Hi everyone,

We are writing this from Peru….we just crossed the border from Ecuador last night. We are currently heading south towards Cusco for the Inca Trail (24th September) but we´ll be making a few stops along the way hopefully. Now, lets recap what we have done over the past few days. We went from Quito to a small town called Baños. Despite its name (Baños in spanish means toilet) it is probably one of the most picturesque places we have been to so far. It is situated in a valley high up in the Andes, surrounded everywhere by mountains. The town is promoted as a place to go for outdoor adventure activities so on our first day we went for a 17km bike ride taking in some incredible scenery and finishing at a big waterfall known as the Devil! Luckily, we got a lift back to our hostel on the back of a pick up truck so didn´t have to face another 17 km back. For a ride like that we just held on tight and prayed that our bikes wouldn´t fly off the truck everytime we hit a bump in the road!

The next day we headed off with a Swiss couple to do some canyoning. Canyoning involves absailing / climbing down a waterfall trying not to slip! We had a great instructor so that made it a bit easier but we still came away from it with plenty of bumps and bruises! Having said that, it was a brilliant day, and we definitely got the hang of it by our 5th waterfall!

We hit the road again after the canyoning and arrived in a town called Alausí. This town is famous for its surrounding scenery and for having a train that goes into the mountains while its passengers sit on top! A few years ago a tourist died on it so they stopped people from riding on top for a while but despite the safety concerns it was back in full swing by the time we arrived there! (health and safety aren´t exactly priorities in South America). It was great craic on top of the train and we saw some really beautiful sights including a mountain called The Devils Nose (everything dramatic here is called after the devil!)

Following Alausí we headed south by bus into Peru. The border crossing was a bit harrowing to say the least (Corrupt border guards, crazy taxi drivers, lots of conmen, no other tourists and malaria filled mosquitoes….nightmare!!), but we got through it with only mental scars thankfully. It was a far cry from our pleasant border crossing from Brazil to Argentina.

That´s all the craic for now. We hope you are all well.

Lots of love, Linda and Ger

P.S. Ger would like to say …C´mon the mighty Reds! Even without Torres and Gerrard we can beat utd. Hopefully we can keep it up for the rest of the season!

P.P.S. Linda hopes Kerry will defeat the bearded men from the north next weekend in the All-Ireland final and would also like to add that according to the Mannion household utd handed Liverpool two goals on a plate.

P.P.P.S. Even though Ger didn´t see the game…..he disagrees!