a boat first thing tomorrow. Also found an agency to sell us the Inca Bus ticket, which is a tourist bus that will take us from here to Cusco on Monday, stopping at a few (Inca) sites along the way - quite pricey at USD25, when a 'normal' bus would probably cost 25 Soles, or less....

Found a coffee shop in one of the backstreets and enjoyed some CAKE, we love the CAKE.

Slept 'okay' on the firm beds, ahead of the earliest start in a while - breakfast at 6.30.

Saturday 19th May

It's Paul's birthday tomorrow, and he's getting excited about what surprises he might have in store. Considering the lengths he went to to celebrate Christine's back in October (one birthday card, with sincere words of love included (self-penned), together with 5 Australian Dollars ('go on, treat yourself...') and a petrol
voucher (save $0.05 per litre - she didn't even use it!)) - he has a LOT to be excited about.

Anyway, back to today - it seems to early to get up, but we manage it and, despite it being cold in the breakfast room, it's a nice spread, and we enjoy the scrambled eggs.

The effcient staff sort out a taxi for us and we're ready to go down to the port to negotiate our way on to a boat out to the islands.

There's a bunch of folks trying to get you on their boat, but we stick with one guy and all seems okay. 35 Soles for a return trip out to Taquile Island, via the FloatingIslands (Islas Flotantes), and we get a guide thrown in. It's usually a day trip, giving you a couple of hours (with all the other tourists who arrive at the same time) on Taquile Island, but we'll be staying over, and can catch the same boat back tomorrow - no extra cost.

So, first stop for this sllooooow boat are the Floating Islands/Reed Islands, the home of the Uros people. Built using Totota Reeds, that grow in the shallows of Lake Titicaca.

The islands came about as a result of the Uros people wanting to isolate themselves from the aggressive Collas and the Incas. Strange feeling to step onto the island - a little bouncy - and we're greeted by some locals, though you can already feel the absolutely tourist nature of the visit, though we are sure that the other islands would be occupied in the same way as this 'show home'.

We notice that none of the women are going hungry, but wonder how they get to such a size - perhaps it's Pringles.

Had a talk about daily life from our well-informed guide, and then some free time to walk around the small reed island, and totake up the opportunity to buy some souvenirs.

The islands are generally fixed into a permanent position, though can be untethered and 'sailed' elsewhere - not sure how they are conbtrolled, some of them are really quite big!

We're offered alternative transport to the next reed island (we're seeing 2 today) - on a large canoe made from reeds. We're also treated to a handful of songs from a young girl who comes along for the ride. It's now clear why they wear the bowler hats - very good for collecting tips. Again, quite a touristy experience, though have to admit that it's quite a unique opportunity.

The other island is more of the same thing, though there's a small trout hatchery on this one, as well as a museum, which houses some day to objects, and a stuffed fox-thing.

After just 15 minutes here, we're back on board to 'proper' boat for the journey to Taquile Island. Whilst the views of the lake of very nice, the journey drags a little - another 3 hours or more. Chris takes in the views from the top deck, but Paul happy to stay in doors and to snooze.

Pleased to finally get to Taquile and moor up. Even more pleased to take up the opportunity to buy a Snickers when we docked, before the 40 minute walk up and across the island to the main square.

Taquile has been inhabited for thousands of years - Pukara once inhabited 2500BC - and is located 35 kms east of Puno, about 7 sq kms in size, with about 2000 inhabitants (400 families).

We walked to the main square - similar scenery to Islas del Sol - and very cool to see everyone is traditional dress and with knitting needles in hand, even the men. Taquile is known for its textiles.

The men are wearing the traditional woolen hats (like floppy nightcaps) - if they are married, the hats are all red, and a mixture of red and white if they are 'available'. A hard black hat is a symbol of authority. The men wear a white sheepwool shirt, with a large safety pin under the chin, a black and white waistcoat, a thick waistband (usually with a multicoloured coca bag attached), black trousers and sandals.

The women (all ages) wear multilayered skirts but more noticeable is their black shawl that protects them from the sun.

For once, the men seemed more interesting to look at than the women, especially the men of authority, who gathered near the church, obviously to discuss important island matters(!).

We stayed in the square for a while, and then walked to the other side of the island for a surprisingly good lunch.

As we are staying over, we ae introduced to a man and wife whose house we'll be staying at. It's pretty basic, and no washing facilities - the outside toilet isn't the prettiest site we have seen this trip.

Once we had dumped off our bage, we headed back to the main square, but this time no other tourists around, so very peaceful and nice to see the locals going about their business. Some children, including girls selling wristbands, sat with us and we managed to communicate in a very basic way, including by way of fart noise.

The group around us grew over the afternoon and they asked us to take pictures of them, pulling various faces.

After, we walked up to the Moon Temple, a simple collection of stones, and then further across the island to a great lookout point over the lake. Very calming to sit and watch.

Dinner at our accomodation was again surprisingly good, though very basic, and our first candlelit dinner in a while. One of the other guys on the trip, Matt from Milton Keynes, stayed over to and we had dinner together.

Not much in the way of nightlife on the island, so in bed quite early.

Really glad we stayed on the island, with the place pretty much to ourselves.

Sunday 20th May

Whoopee, Paul's birthday, and he looks good for 30something.

Didn't sleep too well last night, not the most comfortable bed, squeaking at the slightest movement. Breakfast was a treat though, with the first pancakes we've had in a while.

Spent the morning around the square, saw the place change from tranquility to chaos when all the morning tourists arrived. Thought we had found ourselves a quiet spot until a group decided to sit right around us, when the was plenty of space elsewhere. Slowly losing patience with other tourists...

Paul was happy to enjoy the sun in the square, and Chris took herself off to the highest point on the island and enjoyed the views and peace and quiet.

Wanted to make sure we got on the 12pm boat heading back, so got to the port a little early. Pleased that we arrived on the island at the other end, where there's a gradual slope to the main square - on this side there's 500 big steps to climb.

For some reason we left later than scheduled, but pleased to be on the boat and heading back to Puno. This time we both sat on top of the boat - they don't usually let you do this as a couple of tourists recently fell off.

A couple of hours in to the journey and the engine cuts out, and there seems to be a problem getting it going again, though after 15 minuted we're cruising (slowly) again, and heading back toward sthe reed island area.

Spot of luck on the way back and there's a minibus waiting to drop us off at the hotel, though we're the last to be dropped off.

Bit of panic when we're back at the hotel and there's no reservation for us, though thankfully we're sorted and have a bed for the night.

Before dinner we fancy some cake so return to the nice cafe, before a spot of internet.

For dinner we went to a great chinese restaurant - good portions and the first sweet and sour sauce in months.

Glad that we stayed over on Taquile Island - Paul not that interested initially, but a very warming experience.

A quiet birthday, but different, and totally memorable.

Early night, shattered, and another early start tomorrow for the trip to Cuzco.

continues on next thread...

Puno/Lake Titicaca - Peru remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Copacabana, Bolivia

We were due to be picked up at 8am, though this turns out to be someone coming to our hotel and us walking halfway back across town to where the bus is. In the usual way, not a big deal, but Paul is struggling with his arm and the altitude sucks the rest of what energy he has left.

Anyway, we get to the bus and head out of town just a few minutes late, and pick up the last few passengers from their hotels.

The bus takes the same route out as the other day when Chris went to Tiwanaku (through El Alto), but we feel there's something not quite right with one of the wheels.

There's no grinding or sparks, but we keep stopping and the driver takes a quizzical look.

We're soon heading across the plateau and there's great views of the distant snowcapped mountains - it's lovely to see Lake Titicaca for the first time, though we don't quite yet get to see how huge it actually is.

Probably just over half way through the journey and we need to disembark to get on a small passenger boat to take us across a narrow stretch of water. The bus goes on a flat ferry, and it doesn't look too safe, but at least the water is calm today.

Fact fans - Lake Titicaca is something of a whopper - over 230kms long, 97kms wide. At 3820 metres above sea level, it's one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. Also, it's a remnant of the ancient inland sea, known asLago Ballivian, which covered much of the altiplano before the water level fell due to faults in the ground.

On the other side and we need to show our passports. Must have been something not quite right with a Swiss guys paperwork and he doesn't get back on the bus. We double check how long we've been in the country and, phew, have some days to spare though the stamp in Paul's passport initially suggests that I've been here for 2 months, but lucky it's just a small smudge on the date stamp.

Arriving in Copacabana, we are dropped by the main square and it looks like a small place to navigate to find our accomodation - we're hoping to stay at the recommended (nice views over the lake etc).

Despite the small size of the place, we still manage to get a little lost (even with a map) - also lost is Paul's sense of humour.

Anyway, not long before we decifer the map in the Lonely Planet 'guide' and we're at La Cupula, and safely in our lovely room.

After settling in, we set of for a wander around the town and it's nice to see little traffic, and therefore no lung fulls of grubby emissions.

Had a cheap set meal in town (always much cheaper than ordering the individual items) - enjoyed the food though you can keep the reggae.

Quite a few 'hippy-travellers' selling their crap in the main street - they should find time to have a wash every so often.

Altitude hits us again (we're at 3800 metres) as we walk back (slowly) towards the hostel, but our minds are taken off this when we find some little piggies in a small yard near our place. Ahh, very cute, and not as dirty or smelly as the hippies we saw earlier.

Paul had a snooze, while Chris chatted with some folks in the TV room. Enjoying ourselves at La Cupala - always nice to feel relaxed in a place.

ZZZZzzzzz.

Wednesday 16th May

Breakfast not included at the hostel, so no rush to get up this morning - walked into town and had a bargain noshup.

One thing on the agenda today is to, possibly, take out Paul's stitches. We might do it ourselves, Susan said it would be easy.....

Back in the room we rummage through the medical kit for a few bits and pieces, including some things that Dan and Michelle kindly gave us back in China.

Off comes the bandage, so far so good, and then the gauze is slowlypeeled back, taking a few arm hairs with it.

Hmm, not a bad wound if I do say so myself - all looks good, little blood and no yellow stuff oozing out.

The stitches look neat, though we're not sure where to start in taking them out, so we bandage it back up again, and think about checking out the local hospital instead. Of course, we're in a small place, so not sure what to expect there...

The hospital is just a few minutes walk out of town and when we arrive we're able to convey what has happened and what we're looking for today.

As in La Paz, we're seen straightaway and the Doctor sees no problems with the cut and the stitches can come out.

30 seconds later, they're all out, and there's no tears from the brave soldier!

Relieved, we pay a little bit for the treatment and leave a little as a contribution for the small hospital. The nurse seemed really pleased, so we're not sure if she thought the tip was for her...

Back in town and we sit in the sun in the square, and Chris goes off into the cathedral for a look around. Apparently the cathedral is of a Moorish style, built between 1605 and 1820. The outside is very impressive, though the inside very plain.

Around the side and into the Capilla de Velas (Candle Chapel) - very surprised by the chapel, it's a narrow dark arched sepulchre with trough like things on which candles are placed and the wax cakes the wall and floor.

At the end is the 'famous' wooden statue of La Virgen de Copacaban - surprised by the darkness and plainness. Thick dark stones in contrast to the brilliant white of the cathedral walls.

Noticed the stalls outside selling miniature cars - a local tradition is the blessing of the 'toy' cars in the hope that the real thing will be obtained in the coming year. Also saw 2 cars by the cathedral gates, one of which was decorated with the Virgin Mary - automobiles are blessed daily!

Took a break back at La Cupula, Chris caught up with the diary, Paul picked at his scabby elbow.

For sunset we walked up Cerro Calvaio, was a bit of an effort up the huge stone steps but nice views from the top despite the skyful of clouds. Great wide views out over Lake Titicace - would be a beautiful spot to hang out beneath clear blue skies. Also got a first sighting of Isla del Sol from up here.

Walked back via the town and had a bite to eat - Chris got her ticket for a trip to Isla del Sol. Paul not going.

Thursday 17th May

Up early for Chris's trip out on the Lake - down at the harbour by 8.15.

Chris met with a couple of English folks, Jess and Steve, and ended up spending the day with them on the Isla del Sol.

Isla del Sol is apparently the legendary birthplace of Manco Copac (Son of the Sun God, Inti) and his sister-wife (umm, I'm typing up Christine's notes, and not sure what a sister-wife is - maybe people from the Norfolk area know more about that sort of thing) Mama Huqca.

The boat ride across the lake is incredibly slow and they arrived, finally, at 10.45, reaching the village of Cha'llapampa.

Very pleasantly surprised to come across a fiesta (party) in the main square, outside the small church. The women were either dressed in pink or blue and the men wore different costumes - some with black masks that had pipes sticking out.

First the congregation came out of the church and it seemed as if eash corner of the square was blessed.

A statue (possibly a saint) was carried and at each corner a prayer was said. Afterwards the band played and fireworks set off, though more for noise than any kind of pretty display.

It was hilarious watching little kids hold a pole on which a catherine-wheel contraption was attached - once the fireworks were lit the children would cower underneath and cover their ears.

Chris and Jess happened to notice that one of the fireworks was facing outward rather than upward, so they hid behind some sweet old ladies, and a fellow traveller who obviously hadn't noticed the accident waiting to happen. It says 'very funny' at the end of the sentence Chris has written. That's not very nice, is it - poor little old ladies, on fire.

They watched the dancing for 30 mins or so - great costumes, but the repetitive dance tune soon got to them.

The fiesta really made the day, and they had to drag themselves away as the walk across the island would take about 3 hours and they didn't want to miss the boat home. First, they popped into the small museum in which there are artefacts from underwater excavations in Lake Titicaca at the north of the island. Fascinating that buildings and artefacts and being found in the Lake - why/who???

We quickly visited the Inca ruins (Chincana), which is the site of the sacred rock where the Inca creation legend began. We then took the central trail all the way to Yumani village in the north.

The Island is very dry, Mediterranean-like - good views of Lake Titicaca.

With best feet forward we were making good time and stopped for a drink in Yumani, before getting the slow boat back to Copacabana.

A little embarrassment on the way back - Chris needing to do a peepee. To cut a long story short, the bucket used to scoop water out of the boat found a second function, and together with a large blanket, a makeshift loo was put together. Shameful, but very necessary.

The remaining 2 hours of the trip were a lot more comfortable.

Back at La Cupula, Chris finds Paul still in bed and he's pleased to meet Steve and Jess - shame, they're heading south and the opposite direction to us.

Had dinner at the hostel, quite expensive, but good stuff.

Paul pleased for the rest today, and the arm is feeling okay. Can't bend it much though, but that's probably a bit of fear too.

Found out today that work have agreed an extension to our leave - back in the office on 20th August. Yessssss.

Friday 18th May

Travelling day today, though not til lunchtime.

Did some emails in town in the morning - Chris also looking to extend leave until the same as Paul. Hopefully will be okay, though sounds like they'd have her back weeks sooner.

Also spent some time looking into getting married in Ecuador towards the end of the trip - would be a great way to finish up the trip, though sounds like there's a few hurdles in the way (paperwork wise). We'll see what happens.......

In the warm late morning afternoon sun (and not much chilly wind today) we had a nice walk around the length of the bay in Copacabana, had a nice chat.

Picked up some snacks on the way back and sat on the deckchairs at the hostel, looking out over the bay. Would be a lovely place to relax on a nice warm day - there's hammocks here too, though we didn't get to use them.

So, after some Pringles (Cheese) and Snickers we get our bus at 12.30, which will be taking us to the second stop on Lake Titicace, Puno, though we'll have crossed the border into Peru.

Enjoyed our time in Copacabana very much, though a shame that Paul wasn't up to doing too much as his arm heals up. In fact, shame that we didn't get here sooner and out of La Paz sooner - would have been a good place to catch up with ourselves. Not a huge amount going on here, though perhaps that would be the whole point.

Bye bye Bolivia, we've had a great time and are sorry to go. Perhaps the country highlight of South America so far...... (and it's cheap, and the food has been excellent, especially veggie choice)

continues on next thread...

Copacabana/Lake Titicaca - Bolivia remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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La, Paz, Bolivia

Again, grateful not to have been kicked off the bus last night, and the 12 hours or so bus ride hasn't been too bad. Glad we went 'semi-cama', though the space for Paul was a little tight with the person in front doing the full-recline.

Also, glad to be here safely, we're a little less sure about the roads in Bolivia.

Quite an amazing sight to se La Paz at first light, the bus making it's way down into the huge 'bowl' in which La Paz is cradled. Overwhelmingly, the orange brick colour of the houses/shacks/business premises lights up brightly from the sun, all of the buildings sticking to the sides of the bowl.

We're dropped at the main bus terminal in the capital and, first things first, need to use the facilities, before grabbing a taxi to the nearby street where there's a clutch of accommodation. We haven't booked ahead, but have some ideas.

The taxi from the bus terminal seems a little pricey, 15 Bolivianos, and whilst we haven't been here before, we sure that we've got less than 5 minutes travelling to do. In Potosi and Sucre, similar trips were costing half, or less.

The first budget hotel we try seems a little overpriced (US$30 a night), although it looks 'alright'. We wander down the road a little further, and soon come across Hotel Condeza (just by the crossroads of Calle Illampu and Calle Linares).

Whilst a little more expensive than we're prepared to pay (us$25), it seems nice, the room is fine, and as usual, we're quite happy to have our own bathroom/toilet. We were wary of staying at a hostel where there was not hot water etc (as a lot of the guides seem to suggest), so glad to pay a little extra for the comfort. Also breakfast included, and cable TV.

We crash out in the room for a couple of hours, enjoy the (6th floor) view of an area of the city, before heading out for a gander.

Seems to be a bunch of local weekenders out and about today, and the narrow pavements are busy (but safe), though these equally narrow streets are full of taxis, minibuses and bigger buses. Between them they're spewing out huge clouds of black stuff, and at this altitude (about 3900metres), the breathing can sometimes be quite heavy, so not very pleasant gulping down all those emissions.

As well as a simple look around, we're also trying to get some info for excursions in/around town, including the mountain bike ride down the 'death road' - strangely the 'biggest' operator "Gravity Assisted' seems to be closed today - also, we think they only go twice a week, that's what their website says...

Anyway, we get some other information, including details of a trip to Tiwanaku, from Diana Tours, and also check out the Death Road trip with Downhill Madness, also recommended to us.

To cut a long story short, Chris will take the trip to Tiwanaku tomorrow, and we'll both do the bike ride on Tuesday, with Downhill Madness (US$65, seemingly everything included, inc. tshirt and photo cd).

Other than sniffing around, and eating a little bit here and there, we don't do much for the rest of the day - quite a lot (the tourist things) is closed on Sunday. We grab a final bite to eat at Cafe Banais on Calle Sagarnaga - very nice too.

After the overnight bus ride, we're happy to kick back early and watch some telly, in our nice comfortable room.

Night-night.

Monday 7th May

Chris's trip leaves fairly early this morning, so we're both up at 7 to catch breakfast. After seeing the promotional leaflet for the hotel, we did think that breakfast was buffet-style, but is ultimately quite basic, but fine anyway.

Paul goes back to bed and watches Back to the Future, Chris's bus arrives just after 8, and hopefully will return by 3ish.

Paul quite happy to do very little today - catch up on some blog (truthfully quite glad that there's only a couple of months to go!) and take it easy.

Chris's trip on the other hand....

We meet up back at the room on time, and hang out until we get hungry. We think there's an Indian/Thai restaurant a little out of this tourist area of town, so head-off on foot in search, until we realise that we're not quite sure where we're going, and the road that we think the restaurant is on goes off the edge of the little map we have. Unsure of what ghetto we might be walking into, we about turn, grumpy with each other - we really fancy a curry!

Oh well, back to Banais - again, this is something we seem to do (go back to the same old place), but when you find somewhere that does good food, that doesn't give you the opportunity to try it again on the way back out (either end!), it's easy to take the 'safe' route.

No culture tonight (we are naughty), and end up with TV to send us off to sleep.

Big adventure tomorrow, on two wheels, out on the most dangerous road in the world...

Tuesday 8th May

Damn clouds - had hoped for perfectly clear skies for our trip today - maybe it'll clear..

After a rushed breakfast, we head round the corner to Downhill Madness and meet our group - there's about 12 of us, and we get kitted out in the basement. All the gear is included - gloves, pants, jacket, full face helmet and fancy gloves. Our guide 'Hector' seems fine and we're glad for his good English.

Our trip starts with a minibus ride out of town and up to 4600 metres (we'll be coasting down to 1300-odd metres), about an hour away. Once both minibuses arrive, the bikes are taken off the roof and set up for the riders - some of us have full suspension bikes, some just at the front. Either way, the bikes are in good shape, and are all individually set up for the group.

After a safety briefing, we get underway, with the first half (of 60+kms) being on 99% smooth tarmac, and downhill all the way.

It's great to be cruising along, picking up quite a pace, and trying desperately to be aerodynamic. The scenery is cool, though the clouds are in quite close, so blocking off the distant views. Of course, this is perhaps a blessing, cos the drops at the side of the road seem bottomless, se we'll keep an eye on the upcoming tarmac just now.

Safety seems to be the word, and we do make a stop for everyone to catch up every 10/15 minutes, including a mandatory at the police barrier.

We soon get to the point where we have a few kilometres of uphill, which starts off okay, but, at altitude, it's still a killer. Most of us need to push ourselves up the final 500 metres, but all make it in good time.

Annoyingly, the cloud has thickened and the drizzle has joined it - we're all soaked through, to the boots, and sunglasses are difficult to see through, but that's better than gritty water landing on your retina!

So, we soon arrive near the half way point, and this is where the proper dangerous part of the road begins. No tarmac, the track only 1 car wide, quite easy to pick up some speed on this downhill bit, no barriers at the side of the road, loose wet gravel amongst bigger rocks set into the ground etc etc.

After a few minutes on this surface, everyone taking it quite easy, we pull up for a spot of lunch, though we don't hang around standing in the drizzle - I guess some of us are quite excited to be getting back on the track!

We are warned to take it easy through the next few tight bends, and all is going well, until....

Paul is on a fairly long straight bit, pickin up some speed (though feeling safe with it), when.....POP, the front tyre blows.

It probably would have been quite easy to control the bike with a deflated tyre (maybe not) but the twist came when the inner tube came out from the tyre and began to wrap itself around the hub - it was really like one of those slow motion moments, when you can see clearly what is happening, and know what is about to come...

Next thing - the front wheel locks

Next thing - I'm in the air, drifting away from the handlebars, towards the sky

Next thing, thud, and on the ground, a little dazed.

Whilst dazed, I straightaway feel that there's nothing serious amiss - nothing broken or dangling off. Most of my body feels a little numb, my knee is bashed, hip grazed. I sit on the ground for a bit, also grateful for not going over the edge, like many other bikers have over the months - and also thinking about the other 817 outcomes from this tumble, it really could have been worse.

The ground is wet after this drizzle so don't sit around for long, and get on my feet, feeling a little odd. By this time a few of the other riders have gathered around to help out, and someone notices a rip in my fleece, just above the left elbow, at the back. Bugger, my favourite fleece!

I decide to take it off to see if it's ripped anywhere else, and then another person notices my arm, and whilst I can't see it myself, I can see him wince and turn away.

Seems I have a mouth-like gash, beaming out at everyone, though there's not much of the red stuff, though it's deep enough to be flashing some bone, or cartlidge - we're not sure.

The first aid kit is soon out and I'm being patched up, after a squirt of alcohol to try and dislodge some of the grit inside the wound - of course, this'll be a hospital job.

The nice guys sort me out with some gauze and a bandage, and Chris and I sit out the rest of the journey to Corioco in the minibus. Thankfully not feeling too bad, though I'm wet and cold - again, thoughts of how different it could have been keep the spirits up.

We arrive in Corioco for the buffet lunch - I've still got a bit of an appetite, so looking good. Everyone (except me and Chris) enjoys a hot shower before lunch and by mid afternoon we're back on the minibus to La Paz, some 3 hours away. The pain up till now had been bearable, but before we left, a doctor on our trip, Susan, kindly offered to have a look at the hole, and give it a clean. Yep, was pretty nasty and she didn't have the things she needed to take a proper look, though we had some Iodine to keep things clean. It was at this stage that the pain hit home, and we had a scene reminiscent of one of those movies where the hero needs to clean a gunshot wound with some liquor, and makes his eyes water.

The pain hit as soon as the Iodine found its way inside and, like a chameleon, I immediately blended in with the greenery around us. Was truly sickening, though only lasted a couple of minutes. Susan, honestly, thanks for that!

The bus ride back to La Paz wasn't the best of fun, and I felt a little unsafe on the cliffside road - it was raining, there was evidence of new/small landslides by the roadside, and to cap it off, the ignition key kepy falling out of the dash. Any minute now I was expecting the steering lock to kick in and put us on a course towards the 500 metre abyss below. It might not have been so bad if it had locked the steering to the left, sending us into the path of another vehicle.

As well as the above hazards, it was also getting dark and there seems to be an unwillingness for road users to bother with lights.

I guess as we got closer to La Paz, my worries turned from the dangerous road ahead, to the dangers we might face at the hospital. As well as a lengthy wait (we wait hours in casualty in England, it surely must be worse here in the third world...), would we be faced with unhygienic facilities and used/rusty equipment???

Anyway, we made it in one (albeit slightly damaged) piece at the clinic (Clinica Alemana) and there was no need for concern here. Our guide, Hector, sorted us out with a doctor and we were taken straight into a treatment room, and clean tools were brought out, and unwrapped.

I couldn't see much of what was going on, and also the doctors were speaking in Spanish, so I was oblivious to the good/bad they might have been discussing about my arm.

The first thing to do was to clean me out, and I was surprised by the noise of stone being dropped into the metal kidney bowl. Still not too much blood or pain at this point, and I didn't know that they had cut away a little piece of damaged skin.

Thankfully the stitches were applied after a couple of jabs of local anaesthetic - 3 on the inside (it was really quite deep) and 6 neat ones on the outside. With a gauze on top and a tight (best to keep the arm straight and avoid reopening the stitches(!)) bandage around the elbow, we were good (or thereabouts) to go.

Of course, weren't expecting free treatment and happily paid the USD 73 for what seemed a good job, though surprised at the cost of the antibiotics at a nearby pharmacy - 5 tabs, USD40, but the doc said they were the best. Perhaps they'll even sort of the cold I've had since back in Ushuaia. As long as they keep infection/amputation at bay, I'll be a happy, temporarily/partially disabled, boy.

Relieved to be back at the hotel, and continually thinking that, despite this inconvenience (I can't now pick my nose and scratch my backside at the same time), I can't help thinking about actually how lucky I have been. As the t-shirt says, I (truly) have survived the most dangerous road in the world.

It's not the most comfortable night's sleep, and the pain kicks in around 5 am, but a couple of tabs give some relief by first light.

Despite the above, the trip with Downhill Madness (oops, that name should have been a sign) was really good and we would like to have another go, but perhaps another time. Was a shame that the weather was poor and visibility over the edge obscured by cloud, though this probably helped keep our eye on the track.

Thanks to those who helped out and asked how I was, sorry I don't know all the names - Susan, James, Kim, Tony, 'the Swiss guy' - also to Hector who had been a great guide during the day, making sure everyone and their bikes were in good shape, and seemingly truly concerned about someone being hurt on his trip

Okay, let the healing begin...

Wednesday 9th May

A bit of a panic in the morning / the doctor had asked yesterday if I was up to date with my jabs, ie. Tetanus. I was pretty sure it was after visiting the local surgery before we left home last summer.

Finally found the immunisation card and found that my 10 year jab was running out this month.

Bugger, wasn't planning on going back to the clinic today/ever again, but just to be safe, we wandered down to check, and it wasn't necessary. I say we wandered down, the main street was busy with some protest folk, and no traffic getting through. Not sure why I didn't have a booster before we left...

Killed two birds with one stone at the clinic, and the doc took a look at Christine's ear, which had been playing up for the last few weeks, being blocked and making her a little deaf. I suggested that it could have been brain-ooze, but he said it was just a little wax. Christine may not be happy that I'm discussing her wax problem here, but I've just hit 'enter', so need to carry on.

Back up at our end of town, we had a bite to eat in Cafe Banais and happily bumped into Susan and James, and I was able to ask Susan about getting my stitches out. A bit of good and bad news - firstly she suggested that it wouldn't be too difficult a job for the most basically trained medical person, then she suggested that we could do it ourselves. Gulp.

Had a walk around the witches market after, and wondered what they did with the dried llama foetus's. Didn't do anything other than wonder about it, and bought some Pringles instead.

Early back to the hotel room, and watched tv to take my mind off what was happening under my bandages.

Thursday 10th May

Paul didn't sleep too bad, though it continues to be difficult finding a comfortable position.

Appetite still pretty much intact, and Chris kindly asked the hotel people to let me have breakfast in the room, and leaving Paul in bed with the remote control, Chris went over to the small but interesting Coca museum.

Didn't realise how important Coca is to the Bolivian folk in everyday life - it not only helps them get by with their day to day chores at this altitude, but also is an important offering to the Pachamama (mother earth) for a good harvest, and is present in all religious and magical ceremonies. An exchange of Coca leaves is also a sign of acceptnce of marriage.

Coca has been around for over 5000 years, with traces of coca leaves being found in mummies in Northern Peru, and been aged at 2500-1800 BC.

Incas removed the essential oils from the plant to carry out cerebral transplantations to remove tumours. It is astonishing that , even then, Coca leaves were used as an anaesthetic.

The Spaniards, especially the church, tried to ban the chewing of Coca, but it was soon realised that the indigenous people worked better when chewing the leaves - workers could continue manual labour for up to 48 hours when chewing the leaves, which alleviated the feeling of tiredness, hunger etc.

In 1886 Coca Cola was launched, using ingredents from the leaves, though the Coca was taken out of the recipe in 1912. Shame. Cocaine was then banned in the USA in 1914.

Whilst this is not a 'how to do it', cocaine is made from the coca leaves which are made into a paste. The paste is then refined to obtain base cocaine, and chemicals are added (sulphuric acid/hydrocloric acid).

Ironically, whilst the US has been working very hard to eradicate the coca leaves at source, the chemicals used to turn the natural/harmless leaves into cocaine, are mainly sourced from the US and Europe.

Back at the hotel, Chris finds Paul asleep and he wasn't too interested in doing anything, so she heads off for a bite to eat and a visit to the museums on Jaen Street, which is a lovely/quaint/narrow cobbled parade, and the museums pretty much lead into each other.

The first museum is very small, with information in Spanish only, though its easy to understand that the theme here is how Bolivia lost it's coastline to Chile. There's several old uniforms here, and photos of the liberators.

The next was a lot more interesting (Museo de Metales Preciosos Pre-Columbinos) - it houses some impressive Tiwanaku pottery and gold. One of the courtyard floors was decorated with kneecaps - mmm, nice. Also here, some silver jewellery and mummies.

The next museum had some items from the colonial period.

Across the street is Museo Casa Murillo ('the liberators house'), which had a lovely courtyard with balcony. The actual building was more interesting than the contents, ie religious art and furniture.

Later in the evening Paul is ready for some nourishment and fresh air. Well, as fresh as it gets in these narrow streets crowded with eco-unfriendly vehicles. That said, you're more likely to be run over before you choke to death.

Another fun packed night, in front of the TV, getting light relief from my friend Paracetamol.

Not much pain through the night, though woke up in the middle of it and thrilled to find Return of the Jedi on cable tv.

Friday 11th May

Paul can bend his arm just enough to do some two-handed typing, so caught up on a little bit of internet. That seemed to suck Paul's energy, so he went back to bed.

Chris went off to the Iglesia de San Francisco. Whilst building work on the church started back in 1549, it wasn't finished until the mid 18th century. Perhaps there's a negative side to the social chewing of coca leaves!

Apparently (the guide book says) the architecture of the church reflects the Mestizo-style!, but I won't bother to discuss the aspects of that here and now, however, in practical terms - there's large golden altar. I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Chris then went into the Museo de Etonografa y Folkloro. Very old tunics on display, some dating back to the 3rd Century AD. Amazing that fabric can last for so long. Maybe I should have some underwear made from the same stuff because my pants seem to last less than 6 months.

The modern part of the museum also houses some impressive pottery - Tiwanaku, Inca, Nazca, Chiru. Incredible that the Tiwanaku pottery looked so much better (more detailed/more robust-looking construction) than the colonial stuff.

Another room housed headdresses - interesting to see the ones of the Indian indigenous tribes.

Managed to rouse Paul out of bed for some food later in the day, though he didn't want to stay out to see a free musical performance. Quite a bizarre evening, listening to classical standards here in Bolivia. As well as the 'classics', the second half of the performance appeared to be some kind of freestyle jam, with the players seemingly knocking out different songs, at the same time as each other.

Paul popped in to Downhill Madness to see and thank Hector again for his help in getting me patched up and looked after.

Sadly, this is recorded as the latest Chris has been out for 'ages'. She's back in the room by 9pm.

Saturday 12th May

Chris wakes up to find that the eardrops prescribed to her have not done a lot of good, and now the waxy discharge is accompanied by pain and swelling.

Neither of us care to do too much and we spend most of the day in bed. I guess the rest is good for Paul, he seems to feel a little more comfortable and better after each sleeping session.

We find the time and energy to get out for some food, but not much else.

Sunday 13th May

We should have been out of La Paz by now, but Paul is still feeling unwell and really not fancying the prospect of getting on a bus and sitting in likely discomfort for hours, only to arrive at the next place and not feeling like doing anything.

We're a little grumpy with each other, though Paul still has the upper hand with sarcasm and having the last word. I'm sure Chris is actually having the last word, with some simple one-word put downs, like *******, ****, ***, ***, ************.

It's very much a Sunday feel around town, not a lot of folk about, and quite a few places closed early, or for the day.

The arm is definitely feeling okay, and it doesn't look like we're being troubled with infection - no particular swelling, pain, smell or green discharge. Maybe it's just the pills, slight lack of appetite and a touch of worry/frustration that's putting Paul off colour.

Monday 14th May

Ah yes, must be a weekday - more demonstrations in town!

We're still here in La Paz, but one more day and Paul's one more day better. Better in fact, and feeling sufficiently buoyant to suggest we move on tomorrow, to Copacabana, by Lake Titicaca.

To make the journey, hopefully, more pleasant, we've booked onto a tourist bus and we'll be picked up from the hotel, rather than having to lug the packs around. Luckily, Paul's pack has a side handle - he won't be using the back straps for a while yet.

Chilled out for a while in the sun that was above the main square - seems a popular place for both locals and tourists, and pigeons. Of course, reminds of us Trafalgar Square, though an icecream here costs the equivalent of 10p, rather than 10 pounds.

Picked up some more hooky cd's from the market, and a nice little holder for them, as I build up my collection.

Not much other shopping done here in La Paz, which is a bit silly cos it's sooo cheap (the souvenir crap). Nevermind...

After a bite to eat, we're back in the room, packing, ahead of tomorrow's bus journey to Copacabana, by Lake Titicaca.

Continues on next thread...

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Sucre, Bolivia

There's regular buses from Potosi to Sucre, every hour or so, and we are pleased that this travelling day doesn't need to start early.

Had we had a shopping trolley, we could have freewheeled it down to the bus station, however, a taxi did an equally good job.

On arriving at the bus station, we're greeted by a ticket seller for the 10.30 bus, and we snap up the tickets, though the bus leaves 20 minutes late, stopping at a couple of places in town to fill up the empty seats. We're also stopped in our tracks by a makeshift roadblock - peaceful, but a pain in the ass, adding a little extra to our journey.

Of course, a journey on a local bus wouldn't be complete without tiny legroom. Hey, could be worse.

Nice scenery on the way, and we drop from the highest city in the world, to an easy on the breathing 2790 metres.

At the bus station there's a taxi waiting and we ask to be dropped at a recommended hostel, which is open, however undergoing some redecoration and is probably unsuitable, despite the man being very friendly.

Our taxi driver had already mentioned the Grand Hotel, but it sounded out of our price bracket, however we checked it out and was actually a lovely place, and a fair price of USD20, including breakfast. The room is lovely and overlooking a pretty courtyard - also pleased to have cable tv and free internet, oh, and oodles of hot water. We read and hear that hot water in hostels etc is quite a rarity, so happy to pay a little extra for it.

After chucking our bags in we head out for a wander around the interesting colonial-building town. Sucre was founded in 1538 and during the colonial period was the most important center in the eastern Spanish territories. Independence was declared in Sucre on 6th August 1825.

We found a trendy bar (mid afternoon - quite a lot of places closed for siesta) and enjoyed some good food and ginger ale.

After, we tracked down the popular Joy Ride Cafe and had some coffee and cake. Had hoped that these guys were doing quad bike tours, but seems they've stopped, though you can go on a motorbike tour and a bunch of other stuff.

Seems that we're continuing to eat very well in Bolivia - don't believe what the guide books tell you about the food here, there's some great stuff around!

Stopped at a supermarket just off the main square and were amazed to see a box (foot long) of After Eights. They cost as much as we had paid for lunch, but they were in date, and tasted great.

Friday 4th May

Going to see some Dinosaur footprints today, despite the warning in the excursion folder in the Joy Ride Cafe. We're told it's a waste of a 'couple of quid', but we're happy to take a chance for that sum.

The Dinotruck leaves the main square about 3 times a day, and we catch the first one at 9.30am, arriving at the site (now also a limestone quarry) - just us and another couple. They seem to offer half price transport for the first trip, and we realise why when we get to the site, and the guide (English speaking) tells us that the view is better in the afternoon, when the sun beats down on it.

The site is a huge (several hundred metres wide, a couple of hundred metres high) vertical wall, that was previously (millions of years ago) flat, but was sat on an active tectonic plate. There's about 5000 dinosaur footprint impressions here, and they were found only a few years ago, and confirmed only in 1998. Thankfully the quarrying work came across some elements in the ground that made it unsuitable (some chemical elements that I can't remember the name of), and work there stopped.

The site itself has been set up as a tourist spot, ie there's a few lifesize dinosaur models and associated information. The wall is viewed from a platform and, in truth, is quite far away from the wall, anbout 200 metres. Only a few months ago you could walk up to the wall, though I'd say the view is better from afar, especially if you have your own binoculars and camera with long lens. There are 'commercial' binoculars at the site, and they cost 2 Bolivianos for 2 minutes - a little annoying, but we're glad we remembered our binos.

The prints (clearly) show that the variety of creatures were in fact much larger than first thought - one predator walked for over 350 metres, the longest continuous recorded dinosaur track.

We were really blown away to be seeing this sight, just thinking of how old these prints were. Despite the distance away, it was very easy to see and very exciting.

Because of the disappointment of finding out that the view would be better around noon, we asked whether we could catch the later transport back to town, and this was no problem. Of course, we could stay at the site as long as we wanted and had the place to ourselves, including watching a couple of dinosaur documentaries while we waited on the sun getting in position.

Well worth hanging around for, the view became a lot clearer and more and more prints revealed themselves. The clearest prints were the 'figure-8' style of the Titanosaurio, a giant herbivore from 130 million years ago. Wow, and we're looking at this stuff!

The footprints were so clear you could also make out the 'claw' shape from the Noasaurio, as well as prints from the Abelsaurio and Carnotaurino. Quite difficult to appreciate the size of the prints from where we stood, though there were some workmen and their vehicles just below the wall and these prints were clearly from something gigantic!

Our time was soon up, and the follow on group arrived with our return transport. Shame that none of them seemed that impressed with the sight we had in front of us. No-one bothered to use the binoculars and I offered ours to a group of English folk - seemed a shame for them not to get a closeup view.

We totally enjoyed our visit to the cement quarry and feel quite lucky to have seen such a unique site/sight - this is one of the highlights of the trip for us. I'll put up some photos when we're home in July 2007.

Back in Sucre we enjoy lunch and continue talking about how much we enjoyed the Dinosaur prints, and then some cake.

We hang around in the sun in the plaza for a short while, and also buy our bus tickets out of here to La Paz for tomorrow night.

Sleep well, and looking forward to more exporing around town tomorrow.

Saturday 5th May

Up early to make the most of our last day, and Chris catches up on some diary.

Another blue sky day and we make our way out of town (on foot, not that far) towards the Mirador Cafe, which overlooks the town and surrounding hills. A nice walk up, though we have to stop to catch breath half way up - we're really not big fans of this high altitude stuff and wished for spaceman-style oxygen tanks.

The cafe is in an excellent position, though as a result it's quite busy but we get a nice table under a pretty tree, and away from the main group of tables.

Pleased to see Coffee Frappucino's on the menu, together with cake, of course.

Even more thrilled to see a small hummingbird zipping around and grabbing nectar from the flowers on the tree. Used up quite a lot of camera memory trying to get a few good shots - bloody thing won't keep still, but I'm partially successful!

We end up staying here for the best part of the afternoon, enjoying the warmth in the shade and the pretty greenery around us. Decide that we continue to really enjoy Bolivia.

Amongst others, Rich and Clyde won't be pleased that I bought some hooky CD's in the market in town on the way back down. Not sure if they'll play, but nice to have bought some music nonetheless.

Chris went back to the hotel whilst I was shopping, the diary is 'well' out of date, hence, I'll be typing up this blog a few weeks after the event!

Our bus leaves for La Paz at 6.30pm, so we get there nice and early to avoid any problems. All seems to be going well, until just after the supposed departure time, when we're told that our bus tickets are for the next day....

Not sure what the mix up was, and our Spanish is good enough to have heard the woman at the travel agency order our ticket for 'manana', being today, not tomorrow. Of course, manana means tomorrow, but I'm working within different tenses here, come on!

Anyway, after a few minutes, and some help from some other 'local' passengers, Chris jumps off the bus to discuss. Some minutes later, she's back and we're saved, though strangely two more seats have turned up for the folks who were double booked with us.

Glad to be on the road, and comfy in our semi-cama seats.

The journey to La Paz is fine and we get into town at first light. It had been warm enough until about 5am, when it turned something like 'freezing'. More importantly, we arrived safely and all is good.

continued on next thread...

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Potosi

Our bus from here (Uyuni) to Potosi doesn't head off til 10.30 am, so a leisurely start to the morning, and pleased for a good nights sleep.

No breakfast included at the hostel, so we pick up a few bits in town, and it's market day today.

Bus leaves pretty much on time, and thinking ahead, Paul chose a seat at the front of the bus to get a bit more legroom. We've already been warned about legroom in Bolivia, so will try to think ahead at each stop.

Unfortunately we're not sitting together, but the journey isn't so long, about 6 hours - a length that doesn't seem to bother us much nowadays.

The legroom is fine, though just before we head off it looks like a couple of other English folk will have to stand, but thankfully there's been some kind of mix up and they soon get their seats back.

The journey is fine, and more interesting mountainous scenery passes us by.

I did feel a little sorry for the girl sitting next to me, she seemed to be crying every so often. With my limited Spanish, there wasn't much I could do to help, unless we were ordering from a menu, or needed directions somewhere.

Anyway, wasn't long before the chubby miss let herself down by chucking a small bag of rubbish out of the window. Not sure if she actually thought it would be better to throw it into the small river we splashed through, so it would wash away into the magic trash can at the end. Tch! - at times like this I wish I could whisper some cutting Spanish words under my breath. She clearly didn't understand the ones I used, accompanied by the traditional British sideways shake of the head.

So, after more scenery, rocks, trees, leathery faced old women, limping dawgs, we get into 'downtown' Potosi, and dropped at the main bus station outside of town.

We're a little lost, with our current position off the Lonely Planet map, though we head up the hill, seeking a landmark.

Not finding one, we seek help, but get lost in translation, however, we are saved by a couple with their children, who communicate to us as to whether we are looking for a room. Whilst we have a hostel in mind, theirs sounds good - double room, private bathroom, cable TV, quiet, central location (though we're now wary of what this means to different people - central can still mean a 15 minute walk away!), and we're able to negotiate the price we were looking to pay elsewhere, from 100 Bolivianos, to 70, which is about just under GBP5 for both of us.

Chatted in our best Spanish for the 10 minute taxi ride to their (Monica and Francisco, children Claudia and Rodriguo) place, and yes, it's very nice, quiet homely, and we even have our own living room.

Walked, the short walk, into town and made some tour enquiries, including the Silver Mine tour, at Koala Tours (recommended in the guide book, and yes, seem very good).

There's an excellent veggie restaurant above the tour shop, and we enjoyed a great 4 course meal for less than GBP3 TOTAL.

This, Potosi, is the highest city in the world at 4070 metres, and we feel it as we walk back up hill to our digs.

Enjoy a fairly early night, with a little bit of TV and chocolate. The rooms a little bit cold, but cosy under the blankets.

Monday 30th April

Wow, another month goes by, and only 2 full months to go before we're home.

Whilst breakfast isn't included with our room, we have it here anyway, for a little extra. Nice to have warm rolls, and freshly made juice.

Had a wander around the pretty town (highest city in the world), Chris booked a tour of the silver mine for Wednesday.

Potosi was founded in 1545, following the discovery of ore in the hill behind, called Cerro Rico (rich mountain). It grew into Latin Americas largest and wealthiest cities - richer even than London. In turn, many churches were built (32 remain) and it has very impressive colonial buildings.

Enjoy a drink on top of the Cafe Mirador (Lookout) - great views of Potosi, The Plaza and Cerro Rico. The building was once a church, and now a cafe and theatre.

Later on we enjoyed a cheap 4 course lunch at the restaurant above the Koala tours shop.

Considered joining the trip to the Tinku festival, but decided that animal sacrifice and (literally, sometimes) fights to the death in the interest of spilling blood onto the sacred ground and ensuring a healthy harvest. Would have been very interesting, with the traditional dress, music and partying and the fact that it's not a tourist event, and perhaps would have been one of the most authentic experiences on this trip....

Just in case we change our minds about going to the Tinku festival, Chris changes her mine tour to tomorrow.

Chilly in our room in the evening - no heater, but the TV keeps us warm and enjoy back-to-back episodes of CSI.

Tuesday 1st May

Chris up early for the mine tour, and we have breakfast together before she heads off. Paul creeps back into bed for a bit.

The mine tour went a little like this...

The group first of all stopped off and bought a few bits and pieces (gifts) for the miners - soft drinks, snacks, dynamite - the usual stuff.

We had a talk on the miners equipment, including the Bolivian dynamite, which is apparently the best, followed by Argentinian. Peruvian dynamite is bottom of the list. Also had a sip of the miners tipple - 96% proof.

For our entry into the mine itself, we kitted up in jacket, trousers and helmet with built in torch - the heavy battery is on a belt. On the way towards the mine we stop at the miners market and bought some coca leaves (staple in high-altitude Bolivian life). Some of our group had a super-cheap meal, though not much for veggies.

Then we were taken to Cerro Rico, via the treatment plant where the minerals are purified. Zinc is the main mineral now mined, but the plant we visited still deals with silver ore.

Our guide, Pedro, explained some history about the mine, and that millions of labourers were conscripted to work the mines - indigenous people and African slaves. The Africans quickly perished due to the harsh climatical conditions.

Over 8 million workers died from diseases, accidents and contact with the toxic chemicals, including Mercury, in the mine.

Conditions were, and continue to be, appalling in the mines - even as we entered the mine, the heat, dust and cramped conditions hit us.

Firstly we visited the museum inside the mine, impressed with the information in English. There's a 'devil' statue inside the mine, that is considered good luck and the miners give offerings (cigarettes and coca leaves) for prosperity.

They work the mine as a cooperative venture, with each miner working on his own and selling his minerals/ore to a smelter through the cooperative. We learn that some of the miners aren't doing too bad, money-wise, and get around 5/6000 Bolivianos a month, though some earn only as little as a tenth of that.

Pedro's father worked the mine for more than 30 years and brought home on average 600 a month - he never found silver or made claim to a large mineral deposit.

Moving down to the first level, a little cramped and walking a little bent over, then we slide down some wooden planks to the second level, where it is more dusty and the heat sharply rises and we need to scramble through some very low ceiling parts before getting to the third level.

We all had a go at pulling and carrying the heavy buckets, though needed to do it in two's. Bloody hard work, bringing on a little perspiration!

The miners were pleased to receive our gifts, cigarettes, coca leaves, soft drinks, fruit and dynamite.

Quite noisy at this level - compressed air driving the pneumatic drills - quite unnerving.

Heading back up, we're on our hands and knees, but pleased for the coolness of level 1 and then back in to the fresh air.

After our 'hard work' we rest a while in our filthy overalls, and then the boys in the group went to perpare their dynamite. The guides positioned the dynamite and 5 loud explosions followed - no lives or limbs were lost!

Interesting day, and quite unforgetable - Paul regrets not going, but enjoyed his extra rest in bed.

We met up in town for late lunch and chatted for the rest of the afternoon, before stocking up on M&M's.

Wednesday 2nd May

Leisurely breakfast, and went to the Museo and Convent de San Francisco. Not quite worth the 40 Bolivianos we paid , though we did have a guide briefly, but would have preferred to wander around ourselves. There's still 10 monks here - one French and 9 Bolivians, who all teach in the nearby school.

After, we sat in the Plaza taking sneaky pictures of the local women in their traditional dress - knee high pleated skirts, thick tights and jumpers/shawls - topped off with a bowler hat.

After lunch at Koala Cafe we went across the road into the Casa Real de la Moneda (Royal Mint) - there's usually an English tour in the afternoon, about 2pm. The building was constructed between 1743 and 1773 to control the minting of colonial coins. We were first shown Bolivias first locomotive, and then into a lovely room housing religious art. One room holds a copy of Potosi's most famous painting, which is currently 'on tour' around the globe. It'll be coming to London in January 2008, at the National Gallery.

Interesting that the majority of the religious art was painted by indigenous artists who simply copied other art, including on occasions the original artists signature!

Religious art was used as a tool to evangelise the indigenous people .

The most interesting rooms hold the coins and wooden minting machines. The first coins were of course silver, and simply and crudely hammered into shape - this made them susceptible to 'theft' as folk would trim small pieces of silver from the coins.

Eventually the coins were made from moulds, giving them a perfectly circular shape.

The wooden minting machines were in excellent condition in the musuem, and we saw the lower level where mules were used to turn the huge machines - these ran 24 hours a day.

It's ironic that for hundreds of years, Spain's coins were made in Potosi, whereas now, Bolivias coins are made in Spain.

Was interesting to see the different coins throughout the colonial period - the different designs, palmtrees, llamas, Cerro Rico. Also within the museum were Tiahuanaco/Tiwanaku artefacts and several mummified children.

Sobering to see that several of the smelting rooms still had blackened brickwork from the smoke generated in there - must have been such harsh conditions for the indian and african slaves to work in.

After the interesting and recommended museum, we caught up on some internet chores and no doubt some more food at the Koala Cafe- I know it's bad that we had most meals in Potosi at the same place, but when it's so good, it's always risky to try somewhere else and be disappointed...

Off to Sucre tomorrow, so packed in the evening and readied ourselves for departure...

Really enjoyed our time in Potosi, though perhaps not the altitude.

continues on next thread...

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Overland 4x4 trip to Uyuni

We say goodbye to the various people and cats at our hostel in San Pedro, and wait for the minibus that starts our 3 day trip across the desert to Uyuni.

Picked up just after 8am, and driven back in to the centre of the small town, where we meet the other folks in our group, which are mostly Czech and Slovak Head Doctors, also an English couple, Duncan and Laura, though they will not be on our 4x4 that we'll pick up on the other side of the border.

Enjoyed an outdoor breakfast just over the Bolivian border, at 4000 metres, where it's a little more chilly. Paul had his first experience of chewing coca leaves, which aren't all that nice.

Fantastic view from here of Volcano Licanabur (5916m) and at the foot of the volcano we came across Laguna Blanca and Laghuna Verde - impressive sights, though a little put off by the 'toxic' foam at the edge of the Laguna.

The journey across the bumpy terrain is fine in the 4x4 and our guide/driver looks up to the job of ferrying us around for the next couple of days.

Next stop is at Polque's hot springs, though we didn't do any more than sit on the edge with our feet in. Whilst the water is nice and hot, the time will come when you'll need to get out into the absolutely freezing cold - again, it's bright and sunny, but we're way up high.

Further along we stop at an active geothermic field and see various steam pools and bubbling-mud pools. We're warned not to get too close.....

The onward journey gives us ever more impressive scenery, though very dry and arid.

We're enjoying our group (6 plus driver) and our Czech/Slovak chums are very friendly and accomodating of speaking English. Excellent English. Not a lot is heard from our guide, who I'd say is more of a driver, however, he's doing a great job and, so far, we're really pleased we picked the Estrella Del Sur tour.

Whilst our driver is doing a great job, it feels like our jeep is not quite 100% and we're going slower than the others. Most times we've stopped so far, the bonnet has been open and several folks peering inside.

At lunchtime (quite late afternoon) we stopped at our digs for tonight near Laguna Colorada - food surprisingly very good, all things considered. Plenty to go around. Not sure how warm it'll be in our dorm room tonight, and we're already aware that there's no hot water or showers in this place.

After food, we drive down to the lake edge, where there's an amazing 'red' colour in the water, which looks great against the white salt areas in the distance. Also here are rare Jamas Flamingoes, Chilean and Andean Flamingoes in their hundreds, who survive on the pink algae in the water.

Disappointed that we had a short time here as it's an amazing scene.

Back at the digs, we hang around and chat with folks from our group, looking forward to dinner.

Again, impressed with the food - soup, veggie spaghetti, drinks - all included in the trip price. So, Day 1 of the trip and we're really pleased with everything, after not expecting too much - we thought it would be basic sandwiches for every meal!

Very pleased to see a small wood-burner set alight for us, and we make a bench circle as tight as we can and make the most of the limited heat. Of course, whilst this is nice, it'll be even colder when we go into our room!

Folk soon head off to bed and we're not far behind - very glad that we had asked if they had any spare blankets (mantas). So, with 3 layers, plus sleeping blanket, plus clothes and a hat, we cocoon ourselves and prey that we don't die of hypothermia during the night.

It's not a best night's sleep, for any of us in the room (we shared with Duncan and Laura), though Chris seems to have won the prize for most shut-eye. And snoring.

Friday 27th April

Up quite early, and away by just after 8am. Breakfast very good, considering.

More of the same planned for today, heading north, and stopping at various interesting sites.

First stop, a curious random collection of huge stones in the middle of nowhere, one in particular called Arbol de Piedra (Stone Tree - a stone that looks like a tree etc.), then onward to Laguna Honda, Laguna Hedionda and Laguna Canapa. Again, great views and landscapes.

We stopped for a pleasant lunch by the 3rd laguna and watched the flamingoes tucking in themselves, though I much preferred the salad to the pink algae.

Very laid back, just watching the scenery around us, enjoying the fresh air and the company of some new friends.

Quite a long drive in the afternoon across the Salar (salt flat) de Chiguna, which wasn't as impressive as it could have been, due to a cloudy sky.

This was also the opportunity for us to see the optical illusions that are thrown up in such, flat, places - the area is extremely flat and nearly aligned perfectly with the shape of Earth, allowing visitors to see the curvature of the planet by producing an optical illusion that makes many of the mountains within the vicinity appear to be floating in the air since their bases are on the other side of the curve and thus out-of-sight.

Onward through the small village of San Juan towards the Salt Hotel, and saw our first quinoa (an andean crop) fields on the way.

PLeased to arrive at the Salt Hotel, and pleased that it seems warmer here - we're also a little lower in altitude.

Funny little place, though very nice. Made from salt and throughout the floor is simply sand (except in the showers/toilets). Our room is fine, and the bed comfortable.

We have a couple of hours to kill before a group dinner, and sit and chat, and read and play some Ipod. There's even a little tuck shop here, where we see Snickers, Toblerone, Skittles and other such luxuries for the first time in a while.

Dinner was excellent, really good stuff and wine, Also enjoyed good company at the table.

Afterwards, played cards for a while, including Top Trumps Planets, and Sharks.

Bed quite early, as we're up at 5 am tomorrow.

Again, another good day, and we feel that the trip is such a bargain (at 49,000 Pesos/GBP49).

Saturday 28th April

Yaaaawn - up at 5am sharp, though not much to do to get ready, the showers can only be used during the afternoon/evening. No problem. breakfast will also follow later, once we've made it to our sunrise rendezvous.

The moon is far over the horizon at this time, leaving a nice clear blanket of stars to admire, as well as the occasional shooting star.

Leaving a little later than planned, we head off with fingers crossed that we get to the sunrise point just in time.

We're now on the Salar de Uyuni, the largest and highest salt lake in the world, at 3650m, and covering 9000-12000 sq kilometres - this is twice as big as the great salt lakes in the USA. The depth of the salt ranges from 2-20 metres, and was part of a prehistoric lake, Lago Minchin, which dried up many, many years ago...

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of cloud around, especially where the sun is rising, so not the best of views, but it's amazing standing in the middle of the huge open, white, space.

There's an island in the middle of the salt flat, Isla de Los Pescadores (Fisherman Island), and you can climb to the top to get great views of the surrounding flats.

Had breakfast here too and played around with taking some photos, where it looks like Chris is as big as a book, etc. Sorry, no picture to show, but will update 'soon'.

Once the sun was fully up, the surrounding white salt looks amazing, and stretches far out to the horizon, though it would have been very cool to see nothing else on the horizon at all, for the whole 360 degree view.

Back in the jeep, we drive across the flat to another hotel in the middle of nowhere, which is made of salt. Then, onto some working saltmines at the edge of the flats.

Had lunch near here, again, great food.

Chris was given a bag of coca leaves to feed to a fairly-tame Yuanco. I say fairly tame, but it had been spitting at a few folks previously, like a camel.

By mid-afternoon we arrived in the dusty town of Uyuni, but before stopping we visit the train cemetary - simply a bunch of rusting locomotives, sat on their tracks in the middle of the desert. It is said that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid held up one of these trains....

Back in Uyuni, we spent a few moments wondering whether to stay in town for a night, or get the overnight bus straight up to Potosi.

A few minutes later.....yep, we'll stay here. We're recommended by the Estrella people to stay at a hostel right by the open air bus terminal (oops, can't remember the name), and they also get us to a recommended bus company (6th de Octubre) to buy our ticket for tomorrow morning.

We'll not be doing much here except killing some time and avoiding taking the bus overnight. I'm sure it's safe, but we're more comfortable waiting until tomorrow. Anyway, it's only about a 6 hour journey, so we'd be arriving in the middle of the night, to then have to find accomodation. Not worth the bother...

After a long awaited shower, we spend some time in the small town, get some Boliviano's, and some food.

Using an ATM (there's a Visa one in town, not certain about Mastercard), it works out for me (as a Brit) that I get slightly more US Dollars for my money than Bolivianos, so I reckon we'll be using a mixture whilst we're in the country. Another tip, if you're using a debit card, like Nationwide's (www.nationwide.co.uk - free international ATM withdrawals), it'd be a good idea to make small withdrawals to give you smaller notes - 50 Bolivianos seem to be the smallest the machines give. US Dollars seem to be 20's.

Whilst we had said goodbye to Duncan and Laura, we had hoped we bump into them in town for a last meal, alas.......

Anyway, we'll underline the Uyuni overland trip here, and simply say that we had a great time, and, as well as recommending anyone in the vicinity to do the trip, we don't think you'd go wrong booking with Estrella del Sur, even if it's a few quid more.

continued on next thread...

3 day trip to Uyuni - border crossing into Bolivia... remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sunday 22nd April

So another bus journey over, and we are dropped off in a dusty carpark, where there are a few hostel owners hanging around for some business.

We had make a booking with one of the hostels that's slightly out of town, and were expecting to be picked up, however they didn't show. On the basis that there's no taxis in sight, we don't have a map and feel completely lost, we take up the offer of a room from the guy that owns Hostel Iquisa, which he says is nice, central and 5000Pesos each per night. He's also got a van to take us there, so we accept.

It's a small place, that looks out across the desert to the mountains and seemingly there's noone else there.

The room is fine, and the shared bathroom also looks okay. No breakfast here, but we have full use of the kitchen. There's also three cats, all responding to the name 'Mooncat'.

We drop off our bags, and follow the crappy map towards town, but go slightly wrong and end up missing the centre. Thankfully the two dogs that followed us know the way back, and we soon hit the 'highstreet'.

Not your usual highstreet mind, we are in the middle of the desert after all. However, there seems to be quite a lot going on - lots of tour shops, restaurants/bars but all on a small, dusty, scale. Looks like an interesting place to hang out for a few days.

Because our time here is quite limited we make enquiries as to the local tours - we aware of the Moon Valley tour, various geysers and ruins. Of course, this is also where we pick up our 4x4 trip to Uyuni, Bolivia.

Also, we're low on Pesos, so make a beeline to one of the two ATM's in town. One's Mastercard, the other, Visa - both of them quite near to the main street.

Booked our Moon Valley tour, and had a bite to eat at the excellent 'Todo Natural' restaurant.

Then, an early night and to take things easy at 2500 metres.

Monday 23rd April

Visited the Archaelogical Museum, which contains the collection of Padre Gustave Paige, a Belgian missionary who lived in San Pedro between 1955 and 1980. Lots of other interesting exhibits - pottery, textiles, miniature Inca artefacts, Paleoithic tools, skulls with headdresses, jewellery, and paraphernalia for smoking hallucinogenic drugs!

The museum details the development of pre-Hispanic Atacameno society. We learnt that there was human occupation of the area approx. 11,000 years ago.

At that time it was more humid, as the ice age was ending, and large glaciers melting meant that it became more wet. Nevertheless, the flora and fauna was the same, just more plentiful.

The weather changed, to like what we have today, around 6-8000 years ago.

Lunch followed, then we booked our 'Salt Flats' tour, after having read therecommendations/cautions book at the tourist office. Clearly, 'Estrella del Sur' came out well in the reviews, and we were pleased to book with them. Lionel was very friendly, and explained the 3 day/2 night very well. It's a little more expensive than most of the others, at 49,000 Pesos, but we reckon it'll be worth it and will keep our fingers crossed.

After lunch, our afternoon trip out to the Moon Valley heads off.

First stop, we head to a viewpoint of the surrounding mountain ranges (The Andean Mountain Range - a chain of volcanoes) - excellent sight/site, and our guide gives us some information of the surrounding geological area. Also had a view of the Salar (Salt Flat) de Atacama.

We're told that 40% of the world's Lithium is mined in the area.

Back in the bus we head over to Death Valley - stunning reddish landscapes. Excellent fun running down the high sandy slopes - this is where some of the sand-boarding tours come.

Moving on, we drive on to Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna) itself and we start by walking through a small canyon network, which are mainly made of salt, though they have a coating of sandy dust covering them. Apparently, after rain, the place turns white!

At the main viewpoint in the Valley, we start by walking from the carpark up to the top of a huge sand dune, then along to the 'medium' (exertion required to get there) viewpoint, where we have excellent 360 degree views, as the sun slowly sets in the distance. Fantastic landscapes, and the setting sun turns the surrounding hills a gorgeous red. Gets a bit bloody cold after the sun sets!

The tour was a good as was promised at the office in town, and we'd highly recommend Cosmo Andino. They're a little more expensive, but it paid off.

Back in town and we head straight for Todo Natural and enjoy an excellent 3 course meal with wine, for under GBP10.

Tuesday 24th April

Paul woke up, under the weather - a bit achy-breaky, bad (loose!)stomach etc. As a result we decide against hiring bikes, and he stays in bed while Chris heads into town, visiting the Church, which has a roof made from thick cactus bark.

Some nuns came into the church in their dazzling-white tunics (how do they keep them so clean in this dusty place?) and started praying. Couldn't believe it when a photographer came in and started to film them inside the church, at the altar, withthe priest. A little hypocritical when there's a big notice directed at tourists, deeming photography/filming forbidden as it 'harms the saints faces'.

After, Chris went along to the cemetary on the edge of town - lots of simple crosses placed on mounds of earth with colourful wreaths wrapped around the crosses.

Nice Chris also picked up some food in town for lunch.

After catching up on some diary, Chris walked to Pukara de Quitor, 3kms out of town - a 12th century fortress, which was restored in 1981. Not a huge amount to see, mainly consisting of low walls, so some imagination required.

The fortress was stormed by the Spanish under Pedro de Valdivia -1000 defenders were overcome by only 30 horsemen, but they were helped by Indians.

Despite the altitude, it can get very hot under the bright sun, so Chris very glad of a lift from a passer-by back to town.

In the evening, Paul well enough for a walk into the town and for some food, again atTodo Natrural. This time, the excellent food accompanied by a local group who played a handful of traditional tunes, on guitar, drum, flute and panpipes.

Fairly early night ahead of an early start for a trip to the geysers - pickup at 4am!!!

Wednesday 25th April

Paul still not in great health and decides against joining the daytrip to the El Tatio geysers.

The pickup was on time, and the minibus makes its way through the darkness up to 4300metres - the worlds highest geyser field.

Due to science, the geysers are more active just before sunrise, though Chris was a little disappointed, as she had expected/hoped to see huge spurts of water, but the highest here only about 2 metres. All the same, the site was impressive - lots of little geysers, coloured streams caused by the minerals.

The site is a little dangerous, as there's no safety rails around the geyser holes. It comes as no surprise to hear that there are regular accidents!

After the geysers the trip continues to a nearby hotspring, where we enjoy a dip. Also here, the French geyser - so named after the first (French) person to fall in and perish.

Apparently, geysers are formed when a frozen underground river makes contact with hot rocks.

On the journey back to San Pedro, the group stops at a small village, inhabited by only a few folk, making a living from the tourists. It's a sweet reed-roofed village, with a delightful little church.

Chris had her best cheese empanada here!

On the last part of the journey back, we stopped to see a 'hundreds of years old' cactus, and also persuaded the guide to show us a waterfall a little downstream. Couldn't believe we were sitting by a waterfall in one of the driest areas of the world.

Paul felt better for the extra rest in bed, and was on better form in time for late lunch, again at Todo Natural. Probably wasn't the best thing to have after a dodgy stomach, but we enjoyed a complementary Pisco Sour. Hey, maybe it's just what Paul needs!

Not much done for the rest of the day - we get our stuff ready for heading out on the Uyuni trip, and into Bolivia.

to be continued on the next thread...

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Friday 20th April

So, our bus from Mendoza gets us into Salta Bus Terminal just after midday. First thing to do is make our way to the hostel 'Hostel in Salta', which seems quite near, as far as the map is concerned.

20 minutes later (walking!), we get to the place and are shown to our delightful 'attic' room (room 3), which has it's own bathroom. Breakfast is included here too. At the time of writing this, I can't remember how much the room cost, but it was one of the cheapest places we had stayed in Argentina, around GBP6 a night for both of us.

Walked into town and stpped at the large main Plaza (9 de Julio) and had some lunch on the square.

The plaza is very pretty and not troubled by too much traffic. The square is surrounded by orange trees and interesting Colonial buildings, which are combinations of museums, restaurants, cafes and small shops.

Nice lunch, and cheap too, and pleased/surprised to see Susanne, who we met a few weeks ago in Torres del Paine. She's now travelling with her friend Britta, since Mike went home from Calafate.

Pleased to catch up over lunch, and we plan to meet up again in the evening.

With full tums, we walk across to the Cable Car (Teleferico) to take us up the hill for vies of the city and further out.

The view are good, and the facilities at the top of the cable car are quite well done - restaurant, neat waterfall, various viewing sites. Views of the surrounding peaks slightly obscured by clouds, though it's still quite warm.

After an hour at the top, we walk back down to town, though initially getting lost and walking off towards the nearest peak. The proper path down takes you through a green wooded area, leading to the Güemes Monument. General Martín Miguel de Güemes, a hero of the wars of independence.

Trying to be organised, we went back via the bus station to get out tickets out of here, to San Pedro de Atacama (Chile), for Sunday. We would hang around here longer, but the weather forecast not so good for the next few days, and the next bus isn't until Tuesday.

Only two bus companies go from here to San Pedro (Pullman and Geminis) and both go on the same days, 3 days a week. The Gemini bus was full for Sunday, so went with Pullman - prices pretty much the same, we paid 140Pesos each, semi-cama.

Rushed back to the hostel to change, before heading back out to meet with Susanne for dinner. Had a lovely evening, though back quite early. Susanne and Britta get a 5am bus tomorrow!

Saturday 21st April

Both of us woke up feeling a little grotty, and we stayed in bed, missing breakfast.

Finally got into town around noon, and had some lunch and a litre of orange juice, for health reasons! Christine's Submarino (hot mile with a bar of choc melted into it) cheered her up.

As it's siesta time, and not much open, we walked around the interesting town bordering the main plaza.

Later, after 5pm when things spring to life again, we visited the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology. Several mummies are stored here, but only one (amazingly preserved) is on show to the public. There are some photos of 3 others recently found - 3 children, who look as though they have only recently died. The 'Queen of the Mountain' is on show - a girl offered (sacrificed) to the Inca divinities at the summit of Chuscha Mountain.

In the early 1920´s the tomb of the girl was looted and the mummy was bought by a collector from Buenos Aires. Thankfully her last owner saw fit to contact the Centre for the Studies in Applied Politics, and after 82 years the mummy was returned to the province of Salta in 2006.

The body looks quite disfigured, but you can steill see hair and teeth.

More than 200 mountains with archaelogical remains have been discovered in the Andes.

Also on show at the (quite small) museum are some objects that were found with the mummy - a necklace, shells, bowls, combs and other pottery.

After the museum, we visit the Cathedral, also on the main Plaza.

Lonely Planet right to call it gaudy! It's pink and white outside and the inside is quite ornate, with paintings and an elaborate golden altar.

Next, and also on the Plaza, we visited the Old City Hall (18th Century Cabildo). It houses religious and modern art - pottery, funeral urns, furniture, historic coins, as well as some old vehicles.

Unfortunately only 1 solitary sign in English, so not a huge amount of information gained, but interesting anyway, and worth the 2 Pesos entrance.

A little sorry that we're feeling grotty on our last night in Argentina, and not too excited about the early start tomorrow... (which also means we'll miss breakfast again!)

Sunday 22nd April

The hostel ordered a taxi for us to take us to the bus station, glad that it turned up on time at 6.30am - worst nightmare is to miss a bus!, especially in a place where the next one isn't for 2 more days.

Anyway, we're on time and get some cheap croissants at the bus station and use up the last of our Argentinian Pesos.

The bus leaves pretty much on time, and leg room is pretty good, on this semi-cama bus, which is mainly full of tourists.

The route takes us via San Salvador de Jujuy and we pass some amazing mountainous scenery, where we remember that we're feeling the effects of the altitude.

Food served onboard is basic, but welcome.

Took quite a while getting through the border control - we've been lucky so far, usually we done within 20 minutes, but here at least an hour.

Arrive in Chile for the last time...

to be continued on next thread...

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Mendoza, Argentina

We remember Derrick on his Birthday today.

So, another travelling day, and we're up early to squeeze in breakfast before heading to the busy metro for the few stops to the bus station. Hopefully, being quite early on a Sunday, the metro won't be too busy.

Yep, it's fine and we get to the bus station before 10am for our 10.30 departure.

A little odd when we check-in to where we bought our tickets - we're led to the booth next door and seemingly signed on to another bus/another company, though this bus is due to leave now, at 10am.

Turns out fine, maybe even a little more comfy on this semi-cama bus, which is going all the way to Buenos Aires, via Mendoza. Also, as we leave the terminal, there's not too many people onboard, so should make the border crossing a little quicker.

As well as the treat of snacks during the journey, we're also treated to some loud music courtesy of the driver. Curiously, it seems that whenever he looks down and touches the volume control (by his feet), the bus veers into the centre of the road. We should be safe, it was Friday 13th a couple of days ago.

A couple ofours into the journey and the terrain gets hilly and mountainous. Set against the clear blue sky, it's a great sight.

We're essentially climbing to the border and pass the nearby Parque Provincial Aconcagus, which has the western hemisphere's highest summit, at 6960m.

Took a little while to cross the border (we had been used to getting a coachload through in 20 minutes, but took an hour here, but it is a major road border between Chile and Argentina.

Impressive scenery as we continue the journey, though our driver seems in a hurry, and these roads are a little narrow, with steep drops to the side.

Went through Uspallata, a pretty valley (especially due to the autumn colours creeping into the trees. This place was where they filmed '7 ears in Tibet' (Brad Pitt).

Passed a few of the rafting sites along the way and as we neared Mendoza, though the water looks pretty flat, and not a lot of fun.

At the bus terminal, arriving an hour or so later than expected, we're met by a guy who would like us to stay at his hotel. He seems fine, the place looks good, and we get our own apartment for 70Pesos (just under GBP12) a night, including breakfast. Mendoza would have been a good place to meet up with other travellers, but the lure of our own bathroom, cable TV, small kitchenette is a good lure. It's also a minute from the centre of town - it's called Providencia Apartments, on San Juan, and neear to the tourist information 'hut' by Avenida San Martin.

It's evening, so we have a wander around town - Mendoza is quite different to what we expected, a lot more busy, though not suggesting it's a bad place. Good vibe in town on this Sunday evening - the main plaza (Plaza Independencia) busy with market stalls and open air performances. Quite a few police in town to keep an eye on revellers out to watch the Boca Juniors v River Plate game on tonight.

Had a bargain dinner at a local pizza/pasta restaurant -washed down with a local beer. Nice to be back in Argentina and enjoying the amazingly good prices, and even moreso that it's even warmer here than Santiago - in fact, nudging on the humid side.

Had a further wander around the Plaza - Christine wishing her sister, Julie, was here for them to enjoy spending aaaagggggeeeesss at the jewellery stands.

Managed to make a collect call back to the UK - you need to call the international operator on '000'. Convenient to have an English speaker at the other end to save Paul from his limited Espanol. Seems that Morgan Stanley have sorted my account from the recent misuse by some ponce in New Zealand.

Watched a little bit of telly, before a good nights sleep.

Monday 16th April

Easy morning - a little bit of internet, and caught up with Kim online, arranged to meet for late lunch with her and Rebecca.

Chris did a some research on wine tours while Paul caught up some more with the blog.

Had lunch at a great vegetarian restaurant, called Green Apple, a little bit out of the centre of town, but easy walking distance. It's an 'all you can eat' buffet, and the range and quality of food is really good. Was 15Pesos, excluding drinks - nice people run the place and we're looking forward to at least one more visit while we're here.

Realised again that Mendoza is much bigger than we thought.

Found out about a 'huge' mall near the bus station and decided to walk down there. Wasn't quite where it was pinpointed on the map for us, and it turned out to be a few kilometres up the highway, though literally a few minutes bu taxi. A nice place (if you like that sort of thing), though not a huge amount of shops. There's a multiscreen cinema there too. Didn't spend too long here before the taxi back to town.

Met back up with Kim in the evening (her truck leaves town in the morning), and the three of us grab some food and beer at a local restaurant in the pedestrian area. Great steak sandwich!

Were joined by a couple of dogs, though it was unusual to see one of them (with a limp) being aggressive to the other. Ended up in a bit of a fight (started by the disabled one), that was broken up by a couple of local guys. The disabled one hobbled off, limping, and yelping.

Tuesday 17th April

Making the most of our nice apartment and took it lazy again in the morning. Enjoying having breakfast brought up to our room!

Paul doesn't think it's worth going on one of the expensive all-day wine tours, that include lunch. It's between USD105 and USD125 each. Neither of us is that 'into' wine, and we're not sure how good the inclusive lunch will be, especially for veggie Chris.

Instead, we take our chances on a half day tour, that will visit two wineries, including one that is listed inthe top-20 in a magazine we picked up at reception. This tour costs 40Pesos each, less 5% discount for being good HI members.

Had a semi-picnic lunch in the park-like Plaza before getting to the nearby HI Hostel to wait for our transport. Sod's law at work here - arrived a few minutes before the suggested pickup time of 2.30, to be collected at 3. Also a little cross to find we have a coachload of 24 people, when we were told that the max is 14. Grrrr.

The first winery we visit, about 40 minutes drive from town, is 'Weinert'. The tour wasokay, though the commentary in a mix of Spanish and English - a little rushed. Nice to see a traditional cellar being used to store the wine in huge oak casks. ( metres deep, and the walls a metre thick.

Got to taste a white, a red and a dessert wine. Chris preferred the latter - Paul still prefers a cool white.

Next winery stop - French-owned 'Fabre Montmayou', rated 17th out of 20 in Wine Republic magazine.

First we saw the vines, which are covered by an expensive neting to prevent damage by seemingly frequest hail storms, which is despite the area receiving little rainfall through the year.

Different to the previous winery, the wine here is fermented in huge, modern, stainless steel tanks and then stored in smaller wooden barrels. These barrels are only used 4 times, whilst the huge barrels at the previous winery are used for over 100 years, with regular, thorough, cleanouts.

Their white wine is bottled within several months of harvest, and their longest-barrelled wine (and the most expensive) is stored for 16 months and then bottle-stored for a further 12 months.

We learnt a few things today, including that the barrel (from California) gives the wine some of its flavour, including chocolate, pepper and leather (??!!??) - the tannins coming from the wood, and the higher oercentage of tannins, the longer the wine will keep. This therefore explains why 'young' wines do not keep (low tannin content, as they're not stored in barrels).

Chris was happy to also learn that the indentation the the bottom of the wine bottle indicates the quality of the wie, though surely this is just a gimmick. We're also told that the winery use different labels for the same wine, but for different world markets. Again. more marketing gimmick'ry.

Of course, tasted a few more wine here, including our first ever (we think) Malbec. Not sure if we could really taste the difference between this and other red wines. The Malbec vine is Argentinian, though initially it came from France but didn't suit the soil there as well as it did here. That said, we still weren't that fussed!

This tour was very informative and it was better that the English speakers in the group had their own guide.

Had hoped that, time permitting, we'd also be stopping at a chocolate factory. Instead, we were taken to a church which contained a 200 year old statue of the Virgin Mary, broughtover from Spain in 1666. Of course, Paul is very glad we came here rather than the chocolate factory.

We get dropped off back in town around 7ish and buzz about for a while before heading back to the apartment, and watch The Fantastic Four.

Wednesday 18th April

Oops, took it even easier this morning - caught up with some internet stuff, than a coffee at McDonalds.

Considered another half day winery tour, but the vineyards they are going to today aren't listed in our Top-20 magazine, so we don't bother and head off to another part of town to buy our bus tickets to Salta.

It's an overnight bus ride, so we've gone for 'cama', which gives us a bed of sorts, though not quite as good as the Premier Class, which gives a proper flat bed. We're travelling with Andesmar, who aren't the cheapest, but the service has been recommended several times.

Next, we head up to San Martin Parque, really enjoy the walk (20 minutes or less) through a fancy part of town, nice houses. The park is huge and we only walk around to the lake, where we see folk rowing.

We're really enjoying Mendoza more and more, it's a really smart place - wide, tree-lined streets, smart bars and restaurants, lots of cafes. Interesting to see people in suits on their mobiles, drinking coffee, and getting their shoes shined. All at the same time.

Anyway, back at the park, we sat on the short bank by the water and enjoyed the afternoon sun. Chris caught up on some diary, Paul had a snooze.

Late afternoon and we return to town via the Plaza. Nice Christine did some clothes washing at the apartment, then we stepped out for some food and to make another collect call to the credit card company. Not sure if I mentioned before, but to make a collect call from Argentina, dial the International Operator with '000' and select from the brief menus - not sure what the options are, but you'll get through to an English speaking operator, who will help with your Cordo Revertido.

Thursday 19th April

Our last day in Mendoza today, and we check out at 10am. Did consider paying 35 Pesos to keep the room until 6pm, but didn't bother in the end. Our bus to Salta is at 8.30pm.

Unfortunately we probably wasted the day today - Paul couldn't be bothered to get the local bus to Maipu and visit some vineyards on our own. On reflection, he's sorry we wasted the day and should have got his ass moving. Christine kicks herself for not going it alone.

Not the best weather today, but we head back to the Park again and enjoy some fresh air by the lake, though it got a little chilly so we walked around the lake watching some afternoon runners.

Thinking ahead, we had picked up some picnic food on the way. Whilst we were joined by a couple of dogs, they didn't seem interested in helping Paul eat his ham sandwiches. Felt very sorry for one little one who had an injury just above his eye, and was also suffering from the suds (a cold). Poor little thing had a crusty eyes and a dry crusty nose - he was sniffing away, but still managing to wag his tail. Hopefully we haven't caught anything from him...

Not a lot else happened today, and we returned to town to pick up our bags and head to the nearby bus station. The bus leaves on time, and we're motoring just after 8.30pm. This is our first ride on a double decker coach, and we're upstairs.

A pretty comfortable ride through the night, and the food we had for dinner was fine, including the wine! Slept okay, though not as good as the ride from Pucon to Mendoza - it seemed a little more noisy this time.

16 hours later, we arrive safely in Salta...but gutted that the route the bus took wasn't the '68', from Cafayate - the scenery would have been better.

to be continued on next thread...

Mendoza, Argentina - into the wine region... remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Santiago, Chile

The journey is fine and the three of us get a fair bit of sleep, before pulling into the central bus station at about 7am. Strangely no movie last night, nor any meal, though we're given some breakfast - cheese and ham rolls, juice etc.

We hang around at the bus station whilst Theresa sorts her onward bus journey to Buenos Aires, another 24 hours away. Gulp. She is convenienty booked on the bus heading out at 10.15 am, so we hang around in the food court nearby and wait until after the bulk of rushhour before making our way into the city.

Goodbyes to Theresa, we've had a nice week with her - once again, we're grateful to be meeting so many good people. Theresa's help with her excellent Spanish has been most appreciated, though the three of us will remember her, on occasion (well, 1), misuse of both mathematics, and English. And she said 'bugger' a lot. Looking forward to meeting up again in London in the summer.....

The metro station is just a couple of minutes away and we're only a few stops from Universitad de Chile station. The metro is still busy, but is fine/cheap, and the journey soon over. A little daunted to be back in a big city and not yet having our bearings.

Went around the houses a bit to find our recommended hostel, though it's actually called Hotel Londres Plaza. A big place, though not sure if it's that busy. We get a double room with TV (not Cable) and view overlooking the cobbled courtyard outside. Breakfast is included and the shared bathroom is fine. A little more expensive than recently at 16,000Pesos (around GBP16).

After checking-in we shower and head out before nodding off. Glad that it's got warmer as we've headed north, though would welcome an extra couple of degrees - either way, it's tshirt weather.

First random observation is the number of blind people we have come across in the first 5 minutes of being out!

Head towards the Plaza de Armas - keeping an eye out for Starbucks, we're sure there's one around and would both enjoy a Frappucino right now.

Also very busy in the city centre - strange for mid morning during the week. We walk on towards the art gallery, Bellas Artes, but don't go in, and instead try and track down the Cerro (Hill) Santa Lucia - a 'rock' in the centre of town, some 70 metres high. Obviously originally a natural feature, though lots of manmade features, and a few buildings. A fortress at the top (that you can't get in), a small church, a huge stone gate, statues and garden features.

The views from the top not particularly impressive, what with the smog all around, blocking the view to the high hills that surround the city, which themselves are the main cause of the smog not escaping the city limits. Whilst the views not that superb, you get a feel for how spread out the city is, and how much of a tiny dent we'll make in it over the next 3 or 4 days.

On the way back to the hostel/hotel, we stop at the San Franciso church, which is actually at the top of our road. It's the oldest church in Santiago, dating from 1618. It's a very simple building, the walls just white-washed. The only really ornate part of the church is the ceiling, which wouldn't look out of place in a stately home.

In one corner of the church is an area that, in one sense, has been vandalised with graffiti, though this must be an accepted way of communicating with God or Jesus - many messages asking Jesus to guard over sons/daughters etc.

Also other messages of 'thanks' to San Francisco and also some curious words of remembrance in respect of deceased dogs. Extraordinary, but we'd be happy to see more of this sort of thing. "our Father, who barks in heaven....Scraps be thy name... ...give us this day our daily chew-stick... ...forgive us our daily poops...etc" I'll leave it there, lest a bolt of lightning strike me down.

For lunch we tried to trackdown Govinda's, an Indian/veggie place. Found it - found it had closed down. Never mind, there's a couple more veggie places in town, and we get a table in one (El Naturalista), though have to wait 10 minutes. Strange to see so many office folks taking lunch way into the middle of the afternoon.

The food is good here, and we're full for 10,000 Pesos, which is a little more than we'd spend for two, especially if no alcohol is involved.

There's a small cinema nearby, and it's 'cheap Wednesday', so pleased to get tickets to watch Spartan gore-epic '300', for GBP1.80 each. Smuggle in some sweets,despite the warning in Spanish that that sort of caper is not allowed.

Enjoy the film, though it's no comedy. Can certainly see the Frank Miller influence - similar use of bloody-ness, as seen in Sin City.

A little tired in the evening, so watch some Chilean telly before an early night. Looking forward to more exploring tomorrow, sooo much to see! Fingers tightly crossed for more blue skies.

Thursday 12th April

Today starts with a 'grande' thank you to my Aunty M who continues to print off our blog and post it through to my ma back at home. Our next cerveza will be 'cheers'd' to you, Aunty Margaret and Uncle John. Of course, we're also pleased that you're still reading about our little diary - sorry there's no pictures!

Whilst on the subject of thanks - cheers Jason for sorting out those muppets at British Gas, and to Piers for emailing the various threatening letters, when British Gas already knew we were out of the country, and ta Neil for letting us know that the Water Company had forced a water meter on you and sneakily fitted it whilst you guys were out. I'm sure a huge leak would have taken days/weeks to see to....

Also, big thanks to Gav for keeping the car ticking over for the last 9 months - I trust that you haven't been doing any wheelspins in my absence!

Of course, closer to home, thanks Ma, for sorting out a whole bunch of stuff, sorry I was blasphemous a little earlier regarding a re-write of the Lord's Prayer. Only three months to go before we're back, and can't wait to see you. Also, Julie, grateful for everything you have done whilst we have been away.

Sorry, that's not an exhaustive list - if you're not mentioned, we do still love you.

Right, back to the trip and, yes, it's a blue sky day.

Breakfast at 8.20am, and after we head straight for the Palacio de la Moneda (built 1805, and restored after the coup in 1973), or 'The Presidential Palace. Watched the ceremonial changing of the guard at 10am (it happens every other day). After the brief change we follow on into the courtyard, though little to see - a couple of old cannons and some stone sculptures. Chris had her picture taken with one of the friendly guards, who, whilst looking quite senior, indicated for Chris to link arms with him.

Thankkfully the guard laughed at Paul's attempt at humour in Spanish - 'Senor, por favor, no tocar...'

On a small mission of our own today - we know there's a few Starbucks in town, though the website doesn't help with directions. No luck trying to find the nearest one, but the walk does lead us to the Palacio Cousino - a large mansion in French Rococo style. Not quite sure what Rococo style actually is, though it's a nice building on the outside.

Dating from 1871, and taking 7 years to build, by Luis and Isadora Cousino (millionaires who made their money from silver mining and wine). The palace amazed Santiago society with it's ultra-modern touches - it has it's own electricity generator and the first lift in the country.

Sadly Luis died from TB at 38, and before the palace was finished. His wife completed the building and lived there, never re-marrying, with her 6 children.

The Palace was bought by the Mayor on the 1940's at a reduced price and it is still used for official receptions. Many dignatories have stayed there, though the only one we can remember is Eisenhower. Sorry!

Queen Elizabeth II was due to stay there in the 60's, but 2 weeks before she was due, a fire destroyed the second floor. Whilst a restoration took place, the municipalidad could only afford to to use pine, rather than mahogany.

The palace is stunning, and the detail amazing. Handmade drapes in each room, tapestries, fantastic artworks. Also chandeliers, including one with 3,000 pieces of crystal, that are individually hand cleaned 3 times a year. All of the furniture was imported from France or Italy, and the main staircase is constructed from 20 different types of marble.

The family monogram can be seen on the curtainsrails, mirrors and doors.

Sweet to see the 'indiscretos' - chairs with three individual seats connected in a circle, designed to accomodate a courting couple and a chaperone.

Well worth waiting the 20 minutes for a tour of the house with an English-speaking guide. It cost 2000Pesos each for entrance, including the tour, and also including some fancy slippers to wear over your outdoor shoes. It felt like we were on a ward.

Later in the aftrnoon we made our way on the metro out to El Golf station, where we think there's a Starbucks. Yep, there is, and we enjoy a Frappucino.

From here we walk out to the nearby (though a 30 minute walk) shopping mall, and did a little light shopping. Managed to find an Apple shop and bought a camera connector, (so to use the Ipod to store photos as a back up). Annoyingly it doesn't work, though it's compatible with both the Ipod and the camera (Canon 350D) - looks lie the Ipod software needs updating. Bugger!

Walked back to the metro, though this time we walk past the Military school. Nothing going on this afternoon, though there's a nice clear view of the mountains that surround Santiago, even though the ever-present smog is there.

Vegetarian dinner, again(!), at El Naturalista - great food again.

After, we pop along, on the offchance, to see if Exodus Kim is at her hotel - conveniently she's in the lobby when we arrive.

Aree to head out to the Bellavista area, just a few minutes away in a taxi, with Kim and Rebecca, who is a leader on another truck.

We find a quiet bar and enjoy some wine and Caiprinha's whilst being entertained by a singer/guitarist. Feel a little awkward that he's not getting our full attention, especially when there's only two others in the whole place. Of course, we clap inbetween numbers - he's actually very good.

Found a second bar where we had some late night nachos. Kim had a steak sandwich, and employed the 3-second rule when she dropped it on the floor.

Back in Kim's hotel room, we try to fix her laptop, and fail.

Walking back to our hostel we are accompanied by a friendly dawg, though we try and shake him to saves his disappointment when he's not allowed into our room. He follows us anyway.

Pleased that there was someone to let us in at 3am, though not the dog.

Friday 13th April

Wake up hungover, and likely to miss breakfast, though luckily there's a few bits and pieces left for us.

Walked out to Parque Metropolitano and climbed up San Cristobal, enjoying views of the spread-out city. A bit of a climb, especially in the heat (though not complaining) - 300 metres up, in total. We would have jumped on the funicular railway, but forgot to get any money out before we left.

Sat at the top under the statue of the Virgin Mary, and enjoyed the slightly smoggy view for a while, before making our way back down to Bellavista.

Both got a bit grumpy walking around, not sure where to eat, but eventually found a place, and ate well, and cheaply.

Took a few photos around town - there's a lot of murals/graffiti on the houses - some actually looks quite good.

Walking back towards town we pass the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (a fine-arts gallery), and decide to go in this afternoon. Not the best selection of exhibits, though the building itself is interesting, with it's 'neo-classical architecture. Was cheap anyway, at 600 Pesos.

Not much happening in the evening - Chris still hungover. Watched CSI in Spanish.

Saturday 14th April

Up late this morning - seem to be sleeping to much, but always good to make the most of it.

Made a couple of calls home today, nice to catch up, but always a pain to find out that there's another problem with an old bill. This time, and now 9 months after we told them we were leaving the country, Harrow Council suggest that we owe them.

Next, went on to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino - where there's impressive objects from the pre-colombian cultures of Central America and the Andean region. Most of the objects were in excellent condition - few cracks, bright colours and clear designs. The age of the objects went back to over 500BC, or 500AC as they say here (Antes Christo). A lot of the objects were buried with the dead, so perhaps this explains the reason for their preservation.

Interesting to learn that some of the cultures skinned their dead and placed the bones in urns.

Also, learnt about 'vomit sticks' - sticks that shamen would put down their throats to cleanse their stomachs.

Paul left Christine to go around the museum a second time, at her pace, and sneaked off for a crafty (but tasty) Burger King.

We're heading out of town tomorrow, so organise our bus ticket back at the central station. Not sure if we paid slightly over the odds - 10,000Pesos (initially quoted 15000Pesos) each for the 6/7 hours to Mendoza, across the border in Argentina. We seem to have paid a small commission to a couple of guys that lead us to one of the many companies selling tickets.

A little wary as we hand over the money...

Back on the metro we go along to another fancy part of town, Providencia, though seems like it's not that busy at the weekend - perhaps just busy in the week with the office workers. Pleased to come across another Starbucks - we'll probably not find another until we get to Peru....

The area doesn't seem that great, so we don't hang around and walk back towards home, via Parque Balmaceda, which is a narrow park area, but straddled by busy roads.

Walked to a grotty part of town to get to Iglesia (church) de Los Sacramentinos. The guidebook describes it as a 'gothic church, loosely designed in imitation of the Sacre Coeur in Paris. Hmm. don't know about that, but the inside is impressive - large dome, balconies, and pretty stained-glass windows. Strange that the outside makes it look quite derelict.

After a food court dinner, we went to the cinema to watch disappointing Ghost Rider. Walked back through the pedestrian area to see lots of folk selling all manner of crap at the side of the pavement, and various street performers. Felt just a tiny bit uneasy walking back through the crowds, but got back perfectly safely to our room.

Sunday 15th April

Travelling across the border to Mendoza, Argentina, today, so up quite early to pack and make our way to the bus station for 10am.

continues on next thread...

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Puerto Montt

Didn't plan for Puerto Montt to have much of an entry on this blog, but on arriving at the bus terminal a few minutes walk from the ferry harbour, we find out that the buses from here to Pucon are all full today. There's only one company that goes from here to Pucon - JAC Buses.

Whilst we buy our tickets for the 10am bus for tomorrow, we hang around for todays 10am to see if there's any spare seats. No such luck!

On the way to the (hostel) information stand at the bus station, we are stopped by Heidi who convinces us to check out her hospedaje just a few minutes away.

Yep, it's fine and we pay 5000 Pesos for a double, that has cable TV - always a crowd pleaser.

After dropping off our stuff, we head into town for a coffee and sniff around. Shame it's quite a grotty day, though not raining at least.

Stopped at a small art exhibition, before Paul sat for a couple of hours to get the blog more up to date, while Chris and Theresa took off in a 'collectivo' (a shared taxi) to the small port of Angelmo.

They met a very talkative lady in an artesenal 'aperitif' shop. Theresa speaks good Spanish so could converse with her - chatting about our 'ugly - except Prince William' Royal family and her perception of European girls. She thought Chris and Teresa were German, as they looked quite 'solid'.

She went on to describe Argentinian girls as the ones with fake boobs, big bums and false eyelashes, also that English girls are 'unemotional' and wear little makeup, whereas Italians are nicely dressed. It was hilarious, talking to her and occasionally tasting her fruit/nut aperitifs. The girls bought a bottle of the 'burnt cherry' one.

Walked around the fish market and saw 2 huge seals in the harbour - though the water had a distinct fuel-film on the top and was surely not helping the eye infection that you could clearly see on one of them.

Got a collectivo back to Puerto Montt and collected Paul from the internet shop - a massive 4 hours of blog done today.

Unsure of whether we could use the kitchen at our accomodation, decided to eat out and had a Pizza Hut pizza in the small shopping mall - made the most of their 2 for 1 deal and sat in the food court until two large ones were finished.

Back in the room, and the three of us sit on the bed and watch The Man in the Iron Mask, eating chocolate and drinking 'Burnt Cherry' liquor.

Friday 6th April

to Pucon

Had to wait ages to use the shower - always annoying when someone is pissing around for 20 minutes in there, especially when you are in fact desperate for a piss yourself.

Enjoyed some home made bread for breakfast, then made our way to the bus station to get our 10 o'clock bus.

Left on time, and Paul managed to grab two seats to himself for the first part of the journey - not a lot of leg room on these JAC buses.

'Okay' scenery on the way up towards the lake District,and pleased to arrive in Pucon, where we're planning to stay for a few days. Always nice to have a base for a bit.

Staying here at 'La Casita', just behind the main street, our double room just 5000 Pesos a night. Got use of the kitchen and there's free internet. There's a communal Cable tv, but it's not working, and who knows what might get fixed over the Easter weekend. Looks like we'll need to make polite conversation over the next couple of days. Tch!

We'll be doing some walking from here, so the girls have a look at the forecast, which shows Saturday and Sunday as 'good', but Monday/Tuesday look like rain/clouds etc.

With that in mind, we book up for the volcano climb for tomorrow, though not the 4am start, but the 7am one. Theresa took aaaagggeeeesss sorting out her equipment It's left that she'll choose from three pairs of boots in the morning, depending on her mood, or whether her feet swell overnight. The trip costs 45,000 Pesos, but we get a discount through the hostel, and pay 40,000.

After, we stop at Mamas &Tapas for some '50% off Mexican food', and 2 for 1 cocktails, though it's not a late nor drunken one ahead of a days walking tomorrow.

Saturday 7th April

Ugh, it's too early to hear the alarm. Faces drop further when we realise there's no hot water for a shower.

Arrive at the Politur shop for 6.45am, to find no other bugger around, except some dogs, and we don't think they have paid for the trip.

No problem, as one of the guides soon arrives, and most others a few minutes later. It's confirmed, the dogs aren't on the trip.

Also, Chris feeling a little anxious of the climb ahead of us - the volcano of just under 3000 metres, and, of course, we'll be going 'up', rather than 'along'.

So, we get our equipment on and the minibus takes us to the park. Thankfully the ski lift is working today (wasn't yesterday), so we skip the first 400 metres, and save an hour and a bit.

Initially, when in town, we thought that the weather might go against us, but a little way up the volcano in the minibus and we're above the low cloud, and a clear view of the volcano (Villarrica) is ahead of us.

At the carpark, with about a million others (perhaps 150-200), we are issued with icepicks (a fair bit of the climb will be over ice, though not literally climbing it), before jumping onto the chairlift over the first part of the volcano base.

Thankfully survive the chairlift, despite it stopping briefly about halfway up. Also survive getting off the chairlift, and avoid one of those 'You've Been Framed' moments.

The whole group walked up the first bit together, taking the pace nice and slow along the narrow ledges. No getting out of breath just here then, but it looks a bit more challenging further up.....

First rest-stop was at a derelict skilift that was damaged during an eruption in the early 1970's - great views from here.

As we approached the snow/ice line, we stopped to put on some crampons, to make our walk a little safer, though we are walking up a fairly steep bank, and it'd be easy to lose your footing and tumble straight to hell. Seemed odd (if not dangerous) that some of the other climbing groups didn't have crampons - we'd recommend Politur on that alone.

The views get better as we climb up, though a bank of cloud seems to be following us up the volcano-side. The walk isn't too tough, and the pace steady and safe.

At the top of the snowline and closer to the summit, we remove the crampons for the last 30 minutes, before getting to the summit at about 1pm ) less than 4 hours walking. Whilst it's been quite hard, it has been easier than we worried about.

Shame so many people at the top, and the gases rising from inside the active volcano aren't too pleasant.

We take some photos of the surrounding country, and after some lunch, we are guided to the other side of the crater where we get a decent view inside. There's not a huge amount of lava to be seen from here, but it's stunning to see (and hear) it gurgle below.

I guess it's quite dangerous up here - no rails or anything, and it's very easy to want to crane yourself just that little bit more over the edge. No casualties today, expect one fashion victim. Theresa is caught wearing her green-lens sunglasses over her bi-focals.

Had plenty of time at the top, before gearing up again for the ascent. First a little walk back down to the ice, and from there we get to slide down the toboggan runs. Not perfect sliding, some of us a little to wide to fit the channel properly, so actually quite hard work in places, chugging yourself along. Equally though, some spots quite steep and you desperately needed to use your icepick to slow you down. Really good fun, if not a little tiring.

Some of the slides separated by a short walk/stumble over the ice. Very glad to use the icepick to steady yourself before tumbling.

Took longer than we thought to reach the rock again, and very pleased to take off the waterproofs and cool down a little.

The final stretch was pretty easy going, but again, seemed longer than you'd think. It probably didn't take much less time going down than up, though of course, we didn't take the skilift down the last 400 metres.

Back at the carpark at about 5pm, and ready for the drive back to Pucon - everyone pleased with a great day.

As we said, the climb seemed quite dangerous in parts, but the (3) guides were very attentive and always keeping an eye out. Another reason to recommend Politur.

Back at the shop to drop off our equipment, we're treated to some drinks and we have a little chat before heading back for a shower. Unfortunately, the showers at La Cassita are not particularly hot.

Dinner at Trewan restaurant in town - really tasty set menu - tomato soup, veggie lasagne and fruit salad. Bargain at 3200 Pesos - really good food.

Picked up some food on the way back (for brekky and another planned walk), and treated ourselves to an early night and some rest for the feet.

Great day, and pleased that the weather stayed so good.

Sunday 8th April

Easter Sunday, not a Cadbury's Buttons egg in sight.

Off to the National Park (Huerquehue) today, for a walk around the lakes. The girls head out to sort our transport plans, and we find that the local bus leaves at 8.30 - it's now 9.30.

Instead, we hire a taxi to take us the hour or so to the park - 3000 Pesos, rather than the 1600 on the bus.

Got to the park for 11ish and did the 3 lakes walk - beautiful, especially on another sunny and warm day. The 3 lakes, Chico, Verde and Toro all pretty and the track easy to navigate, though the first hour was uphill, but easy thereafter, especially after sitting down to scoff some mini easter eggs we got from the supermarket yesterday. Nice, but not Cadbury's

Saw lots of Monkey Puzzle Trees (ie Araucaria Araucana - Chile's National Tree).

No big rush today as the suggested walking time would get us back to the park office for the bus well before 5.30. So, took our time to enjoy the scenery and good weather. Stopped at a few spots - Lago Toro the fave of the day - glad to have no one else around and enjoy the silence, save for a few fish splashing in the lake.

On the JAC Bus at 5.30 for the ride back to Pucon - glad to get seats as we pick up a few locals along the way. In Pucon for 7pm, and the girls find local church to attend Easter Mass. Paul doesn't believe in God, instead he sits outside and does some good deeds of his own - strokes a dog and helps a boy put his bike on a trolley he is trying to push.

Theresa heads back to the hostel and Paul and Chris go back for some tasty food at Trewan - today, veggie risotto for the lady and Paul has some chicken he's been craving for days.

Chatted with some folks back at the hostel, did some internet and went to bed - the feet really feeling it after today. The cracked heels not wanting to sort themselves out.

Monday 9th April

Weather forecast spot on - it starts raining in the middle of the night and literally doesn't stop all day.

Theresa doesn't bother with a trip to Villarrica, and we meet up mid-morning to try and formulate a plan, though it is cosy sitting around the wood-burner.

Needed to get hold of some cash, and overlooked the holiday weekend and that the ATM's would perhaps run out of cash. Tried 6 and failed, before Paul clicked that there might be an ATM (and one that takes Visa) at the casino. AAhhh, that 'counting sound' - we love it.

With a pocket of cash, we can now buy our bus ticket for tomorrow, to Santiago. It'll be an overnight bus, and our first Full-Cama experience - we'll have a bed on the bus!

Thankfully we're staying another night in town as the company double the ticket prices over the weekend. When we first asked yesterday, full cama was 34000 Pesos, however, Tuesday's bus will cost half that. Tuesday it is, and we don't even bother trying to save a few pounds on semi-cama.

Back for late lunch at Trewan and the set menu again, this time, lentil soup, veggie quiche and fruit salad. The quiche is, truly, the best we have had ever.

Had no plans for later that afternoon, and agreed to head back to the hostel with some snacks and enjoy the wood-burner and chit-chat. Picked up some dog biscuits to feed some our 3.5 legged friends (limping = half a leg) - they seem pleased, but then we can't shake them off and they follow us around. So we shoot them. Not really!!!! Or did we......

The rain didn't stop all day, but it was nice just hanging around the hostel, by the wood-burner.

Tuesday 10th April

Didn't bother getting up too early, no big plans for today, though we hope to see some of Pucon itself. Teresa went off to Tumuco, a couple of hours away by coach/car - we made our way into town. Weather not great today, especially compared with teh first 2 days in Pucon.

Yesterday we saw an internet cafe that does camera pictures to DVD - we need to get some transferred across, but Paul always dreads this deed, it always seems to take hours. At least it's quite cheap here, and the guy suggests it'll take an hour...

Kim (the tour leader from our overland trip) just happens to be at the internet place, and it saves us sending an email to ask 'are you here yet?....'. Pleased to see her and we have a little catch up before getting on with some blog, whilst the memory cards are done.

Plan tomeet Kim in a short while for some lunch. Just for a change, we suggest Trewan... Only four days running!

SOunds like Kim has had some trouble on the last sector, her truck broke down just a couple of hours into the trip. Sounds a nightmare, though all is in hand.

We were thinking about joining up on the trip that goes from Santiago to La Paz (Bolivia), but maybe glad we didn't - the truck is not yet running! Also, we've done some sums, and we worked out that the cost of the Ushuaia-Santiago leg was cheaper doing it all by ourselves. It's convenient being on the truck, but it's been easy getting around so far, and we've not had to camp either, so we'll stick to doing things ourselves in the meantime.

After lunch and a chit-chat, we head off for a walk down to the lake and are joined by a friendly and pregnant dog. Whilst it's dry, it's pretty miserable and the lake doesn't look too welcoming, so not more than a couple of minutes hanging round here.

Picked up some more dog biscuits back at the supermarket, and went back online to catch up further with the blog - we're NEARLY up to date.! Chris sat outside the cafe and was smothered in dogs, who in turn are probably smothered in fleas and ticks. Unfortunately the dogs started to fight over Chris's attentions, so she retreats inside - they in turn sit on the door step and slowly but surely edge their way in.

So, we're now up to date on the blog and we're heading back to the hostel, feeding the little dogs along the way.

Lazed around at the hostel for the rest of the afternoon before making our way, with Theresa, to the bus station nearby, for our overnight (11 hrs more or less) trip to the capital, Santiago. Excited about our full-cama (chair/bed thing) experience - hope we're not disappointed.

We're on the road on time, and yep, it's pretty comfy, though of course not quite the same as a nice bed. Paul's feet/shoes are stinking, so the shoes go in a bag, and the blanket is wrapped around the feet. For the record, Paul's feet are washed everyday. Honest.

See you in Santiago...

continued on next thread...

Puerto Montt and Pucon, Chile remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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to Puyuhuapi

Whilst the woman who sold us our bus tickets for todays trip was very friendly, we're still keeping our fingers crossed that we actually depart today.

Thankfully we do, and get away on time at 8am. We were accompanied to the bus station by a group of dogs, in varying states of health, but all had wagging tails, and some had a limp.

Whilst we do get away, there's uncertainty about whe the next bus will come through and pick us up for the onward journey from Puyuhuapi to Chaiten. It might be Wednesday, it might not be - either way, we're only looking to spend a day or so in Puyuhuapi.

The journey along the Carreterra Austral, which was constructed during the late 1970's by the Pinochet Government, was nice, with the early morning blue sky. Although the road has opened up this area, it remains the most sparsely populated areas of Chile - mainly fishing and forestry go on here.

It's good to be on the road, surrounded by mountains, and passing rocky streams. If it was more downhill, I reckon we'd sign up to do this by bike. Maybe...

For the first couple of hours (into this 5 hour trip) the road is paved, but soon after the forest closes in on us and we're on a narrow gravel track. As we get closer to Puyuhuapi we see a couple of hanging glaciers, one of which we can do a return trip to see from Puyuhuapi.

Beautiful, warm, sunshine when we arrive in the small town (though that seems to big a term to describe the place) and we meet Meg (Irish, but living in Spain) who gives us a tip for a good place to stay - Hosteria Carretera Austral (next door to the Police Station). Recommended, very friendly, nive eating/living room area, though no kitchen. The Senora can provide lunch and dinner for a reasonable extra charge. Breakfast is included.

To be on the safe side, we try to sort out our exit bus ticket, and hear that there's a bus leaving tomorrow. A little sooner that what we wanted, but we'd rather that, than be stuck here for 4 days, where we still are unsure about buses as we get closer to Easter. So, we're booked up for the lunchtime bus tomorrow, which probably means we'll not get back into the National Park for a walk to the hanging glacier.

After a spot of lunch at the hostel, we agree to pay a visit to the Termas (thermal springs) a few kilometres back along the track. Meg organsises some transport for us (there's no local bus service of taxis here, though it seems that most hostel owners provide transport, though it's not cheap. We'll pay 3000 Pesos each for the return journey to the springs.

Looking forward to a hot soak - Paul's feet still giving him some trouble after the recent trekking.

These springs are an alternative to the 'resort' that is across the fjord, that also has hot pools. Much too expensive, plus you have to pay for the boat trip across.

These 'new' springs, on the shore of the fjord, are 8000 Pesos per person and are currently open from 9am to 6pm.

We really enjoy ourselves, and get the place just to us. The view is superb, looking out over the lake and the skies remain blue.

Saw several hummingbirds zipping around the Fuschia's.

We leave the springs feeling really relaxed - just what we needed. Enjoyed chatting with Meg.

Snacked our way through dinner, and played some cards Meg also spent some time with us helping with our Spanish. We can now say some things in the past tense, though we can't say them very well.

Sunday 1st April

After a nice breakfast we stroll along the waters edge and around the quiet town - weather good again today, warm and sunny.

Also, a couple of birthday's today, Christine's Mum, and it would have been my dad's 70th as well as my folks 44th wedding anniversary.

We get back to the hostel in time to get our bags to find Meg coming back to the hostel with hers. Eek - it seems that there'll be no bus today, though we are promised (seguro, seguro, seguro!) that we'll have one tomorrow...

Oh well, there's worse places we could be stuck for another night.

With the sun still shining, we find a grassy spot by the water and Chris catches up with the diary and Paul listens to some tunes on the Ipod. We're accompanied by a few different, but friendly, dogs throughout the afternoon.

Puyuhuapi was founded by 4 German immigrants/pioneers back in 1935, so there's a little German touch around the town - street names, restaurants and a hostel run by the daughter of one of the pioneers. They were given land by the government, though had to build from scratch, including clearing the land of trees.

We returned to the hostel late afternoon, only to find that Meg had hitched a ride out of town with a group of guys competing in some kind of around the world race. Glad for Meg, but kicking ourselves that we didn't hang around for the same opportunity!

The evening drags a bit, as we try to understand a trashy Chilean soap on the telly. Played Uno for a bit, Paul won some, but lost most.

In bed, things get a little weird (not like that). Paul wakes up at some point, needing the loo, but also wondering whether he has just been dreaming of shaking, or whether there was some sort of tremor. Didn't think too much about it until the next morning...

Monday 2nd April

First things first, what happened last night??

Chris also felt something during sleep and we later find out that there was an earthquake over in Chiloe, a little way away. Nothing seems to be damaged here, just a slight tremor, though our first ever.

Less exciting is that we've also woken to lots of rain and crap surrounding conditions!

Despite the above, we're agreed that we really like it here, both in Puyuhaupi, and this accomodation, though we are keeping fingers tightly crossed that our transport does leave at lunchtime.

We try and get some info from the tourist information, but find out that the office is now shut for the season, and the place where we bought our bus tickets is also closed.

So, we're just hanging around town, and chatting to a couple of guys hitchig their way north - one of them has been waiting since 7.30am, it's now just before midday. Both of them complain that the friendly dogs hanging around them make them less an attractive passenger option. Anyway, they don't have to wait too much longer and they're on the road to....wherever they get dropped off.

We make our way around to where our bus should show, the rain still coming down. 1 o'clock comes and goes, and we get excited as we see vehicles in the distance, but they turn out to be other transports.

However, at about 1.30, our bus arrives, though our second need for luck is that it isn't full already. Thankfully, there's 3 spaces, so we just scrape on.

Meet Aaron coming off the bus and give her an accomodation recommendation, and also a warning about the bus situation in and out of town.

Also, meet Brit Theresa who helps us explain to the driver that we should have been on yesterday's bus, but it didn't arrive. Chris and Theresa sit together on the bus and appear to not stop talking all the way to Chaiten. The journey is about 6 hours, and the scenery a little blocked from the steamy windows in the minibus, but the outside cloud and rain doesn't help either.

Arrived in Chaiten just after 7pm and Thesesa joins us in the hunt for Casa Hexagon - accomodation that Meg had recommended - in fact, we were booked in there last night, but of course the bus let us down.

Thankfully, Theresa has great Spanish and this helps us track down the accommodation quickly. It's a great place, run by a friendly German guy. The house is, unsurprisingly, hexagon shaped and very 'cool' looking. It's also warm and cosy, and there's some friendly faces there - Meg, and Ian and Claire, who we met on the minibus up to Puyuhuapi.

The room is lovely (7000 Pesos per person) and the kitchen is the best we have come across in a while. So good, that we bother to go back into town and get some veggies to accompany our pasta and sauce. We even splash out on some wine, and within the hour, wish we had bought another one. Or two.

Meg shared her lovely home made lentil soup too, so we actually ended up with a three course meal, including some Vienetta-style icecream.

The atmosphere really friendly thru the evening and we go to bed very relaxed, and looking forward to the next day, and some more trekking in the nearby national park.

Tuesday 3rd April

Made scrambled eggs for breakfast - really appreciate the nice facilities here - clean, and plenty utensils.

Our trip into the National Park is with Nicholas, who seems to be something of a local celebrity, at least in the tourist world. So many people had mentioned him as a good source of info, and he turned out to be a really friendly guy, and particularly knowledgable about the local area.

The plan was to meet at his 'shop' around 9.30 and some of the other folks at Casa Hexagon were taking a trip with him too. We were joined on the trip by Lobo, one of the guys we met who was hitchhiking out of Puyuhuapi.

So, we're off the Parque Pumalin, which was created by a US billionaire, Douglas Tompkins. This is seen as one of the most important conservation projectsin the world (it has nature sanctuary status). It is 320,000 hectares of temperate rainforest.

The journey into the parks takes about an hour and we're travelling along a narrow gravel road, inbetween inpenetrable rainforest. Surprised to find out that the 'rhubarb' looking plants, Fuschia bushes and bamboo are native to Chile.

We did a short walk 'Sendero Los Alerces', passing by the huge and ancient Alerce trees. One inparticular is said to be over 3000 years old. Apparently they grow incredibly slowly and are one of the oldest trees in the world. The Monkey Puzzle Tree is also found here, and is the oldest of the tree species - it's pre-Jurassic.

It's a beautiful sunny day today, and we're lucky bearing in mind stats for this area receives over 4 metres of rain a year.

Further into the park we stop at Lago Rio Blanco - a beautiful lake, where we see more green Hummingbirds. There's wonderful glacial rivers, trees covered in moss, bamboo groves, ferns etc.

There's another short walk up to a waterfall, though not a big flow today.

After a spot of lunch, we all do a longer hike - 'Sendero Cascadas' - to an impressive waterfall that has several viewpoints as you make your way up to the top.

Ended the day at the beach area at Santa Barbara - a lovely black sand beach. Unfortunately we didn't see dolphins as hoped, but the sunrise was pretty, despite the cold wind getting up. Back in the minibus, and Nicholas entertained us with a South American '10-string-guitar-thing' (about the size of a violin) - oops, we've forgotten the name of the instrument, but his playing was enchanting.

Really enjoyed our day out, and we invite Lobo back to our accomodation to join us for dinner - there's no one else staying at his hostel.

Got the numbers right on bottles of wine - 3 bottles of red, all turned out to be very good, and only a couple of quid each.

Again, another pleasant evening at the house, and we sleep well.

Wednesday 4th April

Realised this morning that Casa Hexagon is in a beautiful spot overlooking the river, and hills behind. The early morning mist looks pretty as it sits above the water flowing below.

We have arranged for Nicholas to take us to some nearby thermal pools, so get some chores done in the morning, like dropping the laundry off at the power-tool emporium(?).

At the pools (Termas de Amarillo), about 40 minutes drive from town (and passing a clear view of the volcano), we find we have the place to ourselves again. Not quite as nice as the pools in Puyuhuapi, but very relaxing anyway and a great place to unwind, surrounded by green hills.

Apparently you can buy apple empanadas here, but they're sadly sold out today.

Back in town, we're working against the clock to prepare dinner, before we leave to catch our ferry from here up to Puerto Montt, also to do a bit of last minute packing.

Underestimated where the ferry port was, which is a little walk around the corner from the waterfront of the town, but got there in plenty of time.

Onboard (with Theresa), we grab ourselves two bench seats facing each other and spread our gear to secure the area. Thankfully it's not too busy tonight, so manage to keep our space for the overnight trip.

Not the most comfortable of nights, and some other travellers making a bit of noise is annoying. Actually, more embarassing than annoying, when one of the locals (it's mainly locals on board) asks them, on behalf of everyone else, to keep it down when people are trying to sleep.

Curiously, the girls end up mostly stretched out on the benches, Paul gets to sleep sitting upright.

We cruise smoothly through the night towards Puerto Montt...

to be continued on next thread...

Puyuhuapi and Chaiten, Chile remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Chile Chico, Chile

Next morning, the twattery continues from the ******* girls - their alarm goes off, which they don't bother to switch off. One of them is whisper/shouting across to her big arse friend to get up, and they do nothing to keep the noise down whilst they get ready. *****!

Anyway, it's a lovely day and we have some chores to do, so we crack on. Relieved that there's an ATM (that accepts Visa) in town, then we grab some food.

One of the chores is to try and sort out British Gas, who, 8 months after we left our house/overcharge us/refund us, tell us that we owe them more money, but after three weeks of trying to get them to explain what it is for, they have since called in the debt collectors. *****! (sorry for the bad language) - it's soooo annoying trying to sort these tiny things out - 02, Morgan Stanley, British Gas - you're all crap and need to get your house in order, and you can start by replying to emails that your customers send you. Though, to be fair, at least 02 replied when I had problems being overcharged numerous times when I sent a text message, they just didn't do anything to fix the problem.

There's a minibus that'll take us across the border to into Chile, to Chile Chico, at 11.30am, so all plans are set,and British Gas should now be off my back.

Meet a friendly Russian couple whilst we wait for the minibus at our hostel.

The border crossings were fine, though the Russian passports generated a little interest! and we arrive in Chile Chico, on the shores of Lago General Carrera, which isn't actually that far from the border.

No real plans for doing anything here, just a transit route.

Sort out some local currency, boat tickets (to Puerto Ibanez for tomorrow),and a small room in a local hospedaje, though held up whilst trying to do these things during siesta.

The accomodation is fine, but basic - we're staying at La Casona and it'll be great for the one night stay. Breakfast is included.

Changing money was a bit of a chore - the bank wouldn`t directly change Argentine pesos for Chilean ones - we had to get a guy in the supermarket to write a personal cheque, which we then cashed. Odd, but successful. There is an ATM here, but it doesn't accept Visa, just the Mastercard derivatives.

Didn't do much for the rest of the day - spent some time by the lake in the sunshine, climbed a lookout point at the edge of town (followed by a friendly dog) and tried to use the slooooow internet.

Read the guidebook and listened to some Spanish in the evening - Chris did a great job of getting the diary up to date - we're miles behind, which means the blog is also behind...

Thursday 29th March

Coyhaique

More chores ahead of our ferry trip to Puerto Ibanez mid-afternoon.

Our crossing is at 3pm - we're told to be there an hour before - why?? Not necessary! Anyway, the crossing is fine, though the passenger area is a little crowded, but we have seats.

A couple of hours later, we're in Puerto Ibanez and our minibus to Coyhaique is waiting for us.

Paul snags a legroom seat and is happy to enjoy the drive with his headphones on.

The scenery, especially as the sun goes down is pretty - the local peaks making amazing silhouettes.

It's about 2 hours drive to Coyhaique, though we were planning to travel with Aaron (a nice Canadian girl who we met on the minibus from Los Antiguos) into town and find some accomodation together - unfortunately, she was booked on a different minibus to Coyhaique.

In turn, we don't get dropped off at the same place in town, and also find out that the Youth Hostel (which we planned to go to together, 2kms out of town) was full - glad we had to phone ahead for their address.

Pleased to find an ATM and load up with cash - our favourite sound lately has been the whir of the ATM as it counts up the money before dispensing.

Found a nearby Hostel, recommended by the guide book - Hospedaje Lautauro. Quite close to the centre of town but seems like the place has changed hands. I wouldn't recommend this place to a dog, unless he already had mange.

It's quite late and we're hungry, but a lot of places in town are closing, so we opt for a bag of goodies from the big supermarket.

As we drift off to sleep, we hope to survive the night in the arctic shithole.

Friday 30th March

Back in to town in the morning (yes we survived, and surprisingly didn't wake up to a frosty coating on our faces).

First chore was to sort out a bus away from here, though the schedules for all the bus companies seem to be up in the air and erratic, and we're also unsure of how things will be affected by the upcoming Easter holidays. The helpful tourist info by the main plaza point us in the direction of Daniela buses, though as we arrive at their office, things aren't looking too good - the bus has no back wheels.

Annoyingly we missed the bus to Puyuhuapi that went at 8.30 this morning, so stuck here another night. We eventually track down a bus company leaving town tomorrow, and get booked up.

Meet Aaron by chance in town - she had a nightmare arrival in town, though thankfully got a cheap hotel room for the night. We meet for lunch, though the 'nice looking' place we go to seems to have run out of the first few choices of dish.

The blog continues to be out of date, so a lot of the afternoon is spent typing, and desperately trying to be humourous. Well, at least I got the facts in there.

Nothing else interesting done today and neither of us looking forward to a night in the grotty hostel, though we do spend some time in the uninviting, but warm, lounge - watching Los Simpsons, in Spanish.

Heading to Puyuhuapi tomorrow...

to be continued on next thread...

Chile Chico, Puerto Ibanez, Coyhaique, Chile remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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El Calafate

Another early start for a travelling day - back across the border from Chile to Argentina, and the small tourist town of El Calafate. Mike along for the ride - he's flying out of Calafate to Buenos Aires this evening.

The journey not too bad, though another bus with small legroom and seats that recline too far.

Crossed the border into Argentina with no fuss, and arrived in El Calafate by lunchtime. We're booked into the I Keu Ken hostel, which was recommended to us. We're already pleased that we were able to change from a dorm bed to a double room (quite pricey at Pesos120 (about GBP20 a night)).

Very friendly welcome at the hostel, which is a few minutes walk away from town, up a dusty road, though that shouldn't put you off. It's really nice, and we feel very welcome after 2 minutes of being here - the room is nice too, looking back over the town and across the water of Lago Argentino.

We head into town for some food, stopping for slightly expensive, but nice, sandwiches at El bar, before going on to the chocolate factory.

Bumped into Melody and Marcus on the way - they cut their Torres del Paine trek short cos of the weather.

Nice chocolate freebies at the factory, and we get to see some chocolates being made. We then have some more free chocolate.

Bit of shopping in town with Mike, who is looking for a Mate (equivalent of our tea) cup/straw, also some Mate itself. Had a farewell drink with Mike at the hostel before his taxi came for the airport run. Really pleased we met Mike and Susanne - hopefully we'll see them later this year, in either Norway, Germany or London. or all three.

Chris got some information for the various glacier trips, before we went to the big nearby supermarket for some dinner bits.

Friday 23rd March

We were booked onto a trip for this morning, taking a boat out to get close to some of the glaciers in the nearby national park.

Whilst we'd remembered to change the time on the watch as we crossed back into Argentina, we (Paul) forgot to change the time on the phone, which is being used as a backup until the watch battery finally dies.

Of course, the watch finally gave up during the night, and our alarm call was a knock on the door, 5 minutes before our bus was picking us up! Very lucky that we didn't have a more important date to get up for, and we're also very grateful to the guys at the hostel who gave us a call - we wouldn't expect this to happen elsewhere.

So, into the National Park Los Glaciares (entry, 30 Pesos) and on the boat onto Lago Argentino - the largest in Argentina. Annoyingly, we're the last on the boat (there's over 100 people on board) and miss out on window seats. Too many people on board - irritating.

Our first stop was at the magnificent Glacier Speggazzini - impressive, fantastic blue colour. It's one of the highest glaciers - between 80-135 metres high, and 15+ miles long and a mile wide. It's also unique as it continues to show no signs of receeding. The boat feels tiny as we get close to the huge walls of ice.

Moving on, we pass Glacier Seco, a hanging glacier, and then onto Glacier Upsala.

Again, we pass through the water with huge icebergs floating by - all a brilliant blue.

Glacier Upsala is the largest in the National park, and the longest in South America - 37 miles long, with a height of 60-80 metres and 5-7 kms wide. We're told that it is receeding at a fast rate - 5kms in just 20 years. Really stunning - HUGE!

The boat then droppped us off at Bahia Onelli and we took a short trail through the forest to Onelli Lake, from where a further 3 glaciers can be seen - Onelli, Bolado and Agassiz.

The lake was littered with small, grey, icebergs.

After lunch by the lake, we head back to the boat for the return to the port.

Really enjoyed the trip, though the number of passengers was a problem for us - bit of a squeeze.

Success later that afternoon - manage to change the watch battery, though not sure if I've sealed it back up properly, so will keep it out of the water in the meantime.

Grabbed more food from the supermarket for dinner (it's quite pricey to eat out in town), and chatted with some other travellers before bed.

Saturday 24th March

Another trip set for today, more glaciers.

Managed to get ourselves up on time, but the transfer bus arrived early, so a little rush to get out of the door. Paul leaves without brushing his teeth ;(

Our trip takes us back into the National park, but another area. Also, another 30 Pesos each for entry.

This time we're visiting Glacier Perito Moreno, and our first view is from the wooden viewing platforms opposite the glacier face. Wow - we're so close, and as well as a great view, we can now also hear lots of cracking and crashing as the glacier inches it's way forward. Literally, it is constantly moving - 2 metres per day.

Felt very privileged to see this sight, especially to catch some parts of the front of the glacier plunge into the lake in front of it. The scale is HUGE!

Occasionally, the front of the glacier meets with the peninsula, forming an ice dam that obstructs the flow of the water around it. the force of the water eventually produces a tunnel, which ultimately collapses, in spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, we only get to see photographic evidence of the last rupture.

After the view from the front, we drive down to a small port where we catch a boat to the other side and where we'll start our trek on the glacier. At the port we meet up with Tony, who is travelling on the Dragoman truck, and it's very likely we saw him back in Rio a few weeks ago.

Our guide for the ice trek gives us some information about the glacier, before we put on a pait of crampons that will enable safe walking up and over the glacier.

It's quite slow going with the crampons - your feet are kept flat, so walking seems a little odd, but safe with the crampons really digging into the ice. Also, our group is a fair size, 20 or so, and we need to keep quite close together as we ascend the ice.

Lots of beautiful blue cravasses that we walk over, though quite safe - maybe too safe, we thought this might be a bit more of an adventure. Nevertheless, still really cool to be walking across the ice, and the view changes from blue sky and sun, to quite dark grey storm clouds - both giving great contrast when looking ahead.

Whilst the storm clouds were around us, it only spits a little rain and we're treated to a nice 'Famous Grouse' on the rocks ('rocks' courtesy of the glacier) before we make our way back off the glacier. Had less than 2 hours on the ice, but it was a great trip.

Back on the boat, then the coach trip back to town, where we desperately needed some cash to settle our bill before we leave town in the morning...

Sunday 25th March

El Chalten

ZZZzzzz - another early one, 6.30am and we're up to get ready for the bus trip to El Chalten - about 5 hours on the coach. Basic coach, no toilet, but the best legroom yet in South America.

Certainly reminded that we're in Patagonia - the landscape as we drive through is very barren, though huge mountain ranges appear in the distance every now and then.

Just before we arrive in the small town of El Chalten, we stop at the National park office for a short presentation of the various activities/trails in th area.

Checked in at the Albergue Patagonia, with Duron from South Africa, who we met up with in El Calafate, but also at the last Refugio in Torres del Paine. Went out for some lunch (not a lot of choice in El Chalten - very quiet place) and then set out for a couple of short walks from town.

The first took us towards the National Park office, where we stopped to watch a short documentary film of the first climb of Mount Fitzroy, from 1968. The walk was then just behind and up the hill, giving a nice view of the whole town, and some occasianal glimpses of the snow covered peaks in the distance.

Not a great view of Mont Fitzroy from here, a little too cloudy.

Chris didn't join Duron and I for the second walk - choosing to do some research instead for tomorrow and for the Carreterra Austral - she's still struggling to shake a cough and cold from our wet trek in Torres del Paine.

Our short walk takes just a couple of hours and to a pleasant waterfall.

Cook some pasta for dinner, then chat with the folks in the hostel, including a couple who are sharing our room who live less than a mile from us at home!

The wind gets up a little this evening and the creaking carries on through the hostel, through the night. Despite the distraction, we all sleep well, ahead of a lengthy walk tomorrow...

Monday 26th March

So, big walk today and we set off at 10am for the Mount Fitz Roy walk, 'Laguna de Los Tres'.

Chris not feeling on top form but we make good progress, and the beautiful clear sky keeps the spirits up and we look forward to great views.

The first part of the walk is a little uphill, but it's not too bad and we soon get to the first lookout for the Fitz Roy mountain - wow, what a view, it's incredible and we feel so lucky to have the conditions just right - really couldn't be better. Just to the right of the peak, there's also a small (well, it's probably quite big, but compared to the peak it looks small) hanging glacier.

Another nice touch is that today we can see the first signs of Autumn coming and there's a red hint to lots of the greenery around us.

Walking on towards the main viewpoint, another couple of hours away (it's a 4 hour one-way walk to our goal), the trail gets steep and quite tricky, but we all eventually get there for pant-wetting-ly good views of Fitz Roy, and the Laguna de Los Tres. The sun is shining bright, keeping the chill away, just.

Whilst the mount is only 3805 metres, it's an awesome sight and we also spot a glider circling high above.

We made good time on the way up, so decide on an extended route back to El Chalten, which gives more of a loop, than a simple return walk.

This route takes a triangular loop, past two lakes and to a trail giving a great view of the other big mountain here, Cerro Torre. Unfortunately the great weather changed for the last couple of hours,and some low cloud came in, preventing good views of the peak.

Effectively we've completed two walks today, though we could have walked further up the valley to Cerro Torre, but 9 hours was quite enough, thanks.

Finished a great day with a meal a the restaurant next to the hostel - quite fancy, though it seems slightly out of place - too civilised. Really enjoyed the food - first class. Our first beer in a couple of weeks too.

Back in the hostel we chatted with two Aussie girls and an Argentine girl, and learnt some (more) Spanish.

Yep, an amazing day - hard work, but very rewarding.

Tuesday 27th March

Los Antiguos

Were booked on the 9.00 bus to Los Antiguos and said goodbye to chum Doron, who is staying on here a couple more days.

Completely freaked out when we realised we had not paid our second night's accomodation in El Chalten.... eek!

The bus journey was long, didn't arrive until after 10pm, though pleased that the room (Hostel Padilla) was nice - it even had a bath.

The journey was pretty uneventful - mile after mile of gravel road, but comfortable and enjoyed the scenery.

By the way, it's also not a cheap trip - 180 Pesos each - 30 Quid! - again, not even a toilet, though top marks for the legroom.

Stopped at an estancia on the way, saw a family of Guanaco's in the garden attached to the food stop.

Back in the room, we had to share with a couple of ******* (nationality witheld) girls - complete *****!. After we had all spent the day on a bus, we just wanted to get to bed - they were happy to chat with their friends and come back to the room at 12.30 - switch the light on, chat at normal volume, then one of them decides to have a shower, and generally piss around and disturb us. Yep, always difficult when sharing a room, but these twats were the limit.

continues on next thread...

El Calafate, El Chalten, Los Antiguos - Argentina remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Monday 12th March

Arrived about 7pm after 11 or so hours from Ushuaia. First thing to sort out was to get hold of some Chilean Pesos.

Managed to find about 5 ATM's, none of which would give us any cash. Seems as though Mastercard/Maestro/Cirrus and more widely accepted (in ATM's at least) than Visa.

Luckily come across a money changer and use, for the first time in 7 months, one of our travellers cheques.

Armed with some local currency, we're now able to hail a cab and get to our accomodation nearby - Hospedaje Costanero, which we booked through hostelworld.com, which is quite a handy site.

Seemed to take quite a while in the cab, and drive us far from the centre of town, though we're about 15 minutes stroll back in.

The hostel is quite basic, but Theresa the owner is extremely friendly and cracks open a packet of biscuits for us, as well as sorting us from a twin bed room, to matrimonial-style, though our room now backs onto one of the bathrooms and the walls seems to be made from thick cardboard.

After paying the balance (you pay the first 10% when booking with hostelworld.com) our two nights accomodation, we're not left with toomuch cash, so head into town to try and find another ATM, which we do, in a pharmacy. Oh, it's good to hear the machine counting up those notes!

Now armed with more money, we sort ourselves out with some dinner from the supermarket.

We're not in bed too late, and the sleep is good after a day on the bus.

Tuesday 13th March

We seem to be the first up for a while, but have the breakfast table to ourselves for a while. Enjoyed a chat with some other travellers.

After, we wrapped up for a walk into town, and to look for gloves, hats and socks.

Took a walk up through the back of town to a lookout, which shows the whole town. Just behind the mirador (lookout) is a small cafe, where we stop for a bit.

After a bit of catching up on the sloooow internet we walked around the main square and the surrounding colonial-style building.

Chris had an expensive, and not as good as Ushuaia, hot chocolate.

A few minutes out of town is a cemetery, with its mixture of colossal mausoleums and small, but well kept, plots. It's nice that the graves are usually accompanied by flowers (sometimes plastic ones) and photos/small personal effects of the deceased.

Spent some more time on a faster internet connection, getting ourselves organised for our next stop for the Torres del Paine National Park, which will be in a couple of days time. Feels good to get a bit organised.

Had a healthy-ish salad for dinner, though both of us conscious that we're eating too much bread/cheese/pies - unfortunately the choice isn't too wide, and Paul is getting sick of meat. If only there was a good Indian around here....

Chatted with American John, who had his day-bag snatched at the bus station in Buenos Aires. He's been 'stuck' here, waiting on a package from New York. I'd be lost without my Ipod charger!

Wednesday 14th March

Puerto Natales

Our short stay in Punta Arenas over and we have an 8.30am bus, heading north to Puerto Natales - our gateway to Torres del Paine. Paul is delighted that we have seats at the front, and legroom that puts a smile on his long face. Well, it is early, and cold, and damp etc etc.

The journey is not particularly exciting, and the highlight is a packet of actually-quite-tasty biscuits, with a cream filling - like a round shape Bourbon.

The bus drops us off by the town square, just after midday and we get to Niko's II hostel just around the corner with no fuss. This was another booking via hostelworld.com - the reviews looked good, especially that someone had said the information for the Park was excellent here.

Friendly Paula checks us in, and the room is nice, especially the Cable TV.

We sit down with Paula to go through our options for the park, and have a think about how many days we'll be trekking - gulp, we're signing up for 70kms over three days, maybe 4. And, the weather is known to be very changeable in the hills!

We've booked to stay in 2 of the 'Refugios' in the park - not cheap at USD33 per person, and we already know that the facilities are basic - however, this seems a more comfortable, though maybe less adventurous than camping. Sod that, if you have to carry your stuff around whilst trekking!

Anyway, back in Puerto Natales, we leave the hostel for a wander around town, and to the shoreline of Seno Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope Sound) - also managing to find the chocolate factory on the way. Well, not quite a factory, but they sell lots of 'homemade' chocolate, and other cakes and chocolate-y drinks.

Took it easy in the afternoon and evening, enjoying the relative luxury of our room with TV. And, probably some chocolate.

Thursday 15th March

Great sleep, woke up late, but just in time for breakfast. Well pleased to get more than the usual bread and jam - this time, with ham, cheese and even a yoghurt.

Got our laundry done here for about GBP2.50 a kilo.

Also got our bookings in for the transport and accomodation for the National Park - Torres del Paine. Saved a few pounds by paying for the accomodation in US Dollars, otherwise we would have to pay 19% tax.

Slightly kicking ourselves that we didn't start our trek today as the weather is gorgeous, but anyway, too late for regrets.

Took lunch at the first veggie restaurant we've come across for a while - El Living, run by an English couple. It's not cheap, but affordable - Chris has a huge piece of veggie lasagne, and Paul, a walnut veggieburger. Enjoyed their piles of magazines, despite some being a few years old.

Sat by the water in the afternoon, though Chris struck by an urgent need for the loo - uh-oh, hope it's not what Paul had...

After the emergency dash, we head to the small town area to get some food supplies to keep us running for the next 3/4 days in the park - plenty pasta/sauce/cookies/nuts/dried fruit. We had been told to get our food in Punta Arenas, where it is cheaper, though we're not sure if it makes all that much difference.

Not looking forward to carrying all the food, as well as clothes and other stuff on the walks. Perhaps we should eat it ALL on the morning of day one!

Get to bed early, and enjoy watching The Terminator. You can guess what 'Yo Regreso' might mean if spoken with a Austrian/cyborg accent.

A little nervous of what we've let ourselves in for with the hike.....

Friday 16th March

Our walk in the Torres del Paine starts with an early drive from Puerto Natales into the park, with all the other hikers.

Up at 6.30 for breakfast and meet friendly Melody and Marcus from Australia. The bus takes us away from the comfort of a warm hostel at 7.30am. The bus costs us 10,000 Pesos (1000 to the Pound) and entry to the park a further 15,000 Pesos.

Nice ride over to the park,which was created in 1959 and appointed a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978 - it covers an area of 242,242 (roughly) hectares.

We had planned to do the popular 'W' walk, rather than the entire 'Circuito'. Our walk would be around 70+ kilometres over 3 or 4 days. We walked from right to left - partly because good weather was forecast for the first day, and we were keen to get a good view of the 3 Torres (Towers).

Not a great start as it started to spit with rain as we pulled up in to the starting point for the walk.

The valley walk up towards our first overnight stop point was mainly 'up', though not too steep, but quite tiring, with having to carry 15kilo packs. We soon got quite hot, desite the chilly wind.

The upward walk wasn't too long, 90 minutes, and we got to the more level walk on to the 'Refugio' along the valley. Paul's boots, despite being fairly worn in, had decided to cause blisters on both heels - annoying, though not too painful......yet.

Pleased to arrive at the 'middle of nowhere' hostel (Refugio Chileno - not cheap at USD33 each a night!), which is in a pretty spot by the busy river.

Got ourselves checked in and had some lunch before getting ready for the further 2 hour walk up to the viewpoint for the 3 Towers. Met up with Melody and Marcus for the walk along.

The path starts alongside the river and makes its way along until you reach a small 'enchanted' forest. Then, the vertical bit! - not quite vertical, but it seems to be a clamber-up, rather than a walk up. It takes us about 2 hours or so to complete the walk/climb to the top, but the views as we ascend are great across the valley below, but the real treat is of course at the top, for the Towers themselves.

Firstly there's a beautiful green lagoon at the foot of the towers, with numerous small waterfalls feeding into it - water from the snow and ice above.

The towers look amazing from here, even with a little cloud obscuring a full view of all three towers.

Thankfully not too windy at this viewpoint, but quite cold, especially where we're a little sweaty from the climb up. Sat on the rocks and admired the view for 30 minutes - really magic. Melody and Marcus left a short while before us as they are camping right back at the beginning of the trail - hopefully we'll bump into them again along the way.

It started to spit with rain as we started the walk back down, and got a little harder as we reached the flatter ground - gave us a chance to wear our ponchos, which we bought back in Puerto Natales. paul decides that XL would have been a better fit.

Caught sight of a male/female pair of woodpeckers as we re-entered the 'enchanted' forest bit - a Black Headed Magellanic Woodpecker (female) and a Red Headed Woodpecker (male - striking colours). Both very busy chipping away at some fallen trunks.

Got back after several hours walking at 5pm. Annoyingly we weren't allowed to use the kitchen facilities as they will soon be used by the hostel to prepare dinner that you can buy - also quite expensive, but actually looks very good.

Finally got into the kitchen at 8.45pm!!, but the pasta took just a few minutes and we were eating by 9pm and in bed not long after. Despite the basic facilities at the Refugio, the beds are really comfy, and you get pillows (you need to use your sleeping bag). Not sure about sleeping in the top deck of a three level bunk - that looks high up there...

Both slept well - very warm and cosy.

Saturday 17th March

Woke to the sound of rain - not what we wanted to hear, though also warmed that we didn't stay in a tent.

Today's leg will be on to the next Refugio - Cuernos, some 4-5 hours away, though again we're carrying our packs.

Thankfully the rain eased off, though Paul's blisters giving a bit of trouble.

We're on the trail by 10.30am - it's dry, and the wind's not too bad.

The opening hour or so of the walk gives great views of the lakes in the valley, and is also quite flat and easy to navigate (all the pats in the park are said to be well signposted). There's also fantastic views of the peaks to our right, where the wind is blowing snow from the top into big clouds.

Reached Nordenskjord Lake and watched the strong winds further up the lake take big misty plumes of surface water across to the other side - gave great rainbows.

As we rounded the far corner of the lake the winds got up, to the extent that we had to hold on, or be blown over - in fact, Chris lost her footing at one point and took a tumble. No injuries, though Paul was told off for walking ahead. "What if I'd been blown into the lake....etc etc".

The walk along the lake took around 3 hours and we had a couple of nice pitstops to catch our breath, and arrived at Refugio Cuernos (another USD33 a night each) at 2.30pm - 4 hours walk, slightly ahead of the suggested 5 hours.

The hostel is in a nice isolated spot, overlooking the lake and surrounded by high mountains.

Very pleased to be sitting down, drinking a cold Coke, and listening to the strong winds blast against the face of the hostel. Not sure if the creaking is supposed to be so louad, and so much movement in the walls. Apparently, we very safe...

The Refugio is very similar to Chileno, though we found the guys running it a little less friendly.

Met up with Mike (Norwegian) and Susanne (German) who are travelling together for a few weeks. Chatted most of the afternoon with them and another German girl, Jenny.

No problems with cooking here, with a small stove being available at any time, though kitchen access somewhat restricted. Thankfully we're carrying some cooking utensils, thanks to Paula at the hostel we stayed at in Puerto Natales (Niko's II).

In bed fairly early, and another comfortable night's sleep.

Sunday 18th March.

Oops, lots of rain and string winds overnight, and today is due to be a big walking day over to Camp Italiano, for the French Valley Walk. Walking on will then take us a further couple of hours to the 3rd and final hostel - all in all, about 9 hours walking today. And it's not looking like stopping raining.

Planned to be on the trail (with packs, though the weight slowly going down as we use up our food supply) by 8am, but hang around until just after 9.

The rain has eased, but it's still coming down. We prepare as best as we can to keep dry.

10 minutes in and our legs are soaked from all the moisture on the knee-high bushes that line the trail. Of course, this same moisture eventually makes it's way into our boots from the top down.

45 minutes into a full days walking and we're already getting uncomfortable - lots of parts of the trail are like running streams - we even give up bothering to try and find the drier edges of the small pools that have formedand walk straight through. We can't get much wetter after all.

The trail is interesting, though the low cloud and mist cover up any interesting views - we're also spending most of the time looking down to see where we're treading - last think we want to do is slip over and cake ourselves in mud. It feels mildly miserable, for these fair-weather walkers.

Both of us already thinking the the walk up the French Valley, which is supposed to be gorgeous, will not happen today. Not when we can save 5 hours of miserable walking (and teh views also not so good in these conditions), and begin the drying process in just 2 short hours.

We don't even stop to consider our options when we get to Camp Italiano, though, again, we are pleased to not be camping on this hike - it looks horrible. We continue the trail towards the last refugio on our trek, Paine Grande, which we hear has a cafeteria.

So, after 4 hours walking, we arrive at the lodge pretty wet and cold - very pleased to be in the warm and to see a friendly face, American John (who we met in Punta Arenas).

The lodge is a lot bigger than the previous 2 - more like a hotel. And, it's a couple of dollars more than the others too, but facilities are very good and there's plenty of hot water.

Once we're dry, we sit by the wood-burning heater, with our boots in front of us - can't even contemplate walking in wet boots tomorrow!

Had a pleasant afternoon chatting with Mike, Susanne, Jenny - playing Scrabble with John etc etc. The line of boots around the fire growing is about 7 deep by dinner time.

Cooked up the last of our pasta in the grotty outdoor kitchen (crammed full of campers, and really not kept that clean), and got back into the cosy lounge within 20 minutes. M&M's are on offer - 2 (small) bags for 800 Pesos. That'll be 4 bags then, please.

John had been camping, but ended up breaking a tent pole. I reckon he did it on purpose to get a nice warm indoor room.

Mike and Susanne very sweet to us - they paid for dinner at the refugio and kindly brought out their desserts for us. Yum, and thanks guys!

Spent the rest of the daylight hours enjoying the view of the windswept lake (Pehoe) from the lounge, met a few other folks. Nice friendly atmosphere.

Go to bed, pleased to be in the dry, but sorry to have cut the route short.

Monday 19th March

Again, not a huge walk planned today, so not up till 9am. First thing we check is how the sky looks - not great,but it's dry...for now.

Also, can't see that the conditions are any better over at the French Valley - of course, we do have the option to revisit the area.

However, today we'll walk to Grey Glacier, another highlight of the 'W' walk.

On the trail just after 11am (a little late) and the wind is up, and of course, we're having to walk into it, rather than it blow us along. The beginning is quite hard going (uphill), and the winds pushing you back don't help. At least it's quite clear in the sky today, with a little bit of sun poking through.

Bumped into Jenny, who was already on her way back from seeing the glacier - she's catching the midday boat.

We're pushing quite hard to get trhough the trail, as Paul wants to be back in time to get the 6 o'clock boat out of here.

Bump into quite a few folks who have decided against going all the way to the glacier face, due to the wind, but we persevere for the time being...

After an hour or so, we get our first view of the glacier - quite exciting, but we want to be at the face NOW!

Pleased that the winds have died down and there's also some more sun, though Chris has a dodgy stomach today.

Got all the way to to closest lookout for the glacier after 3 hours, about 30 minutes ahead of time, giving us plenty time to hang around and take in the view. Also, perhaps a good thing that we left quite late, as a lot of other walkers have made the return journey, leaving the glacier all to us.

The colour of the glacier was amazing, especially with the sun dipping in and out of the clouds. Awesome!

Sat around for about 20 minutes and got some energy for the return trip from some M&M's.

Chris not happy that Paul has walked ahead, again. Paul's blisters are stinging, and also his toes are crushed in his left boot, so he wants to get it over with asap, which is a shame with the amazing views around us.

The return trip took a further 3 hours, so 6 hours walked today - pretty good against the 7 hours that is suggested.

Had considered staying in the park another night, and seeing if we could do the French Valley walk tomorrow, but Paul's feet are in pieces, and we get on the boat at 6pm for the journey back to Puerto Natales. Great views from the ferry, and the bus as we head back to town - nice clear night, and lots of stars out for us.

Back to PN by 10pm - annoyingly had to go into a dorm (same price as a double, but they're full up), but our roommates are great, and don't disturb us from our sleep.

Shattered, and with Paul's feet swollen and blistered, we get to bed, pleased that we completed the walk, though it was a 'U' shape walk, rather than a 'W'!.

Tuesday 20th March

Moved into a twin room, with Cable TV - Paul happy to lay up with his feet resting.

Chris kindly went out for someemergency supplies - Coke, Chocolate Milk, cookies, Pringles, then we both collapsed for most of the rest of the day, until we met up with Mike and Susanne for dinner.

Went to a Parilla (BBQ restaurant), though managed to get a spread of food to suit us all - Chris has some mashed potato with her Omelette.. Enjoyed a Pisco Sour, followed by wine, and had a good chat with the guys.

Wednesday 21st March

Chris's cold coming through now and she's not feeling so good. Managed a wander around the small town and along the seashore.

Met up with Mike and Susanne again, this time going back to the only veggie restaurant in town, El Living. Yummy, had soup, and a spicy coconut dish, though didn't stay out too late as Chris not up to it.

Sorry to say goodbye to Susanne (we're on different buses tomorrow), but will be travelling with Mike.

to be continued on next thread....

Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, Chile.... remains copyright of the author pdsaustin, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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