Day 74: Cuenca is a nice colonial city and we started our time in Cuenca by walking through the city, both the old town and the new town. The city is populated with ornate churches and cathedrals. Our first stop was to the best ice cream shop in the world! There was every type of flavoured ice cream for sale including guinea pig ice cream, pisco sour, pinacolada, sangria, beer and the Ecuadorian moonshine ice cream. Was amazing!! We then stopped off at the Panama...

Day 49: After a morning of goodbyes, tears, hugs and sniffling we embarked minus Gordon on our trip to Peru. First to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia for lunch and then crossing the border to Peru. Was easier than other border crossings but given police corruption we had to pretend that we didn't know Martin, that he wasn't our tour guide and under no circumstances could we behave in any other manner other than 100% tourist or otherwise the police were l...

Day 37: Up early for our trip across the Border to Bolivia. The minute we crossed the border we entered a different world. Immigration was a shack where the official ate slept and worked. There were no paved roads, only dirt tracks. Women and men continue to wear traditional dress with women wearing bowler hats, long plaited pigtails and unique clothing. We were picked up by four jeeps at the Bolivian border and these jeeps were our transport for the following ...

Day 24:Bye Bye Argentina. Hello Chile. Another bus journey. This one marred with difficulties. First the ash cloud was so bad the border was closed. They reopened it and then the truck drivers from Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay blocked the border in protest. Our six hour drive turned into a 12 hour drive where we spent most of it sitting at the border. Was very happy to see our hotel at midnight. Day 25: Pueorto Varas. Hotel was an old German schoolhouse and ful...

Day 13: Salto Uruguay. Failed at our attempt to get breakfast after 18 hour bus ride. So more ham cheese and bread. For a change. Salto is known for its thermal baths and the healing powers of its waters. So I was prepared for a day in the spa with semi naked hot Uruguayan men. The reality was slightly different. The town was swarmed with pensioners walking the streets in bathrobes. And not much else. We were the youngest visitors to the baths by about 50 yea...