14th Dec On another bus tour to visit a lake. The lake is nestled between some magnificent snow-capped mountains. Very spectacular. The drive wasn't too bad. This time we are in a Toyota Van. One of the stops is in a village called Yungay. Its not till we get back to our hotel and search the net we discover why we stopped here. . The whole town was wiped out in 1974 by an earthquake which triggered a massive earth slide. The village was buried in under 4 minutes,...

11th Dec Anyway the hotel is very nice, but right under the flight path of the planes. We still get a reasonable sleep, but have to be up at 5.30am as the fight to Huaraz leaves at 8.15. They seem to like you at the airport 1.5 hours before. Our flight is delayed. No information is available, so we sit and wait. Eventually we board the little Dash 8 and we are in the air. The flight is smooth and very scenic. Huaraz airport is very small. Its so behind th...

10th Dec We arrive in Lima to very overcast afternoon. Our taxi driver is waiting for us on arrival, and gets to the hotel promptly, which by the way is very nice. Pity its right in the flight path of the airport. All trafiic signs, traffic lights are there as an advisory only, and not to be obeyed. We are driving at 80kph in a 35kph zone. Pedestrians are targets and not to be avoided. This is what its like through all of South America so far. Really bad drive...

7th Dec Today we are heading to the San Francisco Square to do a a free city walk with some local guides. The tour starts at midday. The 2 guys that take the tour are really great. The group is around 12 people of which 8 are from Australia. They take us on the not so touristy parts of Cuzco, and we also sample a lot of local food and drinks. Chica Morada is purple corn drink. A mixture of purple corn juice, Cinnamon and other spices. We are taken to an old lad...

2rd Dec Not much action today. Spent the day wandering city, and enjoying the great food. 3rd Dec Had to get up at some ridiculous hour so we can catch a taxi to the bus station. The bus trip involves crossing the border into Peru. We arrive at the bus station and begin the long trip. Pretty boring until we have to cross lake Titicaca, the worlds highest navigable lake. We have to take a little boat across, wile our bus is transported by a barge. The ...