Copacabana is right on the shore of the well-known lake, Lake Titicaca, and that was where we entered Bolivia after a long overnight bus ride from Cusco. There wasn't so much to do in Copacabana itself, except walk up to the town view point at sunset, which is exactly what we did. The highlight of the area for us, and most visitors, was a day trip to the nearby island, Isla del Sol. The island turned out to be a step back in time, a place where locals live by ...

Cusco is a must visit destination for any trip to Peru. Located high in the Andes ranges, it's the launching pad for any and all surrounding mountain activities, most notably a visit to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. Cusco is a very touristy town but isn't over the top (yet) so retains a lot of charm and character. To go on the "classic" 4 day Inca trail trek to Machu Picchu requires booking ahead 6 months in advance, due to its popularity and the limited nu...

We had considered travelling from Lima to Cusco on one incredibly long overnight bus, but decided there was enough interesting things between the two cities to break up the ride. This led us to Paracas National Reserve for a night, about three hours south of Lima by bus. The Peruvian coastline is where the ocean meets the desert and it's a beautiful area with sandy cliff faces up to the water's edge. We hired bikes to explore the reserve, allowing us to see th...

Finally into South America, we flew into the capital of Peru, a place Jansen visited nine years ago. Perhaps it comes with travel experience, but the place seemed much tamer and far less intimidating than it did the first time. Upon our airport arrival we paid a visit to the tourist information office. Our thoughts were to see if we could catch the local bus from the airport to the popular area of the city called Miraflores. We were warned at the office we'...

Our final stop in Central America led us to Panama. Knowing we had to catch a flight from Panama City to Lima, Peru, on the 14th, there wasn't much time to see the country. We caught a bus from Costa Rica, which took us over the border and through all of the normal formalities which always seem so incredibly disorganised in this part of the world. With passports stamped and exit taxes paid our bus took us onward to the small city of David by mid afternoon, whe...