down to a stop. We waited for approximately 5 - 10 minutes then were back on the road. After around 20 minutes there was an alarming burning smell drifting through the heater vents. Rob had smelled the same thing and we blamed it on the heater being overloaded, I think it was more wishful thinking! We carried on for a further 5-10 minutes without anybody being particularly bothered about what was now a pretty powerful smell. Then sure enough the bus started to slow and we came to a gradual stop. A further 5 minutes or so all of the lights went out and that was it, we were stuck, the damn thing had broken down. We looked out of the curtains to see the snow glistening in the moonlight on the high hills that surrounded us. There was lots of activity and much chatter before we worked out that we were going nowhere fast. Knowing that the bus had a satellite tracking device (thanks to the promotional video!) we knew that help would be on its way!

The only problem was that help was 5 hours away, we were approximately half way through our journey and in the middle of the countryside. It would take at least 5 hours for a replacement bus to come from either Arequipa or Cuzco. Ah well only one thing to do, go to sleep. Thankfully the bus had cooled to a more palatable temperature and we were able to sleep our way through the breakdown. We woke to hear muffled voices and talk that a bus had arrived. The next thing we were asked to get off the bus and get on the replacement. There were a huddle of people crowded round the broken engine with much talk about what had happened. It seems that a big round cog type of thing that was supposed to have a belt on it, had sheered off and that was the problem. What amused us was the fact that the driver must have known this when he stopped the first time but decided that it wasn’t such a big deal and carried on!