I had my appointment at STA Travel on Saturday morning and saw an Aussie guy called PJ. He gave me some brochures, some advice on various things and is going to get me a quote for the plane tickets…

They try to push you towards doing all these tours that you book through them but are actually run by other companies but, if I was going to do them it would cost me far too much money just in getting around so I don’t think that’s the right way to go at the moment… Except in New Zealand where I probably will consider doing the Kiwi Experience or something similar and do some extreme sports!

Unfortunately, PJ didn’t know much about South America so I asked a friend who went out there for two and a half months last year for some tips. He sent me an essay of an email telling me to;

• Get a Lonely Planet guide book
• Start in Rio, Brazil particularly Copacabana and Ipanema (best beach in the world!)
• Do the death road cycle in La Paz, Bolivia (5 hours, starting at 4.2km above in the snow and finishing in 36 degree heat at the bottom)
• Visit the salt flats in Sucre, Bolivia
• Go to the palm islands at Lake Titicaca
• Do the Inca trail (or the nature version of it) Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Peru
• Trek to the oasis in Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru
• Go to the beaches and do some trekking in Huacachina, Huaraz, Huanchaco and Macora, Peru
• Stay in the old town (definitely not the new town) in Quito, Ecuador
• Use buses because there’s no internal low cost airlines
• Learn the currency so you don’t get fleeced
• Don’t take your bank card out with you
• Don’t trust Bolivian policemen

So, I have an idea of what I’m doing there now anyway!