Friday 17th October

Off to Lima today 9 hr bus trip, up 6am depart 7.40am, we catch taxis to bus depot having to show our passport id as we board haven't had to do this before. We are all very impressed with the bus very luxurious the best yet. We have seats upstairs with lots of room to spread out which long legged Julia enjoys. Breakfast is served at 9am, ham roll, small croissant , sweet biscuit and coffee. I settle back and relax watching the movie "Perez The Hairy Tooth Fairy" an animated film. In Peru the tooth fairy is a mouse yes quite a strange concept but I enjoy the movie. I end up watching 4 movies before lunch is served, chicken, rice, vege salad and some strange jelly dessert which looks like congealed blood and didn't taste too good. Interesting drive through desert and very barren coastline Carla tells us that it never rains here in some places. Arrive Lima 5.30pm a large sprawling city of 9 million people which takes us approx, 2 hrs to transverse to bus depot. Arrive at our hotel by taxis 1/2 hour to freshen up and then do a walking tour, the city centre and the main square is very beautiful lit up at night with lots of European buildings lovely architecture and colours. My first impression of Lima was not as good as the outskirts is like a shanty town and very dirty and no greenery but no rain no green. This place must be a real quagmire when it does rain . We meet for dinner at 8pm travel by taxis once again to a very nice restaurant by the waterfront. Julia, Rebecca, Sang and I get the first taxi Carla telling the driver where to let us off, when we arrive we realise the other taxi is nowhere in sight and not being sure of the restaurant name have no idea where to go yeah good one we all agree, Julia being the only one of us who is fairly conversant in Spanish asks for directions to what she believes to be the restaurant without success, so we wander and lo and behold we happen across the others whose taxi let them off in a different place. Anyway this is our last night together as Julia and I fly to Cusco tomorrow and we have a beautiful meal, I share tapas with Rebecca and share a jug of sangria with Louise (meal and drinks 41 soles). I also indulged in dessert of strawberry cheesecake which I shouldn't have as I was very full. Carla also leaves the tour here and introduces the new tour guide Jo for the others that are continuing on. Julia, Sang, Rebecca and I leave around 10am and the others party on, Julia has a 9am flight tomorrow and must leave at 7am.

Thursday 16th October

Up at 7am for 8am departure, Carla knocked on my door at 7.15 informing me that we are now leaving at 7.45 as bus must now take a different route due to bridge fiasco so I am pleased that I have already had my shower and packed my bag, we get taxis to bus depot to re-enact our departure of yesterday hoping all goes well today. We are all settled on bus waiting for Sang who we think has gone wandering to get some breakfast, hoping he will be here soon as this is a public bus and will not wait. Alas Sang doesn't appear and we have no option but to leave without him, I am quite worried as he doesn't have his luggage including his backpack as Carla collected them from our hostel when he wasn't there so we assume he has his wallet but not sure about his passport. Carla last spoke to him at 7.30am telling him we would be leaving at 7.45 and thinks he misunderstood it to be 10.45, she makes some phonecalls and the people at our hostel go looking for him to tell him we have gone without him, he apparently turned up at 9.30 very happy with himself after having a lovely breakfast and Carla spoke to him on phone telling him that she has arranged for him to catch another bus to Trujillo and she will meet him there. We arrive at Huanchaco 1.30pm all very hungry as unlike Sang once again we have not had a decent breakfast just dry breadrolls on the bus. Carla is making arrangements for us to do an organised tour of Chan Chan and the temple of the sun and the moon which will take 5 hours leaving us no time for lunch so we unanimously decline and go to lunch but all agree we think the tour would be really interesting . We find what we think is a good restaurant but it takes an hour for me to get my order a simple chicken and cheese sandwich, meanwhile everyone else have eaten their meals. I go to the kitchen to see what is taking so long and find out they had to go out to buy bread rolls (I actually ordered a sandwich but at this stage I will eat just about anything) I would have appreciated them telling me and I would have ordered something else. We decided not to leave a tip this time as service was abominable. We find a really nice bakery on way back to our hotel and buy food for breakfast on bus tomorrow. We go back to catch up on laundry which we hang on lines on roof very very windy are wondering if it will actually be there when we come back. I go for a long walk to take some photos of sunset. Today was supposed to be our free day. Sang arrives 4.30pm and we are pleased he is ok and not too stressed out. We dine at an Italian restaurant near our hotel without Carla tonight, I have a delicious meal of spaghetti carbonara. After returning to our rooms Rebecca and I decide we are not tired enough to go to sleep so go for a walk to get some photos of the cathederal, got to bed 11.30pm we both had trouble settling as were itch so got up and put some insect repellant on

Wednesday 15th October

We leave Mancora Beach today for Huanchaco, early rise as have a long way to go, up at 4.30am for 5.30am departure, everybody is ready and waiting and there is no sign of our guide Carla, we give it some time and discussion before knocking on her door, she is still asleep as her mobile phone alarm didn't go off so she says, maybe it had something to do with the late night she had with Gemma and Julia (3.30am) and many cocktails. Julia is a little worse for wear actually a lot worse oh dear too much to drink and is very nauseous and looking for a paper bag, I am pleased I didn't stay last night as it is a very long day on a bus when you are hungover, Gemma comes bounding out full of beans as usual which oh to be young again. We finally get going a half hour late Carla organising tuk tuks to pick us up to take us to catch the first of two buses this one will take us 31/2 hrs to Piura. We have to catch 6.30am bus as we have missed the 6am one. Carla kindly gets some medication from chemist for Julia and she sleeps most of the way. Arrive Piura 10am and change buses for Chiclayo which will take another 3 hours, more sleep for Julia. Arrive Chiclayo 1.30pm leave our luggage at Tucan travel office and take a guided tour of museum tumbas reales Lord of Sipan - a museum that is full of gold Incan artifacts which none of us are really enthused about but certainly change our ideas once inside, very interesting, well organised, informative and amazing relics in perfect condition and some very well restored, we are more than impressed. We finally get to have lunch at 4.30pm at an American restaurant in town at Carla's suggestion as they can do a quick service and will have us back on the bus by 6pm for our night's stay at Huanchaco another 4 hours away. We are on the road an hour when we come to a traffic hold-up where we sit and wait for another hour before we find out that the bridge is down and there is no way we are going anywhere tonight so the bus driver has no option but to take us back to Chiclayo for the night where Carla is ringing ahead trying to arrange some accommodation for us. We arrive back and have to wait in our mini bus which has collected us for what seems like forever waiting on Carla to get our accommodation organised at the Tucan office. Meanwhile Gemma as usual keeps us entertained with her very witty English banter. We finally get into our rooms at 8pm, I have my own room tonight which seems strange now after sharing . Carla suggests we go for a walk and get dinner at 9pm which I decline as not very hungry after late lunch so I have a leisurely shower and decide to go to the internet cafe opposite our hostel to send some emails home and also go to nearby bakery to get something for breakfast on bus tomorrow as we will be leaving early as we now have an extra 4 hours travelling tomorrow.

Tuesday 14th October

Really good nights sleep, don't get up until 10am, Rebecca and I go to local cafe for breakfast as not available at our hotel where we have a very good omelette, toast and coffee for 10 soles ($5) each. The rest of the group have gone out early on a whale watching trip, we didn't go as have done it before in Australia. After breakfast Rebecca decides to go back to do some laundry and I go to the bank to change some of our big notes as no one ever has change, I wander in and out of shops and buy a pair of shorts and t shirt for the beach. I also go to internet cafe to send some emails home and spend rest of the day walking, taking photos, need some excercise as have been on buses a lot. I meet up with Julia and Gemma at 5.30pm as I am going back to get ready for dinner and we do some shopping together at the markets, then go to supermarket to buy breakfast and snacks for early departure tomorrow. Dinner tonight 7pm I arrive back with only 10 minutes to get ready so forgo a shower, we go to another very good restaurant where I have a chicken salad and yes more sex on the beach and pina colada, get to bed around 10pm.

Monday 13th October

Goodbye Ecuador, we depart 6.30am today for Peru 5 hour bus journey, we grab a very quick breakfast and say our goodbyes to Sarah and Sybylla. Taxis to bus depot to start our journey to Mancora Beach for 2 days of sun and sand and everyone is very excited. Arrive Peru 1pm change from bus to small people mover where we proceed to immigration office to get our passports stamped and change our money to Peruvian soles. We continue on for another 2 hours which is much more enjoyable than a public bus as now Carla puts some cds on that we all sing along to. We drive towards the coast and I finally get my first glimpse of the ocean since arriving in Sth America, didn't realise how much I had missed it. We arrive Mancora Beach 2.30pm not having had lunch and are all starving but by the time we check in and then go for a walk to change money and use ATMs etc and get organised it is nearing 4.30pm so a very late lunch is enjoyed by all right on the beach, it doesn't get much better. Our accommodation is very good and right on the beach I am sharing with Rececca for 2 nights. We have some free time after lunch so some of us wander the markets and after which Julia and I decide to do a walk along the beach just on sunset as we haven't had any excercise today. I get some very good photos of the setting sun, very beautiful. On the way back we join Carla, Gemma and some locals for a drink on the beach (pisco sour) We meet outside our rooms at 8pm to go find a restaurant for dinner, I have a tuna steak, potato and salad one of the best meals I have had . We go to a club the Gecko Bar for drinks after dinner where some of the group get friendly with the locals, I enjoy sex on the beach (alas that is cocktails), a very good night and excellent start to our time in Peru.

Sunday 12th October

Cuenca free day, up 7.30am meet Sarah, Julia and Sybylla at 9am for breakfast, interesting discussion this morning as everyone is feeling a bit emotional missing partners and family, I am ok but am feeling for Sarah especially as she is quite upset and has some issues to resolve we can only hopefully give some helpful advice. Sang appears and wonders what is happening, we all decide to head off together leaving at 10am to walk to panama hat factory where Julia makes a purchase. We continue wandering in and out of churches taking many photos along the way. Sarah takes us up hill and down dale looking for a nice little seafood restaurant for lunch that she saw previously whilst out walking. Funnily enough Sarah was the only one who doesn't enjoy her meal as it has in it something resembling small black caterpillars and doesn't look very appertising unlike the rest of our meals. We head back to our accommodation and Sarah, Julia and I decid at 2pm to get a taxi ($4.50) and go to the thermal springs for the afternoon, the water is very hot at 36 degrees so can't stay in for very long at a time but is very relaxing. Back to our rooms 4.30pm where Sarah and I continue on from our conversation over breakfast. Dinner tonight 7pm, I have crumbed shrimps, fries and rice and some pina coladas. After dinner we decide to kick on for drinks at Jack Rock Cafe(previously Hard Rock) where we have tequila shots and possibly too many other drinks but we are on holiday and really must try the local quisine which of course includes the drinks. This is Sarah and Sybylla's last night with us as they fly back to Quito tomorrow, Sarah to go on to the Galapagos and then into jungle for 2 weeks to volunteer on an animal rehabilitation program and Sybylla to return home to Germany, we will miss them both as they have been great company and a lot of fun.

Saturday 11th October

Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay province and has a population of around 250,000 making it Ecuador's 3rd largest city producing ceramics, panama hats, gold & silver jewellery, shawls, ponchos ansd blankets. Other industries include textiles, furniture and car tyres. Most Ecuadorians consider Cuenca to be their country's most beautiful city, Cuenca means river basin or bowl in Spanish. The city is situated at 2,549 metres on the banks of the Tomebamba river. We have a free day today, get up 7am, can't get back to sleep as I think this is the noisiest place I have ever stayed, Sarah my room mate agrees, every time someone walks past our room the floor shakes and every floorboard outside our room squeaks. Breakfast downstairs at 9am with Sarah, Julia, Sang and Sybylla. We have all decided to spend the day together as we are wanting to do the same things, banking, museums, Post Office, shopping, art galleries. We decide to look for a nice place for lunch and follow the river whilst looking in art galleries along the way. Have a lovely tapas and greek salad lunch overlooking river, starts to rain so we move inside for a very comfortable afternoon. Returned to our room, Sarah had a nap while I sent some emails and then went shopping for an evening top to wear to salsa club tonight as I didn't bring anything very dressy with me. I found a nice purple top with it's very own bling, bonus, very cheap and a pair of low heeled black shoes which will look ok with my good jeans. we meet in foyer at 7pm for dinner and everyone has made an effort to put on some makeup and which get dressed up for our night of salsa night. Restaurant once again is very nice I have chilli chocolate chicken which is delicious. The people at the club give us salsa lessons and also Gemma tries to help me as she has learnt by going out with Carla a lot , we have a lot of fun and salsa and the music is great. We get back to our room around midnight.