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From El Calafate we flew north to Santiago, once more we hired a car and drove to the coastal town of Valparaiso. We could quite easily have got one of the the very many and frequent Flix Buses, but time was short, and we admit we had grown tired of lugging our bags about. From plane to bus station, from bus station to bus station, from station to accommodation , and the same in reverse. Mr Bunny took matters into his own paws, and decided for all the hassle, the extra cost of a car would be worth it. We had a very fussy apartment booked, with a super strict and unmovable check in time of by 9.30pm or else. A rather bolshy text to the property owner, suggesting that I could always ask the pilot to fly a little quicker failed to move the apartment owner into agreeing a later check in so time was precious. It should be noted that we were flying via Buenos Aires with a 4 hour layover. Thankfully the superb organisation of Rental Cars at Santiago airport, meant we were collected, driven to the car hire office, the car was ready and waiting, and we left their office with sufficient time for a leisurely drive to Valparaiso. Ha !!! Lets just say we spent around 40 mins of our precious time just trying to leave the damned airport. How many blocked entrances? Road Blocks, One ways...we encountered them all. The road to Valparaiso was luckily blissfully traffic free, landing us at the apartment at 9.15pm. Good job we had a person waiting for us, we were on the 13th floor...the car park was on 9th floor, but was in the basement...reception on 11, via 2 lifts...what a crazy block of apartments. Valparaiso More than once we were told, `that`s not a safe place these days` Not helped by the fact that for the first time I had chosen an apartment for its views and not for its location in the safest district as per every other stay I had booked. We admit to being a little nervous there. Day one we just sat on the balcony in the hot sun and chilled. Watching the seals on the pier down below provided adequate entertainment. Day two however we decided we couldn`t stay in `the former jewel of South America` without seeing it for ourselves. We followed guidance to the letter, we dressed discreetly, kept phones and cameras packed away, and kept constant vigilance to our surroundings. I had read that the street vibes changed street by street, and that was quickly apparent. We only ever walk by day, we never wander far from busy streets, and are always careful. Valparaiso used to be the hub of the South America sea trade, and its not hard to see why. It really is, or rather was once, very beautiful. Old colonial buildings with stylish decor, shutters and graceful beauty stand looking forlorn shabby and unloved. Many of them empty. a sad reminder of better times. We spent the day walking the sea front, along which are far too many reminders of the sad situation of the homeless migrants mostly from Venezuela. As we headed for the `safe` area of Valparaiso, the Cerro Alegre we really did feel the ever changing ambience of the streets, bright and cheerful, turned into dour and cold, happy go lucky teenagers milled around the colleges/universities, whilst beady eyed teenagers eyed us moodily around the less savoury streets. At Cerro Alegre there is a multitude of colourful street art, and felt like a safe touristic place to spend some time. We had a coffee and cake break at a cafe high above the town, with a wooden barrier so rotten it would have crumbled at the slightest touch. No health and safety here, so use common sense and lean lightly. The cafe of choice was clearly an original from the hey day of the town. The wooden interior, the uneven floors, very old black and white pictures, and gorgeous old wooden furniture. One piece I thought was a strange box cupboard turned out to be an original fridge! Santiago Once again we return to Santiago, to Maktub hostel, with its wonderful beds and squeaky floors. Again we chose to spend our day at the rather wonderful Costenera shopping mall, rather than wander yet another city. Mr Bunny had left over Chile doofers which he divvied up between us in the hope we could each buy a last South American treat. Have you any idea how difficult it is to buy anything, when you have zero baggage space and a super strict baggage allowance? Little bunny opted to buy a better daybag, as hers was a little on the small side, and didn`t have dedicated laptop space, where as Mrs Bunny purchased yet another white t shirt, of the vest variety in the hope of visiting warmer climates. Mr Bunny treated himself to a rather nice steak dinner. And that, my bunny friends concluded our stay. We have loved our time in South America, but we are ready for a change. New Zealand awaits. We shall pick up the story in Auckland. Bunnies One, Two and Three are hopping to see you there.

Toilet.. I love a good toilet, don`t you? In the UK lets admit it, good public loos are few and far between. Not so here in South America. There are toilets (Banos) everywhere! Public toilets, toilets in cafes or bars, just pay a few pence and take your own paper. Down side streets (now I admit these are loos that we never had cause to use, so I cannot comment as to their cleanliness or function) middle of the highway, car parks, public buildings, if you have the urge to spend a penny or a peso, there will be a place for you. All western types. Carry your own paper, and stick the after use (you get used to it) in the baskets provided. In the 5 months here I think I have only been challenged by a questionable loo once. Altitude. I know I have mentioned this before, but altitude can be quite challenging at times. You don`t notice it for a long time, then suddenly without warning you find yourself out of breath, the stairs suddenly become so much more tiring. One night you may find yourself breathless, or you look at a hill and dismay and frustration hits you when the puffing starts again. I`m sure younger bunnies will struggle less, or even the well seasoned hikers, but if like us, you are sea level living bunnies, the constant living at a height equivalent to three times the height of Ben Nevis can be a struggle. I know from a an excellent source on You Tube, Wolters World that the need for oxygen on rare occasions is very real, but I do think some of the silly questions asked on the travel groups are a little dramatic, asking about altitude tablets, where to buy certain tablets, how to cope etc... Look people, I am an older bunny with proven limited lung capacity, I`m no hiker, I live at sea level, and though I puffed and panted, (and I admit got thoroughly and vocally fed up) I managed quite well. Yet by comparison it was super breath holding capacity, I can blow a brass instrument for 20 bars on one breath Mr Bunny, who struggled. Don`t stress. Follow every good suggestion online particularly the drinking of extra liquids and taking it easy, the rest you will figure out. Buses Every blog I read declared buses are freezing . I beg to differ. Buses differ massively and it all depends on where you sit. I have sat on a bus and darn near melted whilst the people just 2 seats ahead of me piled on just about every layer of clothing they could get their hands on. I sat in a cotton vest t shirt and shorts and wished I was naked with a bucket of ice water. That, my bunny friends is how wildly different bus seats can be. I was sat that day on the bus heater over which I had no control. My only personal advice would be to dress in layers, cool stuff first, not thermals. Cooking Cooking at home has saved us a whole lot of money. We save more when mrs and little bunny let Mr Bunny shop alone. We have been banned from accompanying him. Not our fault that those biscuits fell into the basket, or that bar of chocolate. We try not to complain though as neither of the girly bunnies has cooked a meal yet ( bar one or two) and though he does keep trying to produce a meal we do not like, in 5 months Mr bunny has so far failed. Miserably. I really thought this would be a trip of Ramen noodles and Water, but not at all. We eat chicken most evenings, steak, sausages, eggs, pastas, rice dishes, risotto, there is no end to the talent of Mr B. Fry a mushroom and an onion and the smell of cooking makes our bunny noses waffle. Mr Bunny even cooks delicious meals with wine, sometimes he puts it in the food... Clothing and what to wear/pack I retired from work and decided that I wanted to be a whole new me. I packed a different selection of clothing to my normal colours, wanting to be brighter, more colourful. I found out the hard way, If you don` t like it or wear it at home, you wont wear it abroad either. bit by bit I have replaced my backpack with the styles and colours that I am more accustomed to wearing. Even little bunny is so glad she packed jeans, despite their weight. Mr B wishes he had. I`m grrring that I sent home my straight legged trousers. I cannot emphasis enough to listen and learn when every single you tube video without fail, says pack less. less. less. less. I am carrying multiple socks that I probably will not wear, ditto underwear. You can only wear one at once, you can wash overnight, seldom takes more than 2 days to dry, so why take multiples? Wear. Wash. Go. Merino socks. just buy them. You will never regret it. Stuff. Needed or Not? My best stuff. A plug , its a round flat grey plug and probably our most used object. Our Philips rechargable toothbrushes in their own cases. (charged before we left, and she says, tempting fate) still on the same charge. Useful when the only place to put your toothbrush down may be the sink or the loo cistern. Sellotape ! resealing packets of curry powder, salt, sugar, sauces, drink crystals, lids on loose items. A small torch , mine has different options including wide beam. Used when I don`t want to be forever using my phone. An airflap . simple flat bendable piece of leather coated metal. Mr B uses it all the time when watching horses on his phone, or generally just surfing on the net on a table. Kindle , with a long lead charger. My kindle fire , a bit heavy but i have used it often. Easier to watch in bed than the laptop. Decent ear plugs . If you enjoy a decent hot brew, my best on the road buy is a plastic thermal mug , with lid. So nice to have a decent sized drink from a pot that keeps it warm for longer. The second best buy was a cute little hot water bottle . Ladies buy one, guys thank me later. Small plastic tubs . (yep, same as the ones we bought to bring, and left behind) but proof that you can buy what you need, when you need it, along the way. Too much rice? in the tub, sugar bag too big? In the tub. Half a tube of butter? In the tub. Slippers. Paper/pens. both get constant use. The pen keep handy at the borders. Decent hand cream or moisturiser . Your skin gets very dry at altitude. Toilet Roll . always have a spare handy, you never know when someone will accidentally chuck one down the loo. Sit pads , they take up a bit of space, but we use them so often, quite the envy of people when we plonk ourselves down on wet rocks, or damp grass whilst they stand. We do not have, but wish we did, an airplane friendly screwdriver set. Lost count of the times Mr Bunny waves a loose handled saucepan at me. Go Pro with or without a small handle. I do have ready made ( ahem) breast pocket in which to store mine out of sight, whilst little bunny prefers the handle attachment. Here I emphasise, you do NOT need the all singing, dancing battery included official go pro, £100 plus handle as per the advice of a knows everything, but knows nothing idiot I once knew. It is a heavy p.i.t.a leave it at home, along with the brainless clown that also thinks it had a use!!....just saying.... (private joke) Talking about that brown stuff, Wype has been a brilliant little bathroom addition. when paper is at a premium, the smallest amount of this stuff goes a long long way. (google for a better description, but it really is quite excellent) Packable day bags . We use two different ones. a Patagonia black hole, and a Tripped pack away, both used very often. Small grrr here, small packable shopping bags, exactly like the 6 or so I have at home but managed to leave without. These would have been very useful, instead I saved a heavy duty plastic bag that takes up more room than I like. A buff, have to admit I wear this far more than I thought I would. Thin warm blanket I carry mine in a neck shaped pillow case, multi function. Need a pillow but not a blanket, you got it, need a blanket and a pillow? swap blanket for coat or spare clothes. A tried and tested reusable drink flask . I personally carry two. One functions exceptionally well for cold drinks, but warm drinks cool far too quickly, whilst my other keeps hot for up to 10 hours. I didn`t intend to leave with 2, but one was a gift, and I am very grateful that the gift flask is the one I use most often. Pillow case. used on multiple occasions when only one side of the bed (or neither) has access to a table. We each carry a bright coloured pillowcase in which we can stuff phones, kindles, glasses cases, bedtime munchies.. Water shoes had frequent use, from private slippery bath tubs and showers, to shared bathrooms and hot tubs. Tea Towels . used frequently. Not required As per my notes above, anything heavy including a Go Pro handle. A carbon dioxide monitor . Don`t ask, ( if you must know, it was suggested on a well respected you tube blog, and seeing as we cook often, yadda yadda yadda) no, not needed. A bit of common sense and an open window works just as well. Justin Case . If you are carrying anything at all, just in case, you probably do not need it. A super dooper pac safe handbag . Yep, absolutely brilliant, but when your clothes are ultra casual, a pac safe handbag screams `I contain something important` I sent mine home in favour of a canvas bag that can be bought anywhere. Little bunny carries a cross body bag in a low key colour. Mr bunny wears a bum bag. sore point. It works best at airports and on buses. For casual day wear, he too carries a `local bag`. Shower Gel it is liquid, comes in big packaging, usually expensive, and solid soap ticks exactly the same box. Solid shampoo bars either I haven`t found a good one, or they are all the same. Pointless. I have had 3 now, and they haven`t lasted more than 2 or 3 washes without disintegrating. To date, most of our rooms have provided shower gel and shampoo, for those that don`t , supermarkets in tourist towns tend to have single sachets available. Hot Water Cannot begin to tell you how many times we have needed it, but not had, had but not needed, we have washed up in Cold water more times than I would like, but solid washing up paste is there for a reason. It works. If we have hot water we can cook with oil, cold water and its pasta or rice. Washing your face in cold water is quite refreshing and good for the skin, but running a bathroom tap and finding warm water is bliss. Bidets also provide an excellent face wash. Too many times now I have leaned over, turned on the tap and got a face full of water. Note to self, sit first. Also note, find the cold water first, I can assure you hot water sprayed directly onto your hoo hoo is not fun. Doing Nothing Doing nothing is doing something. It is recharging batteries. Embrace the fact that you really do not need to be doing, walking, hiking, travelling every single day. Stopping is good for body, mind and soul. Doing Something Prior to leaving the UK, we would work all day, cook in an evening, play cards, watch TV. It worried the heck out of me before we left, what are we going to do to pass time? I had visions of long quiet evenings and early nights. We could play cards, but that doesn`t take much time. We cannot sight see all day, every day!! I admit I panicked. I am not very good at sitting around doing nothing. Reality. I wish I had more time. The last time we played cards was almost a month ago. We are never bored, nor do we clamour for entertainment. Ours days are fulfilling, little bunny is working hard producing her You Tube channel/Instagram. miss.tiff.travel s. I write my diary and this blog, far more time consuming than you would know, and Mr bunny is becoming quite a dab hand at backing the horses with 4 legs and mining for Gold. Netflix and Disney are there for us in an evening. Life is good. Backpacks and Rucksacks . Researched at length, I cannot begin to tell you how many bag videos we have watched. We are each carrying a Stubble and Co backpack. 42 litres, compartmented. The compartments make packing exceptionally easy, one bunny choosing to use packing cubs, 2 bunnies do not. All 3 bags have split across the seams. I still advocate these bags are excellent, but it is proof that with less stuff the bags wouldn`t have been under so much strain. Will they last the entirety of the trip? Yes. Will they need attention in the future, also Yes. Would I bring again? debatable. We have two Osprey Fairview and Farpoint bags at home, that might just take a trip of their own one day. Rucksacks/day bags. Again, researched at length, but still problematic. I absolutely love to bits my LoveNook bag. Pockets!! so many pockets!! I have a pocket for everything, it is brilliant and I love it, but I`ve since bought a Patagonia rucksack to use instead ! Why??? My lovenook does not like to be carry turtle fashion. Problem one. Problem two, buses are used frequently and my little bag was just a little too wide to fit under the seats, ditto on a plane. When we intend to be travelling for many more months yet, I need a bag that ticks those extra boxes. My new Patagonia ticks all the boxes bar the pockets. Oh how I miss my pockets. A problem I have sorted by utilising the small zipped cotton bags that I have with me. Mr Bunny has no issues at all with his 30litre Berghaus rucksack, whilst little bunny, who had intended just using her anti theft backpack, quickly realised that it didn`t quite fit all her tech. Nor would it carry the weight of. Borrowing a cheap 30 litre trespass rucksack has that problem now covered. I'm sure I will have many more lessons to learn as our trip progresses, but for now, 3 happy bunnies are signing off. PS Google Translate. Brilliant brilliant app, but not fool proof. Please note that when asking for chocolate without nuts, you request the correct version of nuts. Mr Bunny had a red face when he asked for chocolate without balls....

Leaving behind all things hotel and comfortable, we headed for the Airport at Calama, returned our hire car, and boarded a plane to El Calafate in the heart of Argentina`s Patagonia. A rather expensive bunny hop into town on arrival, not that we had a lot of choice given that the airport manager informed us that the airport was about to close. We had neither local money nor internet. Informed that all taxis have a means of taking card payment, we were directed to the last taxi available. A £20 taxi ride and 20 mins later we arrived at our little home in El Calafate. We were due to spend one night here, but a series of events and a high jacked day led us to stay put for 2 nights. Such a beautiful place, so no hardship. We did not get the chance to see the town up close this time around but hope to return here for a couple more nights when we return the car. All I can say about our accommodation is that it was warm, really really, really warm. To be surrounded by snow capped mountains but needing to have the front door open to lessen the heat in our `sauna` is proof enough as to the warmth. Granted it was lovely to be so toasty, but not so much in the early hours when you cant exactly fling the door open to cool down. We bought food in the town supermarket, and it was as we expected a little expensive. Mr Bunny and his cooking skills as always prevailed. He really does feed us well on very few ingredients. Day 2. Our journey today takes us to El Chalten , via the awesome Perito Merino Glacier. Quick note here, there are two places called Perito Merino, which caused said Mr bunny to have a minor meltdown when I showed him the route (whilst still in the UK) , stamping his overly large bunny feet insisting we go to the Glacier. It was on the route, just not where he expected it to be. There are two my bunny friends, a place name, and a glacier of same name, in two very different places. Perito Merino Glacier. Nothing short of spectacular. I admit to feeling a little meh about seeing a glacier, a big wall of ice, where is the fun in that? Nothing could have prepared me for the sight before my eyes. The road we travelled on through the National Park Los Glaciares to the glacier took us along the lake edge. It was there we saw our first iceberg. I felt daft at first pointing out that iceberg, but then it occurred to me, when had I/we ever seen a real one before? We have been to Norway and Sweden but that was Summer, we didn`t see icebergs there, in a land where you would expect to see them, yet here in Patagonia, sat the cutest little iceberg you ever did see, right there in front of our very eyes. An iceberg of the palest blue. If the giddiness of seeing that chunky lump of ice made me smile, it was nothing to witnessing the sheer size and scale of the Perito Merino Glacier. It really is quite breath taking, and far more impressive than I was expecting. Once the shock and awe of the phenomenon you are witnessing passes, you then start to take in the colours. Blues of every colour, the whole blue spectrum from the palest baby blue, to more vivid striking cobalt, deepest turquoise and neon blue. How can white ice be so blue? The Glacier is a visually striking wall of cracked ice, with every crack harnessing its own blue colours. There are so many well constructed paths that lead to and around the glacier in every direction. We chose the easiest path, and meandered down toward the river and the glaciers edge. Every set of stairs that descended increased the grandeur and majesty of this spectacular glacier. At home I thought meh its only ice...in reality, I couldn`t have be less meh if I tried. This ticked one of Mr Bunny`s bucket list items, and it added to mine. We would have liked to have lingered longer, but the need to push on to our next destination dragged us away. We did have a rather annoying kit kat moment, after we had turned our backs on the glacier for just a few moments, it chose that very time to crack and cascade into the lake with the most deafening rumble. We heard the roar and the resounding splashes, but alas a wall of trees spoilt our view for those crucial seconds. We heard a glacier crack.... but accept some things are not ours to witness first hand. El Chalten. After 5 hours of the most breath taking scenery, and a whole lot of nothing else, we arrived at the town of El Chalten. When I say a whole lot of nothing, that is quite literal. No people, no house, no towns, no shops, not even a stray dog. Plenty of trees and Guanacos (snooty faced llama type animals), and views beyond compare, but other than that, a whole lotta nothing. Just straight roads of nothingness. The northern parts of Patagonia offers little conversation other than `wow` `wow` and yet more `wow` Sheer raw beauty of nature at its best. We are coming out of winter and heading to spring. Lambs are being born, trees are bare, the land is barren, but it is beyond compare. As the mountain ranges close in and the snow peaks grow ever larger, the peak of the distinctive Fitz Roy mountain comes into view, and the tiny town of El Chalten. This is quite clearly a town that is developing quickly, and I suspect the land is valuable. The hiking around this area would be enough to keep any seasoned and hardy hiker busy for months, and I would guess that every spare bit of land is being purchased and utilised for the purpose of hiking accommodations. The trails here are many and varied. The houses of the town differ wildly, from wooden lodges, small hotels, converted caravans, large well cladded garden sheds, small concrete housing units, to the one I liked the most, a small rowing boat, upwardly extended in a manner Mr and Mrs Weasley would be quite proud of. The cost of staying in El Chalten is quite steep comparatively, and even at the outer edges of the town we paid just short of double our usual budget. Our little apartment was tiny and cute. Tiny enough to serve a purpose, big enough not to feel crowded. On our first full day, the sun shone brightly, we first drove, then hiked up the easiest hiking trails to be rewarded with yet more awesome views. Patagonia does not disappoint. Our trail was called the Condor Trail and we were rewarded with said birds. There were many condors, soaring and gliding the wind currents high above us. The next trail was the Eagle trail, not convinced we saw the eagles, but then again they are much smaller and harder to spot. The trail ended with yet more views to behold. Back at our `ranch` we enjoyed our home cooked bunny food, before settling in for an evening of Netflix. It snowed this evening, all night long. We knew snow was forecast, but it only mentioned a flurry. Ha!! It snowed big time, and we woke to a blanket of white. This was not a problem for Mrs Bunny who has no hiking desires, but caused quite a stir in the world of two other bunnies who had planned...and still planned, to hike the longest most challenging hike in Patagonia. Today. In the snow. Fully kitted out I hear you say? Nope. Walking trainers, no crampons, no walking poles, no waterproof trousers or gaitors, nothing, nada, zip. So, at 8am, two foolhardy and determined bunnies, dressed to kill in everything warm they could muster, set off to hike Fitz Roy, all 14 miles of it. In the snow. Mrs Bunny settled down with a good cup of tea, a book, warm slippers, and a cat for company. The cat had sat on the windowsill for many minutes staring in at me meowing until I let him/her in. Stalked in like it owned the place, demanded water from the bathroom tap, then casually draped itself on the bed and promptly went to sleep. For 4 hours! It was actually nice having a furry body in the room for company whilst the 2 daft bunnies hiked up a steep and snowy mountain. 11 hours later, my two crazy bunnies arrived home. I had given them the ultimatum of home by 7pm or I send out a search party. They pushed their luck timing their return 6.56 ! The floor definitely had pace marks. Having decided that Laguna 69 (Huaraz) was the most challenging of hikes, they both scoffed and declared that Laguna 69 was actually a mere walk in the park compared to Fitz Roy. Ushuaia From the first day we watched the Race Across the World, ending in a place called Ushuaia, ( how do you pronounce it and where the heck is it..) the thought of visiting the city at the end of the world was totally on our radar. From El Chalten to Ushuaia is around 18 hours by car, the distances here are quite eye watering. We opted to break up the journey by pausing for a night at Rio Gallegos. I don`t intend to dwell on the past, but this was the port that served the Argentine Naval force during times of conflict in the mid 80s. Not knowing quite how we would be greeted or welcomed in Argentina so close to the islands we chose to avoid the museums and the monuments. Let me add, every sign post and reference points to the Malvinas, the English version is never ever referred to. A muted sore point in the history of Argentina? Our apartment wasn`t quite ready on arrival, so we took a drive to the sea front. It looked like the sea but it is just an inlet. Every part of this ride was Lytham to St Annes. (English seaside towns) Sea wall on your left, beautiful house of every size and shape on your right. One night in the bunny hutch at Rio Gallegos and back in the car. pssst do you want to know how to get from El Chalten to Rio Gallegos? simples, Leave El Chalten on the main road, turn right at the t junction. Turn Left at the next junction, straight on forever and Rio Gallegos will be in front of you. Two turnings we made, in 8 hours!! The next part of the journey would be long, varied, challenging, boring, wow, two border crossings, Argentina/Chile/Argentina (they nicked our eggs!.....and on the return journey we got in trouble for an onion, so be warned!) and lastly a ferry crossing. Around 8 hours in total. All I can refer to along this early stretch of the journey was the fate of the daft Guanacos. I saw their furry butts so often that I renamed them either Guanacant`s or Guanacans There are many many herds of these beautiful snooty faced animals all along both sides of the fence line that stretches the length of Patagonia. The guanacos/cans/cants graze peacefully on both sides of the fence, the guanacants were the ones who failed to clear the fence and hung pitifully either draped like a furry rug, their sad little fluffy butt tails waving in the wind, or hung by the one trailing leg that didn`t quite clear the 4ft obstacle. Pretty sure these departed animals make for a proper feast for the elusive Pumas and Cougars, not to mention the condors as the number of furry butt tails and dangling bods was numerous. Guanacans troughed the grass on both sides of the fence. Departed guanacos aside, we have seen a number of the other animals/birds that fly/roam the Patagonian plains. Grey Foxes, Eagles and Hawks, a Skunk (alas flattened, but still spotted) wild Horses, Rhea and even a flamboyance (isn`t that a nice word?) of Flamingos. I thought I was seeing things when I saw what I thought were herds of ostrich in the field, but a google search revealed they were wild Rhea. The last leg of our journey took us across the fantastic plains of Tierro del fuego. The original indigenous people used fire to keep warm (what else....?) and passing sailors saw the flames, called it the land of fire, Tierro del Fuego yadda yadda yadda. The wind across the never ending flat plains was quite scary at times, the car shook like the bunny in Fatal Attraction, and Mr bunny`s knuckles were quite white at times from gripping the steering wheel. It is hard to recall at what point the scenery changed, but the change was rapid. From a blank canvas of sandy plains, trees started to appear, first one, then another and suddenly huge forests loomed out of nowhere. Then hills, which grew into mountains, that developed into snow topped mountain ranges. The change in scenery was nothing short of sudden and dramatic. Did I mention the absence of cars? Pretty sure during the entire 8 hour plus journey the number of cars in either direction wouldn`t top 50, if that. If there is only one road to The end of the World, and the number of cars we saw barely made it past 50, just how tiny a town is Ushuaia? Huge, really really huge! We were so surprised to find a town this large. Not London or La Paz huge, but pretty close to Harrogate or Halifax (uk) It would seem that living here is so good, why leave? Ushuaia . The City at the End of the World. And it is spectacular. I am so so happy to be here, it was worth the very long journey. The town itself is pretty enough, but backed by snow capped mountains, and facing the Beagle channel, the scenery surrounds you on all sides. This is a city in which you can live and breathe. Hiking, fishing, boating, skiing, mountains, nature and wildlife are just some of its many attractions. Tourism is definitely developing quickly here, and the number of cruises to Antarctica doubles year on year. Still this city remains unique. We drove around the streets away from the touristic centre today, and just marvelled and laughed at the huge array of housing. Of course there are a few blocks of same same buildings, but mostly every other single building, be it house or shop is unique. Bungalows, houses, sheds, caravans, wooden lodges, wooden houses, concrete houses, isthatreallya house type houses, ultra modern stands next to original wooden multi storey constructions. Made from chipboard, metal panels, wood or even glass. Single glazed windows, or high tech shutters. Square concrete boxes reside next to triangular oddities. British Building regulations go eat your heart out, take a look at how amazing and functional these houses/homes/one mans castles, are, and get off your silly high horses about 3.5" cladding and 2.3 ft deep drains...boo sucks to you. This is how people should be allowed to live. Practical, functional and personal. Self made and proud to call them home. Tours. Seriously expensive. This is not a place to come thinking you can do all sorts, at least not on a budget. £50 pp to ride the train, one and half hours, but you must, not optional also purchase the national park ticket @£20pp. Beagle Channel cruise? £135, pp. Some eye watering costs. I am both glad and a little sad about not riding the train, but was it a must or a touristy `you must do this when here` ? I feel the latter. The train whilst cute, is not the original. The journey is painfully slow, the scenery may well be nice, but isn`t the whole of Patagonia pretty awesome without paying to sit on a very slow train that travels just 18km? the station is quite lovely, but it is still a facade for a journey of limited options. Instead we purchased the compulsory park tickets, took a picnic, and hiked our bunny butts around a few of the many walks around this beautiful, peaceful and scenic national park. Bit miffed that we were charged full price when many hikes were still closed, but it is what it is. Our last visit of the day, and something we had each promised ourselves. A visit to the Post Office at the end of the world. Stamp our passports and send a postcard home. Nope. Apparently the Post Office is no longer there, due to some issues about its legalities. Damn you Google, telling us it was open until 4pm daily, grrrrrr. Penguins? closed for refurbishment (the King Penguin sanctuary) Boats rides, expensive and with the channel windy, choppy with white horse tipped waves, probably not running. Patagonia was becoming a challenge. We did have a very nice meal with quite probably one of the best views to date at the Tolkeyen hotel, not overly expensive at all. And coffee and cake the following day at Tanta Sara in the centre of town was just sublime. Leaving Ushuaia, we just had to pay a visit to the Hotel that ended the Race Across the World. Not exactly certain how the challengers got there, this hotel sits high up above the town, not the gorgeous looking hotel building we could see from our room, the sat nav took us to what we thought was a plain old green factory warehouse perched high on another mountain side. Oh My Goodness, how looks can deceive. The Arakur hotel. Just google it, is all I can say, as words alone cannot do it justice. We were greeted by `the man` the same guy on reception who greeted those tired racers. He welcomed us in and told us to wander freely and admire. And wander we did. Numerous seating areas, all heated, bar, restaurants, private restaurants for intimate dining, and the spa. With an outdoor infinity, heated pool. If anyone fancies getting married, this hotel ticks so many boxes. From Ushuai we made the long trek northwards again, this time to Punta Arenas . We were supposed to going via Porvenir where the Penguin refuge was , but given that the refuge was closed for a refurb, we opted for the shorter car ferry crossing near Puerto Progreso, the same way that we crossed earlier and ultimately the alternative road to Punta Arenas. Must say I was expecting a lot more from this town. Quite disappointing to be honest. We visited the few must see places, but given that these included the Plaza de Armas which was closed for maintenance, an old rusting ship that floundered here in 1909, a boat yard of `life size replicas`, not convinced by the life size, they looked rather small to me, and with an entry fee of $7 each, we were not convinced we needed to see them further up close. If you want to see real ships, you are hard pressed to beat Portsmouth (UK)! (been there, done that) The Cemetery ranked by CNN as the most beautiful in the world, (decide for yourself, I have no intentions of defining beauty when it comes to a place of rest) and lastly parts of the town which were decidedly meh. What is good about this place, is our accommodation. A 3 bedroomed log cabin above the town with views over the harbour. We were supposed to be staying in a 2 bedroom log cabin, but some silly female bunny booked 2025 dates instead of 24, so the kind owner sensing the goof gave us the last available 3 bedroom cabin. And it is Warm!! phew, we were told by some guy back at Huachachina that gas is either free or very cheap in Patagonia, and I swear it must be true, as heaters are large and restrictions on usage not applicable. The cabin is very small but very very comfortable. To prove it was a cabin made for us, we have a bunny, a real little bunny living under our cabin. I think he must be a home bunny as we have spotted him 3 times now. From Punta Arenas to Puerto Natalas, another 3 and half hour drive and another Border crossing in the middle of nowhere. Note to other bunny travellers, for heavens sake if you overstay your welcome either by design or accident, just pay the darn fine and quit bleating about how you have just spent a lot of money as a tourist in their country. We couldn`t believe our bunny ears, as these two loud mouthed foreigners ponced about telling the authorities it was their (the border control) mistake, and why should they pay the $20 fine !! Seriously, $20 for a 4 day illegal stay, and your complaining ?? Note to the more advanced bunny traveller, be careful when or if you hire a car, there is an endless amount of car paperwork that they scrutinise with an 50 x magnification spyglass! Be confident that you have all the correct paperwork before you try to cross the border and don`t even think about smuggling an onion! Puerto Natalas. Quite the contrast to Punta Arenas. This is a very pretty little town, no high rises, just a small town quite spread out, with a lovely sea front. We didn`t quite find the time to walk the sea front, but did managed to take `that` photo, of the old pier at sunset . An Instagram hotspot. Not my favourite past time, recreating the same photo as 1000s of others, but it is a nice place at sundown. We drove to Puerto Natalas via the Cueva del Milodon Cave National Monument. (Mylodon) This is must see tourist attraction that caught my eye as a must see. The remains of a prehistoric sloth bear were found here, with remains of prehistoric man. I personally hope bear ate man for a change. No bones to see, or even a skeleton, but a life size replica sloth bear does greet you at the cave entrance to give you an appreciation of size. Located around 15km out of P.N. we called here on our way to our room. From the road you can see the cave, but just not how big it is. To do that, you must pay (of course) There are many walks around this area, but all we wanted to see was the Milodon replica, and the cave in which it was found. I cannot begin to describe the size of this cave. Huge is an underwhelming word, Think Ginormous, humungous, cathedral sized and you are getting close. I chose to stay near the cave entrance to take photos of my bunny to give an idea of scale. spot him if you can . Accommodation here is again expensive, and with a needs must budget we nabbed a little wooden cabin, or as little bunny called it, the hutch at the bottom of the garden. I shall breeze over this place. It was clean with comfy beds, but challenging. Bit too small. It served a purpose. Puerto Natalas This is the town that sits closest to the Torres del Paine National Park. You only need to look at a map to see how special a place this is. If the bunny budget was a whole lot bigger, we would have chosen to stay within the park boundaries, but as I decline to camp in the cooler months, and 5* hotels not on the radar, Puerto Natalas works just fine. It is however a good 95-105 km/1 and half hours away. First stop in the park took us to two different view points. Well researched hiking trails we quickly learned that `easy hike ` is in comparative to the Mirador Torres del Paine Base definition of `challenging hike` 3 of us made almost to the top of the `easy` hiking trail however we 2 older bunnies, after watching a much younger bunny with hiking poles and crampons sit and shuffle her way down the last part of the walk, decided that this was the perfect place to break out the flasks of coffee, and instead we sent our own little bunny to scout the highest part of the walk. Watching her return like bambi on ice, we knew we made the right choice to stay were we were. The second 6km easy hike proved to be just that, we first walked to the waterfall, then continued onwards to the Mirador Cuernos. A very pleasant walk indeed, and an awe inspiring view at the end as a worthy reward. Day 2. And the day of the biggie. The hugely demanding and very challenging Torres del Paine Base hike. Luckily there was no snow today, we had checked the walking conditions and all was good, the lake was melted at the view point, and crampons were an optional rather than a necessity, (not that we had any). Flasks were made, rucksacks filled, and clothing donned. Woolly socks, hats, gloves, thermal base layers comfortable slippers, favourite t shirt....hmmm, you didn`t actually think Mrs Bunny was quite that daft to even consider this particular hike? Another day off for me, no cat this time, but I am still happy on my own. The two crazy knackered bunnies returned a mere 14 hours later, and once again declared they had upped their hiking game. Mrs Bunny was allowed in mr bunny`s kitchen today to make tea. Mr Bunny did not complain. One of the many challenges of the national park, are the unmade roads. I had found us a gorgeous route back to El Calafate that traversed the many winding roads of the National Park. However the reality would have been 8 plus hours on a mostly unmade, or if it was made, a deeply rutted potholed road. Now iykyk, but lets just say that my bra wouldn`t quite cut it..... We took the fast route. Leaving the utterly beautiful and stunning Torres del Paine national park it was with a heavy heart we waved goodbye, and continued once more back to the town of El Calafate and the end of our car hire rental. Dropping the car off, it served us well managing a little over 3000km during our 19 day rental period. Could you see Patagonia by bus or public transport? Yes, you could, but it would be very very challenging. The distances, the speed of the bus, the frequency. Unmade roads, and the off the beaten track destinations that would require taxis or tours. We did see one or two crazy people on bicycles, but when we knew we had a 4 hour journey of nothingness in front of us in a car, what must it look like from a bike perspective? Without personal transport I suggest a very big budget and a whole lot of time and patience. Even with a car we only managed to cover a small area of the incomparable land that is Patagonia. A destination beyond compare. Our journey through South America is coming to a close. With just one destination left prior to getting on our longest flight to date, this bunny has only one thing to say. South America. We love you.

Potosi or Uyuni? Potosi had always been on our radar, one as a centre for which to purchase anything shiny and silver, a bunny can always dream and hope, and second as a bunny hop breaking up yet another long tedious bus journey. In the end we decided to bunny hop, skip and jump over Potosi and suck up yet another sauna bus of endless miles and misery. This bus was due to leave Sucre at 10pm, but left at 9.45, and was supposed to arrive at 8 am, but pulled into the station at 5.30 am. Prior to leaving Sucre (altitude 2790) for Uyuni ( 3700) we asked our host what the bus journey would be like. Frio !! Muchas Frio! he was quite adamant.... (cold, very cold) I thereby erred on the side of caution, and wore layers. Yep, another bloody (sorry) sauna! My patience and tolerance for these buses is wearing thin. Yet it would seem only I was ridiculously hot. My seat was on the only bus heater, and the heat stayed local to me. Two seats in front, and two behind the passengers were piling on scarfs, hats, jumpers, coats and wrapping themselves up in furry blankets. Me? This bunny? I wore shorts and my thinnest cotton vest top. and darn near melted. Hardly surprising that I got many curious looks as the bus doors opened at Uyuni at 5.30 am and temperatures in the minus!!! Grab the layers onion girl, grab the layers! Uyuni  When you arrive at a destination at 5.30am after a long, hot stuffy sleepless journey, wake a sleepy hotel owner to beg for an early entry, who in turn then agrees to come and get you from the bus station, it does not put you in the best frame of mind to appreciate your surroundings. I clocked nothing was open (well it was 5.30am) and I did get the feeling that the town was quite desolate looking..(understatement). Jhony, apartment owner did try to engage us in conversation asking if we had a trip booked, but he quickly got the hint to shut up, let us get some sleep, and we would converse with him later that afternoon. So so cold. Utterly grateful that for the first time on our trip we had a room with heating! We have never been particularly cold anywhere we have been so far (except maybe the one night in Quilotoa) but Uyuni was something else. Comfy beds and a warm room, we slept so well that morning, walking at 1pm ready to face the day. We arranged for a one day tour to the Salt Flats the following day, and headed into town searching for some bunny fodder. Oh my goodness where on earth are we? Unmade roads of sand, no markings, no traffic lights or roundabouts, small scruffy buildings, I felt myself wanting to hum the theme tune from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly such was this strange sand ridden town. Barely any traffic, the few cars we did see were so so old, rust buckets mostly, old buses with doors that no longer closed. A true old western looking town. We did come across a couple of slightly more finished buildings, restaurants, and cafes, but nothing particularly sparkling. Diving into an `italian` restaurant that promised pizza or similar, I did manage to procure a rather good cup of coffee, with milk! but alas my choice of `chicken soup` made my stomach churn. Best described as dishwater, with a boiled egg, a boiled potato, and (eek) a boiled chicken leg, complete with soggy boiled skin. From the sublime soup of Sucre, to this... little bunnies orange chicken, was distinctly lemon flavoured, she`s not a fan, while Mr bunny fared a little better with his beef (we hope) steak and rice. Uyuni Salt Flats, Train Cemetary , Picked up from the hostel at 10 am, we collected our other 4 passengers, and headed out to the Train Cemetery. Having watched so many different You Tubes about the Salt Flats, and in particular the Train Cemetery, it was a brilliant feeling to finally be there and see these rusting deserted abandoned trains for ourselves. We didn`t have the longest of time there, but did have long enough to explore these old relics of times gone by, you can climb on the trains if you so wish. From the trains we made a quick pit stop to collect food and wellies, before we headed off to the Salt town of Colchani. Yes, it entirely true that this town thrives, or at least used to, from the production and preparation on the mined salt, but a more accurate observation, this little town is quite clearly making all its money from the endless stalls of T.S.   * tourist sh.t  the vast number of tourist land rovers and range rovers parked along the road bearing testament to that . From Colchani it was time to drive to the Salt Flats themselves. What an experience! We drove from sandy covered almost tarmac roads, to a surface of pure salt, and a pristine vision of endless nothingness. We passed by the worlds largest salt hotel, but alas didn`t stop to investigate. Carrying on into a white oblivion, the lack of scenery and landmarks became quite unnerving. There are no roads across the Salt Flats, but endless tourist visits has marked a flattened slightly dirty car wide path along which we travelled. Sunglasses were an absolute must. The endless white of the salt flats coupled with the bright sunshine made for a blinding vista. On and on we drove, heading for who knows what. How did he know where to go? suddenly our grubby path went off at an angle, and so did we. The spanish speaking mother of the family who we were with did voice what we were all thinking, `how do you know where you are heading for`. Our young guide and driver simply smiled and said, `road and sun`...hmm....not vague or reassuring at all. But all of a sudden, there it was, looking out of the whiteness a vast spectacle of colour. Flags. From every country, and the giant obelisk of Dakar. From 2009 to 2019 the Dakar rally ran across South America, and the salt flats of Uyuni. We lunched ( rather well in fact) at the salt restaurant. Each tour group had brought their own food, obviously by mutual discussion of what food was to be served, given that every table, made of salt, along with salt stools, appeared to be eating the same things. Hot rice, meat, potatoes, salad, coke and water were available, with oranges for dessert. From the restaurant we headed out once more onto the vast whiteness of the Salt -Flats. For 45 minutes we drove heading to who knows where. Tried playing I Spy, but Salt and Sky where the only things to spot ending the game ended quickly. A lump? Is that a lump we could see? It was, yet it took forever to get there. We passed, most unbelievably 2 people on bicycles!!! How? Why !!! We had no answers, just shocked disbelief. Finally our lump turned into a desert island called Incahuasi. or Cactus Island. Quite amazing to see this large lump of rock, with its many many tall handsome cacti. We paid our price, got the ticket, `no ticket no loo` declares the sign, and started our ascent of this big black volanic rock. Quite the challenging uphill hike, was a hot cloudless sky, and the altitude and thin air quite debilitating. 2 bunnies almost made it to the top, but decided that a view of endless nothing wasn`t really a view at all. Little bunny pushed onto the top, but didn`t come back sounding particularly enamoured about the view, muttering something about, its the same in every direction. We left Incahuasi and pushed on again deeper into the salt flats. and Stopped. Here, in the middle of nowhere, in a pristine untouched environment, we had the most fun ever taking forced perspective photos. Being `chased` by a dinosaur was so much fun, but looking back at the photos, mrs bunny has to accept that acting isn`t her strong point. Mr bunny however had the actions off to a tee. Last stop, as the sun begins to set, we headed off in the approximate direction of land, and stopped in a pool of water. We donned the wellies, and as the sun was setting and the temperatures plummeting, we also added our extra layers of puffer coats and gloves. Standing in a pool of salt water, watching the most spectacular cloud free sunset, reflected in the ponds of water, was quite something special. The colours of the sunset so vivid against the white of the salt. To the west the sun set in a blaze of colour, whilst to the east the full moon rose with equal speed. to see both at the same time, with nothing to interrupt the view was nothing short of awe inspiring. One full day on the Uyuni Salt Flats, is a day we will never forget. the cost? £20 pp. there are 2 and 3 day options, but our mantra is a little of everything and a lot of nothing. One day was enough to have a day to remember. So ends our very brief time in Bolivia. short, sweet and spectacular. Would I return? not sure. True the food in Sucre was quite special, but do I want to face the awful buses again? Somehow I doubt it.

Sucre, The white city. Both La Paz and Sucre are Capital Cities in Bolivia. La Paz houses the President and the Law Makers, whilst the Sucre is the legal capital. Two, very very different cities. We arrived into Sucre after taking the bus from hell. The journey took around 10 hours, travelling on a bus that resembled a sauna, windows that refuse to open, zero air con, ignorant people sat in front, (no need to guess from where) people sat with phones blaring and no headphones, it was very nearly the bus journey that broke the camels back of bus travel. Good job that the flat that I had booked came with 3 bedrooms, bathroom, separate shower room, kitchen, balcony with table, chairs and views of the town of Sucre, Netflix and Private pool, Sauna and a Jacuzzi the size of a small swimming pool!! Bus woes quickly vanished as we surveyed our latest pad. (by the way, if curious, this apartment cost a whopping £32 per night) Whilst the pool was lovely, it was a tad chilly for the 3 bunnies, the sauna? given the bus sauna of the night previous we chose to give that a miss, but the Jacuzzi? Yeah Baby!! Sucre, part two. Leaving behind our glorious pad in the high hills above Sucre, it was time to relocate to the city centre itself. You cannot leave Sucre without exploring the old town. Sucre is named the White City, and it wasn`t hard to see why. It truly is the most beautiful place, with its many white walled streets, white cathedrals and churches, and a festival to end all festivals! Once again this city, like every other, has a Plaza de Armas, or Plaza de Mayo. And it was packed !! Yet again we had landed on a festival weekend, but this was a festival like no other. Every street around the square was lined with chairs, tables, stools, benches, deck chairs, folding chairs, plastic chairs or just cushions. The two widest streets had multi tier bench seating, and every inch of space had a body occupying it. We have never seen so many good natured, happy, excited people since we left the parade route of Walt Disney World last year!. September is the Patron Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a 2 day (really?) event that involves thousands of people. A carnival atmosphere of epic proportions ( or are we just English, and this is ordinary?) We managed to find the smallest gap, and stood for over an hour watching dance group after dance group, band after band parade past us. Not just ordinary dancers, but dancers in the most exquisite costumes and an energy level that would put any duracell bunny to shame. Sparkles, sprinkles, sequins, flowers, dayglo, iridescent, feathers, masks, balloons, we saw them all. They danced barefoot, in heels, boots to their thighs, sequined boots, platforms with tambourins attached, ankle shells, knee drums, whistles and gaudy batons. The dresses were long, short, tight bodiced, floaty, skimpy, sequined or flowered, sparkles and colours...oh the colours! Fire Red, Brilliant Blue, Cocoa Brown, Sunshine yellow, Vivid Orange, Sparkling Green, Purest Black we saw the entire spectrum as they paraded by. Then the bands. the bands all seemed to be playing the same or very similar tune, and it was played in one fashion, and one fashion only  LOUD  !! never mind tuning, or split notes, just hoof it ! Dancers then band, dancers then band, dancers then band. Every aspect of the community, or from what we guessed, seemed to be included. Young children, teenagers, special needs groups, wheel chairs, disabled, elderly and everyone in between. The noise levels touched your core, and the bands with the most drums made darn sure you knew they had arrived! We had come across the Festival at 4pm, but at 11pm it was still going strong, you don`t sleep in Sucre town centre whilst this takes place that`s for sure. Sucre, day 2 and Dinosaurs In 1985 a local cement company unearthed strange footprints, unsure as to their authenticity they called in local palaeontologists who confirmed that the footprints found were indeed genuine, and not just genuine, but the largest array of dinosaur footprints ever found in the world. This I just had to see for myself. We took a cab out of town and headed for Cal Orck`o cement quarry. At this point I have to confess this bunny had expected heat and dust and dressed accordingly, but hey ho, this is the one day that the weather chose to be cool! You arrive at the quarry and you do think, `where on earth am I?`...It is a fully functioning quarry, with little to suggest that this is a huge site of importance as you stand in the dusty car park. Take heart. climb the ramp. At the top the smell of new paint, the remnants of building materials, tiles and the lingering remains of dust sheets, it is quite apparent that this site is slowly accepting that tourists like dinosaurs. Movie quote, `If you build it, he will come` comes to mind. The quarry floor tour starts at 12 pm, there is a second tour at 1pm. At these times, the sun (ha!) is usually high in the sky, thus avoiding shadows on the wall of footprints. This was not to be an issue for us on this cold day. Arriving early to avoid the crowds (there were no crowds..) we had a couple of hours to kill prior to our tour. We had already toured the museum (one room)..the 3D spectacular (an empty room, newly tiled), the shop, (one glance and you saw it all) and viewed the life size dinosaur models, all that was left was the cafe in which we sat to get warm and await our tour time. Cafe. Do you want Tea. Coffee ( no milk) . Water. Coke or Inca Cola. Salchipapa, chicken nuggets/chips or a burger. The menu isn`t hard to recall. At 12pm, we were invited into the auditorium to watch a dinosaur documentary, in Spanish, no subtitles. Chilly bunny here had to beg for a jacket off a workman, I didn`t care what I was lent by this time, but have to say the procured denim jacket was quite neat, though I do suspect that the owner was a painter given the jackets pungent odour of paint stripper. 12.15, our tour started. A group of 6 locals, 2 Dutch, we three bunnies, and an English girl we had met at Lake Titicaca couple of weeks earlier (small world) . Prior to being escorted down to the quarry floor, we were each issued with hard hats. Having already had the huge expanse of crumbled wall pointed out to us, we had no qualms in wearing said hats. To clarify though, the local insta bimbos decided the hats made for useful water carriers... We then proceeded down the steepest path to the quarry floor and the wall of dinosaur footprints. A lot can happen in 68 million years of evolution, hence the once horizontal dinosaur path rising to reveal the now vertical footprints. something about a shift in tectonic plates and rising sea levels. Research in the area has ascertained that the entire land was once covered in water, and that it was probably a watering hole for the dinos. To stand in front of that huge wall and see those incredible prints left by a now extinct animal species was quite humbling. There are just so many tracks. I could name a couple of the dinosaurs but I much prefer to call them meatysaurus , veggiesaurus, gigantasaurus, and the longest set of baby T Rex prints ever found. Over 400 continuous paw marks! A lot of buses invite you to travel from La Paz directly to Uyuni, but to miss Sucre, for both its white city cente, and its eerie wall of dinosaur footprints, would be a crime. Sucre, day 3 Today we are to be leaving Sucre, but knowing the festival had now finished (like I said earlier, really?) We decided to see what a peaceful Plaza de Armas looked like. Passing a cafe called Azkaban halted our progress for a while, A Harry Potter Cafe, here? in Sucre? beckoned this Harry Potter loving bunny, and it did not disappoint. I have to say they had done a very good job recreating all the little aspects of the books. I had Cerveza de Mantequilla (hot butterbeer) butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. , whilst Mr bunny had Espresso Patronum, ( cafe solo) . As we left the little cafe, the now familiar sounds of yet another band beckoned to us. Still more dancers, not quite the same flamboyant costumes, but still the same energy, and yet more bands. It would appear that if your turn didn`t arrive in time during the previous two days, you were allowed to perform and parade on day 3 as well. After a fabulous lunch in the square, chicken soup, thick, creamy, big chunks of white cooked chicken, add in chips, garlic bread and a charcuterie board of epic proportions for big bunny we felt like two overstuffed bunnies. One last drink on the roof of the most fabulous, yet well hidden hotel, it quite literally had a sign saying rooftop bar 65, and a simple door yet yielded the most impressive and sumptuous interior. We headed back to our tiny room and the joys of yet another overnight bus. PS Must tell you, Sucre has a fabulous chocolate shop called Para Ti, ...im saying nothing, not another word, except who puts plums, raisins, and liqueur in a chocolate bon bon? heaven in a mouthful.

A new country. From Lake Titicaca we travelled to Bolivia, and the capital city of La Paz This was going to be our most challenging destination to date due to the fact that our trusty O2 internet didn`t cover Bolivia. Yikes, No internet, no maps, no google translate, no taxi app, all of which we rely on far more than we should. We caught an early bus, Transalia? (or something similar sounding) at 4am. Such a comfy bus, and the best journey we have had for a long time. a bit like the three bears, not too hot, not too cold, just perfect. After all my research online that the border crossing at Copacabana was by far the best, and that Desguadero, our route, was a little more sketchy, I was a bit apprehensive as we approached the border line after driving along the shores of Lake Titicaca for around 3 hours, wow that lake is so big and very beautiful. Reality? Super easy, no drama llamas, just off the bus with your gear, into the building ( you get a scan code on the bus as you leave, on which you pre enter all your destination and personal details) someone scans it as you wait in line. Queue up, get an exit stamp, put all your backpacks through the scanner being super cautious not to be caught with anything you shouldn`t have like fresh meat, certain fruits, animals, bunnies you know the sort of things...( I had a ham sandwich, oops, to which our bus driver winked at me and said `shove it in your pocket...` ) Once the bags were scanned, it was back on the bus and off we went. Absolutely no issues whatsoever. La Paz, highest capital city in the world, here we come. First challenge. A taxi to our destination. Now, if you are staying at the Hilton, or the Ritz, or other brand name hotel, that isn`t a problem as most taxis would know those places, however our privately owned apartment was unhelpfully named Villa Florita, in one of South Americas biggest cities! Taxi driver number one knew the approximate area, (we had access to the address, but not the map) and took us there. Adamant he had taken us to the correct place he insisted we got out. The nearest building, (on the most ridiculously steepest hill imaginable, in the worlds highest city, was numbered 1038, whereas our building was 1379. We knew we were nowhere near, and asked two lovely elderly ladies for additional directions. Both immediately pointed up the hill, with gestures of up up up.... :-( We could barely manage more than a few steps without gasping for air. Taking a break right next to a taxi office was a sign that our guardian bunny was taking pity on us. Taxi number two, took us to the nearest number he could find, a restaurant called Qaytu. Three relieved bunnies found to a woman standing waiting for us, without we would never have found our accommodation, and our most perfect apartment. We were so delighted with our little apartment with its views over La Paz city.....oh how we would giggle about this later in the stay!! Our first venture into La Paz was to find a certain camera shop. Our little bunny has a broken camera, which I shall elaborate a little more about given the appalling customer service received by Sony. skip this paragraph unless you are curious or affected by Sony and their shocking customer service. Nutshell version, as brief as I can. Purchased new camera August 23, with 2 years extended warranty. A vlogging camera. June 24, South America, camera goes faulty. We get fault diagnosed at a Sony repair centre , emailed Sony for confirmation on how to proceed, who replied ` we cannot help` Numerous emails exchanged with Sony , who insisted the camera should be repaired, not refunded. Sony refusing to acknowledge the logistics of such a repair. Repair timescale btw, 6-8 weeks..  by the way we don`t offer repairs in South America. Eh? Sony refuse point blank to help or offer support. We have no choice but to purchase a new camera and take them to task on our return in 12 months. (Both barrels they are going to get!) Considering Sony`s appalling lack of help or acceptance of the problem, I have no qualms telling the world which camera to avoid. Sony ZV1 , and guess what people, if you buy a vlogging camera expecting to use it abroad on your holidays, Sony will void your warranty!!! Isn`t that just wonderful customer service NOT.  rant over. La Paz . They have one camera shop. One. or at least we could only find one shop listed. After a 20 minute somewhat hair raising downhill taxi ride into the city centre, why would said shop be open, when every single other shop to our destination, without exception, was?!! Grrrrsss. Finding a few touristic streets nearby we wandered around before heading off to find the weird stalls of the Witches Market. I really wish I knew what earth people do with dried out llama foetus, hmmmm. We didn`t find La Pax particularly appealing. Maybe it does have nice parts, but we certainly didn`t feel inspired to go hunting for said areas. We did slog our way up to the `oldest street in La Paz, adorned with restaurants and artisan shops`... but found them all shut. Last chance to salvage the day, we opted to ride the Teleferico (cable cars) across the city. By chance we had come across a couple of backpackers who told us the Blue and Red cable cars would take us over the city and up to the market of El Alto. This nervous bunny tried hard to drag her bunny feet and dawdle in the hope that said Cable Car would also be shut, but alas, it wasn`t. We purchased a round trip ride taking in the Orange line, the Red Line, then the Blue line, and back. What started off as a hair raising bunny toes tingling ride, turned out to be quite fun and wonderful. Remember I said we had `views of the city, and that we would giggle later?`...this is when we started giggling. To give La Paz and its size some context, If La Paz was a dart board, from our apartment window what we could see was merely the bulls eye. wow that city is ridiculously big. The Teleferico. Orange line over the city, jumping stations to the Red Line that proceeded to climb steeply up the mountain, my poor bunny nerves sorely tested, we arrived at the landing point for the Aimara Market. Our sights were set on the cable car ride, not shopping, so, and very thankfully, we boarded the Blue Line. As we boarded the cable car and rose up high, we each said, look there is the market. What we didn`t realise is that we would still be saying `look there is the market` for another 10 or so minutes of travelling overhead! I cannot begin to describe how big that market is. It stretched across what appeared to the main road road through the town/area of El Alto. Around 8-10 stalls wide, as far as the eye could see, in both directions, and down every side street as well!   the only side streets that didn`t appear to have market stalls, were filled with taxis and vans. Given that this 5 square kilometre market runs twice a week they must have this jigsaw puzzle off to a fine art. Seriously impressive. For any travel bunnies thinking this could be a must visit, take heed, it is not for the faint hearted, it is there purely for the essentials of local people, and us bunny tourists, we would stick out like ears on a rabbit. The ride over the city was fun, it would appear that the city architect was a Marvel fan, so many of the buildings that sided the Teleferico resembled the distinctly Marvel type facias, one even had a giant Iron Man head, which alas I saw too late to take a photo. Our time in La Paz was brief, we have had enough of cities and chose accommodation to reflect the same, allowing us peace and space. We spent one of our few days re jigging our trip, Mr bunny had a rather large hissy fit, deciding that if we left for Patagonia on the 26th of the month we wouldn`t have enough time to enjoy the area. He huffed and puffed, decided to hire a us a car (collection El Calafate) , so now we are leaving for Patagonia on the 26th but now we have more time.....(go figure) Prior to leaving La Paz we opted to try the restaurant that quite literally backed onto our apartment, Qaytu. it had some rather good reviews and decided to try for ourselves. Now, much as Mr Bunny loves cooking and inventing rather good meals in very small and challenging kitchens, why did we wait until we were leaving to sample the wares of this particular restaurant? Greeted like old friends by the owner, he then lovingly described every meal on his menu, using terms such as ` a beautiful experience` `palate teasing`, `flavoursome and aromatic` Was he wrong? Nope!! We had 3 dishes of the most exquisite tasting food, two desserts, four drinks, (mr bunny always seems to require the urge to sample a second beer) and our bill was a staggering £33. If any travelling bunnies fancy sampling the delights of this culinary establishment, with its lovely staff, fabulous food and spectacular vistas, head off to the Mirador Killi Killi, ( ask any taxi , its worth it) then follow your bunny noses around 5 minutes in a downhill direction to this wonderful restaurant. Even this bunny with an aversion to all things food, enjoyed the meal. My choice if you care to know was the* non vegetarian meat/no meat burger. *was designed for tourists, but the restaurant owner says that he gets more locals than tourists, hence the veggie meat, no meat description

Puno We had heard mixed reviews about Puno, the town that sits at the edge of Lake Titicaca, and couldn`t decide whether or not this was a town to visit. However, if you wish to visit the floating islands of Uros, this is the place to start that journey. We reluctantly left our lovely hostel one afternoon for the shortish ( 6 hours) bus ride to Puno. Humph, not only did it take us a very slow plodding one hour to finally leave Arequipa, thereby appreciating its sheer size, but 3 hours into our journey we stopped. For a Very Long Time. Turns out there was an accident on this very narrow winding road which created nothing short of chaos and a huge tailback. We finally arrived almost 3 hours late to yet another of Marlon`s Houses. When you find something good, why change? Marlon said he had a place in Puno, so that`s where we stayed. Equally good. No bath however, but still perfect. We had planned to spend the next day, our 13th Wedding Anniversary, on Lake Titicaca, but a 9 hour bus journey had tired out these bunnies, so instead we spent our special day wandering around Puno, and eating a quiet lunch at the towns oldest cafe postponing our trip to the Lake until the following day. Why Puno is described as feeling unsafe, or gritty, another term we had heard, is unknown to us. Puno is just your average small town, nothing special, nothing to write home about, and odd to us, not a town with a lake side path however. Personally I think Puno is missing a trick there. All I can say honestly about Puno is, expect a town, and you will get a town. No frills, no smart plazas, just a nice little town. Lake Titicaca / Uros floating islands Marlon (again, he of hostel name) was also a tour operator, and arranged for these three bunnies, a two day Lake Titicaca Island tour, perhaps it is a good job my bunny ears, big as they are, were a little deaf to the trips intricacies as I may never have gone, but I am so glad we did. Picked up from the hostel at 8am we were driven to the port and there boarded our smallish riverboatish type cruiser boaty thing, along with around 15 other travellers. The day started well, the Lake beautifully calm, a gentle breeze, all was well. We landed at the Uros Islands, hmmmm, local they may be, and yes they do float, but do they now exist purely for the tourist trade, or are they still a genuine source of local habitation? We had passed very many floating islands, but if you look into any tour shop window or on booking.com , you will note that these islands contain picture perfect little bungalows, with terraces, bathrooms, and views onto the Lake. So local habitation or tourist destination? I admit I fell briefly for the lure of one of these rooms, but nothing about it felt `right`. They are undoubtedly lovely, but very expensive comparatively. I chose to cancel in favour of experiencing something a little more authentic. Uros Islands. We landed at one these tiny islands, which contained 3 or 4 little reed houses, an arena of reed seats on which we sat, surrounded by a small array of locally produced handicrafts set out on gorgeous eye catching table cloths. We listened to a short talk by the village elder, translated by our guide, about how they make the islands, the houses, the textiles. We were then invited to board a large reed boat for a short punted ride amongst the reeds, where our `punter` (boat captain, pusher alonger....) pointed out some birds eggs. hmmm....Fair enough we are in the middle of a ruddy great lake, but birds eggs?? As a tourist I would have been happy just to enjoy the ride, sat on the floor of this large handmade reed boat, without the need to see birds eggs. Once back on the floating island we were invited to spend 15 mins of free time to peruse the local handicrafts. They are undoubtably lovely, and well crafted, but it is also very difficult to just look and walk away. To appease our guilt we purchased a small boat, a reminder of our yellow reed boat punted lake ride. From the Uros Islands we motored on to the next island, Amantani, another one and half hours away. As we pulled up at the harbour wall, I waited for the ladder to appear, or steps, or plank...nope. We quite literally had to climb from boat deck to dock side. Absolutely no problem if you are tall, agile, nimble or athletic, but Mrs Bunny here took one look at that wall and had a vision of being stuck on the darn boat! Being hauled up by two handsome Peruvian men whilst your bunny hubby shoulder hoisted me up, was not fun. Still, at least I`m on terra firma at last. The group were met by our local hosts for the night, and we were all allocated a family. Leeta, was to be our host (apologies if the name is misspelt) and we, and another family from Peru, were designated to be her guests. For a lovely lady of ample girth, Leeta fair shifted up that hill, followed puffing and panting by her 6 guests. Whilst the altitude of Lake Titicaca is comparative to the altitude of Cusco, the position of the Lake, makes the air even thinner, and oxygen even more precious here on the island. After a breathless uphill route march of around 20 mins, we arrived at Leeta`s house and shown our rooms. Perfect. Simple, local, and with a view to die for. The Peruvian family with whom we were paired were delightful. Santiago, the nineteen year old son was an absolute joy. He spoke perfect English, was well educated, well travelled, and knowledgeable about many unusual topics, from the monarchy,(ours) to Downton Abbey, Harry Potter and James Bond films, we had quite a laugh, all while he translated to his mum and younger sister. (They had their own room, just to clarify) We were served a satisfying local lunch of vegetable soup, and a plate of potato, roots, and other veggies, and a block of what appeared to be egg, but alas for Mrs Bunny, turned out to be fried haloumi cheese. Mr Cheese Face Bunny, and even little bunny both waffled their little bunny noses in appreciation. After lunch we walked once more down the path to the village square, where we met the other members of our boat, to start the climb to the viewpoint, the Pachamama monument (aka rock pile) and sunset. Already suffering from the altitude, this bunny had no desire to climb yet another big hill, the views of the lake from the square where I sat were perfectly adequate thank you very much. After sunset, the group descended, and once again we climbed to our hosts house. Our evening meal was much the same, except this time with the addition of rice to the other carb laden items on our plates. Once replete, we were offered the chance to dress in local attire and attend the `party` in the square. Super touristic though it felt, we happily donned these gorgeous local outfits, the ladies in skirts, blouses, waistbands, and head shawls, the men in simple ponchos and woolly beanie hat, and headed once more into the village. The party, a gathering of tourists in the bar with music supplied via a mobile spotify was a bit of a laugh. Not wishing to diss the mentality of certain travellers, ones from a certain country do leave a lot to be desired with their secular attitude and lack of (ho hum) personality.... If the cap fits, wear it, though you probably don`t realise that I`m referring to You! We retired to bed at 10pm, in preparation for an early morning start. Day Two. Started at 6.30 with a call to breakfast. Pancakes! With jam, tea, no milk of course and coffee. Then at 7.30 our final climb back down the hill to the port and that boat. Oh what a contrast to the calm lake of the day before. The Lake was so choppy, and the ride to the next island was an hour of sheer panic and hell. I think I mentioned in my post about Galapagos, that bunnies and boats don`t mix, and once more this rang true. I don`t think Mrs Bunny has ever felt so upset, or unwell or scared as on that particular boat. That small boat rocked and rolled like an aged drag queen for over an hour as we crossed the lake to Taquile island. Needless to say on landing, this green wild eyed motion induced vertigo suffering bunny fell off that boat, and promptly vowed to never get on a stupid boat ever again! Mrs Bunny and her utterly adorable and protective Mr Bunny had no choice but to insist the tour group set off as planned on their trip, where as these two bunnies would stay put on the harbour side and wait for their return. Oh the hardship.... We sat and watched as the group trudged slowly up yet another long steep hill, from the comfort of a park bench, in the sun, with a cushion for comfort, the best view of the Lake Titicaca, a cold drink,( water for one, beer for the other.) Darn, it was tragic, and such a shame we couldn`t join them. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind, the disappointment lasting a whole 32.5 seconds. For 2 hours, we had to sit there in blissful contentment, until once more the group returned. From what we were told, we missed an over enthusiastic discussion about marriage, much to the chagrin of little bunny, a village square of limited interest, and a meal of scrambled egg or trout. Here`s to Vertigo!! The hours of peaceful relaxation had also transferred to the Lake which in turn had turned calm once for the long, rather tedious, two and half hours return to Puno. I wouldn`t discourage anyone from doing this 2 Island, 2 day trip on Lake Titicaca, yes it is super touristic, but it really is excellent. Just be aware that the hikes are challenging, the paths are steep, and the altitude sucks ! Lake Titicaca ends our time in Peru. We have had the most wonderful adventures here, the country in amazing, the history incredible, the ambience of the Incan Empire resonating in our hearts. This country should be on every persons bucket list, and time should be spent here to do it justice. We could easily have spent many more weeks or even months here discovering its rich history, but time marches on, as we prepare for yet another country, and more discoveries.

(so far..) Despite months, even years of watching You tube what not to pack, and do not pack Justin Cases, we did. Well truthfully not everything was justin cases, some things in our bags were simply duplicated items, or bulky items we struggled to pack, or items acquired along the way. Deciding to send some items back to the UK via DHL, because of their reputation rather than the local Peruvian mail was a mistake. No matter how diligently you translate conversations, list every item, under exaggerate the value of your box contents, when the office staff fail to tell you that your contents will be opened and scrutinised at UK Customs, expect to pay another £70 plus, on top of your already expensive box of mistakes.  Lesson One . Do Not Overpack . When they say you can buy anything you need on the road, you truly can. And so much easier than you can in the UK. There are shops by the thousand everywhere you go. These shops sell absolutely everything you could possibly want, and more besides. I swear that in a 5 block radius of any main town or city we have been in, you could buy everything from items to build and furnish a house, buy a car, maintain it, purchase dog clothes, human clothes, coffins and hospital beds. Every second shop sells food, and every third shop is a pharmacy, as for dentists???? on one street alone I counted 4 practices. Lesson Two . You don`t need to pack shampoo. Many of our hostels have provided such, and for those that don`t, you can buy single sachets from most supermarkets or tourist shops. Shower gel is overrated and unnecessary, ordinary soap and a scrunchy works just as well and is far easier to carry. Lesson Three, get off your high horse, and accept that yes, you really can wash pots in cold water. The washing up `liquid` here in South America, isn`t liquid, but comes in hard soap like substance that works exceptionally well, use it, trust it. By all means boil water for that extra greasy pan, but generally, cold water will suffice. Lesson Four and one that I find so difficult to accept, despite all the horror stories of being scammed or ripped off, people everywhere are for the most part genuinely delighted and willing to help you. Use your wits and common sense, but don`t be afraid. Not everyone is evil, some are desperately poor and will try it on, but be kind and understanding . Lesson Five,  do not walk anywhere anywhere with your nose stuck in your phone! Trust me when I say that the sidewalks/ pavements are littered with holes, raised flags, missing tiles, dogs toilet, overly high kerbstones and other challenging obstacles, use this opportunity to put the thing away, look up (and down) are be aware of your surroundings from your feet upwards. Lesson Six, plugs hang off walls, electrics spark, light switches and plugs can be found in bathrooms, showers are electric, with the wires usually hanging out of the wall just above the shower head, and try not to be overly alarmed when your host tells you that the water is at its warmest when the electric light goes out. It can be nerve wracking, but there are millions of people living like this, so join the club and embrace it.

We opted to fly to Arequipa as the bus suggested it would take several hours, whilst a flight would get us there in around 65 mins. As flying goes it was also a relatively cheap flight. It was also the most unusual flight, it was quite an odd feeling seeing mountains out of both windows and quite close by, immediately prior to landing. We had been very much looking forward to this town as it is quoted as being a beautiful place and one of Peru`s safest places. Odd when we have felt perfectly safe no matter where we have been in Peru. Arequipa, in this bunnies mind, Arequipa was a quaint small town, with old colonial buildings, narrow streets, small markets etc , oops my mistake, turns out that Arequipa is quite the city! As per all our accommodations, we were placed in very close proximity to the city square, which as per all city squares is named Plaza de Armas. ( turns out this actually translates to parade square, now the name makes sense, so the sheer size of Arequipa was lost on us until the day we departed. Our room in Arequipa was by far the best we have had so far. It was a room that had all the things we had been missing to date. You would think that the owner, Marlon, had listened to all the whinges of travellers, and put in situ all the things you need. A bathroom shelf, so simple, yet it takes not having one and the wandering about with toiletry bag in hand, wondering where to put it, and settling for the floor, makes you realise just how much you miss a bathroom shelf. A towel hook, bathmat. A bath!!! a real bath. We have got used to the description of `bath` to mean the 3" of raised tiles surrounding the shower, but here we had a real chunky dunky bunny bath. Little miss bunny took advantage of said bath, whilst Mr and Mrs Bunny applied sunscreen and watched the mountains/volcanoes from the hostel roof, under a cloudless blue sky. In our room we also had shelves, we could actually unpack our bags for the duration of our stay. A lamp, a coat stand, big chunky pillows and extra blankets for the finishing touches. Add in lovely staff and the tiniest but perfect little kitchen, ascended to via cute little spiral staircase, we were just so suited. Marlons House. Arequipa had always been on our radar as a place to stop, to do nothing, to rest and recoup, to address the contents of our bags, and generally do not very much. We made a pretty good job of this. The town square was a very short walk away, and reaching it meant we had to pass our favourite restaurant of Peru, Tanta. Needless to say we spent a pleasant six days, ambling aimlessly from hostel to local shop, to the supermarket in the main plaza, back via Tanta, and back to our hostel rooftop. Arequipa is also the town if you wish to, to purchase silver jewellery. I have never seen as much silver jewellery, a lovely lady on the artisan market told us that around Arequipa there were ( please don`t quote me) 27 silver mines. Of the 757 silver mines around the world, 126 are in Peru. Lady bunnies, if you fancy a little silver treat, this is the place to make those big bunny eyes flutter at your probably reluctant, but resigned Mr bunny. This bunny managed to squeeze a silver bracelet out of her Mr Bunny. Even little bunny treated herself to a tiny little humming bird ring.

We planned to start our adventures in Peru in the mountains of Huaraz, what we didn`t know was what the journey would entail. Faced with a journey of 24 hours by bus including one border crossing, this was going to be epic. Now epic, bus journeys and retired more relaxed bunnies do not go together well in my book, so it was decided we would bunny hop our way to Huaraz stopping first at Chiclayo, then Trujillo, finally arriving at Huaraz. First the border crossing, I diligently read everything online, safety, what not to do, how to do it, corrupt border crossings, you name it, I read it. the truth? Peasy !! more easy peasy orange squeezy than anything I was expecting. We departed Cuenca at 9pm, expecting to be at Chiclayo by 9am (ha, we actually arrived at 1.30pm). At 1am we arrived at the border crossing. 2 buses in front of us, so we sat on the bus, and waited. A very long time granted, but there`s nothing difficult about sitting on a bus. Around 2.30 am we got off the bus taking with us all our on board bags, at the same time the bus staff removed all the luggage from the hold. We queued in the border crossing building, got our passports stamped to leave Ecuador, and moved to the next booth to have our passports stamped to say we had arrived in Peru. And that my bunny friends was as scary/complicated as it got. We had to grab our bags and put them through a security scanner as you would an airport, but that didn`t take long, and by 3.45 every bunny and all the bags were reloaded onto the bus and we were on our way to Peru. Chiclayo, we eventually arrived here 15 hours after leaving Cuenca. Just a quick stopover so unfortunately I cannot comment on the town of Chiclayo. Food,(nearest cafe) Netflix and sleep were the only things on our mind. 15 hours on a bus was a bit hard work. The younger bunny generation make it look easy, but for us older retired bunnies, we tend to need to fidget a bit more, and stretch aching body parts. Early morning saw us on the next bus to Trujillo. 5 hours later and we arrived at what looks like a pretty city, but alas this was another city with a priority of food, the large and well advertised restaurant of El Rincon de Vallejo, provided our evening meal, and the Hotel Jorge Chavez, our bunnybeauty sleep. The hotel promised us breakfast in bed, that was a first, but alas the early morning breakfast tray consisted of cool black coffee, a fruit juice of unknown origin, 2 bread rolls (no butter) and jam. Planning on arriving at our destination of Huaraz today we set off for the bus station nice and early (unfortunately not quite early enough), and goofed. The bus to Huaraz left twice a day, we had just missed the morning bus so now had a wait of 10 hours until the evening one at 10pm.. Cue quick google search found ourselves heading for an impromptu day at the beach at the nearby town of Huanchaco. Very pleasant indeed. Not a sandy beach, but clearly an easy going beach town popular with backpackers and locals alike. Big shout out to the Chocolate Cafe, a pitstop of perfection. Back to the bus station for an overnight bus, and Huaraz our destination. Huaraz Mrs Bunny found the journey here very difficult. With a pitch black view from the window, and an inability to see the road ahead, the bus took on the persona of a wild mouse rollercoaster. (or for any Disney fans, a slower paced Space Mountain) Not only were we climbing through the Andes, we were also on a multitude of switch backs. This bunny had a green face and a belly that threatened to make food reappear by magic. Add in the altitude headache and I for one was not a happy bunny. We arrived as dawn was breaking, dropped our smallest bunny at the busiest hostel in the town and headed for own which was a slightly more remote hutch. We were welcomed by a lovely host, who showed us to a box room housing a single bed, and an old shelving unit on which perched a 1970s box tv. If you could kindly wait here a few minutes whilst we prepare your room, were our instructions. Given how ropey we both felt, we quite happily perched on that small bed and even managed a catnap, desperate as we were for rest and sleep. A short while later she returned and invited us to join her on the terrace for a hot drink.....I cannot deny it, that hostel roof terrace view was just spectacular. The altitude was a killer, but the view, wow. Add a tiny cute puppy called Laya, who was wearing fluffy pjs, and we thought we had hit the jackpot. Until we were shown to our room. Turns out, that tiny box room with the single bed, zero space and 70`s tv, was ours! Only now it contained a double bed. Gutted was an understatement. Booking.com what have you done to us! " 2 double beds, flat screen tv, shared kitchen with electric kettle, bathroom with bath and shower" where are you !!? Long story short, was a festival weekend and the hostel was overbooked. We were offered a reduction in price, and we made the decision to suck it up and deal with it. the bed was comfy, the small tiny roof ceiling height window, wasn`t too big to be draughty, the shelf unit with cupboard was useful and the private bathroom had a shower with hot water. winner. Then we found the kitchen. Truly you couldn`t make this up. The fitted kitchen as per the photos, was actually the kitchen in the hosts private apartment, and the shared kitchen/ours was a wooden hut on the roof. But you know what, we came to love this place. Sometimes first impressions need to be shelved, and Mr Bunny does like a culinary challenge. The Mountains of Huaraz . Huaraz sits in a valley surrounded by some of the most spectacular hills and mountains and is known for its superb hiking trails. Hiking here had never been on my bucket list, and being there at such high altitude meant it would be a non starter for me even if I had wanted to hike. Im finding as a retired bunny, my need to climb every mountain has been surpassed by more relaxing itinerary Our super fit smallest bunny took herself on some some glorious hikes see miss.tiff.travel s for more information, but one hike, the famous and utterly spectacular Laguna 69, was a must do for Mr bunny and little miss.tiff. They set off at 4am, leaving on a bouncy bus for 3 hours, followed by a 4 mile uphill challenging hike to the Laguna 69. I saw the photos on their return, and for once, Instagram is absolutely 100% accurate. that laguna is every bit as blue and beautiful as every picture you see. I had to admit I was a little jealous and sad that I was physically unable to see this for myself, but I am so proud of the efforts of my bunny family. Huaraz the town. In my opinion this is a town to be used as a base only for hiking, or in my case, for sitting on a roof top terrace under beautiful cloudless skies with a cute pup and a good book for company. It is not a pretty town at all, in fact I would go so far to describe it as slightly run down, scruffy, dusty, and with a lot of air pollution at ground level due to the extreme age and condition of most of the cars there, coupled with the terrible state of the roads. Would I recommend it? If you like your hiking, absolutely. If hiking isn`t your thing, I would probably give it a miss. Lima A tale of 2 halves, from Huaraz to Lima, a bus journey of around 8 hours, but this time, with recommendations from hostel guests, we discovered the bus company Cruz del Sur. Game changer! Every other bus journey we had made we had either travelled with whoever shouted the loudest, departed at a time when we wanted to go, or was the only company we found at the bus terminal. Now, Cruz del Sur have their own bus terminal, and their own schedules and for us it was like travelling business bunny class instead of regular hutch seats. We didn`t find them particularly expensive, just on a par with everyone else, but the buses are beautiful and so much more comfortable. If only we had found them sooner :-( . Knowing we had booked accommodation in Miraflores, we knew we had to disembark at the second bus station. And so we travelled from Huaraz. Passing desert landscapes, tiny village, smallish town, and more desert landscapes, and more, and more and still more. So much land, so few people. Until that moment when a small shop was next to a larger shop, next to a street, next to full blown neon lights, a beautiful and huge city. Lima really did seem to arrive out of nowhere. For 3 bunnies who really enjoy the green country side, after our time in Huaraz, Lima arrived like a cool drink on a hot day. We thought the first side of the city, ( as viewed from the bus) was pretty special, but travelling another 30 mins to the second terminal and the area of Miraflores we felt quite giddy. Our hostel I want to describe as the little house from Up, just at that bit prior to the balloons when the little house is surrounded by high rise buildings and blocks of flats. It was a 2 story building painted orange, with arched windows and a small garden, totally out of place within the area, but oh so perfect. (So perfect in fact we returned to stay here again, but more about that later). Less than 5 minutes from the promenade and the Pacific Ocean, and 15 mins walk from the centre of Miraflores, we couldn`t have had a better placed hostel. True we took more than 15 taxis during our stay to reach other parts of the city, but as hostels go, Great Partners is perfect. Sunday, a perfect day. Bright, sunny and warm, we geared up for a walk along the beach front. (Actually the road runs along the beach front, the promenade itself runs for around 6 km along the cliff). There are many different parks and green spaces along the promenade, we watched dogs at the dog park play (all wearing coats or jumpers of course as seems to be the norm in Peru), boys at play flexing their muscles and rather nice bods on the climbing frames/gyms, people playing tennis, brave bunnies floating around in the air on paragliders, wet bunnies flopping off surf boards, and the skinny bunnies in their micro leotards and earphones jogging. (not sure why, but hey ho, each to their own). Such a perfect day. Monday came and we found out that we had seen Lima weather at its best. Apparently Lima is notoriously grey, cloudy and chilly, at least during the winter. Chilly has to be a description best used loosely, the locals wore jumpers, puffy coats, scarves, some wore t shirts and loose jackets, us brits wandered quite comfortably in just our t shirts and jeans. Take our hostel, it was difficult to tell what difference opening a window made, the ambient temperature inside and out were pretty similar. There are archaeological ruins in the centre of Miraflores an easy walk from the hostel. Afraid I`m no more a ruins fan than I am of birds, we did a guided tour but all I managed to glean from said information is that this big pile of bricks, shaped a bit like a pyramid are made of mud and have sat here for around 1000 years. Yes, its interesting, but as far as archaeology goes, I far more enjoy seeing the collected artifacts than the piles of bricks left behind. (See Larco Museum). Day 3 found us at the Larcomar Shopping Mall. I am in need of a long sleeved thin jumper, but this was not to be the place to shop. Very tiny, situated on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, Larcomar consists of mostly super expensive shops, and a cinema, but it was there that we found the Tanta restaurant chain. Oh Yum. The food looked superb, but so did the cakes. 3 guesses which we had. So ends our brief time in Lima, but we are to return.... Huacachina . I proper had to stamp my little bunny feet to persuade Mr Bunny that this was a place worth seeing. He was very much of the opinion that our destination of Atacama later in the trip would be much the same, so why do we have to go here?. His little bunny nose waffled in frustration, but Mrs Bunny won the draw as usual. A short bus ride from Lima (about 4.5 hours) and we arrived in Ica, from there to Huacachina is the shortest bunny hop ever, literally just over the sand dune, (or round the sand dune if you are driving) you could walk if needed, but that is only recommended on weekends and holidays, and for bunnies without heavy backpacks. We caught our first glance at the oasis of Huacachina just as the sun was going down, and an instant apology from Mr Bunny ensued. He even dared to say those 3 little words we all crave, You Were Right. The tiny town oasis of Huacachina is picture postcard perfect. It was hard to tell that first evening just how much we were going to enjoy our brief stay there, but morning came, and all was revealed in a blaze of glory. What you see is what you get, it really is that tiny. The only natural oasis in South America (yes, it is natural, but yes, it is also topped up by hosepipe as and when required) Huacachina is also surrounded by the biggest sand dunes on the continent. And sand dunes mean only one thing, tired legs, dune buggies and sandboarding!! (ok, 3 things if you want to be picky) The morning of day one we paid our tourist tax (no ticket, no dunes) and duly climbed the tiniest little sand dune ever, just to get a giraffes eye view of the Oasis. From that view point we also found all the ticket sellers for dune buggy rides, and the dune buggies themselves! Oh wow. They come in all sizes from small and cute, think small children and pregnant woman, to full on adventure types with roll cages and bull bars. We each knew there and then that this was a must do activity. We also knew that we wanted to go armed with cameras, go pro, buffs, glasses, jackets, water, and a private buggy driver who would respect our individual needs. Back into town, we found a tour guide with impeccable English to ensure no misunderstandings, and one hour later we had a private buggy tour booked, leaving at 4.30pm that day so that we would also catch the sunset. Excited was an understatement. We stressed that whilst we or rather Mr Bunny could endure a lot, we didn`t think his back surgeon would condone a wild buggy ride! Turns out the buggies need driving at a certain speed (super fast) simply to get up the dunes. We have never had as much fun ever, we traversed those dunes so fast, we had the ride of our lives. To compare, the "Adventure Buggies" were flying over dunes, driving down massive dunes, with hard speedy landings, whereas we just went flat out keeping all 4 wheels on the sand. Sandboarding next! Who knew. We hadn`t realised that we had body boards strapped to the back of the buggy. One biggish dune and down we went, then up a second smaller one, finally boarding down a third. Not a sport I could do all day long, at least not without a sandwinch, not to eat, but to hoist my bunny butt and its sandy board back up the dunes, what a leg killer! Finally as the sun started to go down, we were driven at full hop to the highest dune our driver could find to watch a perfect sunset. What an amazing couple of hours. Once the sun set, Myself and Mr Bunny waited whilst our little bunny was taken on a wild ride around the dunes, we heard the screams of laughter from quite some distance away. Day two. Mr Bunny quite fancied the wine tasting tour. Who knew Peru made wine? Turns out they don`t, well not much anyway. He described the vineyards more like small fields, where wine is only produced in March. Still, he had fun, and enjoyed the small wine samples offered. Whilst big bunny did wining and dining mini adventure, bunnies two and three had a picnic at the waters edge. Huacachina is all about dune buggies, sand dunes and sandboarding. To be honest, there isn`t a lot else to do. You cannot even take your picnic onto the dunes without paying the tourist tax again. (disclaimer, yes you can from the road or further afield, but I am referring to the immediate area around the oasis) You could if you so wished exert a little effort by hiring a pedalo to enjoy the lake, or even hire a small boat that came with its own rower if you didn`t fancy any more leg work, but other than that, and eating/drinking/late night Karaoke, im not sure what else there is to do in the immediate area. A tour to Paracas could have been an option, but when it is described as Peru`s mini Galapagos, we figured we would just stick to our memories of the real place. Day 3. Another day that wasn`t to go as planned. It had been my intention to get a taxi to Ica, a bus to Nazca, and take a flight over the Nazca line the same afternoon. But the bus company I researched, and I think what the tour guide tried to tell me, but I failed to understand, was that the buses don`t leave Ica in sufficient time to arrive at the airport before the flights stop for the day. My bus times were either 2.30am getting in at 5am or left at midday arriving too late. Time for another organised tour!. Nazca. Picked up at 7am by car, with a 4th person, we were driven to Nazca by a lovely tour guide who talked continuously for the whole 2 hours 30 mins journey. Our ears ached, but his information was enlightening and interesting. Including facts such as his two children were representing Peru in a maths competition in Malaysia. (well done kids!) He himself was an ex cycling champion, and that asparagus grows 15 cm in a day and can be cut twice. He also drove like Nigel Mansell. To say our journey was hair raising at times would be an understatement. I could tell you that we stopped at an aqua duct, but truthfully to me it was more rocks and water. The museum dedicated to Marie Reiche was a little more interesting, despite the fact that all the original artifacts dedicated to her life had been stolen and what we saw were copies. Marie Reiche is the German woman who spent a lifetime studying and mapping the Nazca lines. A truly incredible feat given the sheer size and area that they cover. So, to the airport. This may have been a bucket list experience for me, but it still didn`t calm my overwhelming nerves or fear. Oh my bunny knickers, what on earth was I thinking! Those planes are like oversized remote control toys, flown by geeks in anoraks on Sundays afternoons, and you want me to go in that !!! Insult number one, we each had to be weighed. Humph. If those scales are accurate I`ll plait fog. Anyway, turns out Mr and Mrs Bunny cannot fly together. Mrs and Miss could, but Mr Bunny would be going in a separate plane. Once we boarded our respective planes it was clear that this didn`t really matter. Its a bit like riding a super cool rollercoaster, your friend may be next to you but you each enjoy the experience on your own. Mine and little Miss plane was super tiny, I sat in the front, little miss at the back. You each wear headphones so that you cant hear the screams...I mean so that you can each hear the commentary of the co pilot, and we were off!. We had been given a map of what we would see and where to see it, on the ground or on a mountain side, or on a plateau, and the plane would first fly so that everyone on the left could see, then did a wide circle to back track in a way that everyone on the right could see the shapes. The plane and the terrain were both terrifying and fantastic at the exact same time. The Nazca lines are incredible. I never knew just what an immense area they covered. There are shapes, and patterns, animals, birds, a cat, a `baby dinosaur` and lines. Perfect straight lines that go on for miles, yet nothing of which can be seen from the ground. The flight lasted 35 mins which seemed to be the limit of most people on board. I think any longer and the bags located in the seat pockets may well have come into play. For someone who hates flying, I am so proud of myself for managing to overcome this fear long enough to fulfil my dream of flying over the Nazca lines. Mr Bunnies experience of the lines was very different to mine. Their co pilot failed to give enough information as to where to look for the shapes so he missed seeing quite a few, and their plane was a small jet shaped plane, more modern looking than ours, so they had to bank further so that the passengers could spot the lines at the wing tips. For any bunnies out there wanting to experience the lines from above, make sure you stamp your little bunny toes and get the information prior to take off. Return to Lima We returned to Lima with the intention of staying in the same hostel, Great Partners, it ticked every box including comfy bed, hot showers, decent price, why go hunting for anything else?, and also to visit the must see tourist spots that we missed first time around. These included the `famous` water fountains/water park, Lima Zoo, Larco Museum and Barranco. The fountains and the park were nice, nothing spectacular, but it passed a pleasant evening. Lima Zoo, for a zoo tucked away in the City Centre, it wasn`t bad. They do have a large array of the more unusual animals and birds, but personally the animal enclosures are far too small, and lack stimulation for the inhabitants. It was sad to see the walking path in its entirety for 2 full grown tigers. Sadder still was the very small aviary housing the worlds largest bird, the Andean Condor. For a bird that can soar at heights of up to 16,000ft his cage was pitifully small. I just hope he was a rescue bird with a story to tell. We did meet the real life Paddington, aka the Spectacled Bear. They were fun, and their play space a little better than most. Larco Museum. A very pretty museum, with an equally pretty (and expensive) restaurant on site, most definitely not your average museum cafe. The museum itself is unique in such that it has many of its archived artifacts in visible floor to ceiling glass cabinets. Much as I like seeing old artifacts, once you have seen one old vase with an eagles head, the other 155 start to look pretty similar. The more precious artifacts, gold jewellery and other fine objects are displayed with the decorum they richly deserve. If you chose to visit with younger bunnies, especially those under the age of 16, you may wish to skip the erotic pottery exhibition, but for older bunnies it was quite fun seeing the artifacts depicting you know what....and not just the what, but the where and the how !! Barranco, in order to appreciate this district we opted for a free walking tour. Have to admit though, we were very glad it was a free tour, for if we had paid to be shown just one square block in the district of Barranco we would have been stamping our bunny feet with the greatest of displeasure. In a nutshell we covered the Bridge of Sighs or Punta de los Suspiros, (hold your breath as you cross and make a wish), a little artisan market, buy the Picarones! yummy yummy, a bridge tunnel covered in wall art, and an advisory of the best (or as it turned out for us the worst) restaurant in which to eat. Walking tour of Barranco? Pah, go yourself, you will see so much more. By the way, the best restaurant serving the local speciality, Cow Heart, meat on an skewer, was voted a resounding failure. ( I wont reveal the restaurant name as that would be unfair, they were very busy, but with a local clientele). Perhaps Cow Heart is an acquired taste. There was nothing about the taste or texture of this traditional dish that floated big bunny`s boat, and he is usually a proper meat foodie. Mrs Bunny had chicken, and corn on the cob, but nothing at all like the yellow sweet corn we are used to at home. to say we were disappointed in our choices in what was advised to be the best restaurant, would be an understatement. With our time in Lima at an end, it would be true to say we were a little sad to be leaving. Lima, we have loved you. Cusco From Lima we opted to fly to Cusco rather than endure a 21 hour bus ride. such a good decision. What a fantastic flight, the scenery was just fabulous, watching mountains out of both the left side and right side of the plane simultaneously, hitting the deck as we landed at the airport whilst still viewing said mountains was quite special. Take a deep breath everyone, Cusco, we are here. Located in the middle of the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 3399 metres above sea level, Cusco really does quite literally, take your breath away. Everything you read about visiting Cusco implies that it is simply an overrun tourist city, a place for which a couple of days will suffice, and the starting point for Machu Picchu. Where on earth do people get these ideas? Cusco is just beautiful. We loved every minute of our time in Cusco. We stayed for an extended period of time for a couple of reasons. Acclimatising, we aimed to give ourselves 3 days to adjust and adapt to the altitude. We then needed a further 4 days, allowing little bunny time to walk, sorry, hike the very challenging Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. A hike of some 4 or 5 days covering a distance of up to 46 miles. We then spent a further 2 days at Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu, before returning to Cusco for a further 2 days, giving glutton for punishment little bunny a chance to visit the Rainbow Mountain (for full details of these hikes, visit miss.tiff.travel s) Personally Mr and Mrs Bunny had seen enough photos of Rainbow mountain to know that the vivid colours as portrayed via Instagram or other adverts were a little exaggerated. We really didn`t find it necessary to endure more long drives and high altitude to take photos of coloured mountains with a multitude of other tourists. Cusco . What a beautiful old city, so very different to anywhere we have been. cobbled narrow streets, winding paths, large open squares, tourist shops galore, Cusco has a lot to offer. Yes, we did find ourselves overwhelmed by the hassle of the street sellers, most, but not all understanding that No, really does mean NO, and not yes I want to buy something I neither like nor want... but they are friendly and their pressure selling is a genuine need to make money. Many of the items are very nice, but so is your money, and if you don`t want something, be firm but kind with your rejections. The main square of Cusco, Plaza Mayor is a fabulous place to people watch, or even watch a parade,(we saw three in our brief time there). There are many balcony restaurants dotted around the square, and all have great views. We had a personal favourite, it faced the old cathedral and was situated in one corner. The food was pleasant, the coffee ok, the beer was cheap, the tea tasted like smoked sausages, but the view and the hospitality made up for everything it lacked. When you cannot cope with the altitude, have no desire to hike or go on endless days trips or face the barrage of street sellers, or the endless tat of t.s. shops these restaurants make for great bolt holes. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley Where to begin? The biggest bucket list destination of our entire 5 months South America trip. To sit at home and see pictures of Machu Picchu in all its enigmatic glory, perched high in the Andes Mountains, built by the Incas, and knowing that there was a chance I could go? What a dream. We planned our entire first half of South America around this special place. What I didn`t expect after endlessly researching how to get there, was how easy and relatively cheap it is to visit. It is no harder to visit MP, than it is to visit the Eiffel Tower. From the moment you enter Peru you are battered with tours to Machu Picchu (MP) day trips, two day trips, 3 day tours. Every single tourist shop flaunting pictures from every angle, fridge magnets, t shirts, mugs, cups, plates, toys, pin badges etc of this wonderful place. Truth be known I became quite sad and disillusioned. The MP of my dreams, was a quiet, special, remote, and unique place, not a glorified over booked tourist destination. The reality prior to my visit, and especially in and around Cusco, bordered on a disappointment that such a magical place be treated with such irreverence, to an overwhelming excitement that I really was going to go and see it for myself. Even acquiring tickets for your circuit of choice (do your homework bunnies) is not the nightmare people insist it is, unless you want circuit 2 classic which is booked up months in advance. We purchased 2 tickets, for Circuit 2 lower, twenty days prior to our visit, peak season. You buy the tickets online, being careful to use the correct official Ministry website www.machupicchu.gob.pe you must then purchase the transport of your choice. MP, or rather its closest town of Aguas Calientes, (AC) is accessed by train only. There are many trains each day, and you can choose between IncaRail or PeruRail. You could choose to pay £1000s and experience the very beautiful Bingham Luxury trains, or simply take the cheaper, but still fabulous Peru Rail bus to Ollantaytambo, then the train to AC. All buses go via Ollantaytambo, and all trains take the same fabulous 27 miles route through the Sacred Valley from there as well. We opted for the very beautiful Peru Rail vistadome train/coach, with a return journey in what we thought was going to be a normal train carriage, but turned out to still be a vistadome carriage, with just a few less trimmings. The return Bi Modal transfer was approx £57 ppew. The Journey. Still apprehensive about the over commercialisation of Machu Picchu, and how the journey would pan out, my fears of en mass cheap coaches leaving busy bus stations, filled with chatting tourists, backpacks and cameras quickly abated as we approached the Peru Rail Railway/Bi Modal Station. Greeted by a smartly dressed railway host we were escorted quietly to the most beautiful waiting room with its peaceful ambience, tranquil sounds of the Beatles music played on pan pipes, the smell of roast coffee, comfortable chairs and carpeted floors. Guests were appropriately dressed as befits the majesty of Machu Picchu, and suddenly I felt calm and relaxed. We were escorted across the railway lines to the small but smart little transfer buses, the whole process of transferring people immaculately organised. On board the coach for around 2 hours of the most glorious scenery, we finally arrived into Ollantaytambo. Whilst we were not given chance to view anything of this small town as we were briskly escorted to the soon departing train, I have a feeling Ollantaytambo is a place that we could quite happily have spent (and dearly wish we had) several days. The train the station, the feeling of excitement is almost palpable. Every aspect is exquisitely managed, from the railway station cafe to the boarding of the trains. You are left in no doubt of where you need to be at any given time. Of course you will always find one set of `those` people, the instagrammers who believe a place belongs solely to them, the overly loud person who thinks everyone and their dog should listen to their conversation, and the travellers who are convinced you need to take oversized suitcases to every destination.... (get a life people!) We all boarded the trains to the sounds of Inca chanting and bells, as dancers whooped and chanted along the trackside and we were off. The Sacred Valley. No amount of research or videos could have prepared us for the majesty, serenity, peace and vistas of this glorious train ride through the Sacred Valley. We had eyes on stalks as we surveyed every inch of the views through our multitude of glass windows in our beautiful railway carriage. The extra few dollars spent choosing this particular carriage was more than worth it. Truly Magnificent. Any other words would diminish the beauty of this valley. It truly does seem sacred and unspoilt. As the train joins the river side you are treated to the scale and sheer size of the rocks and boulders with which the Incas had to work. Even the river itself offers a taste of beauty. Every now and again we caught glimpses of the hardy trekkers and their devoted porters ( our own little bunny included) as they traversed on foot the paths the Incas made before them. We salute you. For twenty seven miles and one and a half hours of spectacular scenery we wended our way through the mountains to the town of Aguas Calientes and the valley home of Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes. From the sublime to the ridiculous. This town is the epitome of tourist central. As soon as you disembark the train the mass commercialisation hits you full in the face once more. Aguas Calientes serves only for tourist to sleep, eat, drink, shop, and to catch the bus (or walk) to Machu Picchu, which thankfully cannot be seen from this blight on the landscape of The Sacred Valley. A slight miscalculation in my timings put us in the town for 2 nights. With better planning and a little knowledge, one night is more than sufficient. There are pockets of beauty within the town itself, but nothing compared to the journey you have already done. Purchase yourselves a return bus ticket up the mountain, the shop is well sign posted and easy to find, 12 dollars ppew. And now, with tickets in hand, eat, sleep and awake fresh and excited at 4.30 am, your visit to Machu Picchu has begun. Machu Picchu. The bus queue, which you simply cannot miss as it winds down the street by the river, starts at around 4.30am, with the first bus leaving at 5.30am prompt. Your tickets and passports are scanned as you queue, and the boarding is fast and efficient. The little buses are boarded quickly and leave immediately. The speedy journey up the mountain takes around 25 minutes. As you depart the bus, clearly signposted Banos( bathrooms) are in front of you, with very clear indications that there are no toilets within MP, nor will you be allowed to back track or leave/re enter once in this sacred place. We had planned to arrive at dawn, to see the sunrise over M.P. Alas mother nature, or in Peru ,Pachamama will always dictate the weather. We arrived onto the classic viewpoint, a cloudy morning meant that we were unable to view MP in all its glory, but instead it did give us a very atmospheric almost eerie view of the sheer height and splendour of this amazing place. Due to new regulations and visitor numbers, the authorities have produced `circuits` limiting numbers of people to certain routes, and guiding people along on well marked but very specific pathways avoiding hot spots and overcrowding by maintaining a strict one way system, but this does actually work. There were many many people at MP, but at no time did we ever feel crowded or rushed. The guides are knowledgeable and respectful, giving you sufficient time in each place to talk and discuss the building and daily life of the Inca people of MP, before moving on as the next group arrived. We never overlapped, nor did we ever have to jostle for space. Is it everything we ever dreamed of? Oh yes. Very much so. It was also very respected and with zero tolerance for noise or silliness. Once more I felt at peace, knowing that Machu Picchu was truly respected for the sacred place that it is. I feel proud, privileged and humble to have been able to fulfil my dream and tick off yet another bucket list item that is Machu Picchu. Salineras de Maras and Moray A short trip away from the centre of Cusco brings you to these 2 places. We were picked up from the main square of Cusco at 8,45, driven for around one hour to a nearby town where we had a short but interesting demonstration of textile making, (why has nobody marketed that plant shampoo?, I have never seen dirty wool wash so clean with good old Persil..one quick grate of a certain plant, add water and wash, voila, pure white wool, was amazing!) anyway, every good demonstration( attentively watched by 3 nosy alpacas), has to end in a shop and this tour was no exception. A wonderful shop granted, but like any tourist tour shop, just a little overpriced. A note of consternation, the pens in which we had our little demonstration had a small run to the side of us containing little guinea pigs, they looked ever so cute and tame, I couldn`t help wondering if they knew they were destined to be spit roasted..... We continued onto Moray, which is an old Incan ruin of unknown purpose. It is thought that they served as agricultural terraces as it does have an irrigation system. Looking down on the site from above it was hard to appreciate its true size and scale, but when you note that your average sized person would have to climb, not step from terrace to terrace, the scale becomes pretty impressive. From Moray to Maras, only a short drive away further into the mountains, and suddenly you are confronted with the mountain side view of Salineras de Maras, the Salt plateau. A truly impressive sight. Over 4700 salt pools cascade down the mountain side, each fed by natural hot water spring that has flowed through the mountain for over 110 million years. The salt is collected on a monthly basis and each salt pool can produce over 150kgs. The amount of salt produced by these salt pools is quite staggering, 4 million kgs per year has been the estimated production. That`s a lot of salt if you ask me!

From Galapagos we flew back to the mainland via Guayaquil. A city that at this moment in time has an avoidance advisory. We are careful to listen to government guidelines and local knowledge, but equally we listen to our own hearts as well. Guayaquil was not an exception. It is not a safe city at this time, albeit less so for tourists, but we like safe. So, straight to the hotel we went. Take heed wandering tourists, the German family also from our hotel chose to ignore advice, attempted to navigate the local district, got lost and were promptly bundled into a taxi by concerned locals and told to go back to their hotel. Mr Bunny heeded all warnings and surpassed himself by ordering us Pizza via delivery. Expensive? yes, worth it? oh yes!!!! sometimes a little splurge does wonders for both bunny bellies and blissful contentment. Pizza, Netflix and Ecuadorian chocolate, an evening made in heaven. So, Banos. Banos, adventure capital of Ecuador. We had an idea what was there, and why we wanted to go, we just didn`t research it in too much detail to allow for that element of surprise. Surprise number one. It took 7 hours and 2 buses to get there , not the 4 hours on one bus that I read online. It should have been one bus, but it broke down. The 7 hours part was actually correct, I had misread the bus timetable, 4 hours was just the journey to the town of Riobamba where we got dropped off with several other bewildered local bunnies at a small bus tour shop as apparently our bus was having difficulties. We were each given tickets that said 3 to Banos (or 2, or 1 etc) and got told to sit. So sit we did. After around 20 mins, another bus came and on we piled. 3 bunnies and our fellow bunny locals back on their way to Banos. One hour said the bus timetable, 2.5 hours was the reality. We landed in the late evening into what I can only describe as (for UK bunny visitors Blackpool/ Or US bunny visitors, a mini Las Vegas) Oh I was so gutted. Talk about awful first impressions. Neon lights, music, party buses, young people milling about on the streets, burger bars and street food vendors. We got a taxi straight to our lovely little hostel Timara, see booking.com , shared kitchen but lovely family and perfectly nice rooms, deciding to shelve our disappointment and see what daylight brought. Morning came and I realised that our mini Las Vegas and the disappoint of, was actually Saturday night fun and nothing more. We were in the most gorgeous little town, best described as super touristic, safe, relaxed and surrounded by the most awesome hills. We quickly came to love Banos, for its friendly relaxing happy vibes, ( awesome Chocolate Shop. Blanco Hot Chocolate and Dulche de Leche crepes, wow just saying..). The neon party bus was back in the garage, and all we were left with was a million shops all selling one thing. Adventure!! Canyoning? Abseiling? White Water Rafting? Zip lines? Bungee? When we thought Banos was a small town with one area of adventure, the reality is many choices of adventures and tours all in different places around the valleys and hills. Where to begin. Spa waters! After so many weeks on the road the pull of hot springs and total relaxation was too good to miss. El Salado was our first destination. A place where you really do need to know that the book is so much better than the cover suggests. A grey concrete mass of bland looking buildings, muddy looking brown pools, less than inviting looking changing rooms and showers, and the most glorious hot natural pools. 3 hot or varying warm temperatures pools and one one freezing (to be ignored lol) pool. Day 2 saw us visit the Amazon. Without doubt the most cringy tourist tour and one that I would normally avoid like the plague, but definitely had its merits. Picked up at 8.45, first stop the View Point, Just a stop at the side of the road but a place where you could pause to admire the size and majesty of Amazonia, or at least one little corner of it. From there to the waterfalls. A lovely quite easy, semi paved, walk through the jungle (I did say it was touristy) to the waterfall. Very nice, one of the better waterfalls seen to date, even semi impressing this normally unimpressed wet stuff bunny. From there we went, in the little tourist bus, to the `Indigenous` village. Greeted by the village elder with his parrot feather hat, he proceeded to talk about Chicha, the local drink and the making of, then each of us was given a drink of to taste, from the same cup each time (Who remembers Covid?) Time next for the children in their `native costumes` to come and paint our faces with traditional face paints, showing my age here, but Adam Ant eat your heart out, we rocked the war paint look. Women next, in their fancy grass skirts dressed up the female bunnies in multi size grass skirts and they proceeded to dance around the fire whilst the male bunny variety banged their drums. boys and drums, boys and toys. Mrs Bunny here would have partaken, but alas someone had to take the pictures. Time for the snake picture next, ( I did warn you, proper ts tour) Mr bunny was nowhere to be seen as the snake was brought out, but little bunny quite happily posed with said legless creature. What do they say about every good ride? Ends in a shop! We each bought a souvenir of the day, and left waving goodbye to the `local indigenous people` who were now wearing their presumably everyday attire of jeans, trainers, and the children in their mickey mouse t shirts /nike jumpers. Day 2. We hired a jeep for 3 hours and drove the road along which are 7 decent waterfalls. Making the decision to miss them all on the outward journey, we headed directly for El Pailon del Diablo. so glad we did. This particular waterfall is quite something, as is the walk! the steps were fine, the views were amazing, then we encountered that bridge. The bouncy, high, rope type bridge, that had to be crossed to continue the waterfall walk. After walking, or rather crawling over a very solid stone bridge that was a whole 8 feet high near home, I was super impressed when Mr Bunny hopped across it with apparent ease. Took Mrs bunny a couple of false starts before venturing across, but of course fearless little bunny just bounced across it with barely a pause. As waterfalls go, Pailon del Diablo is well worth a visit. Several days passed with us choosing to do very little, the weather was a little unkind, but the chance to catch up with some online work was much needed. On our next blue sky day we caught a local bus to the Casa Del Arbol, perched on the top of the nearby hill, this is known as the original Swing At The End of The World. Just a little tree house with a swing, perched at the edge of a very big hill. So much fun. Suitable for all age bunnies. Very small bunnies have their own little swing nearby if required. A nice little viewpoint, a bit of fun, and back home we went. An evening spent at another brown water super hot spa pool finished off the day and our time in Banos. Cuenca. Yet another long bus journey. But what a journey, I don`t think I took my eyes off the window view for one minute. Ecuador is just so dramatic. We climbed and climbed so many times, getting higher and higher until we were looking down on the clouds and valleys below us. We finally arrived into Cuenca late in the evening to one of best hostel stays to date. Posada Todos Santos. Easy walking distance to the town, cute little rooms, with gorgeous wall paintings. Cuenca, what can I say except that I wish we could have stayed longer. Totally unlike any other city or town we have been to so far, this place is almost elegant, smart and just different. Ecuador in general is a very tidy clean country, (especially compared to Colombia (sorry Colombia) and Cuenca was no exception. find a little hotel called Terra Rooftop 360 to be rewarded by the best view of the city. You can eat there if you wish, but beware, your little bunny pockets need to be quite deep. we settled for coffee and hot chocolate. We met a couple of fellow bunny backpackers back at our hostel who were hoping to enjoy the national park which was an easy bus ride away. We too fancied this national park, and agreed to join them for a walk. Aron, the owner of our hostel, offered to come with us all to guide us through the maze which is Cuenca bus station, and onto the Park itself. First you buy your bus tickets, then you buy another ticket (only a few cents) to leave the bus station to catch said bus. the National Park was around 45 mins away, and is best described as Ecuadors answer to the Scottish Highlands. Lots of hiking trails in this area, but we chose the easy walk around the large lake. 2 hours with stops for photos, is all you need. A nice break from city life. Our time in Ecuador has come to an end. We are sad to be leaving this beautiful country. There is so much more to be seen in Ecuador, a country this diverse deserves time to appreciate, time which alas we do not have. Good bye Ecuador, we love you.

Do what? Choose a bag, book a bus, plan a trip, get a taxi, or just generally figure out where to start? I admit it has been a difficult journey. Every aspect has been researched at length, but even now we have so many unanswered questions, and so many unknowns. The where was the hardest, so many places in the world and we want to see them all. If I had planned our 15 month journey once, I planned it a 100 times, buy a car and drive through Europe, fly to Egypt, fly straight to New Zealand, were just some of the early days options. It took guts and a feeling of recklessness when I decided (after watching endless YouTube namely Nicole and Mico, and Backpacking Bananas for some truly great and confidence inspiring videos) that South America was the right choice of budget conserving destination for us to start. Was it out of our comfort zone? you bet, are we loving it? absolutely. Bag/backpack, we are committed to backpacking, we really don`t want the hassle of suitcases, as for hold luggage costs, not for us. The charges of adding hold luggage can almost double the cost of your flight. We are each carrying a clam shell type backpack made by Stubble and Co, and they are awesome! 40 litres. compartmented. Neat, look small, easy to manage, and are cabin bag size. Each to their own, but these tick every box for us. Even got a shoe compartment. (and their customer service is excellent) " bunnies are also carrying 30 litre rucksacks as their personal item, whilst bunny three is carrying a love nook bag. This lovenook bag is amazing, my little bag of pockets, but it does have one problem, it doesn`t make for a good turtle front carry bag. Wait, am I hearing you say you cannot travel the world with only a backpack, well take a look at my room photos, do we look like we are missing something? Book a bus, or generally get around?. At home I tried every which way to learn how to get around, and finally decided to stop fretting and figure it out on the ground at each destination. Google and RometoRio. Your new best friends. R2R is just about the best app anyone can have, and when R2R is out for lunch, Google. Unless you plan to bunnyhop across the Andes or roller skate across the desert, I`m pretty certain somebody somewhere wanted to go or has gone exactly where you want to, and has written about it. I`m all for hindsight and experience, who am I to question those who have actually done these trips? Taxi drivers seek you out, at bus terminals just stand around and listen, somebody is more than likely shouting out your destination from their little booth. Staff are always ready to help, hotels or even shops will call you a cab. Getting to your destination is the least of your worries. (add google translate to your friends list, your probably going to need it) I don`t intend making suggestions to which bus or terminal you need, everything changes over time, eg Ambato (if you have been or going to Banos) has a brand new bus terminal, not mentioned anywhere online. but R2R and Google tend to stay up to date, besides, there is more than one way to skin a cat and peoples choices of destination and how to get there should be their own. For example, I feel like we are the only backpackers travelling North to South, everybody we meet is on their way uphill. Do it your way, do what suits you. Still early days yet, but up to now travel hasn`t been a problem. Less is more. Did we learn that lesson? nope, we didn`t. We tried, but failed. We still managed to pack Justin Cases. I did try very hard to follow the instruction to get out your stuff, divide it in half and divide again. Hence the reason I failed to pack a bra and managed to pack 3 green t shirts. Can you have too much? yes, very much so. I could wear a different t shirt every day for 2 weeks, same for leggings/trousers. See earlier blog post when I mentioned we went shopping for missing items...lets just say I got slightly carried away! A new t shirt every day for 2 weeks? That`s when you know you have too much. Best buys? I am living in Salomon trainers for their sure footed grip. I had expected to be wearing my old faithful comfy Skechers, but the terrain so far has warranted decent sturdy footwear. My expensive super light packable puffy coat is amazing. A waterproof is much needed, but splurge. You need a waterproof, but space is premium. Spend the money on the tiniest, lightest, 100% waterproof jacket you can find. Mr Bunnies coat ticks that box, where as my coat takes us more space than I like. Merino wool socks are the bunniesbolox, but t shirts have to suit the wearer. Sweaty bunnies make prefer the merino, but those bunnies who merely sweetly perspire may prefer cheap t shirts ( easily replaced on the road as required) and decent deodorant. Skinny little bunnies just take whatever they like and lots of it. Rule of thumb, the bigger the bunny the less clothes you can take. sucks, but its true. We are still reading the How To Book of World Travel. We have made mistakes, the wrong bus added 3 hours to a journey. Mis reading the room description left us sharing a kitchen. You can book a dorm room for 4 and still end up in a room for 10. You can book a tour and have the best day out, or you can end up with the self important family with the most appalling spoilt child who screams for an hour on a small bus. It is all a journey, and each day we learn to adapt. Ear plugs and warm clothes for buses, with a t shirt just in case. Toilet paper lives in every pocket, as does small change. The wish you had remembered to buy insect repellent, packed more tummy relief tablets, or not packed your most favourite trousers, the ones you live in at home, but don`t seem to have a place for now. We are learning that bus `rules` are pretty stickers with words to be ignored. No food! (but your dinner in a tray is fine) No Pets! but the dog is fine, so is the puppy, and the kitten, sorry sir sheep go in the hold..... And so the journey continues.