One of the most surprising things about Kuala Lumpur, apart from using British plug sockets, how developed it is, and how old most of the tourists are (40+), is the increbile amount of rubbish everywhere. Street cornbers are piled with the stuff, and tourist attractions fare no better. Jenga-like stacks of plastic bottles are everywhere you look. Before leaving the capital we decided to visit the caves of Batu just outside of town. They are the site of the annual self-mutilation ceremonies that many of you have probably read about, or seen in pictures of hoards of people whipping their own backs to get over their sins. That's in February, so all we got to see were some monkeys and a massive golden statue. The caves were large and small at the same time. The roof ... read more

well its been a while but im afraid we have come to an end. This the 19th is our last day! The emails begging our parents for extra money so we could stay here an extra month, or 6 failed so we are on our way home this afternoon. Its been an adventure, but its okay because now we are planning our next one. last minute dash We´re in Rio again now but getting here was a bit of a struggle, with less than 10 days to go we suddenly realised that we were in Peru, humm, so a taxi to Bolivia (yes a taxi from Peru to Bolivia!!!) was in order and then a bus to La Paz. In La Paz we did last min shopping, and spent a little (*cough* lot *cough*) too much ... read more

It was like the ice-creams in Dumbos, it was as good, if not better than we expected! And for the first time ever i was actually speachless!! We caught a train to Aguas Callientes (litterally meaning hot water thanks to the natural hot springs found there) At 6am from Cusco and arrived at around 3ish. The train ride was surprisingly nice, well the parts we were awake for were, the scenery was beautiful although i did spot a magot infested dog carcas on the side of the tracks! Aguas Callientes was just as beautiful with imposing mountain ranges surrounding the town and jungle encrouching on it. We went in search of somewhere to stay for the night and looked around and came across the most popular haunt, Gringo Bills, but us unsuspecting gringos quickly headed straight ... read more

well its been one adventure after another recently. Early to rise and we were on our way to the floating islands on Lake titicaca, most impresssive! The Islands actually float!! There are reeds packed together to form a base, and the roots of the reeds float hence keeping the island from sinking, the only thing keeping it in one place are stakes going directly through the island. The views from the island were lovely but unfortuantly the islands are so over comercialised it kind of spoils it, although we did get to buy some lovely lovely tourist goods!! After a while on one floating island the natural progression was to go to the next floating island...the one with a phone box on it! Where we photographed a lady making bread who then demanded some money! then ... read more

First some travel information: Anyone thinking of going to Titicaca beware that, a) the town you will most probably start at, Copacabana, has no cash machine. You can get a cash advance for a commission, but it´s best to just stock up on Bolivianos before you go. b) nowhere on the Illa del sol will take US dollars unless you offer about twice the price. Most locals will tell you a dollar is worth 6 Bs, when it is 8 and will accept nothing else (though a friendly lady changed some for us at 8). Take warm clothes too, it´s cold! A Cholita is a traditional Bolvian woman. She wears four or five layers of skirt, several sweaters and a poncho. Often you will find one with a baby wrapped in a blanket and somehow tied ... read more