We woke early to wait for our pickup for our tour to the Sacred Valley. Steve and Charm were staying in a different accomodation and we had organised to be on the same tour yet it seemed we were not picking them up. After half an hour of confusion and a change of busses we found them, also a little worried we had separated, but excited for the day to come. A tour guide told us the history of Cuzco and its countryside as we drove out of the valley that it sits in...

Steve and Charm arrived late in the afternoon and we met them at their beautiful hotel with a bottle of sparkling wine, local cheeses, biscuits and olives all bought from the local market. It was great to see them after four months away. We spent the first hour catching up and enjoying each other's company before heading out into the main plaza to a beautiful organic restaurant. Being a true traveller, Steve tried something off the menu that both Kate and myself ...

Our ten hour trip into Peru was again not the most enjoyable experience we've had on a bus. Overbooking busses seems to be the norm and our border crossing was a race between all the bus passengers to get the stamp and get back on the bus to assure you had a seat for the next few hours. Luckily for us we were among the first to complete the process, yet that didn't stop the conductor from trying to tell us we had to get out of our seats so another couple could si...

Saying our farewells to Banos, we set off for the bus station where Lex led us astray again.....after re-routing we made it to the bus station with plenty of time to spare. When our bus was called we sat in our seats and typically waited for Sth America time so we could depart the terminal. However, this time it was quite important to get a move on as we had a connecting bus about an hour away. I had a couple of words with the ticket seller and 5 minutes later we...

After leaving Quito on a nice sunny bright day, we had high spirits on getting to Banos. As it was only a 3 hour bus trip we and the buses left quite regularly we were in no rush and the trip was as always beautiful going through the mountains of Ecuador. Although the driving was a little crazy as usual, watching the abundant green mountains fly by was a treat to the eye. We arrived in Banos at about 2pm and quickly found our way to an eco hostel that had clean,...