I liked Viva Air Colombia. I flew with them about 4 times and they were fine. Viva Air Peru. A nightmare.

After five hours kip or so I walked down the beautiful cobbled street - Calle Resbalosa - my hostel is on to Plaza de Armas to get a taxi to the airport. All well I thought. Yet an hour and a half before my flight was due to take off the Viva Air check in desks appeared strangely empty...

An Italian family also due to take my flight were equally perturbed. Their perturbation grew on seeing the Viva Air flight that we had booked on was listed on the flight board as having taken off.

Woops.

It turns out the flight had been moved two hours earlier. The Viva Air check-in staff the Italian family had animatedly hurried over to explain the situation insisted they had notified all the passengers. Well I've checked my inbox. No email whatsoever from Viva Air to confirm the change in flight time. At least the flight only cost £15.

Annoyed, I decided first to head a place on Plaza de Armas to get a decent breakfast, coffee and to actually get some money. I then decided the best plan of action was to take the 1000 km bus to Lima, for around £35, because it just isn't worth the bueracracy and hastle (or at least for now + the flight was only £15...). I've got my bus ticket now, its around an 18 to 22 hour journey and given the bus leaves at 12:30 and I've got my ticket leaving for Huaraz tomorrow at 12:30, I'm hoping there aren't delays.

I feel whilst this is all a bit annoying, I have been to Lima and to be honest much worse things can happen. Of all the things I'd have bad luck with, not getting flights and instead having to get bus rides through beautiful Andean scenery is something I'd choose. At least now I can well and truly say I've experienced public bus travel across South America, and I have a fat new autobiography to get through + amazing scenery to gaze at. All I hope is that I manage to get the bus to Huaraz all right, and although this means I'll have done over 2000km of bus rides in three days, I do have three days in beautiful mountains hiking coming up.

Still. I'm glad Costa Rica and Panama are much, much smaller than Peru or Bolivia...

Vamos!