Peru: Around the world in 180 days

Chris Reed continues his six-month jaunt around the world by learning to love waterfalls and 20-hour bus trips.

Had Dante wanted to fill his nine circles of hell with aural agonies, he could have done a lot worse than set his Inferno in Nazca.

The desert town in southern Peru is famous for mysterious lines in the sand depicting giant creatures and geometric shapes. They're only truly appreciated from the air and are thought to be at least 1400 years old.

We had to see them - and they're certainly memorable. So was the sleepless night before our 8am bumpy flight in a seven-seater aircraft.

It started with the increasingly noisy shindig at the function centre next to our hostel. Then came the taxis tooting for business, feral cats fighting and wild dogs having a howling competition.

The cacophony of cockerels that greeted dawn was swiftly followed by some preposterously early DIY, then a rubbish truck came and went and a megaphone-equipped car drove by advertising an appearance by a salsa heartthrob.

The ninth circle? The knock at the door from the hostel owner - to wake us up.

It's been a frantic, fantastic fortnight of firsts since my wife and I left Beunos Aires.

I've never been one for waterfalls but the awesome power of those on the River Iguacu, straddling the Argentinia-Brazil border, left me impressed by them for the first time.

We've done our first overnight bus journeys - 20 hours of bubbles, vino tinto and more carbs than you could possibly need while lying down - and experienced our first case of traveller's guilt while whizzing past the extensive slums of the Peruvian capital in a luxury coach.

Planning the journey to the next site is all part of the fun and we were grateful to the Flight Centre around-the-world team for emailing us about an airline-imposed change to our itinerary.

There are many more firsts to come, not least next week's four-day trek to Machu Picchu.

It involves camping, something I've always avoided in favour of home comforts. At least Nazca had a bed.

* Chris Reed is travelling with assistance from Flight Centre's Round the World office.