So we DID actually manage to leave Bogota at the last entry. Our main objective after leaving Columbia was to get to the Salar de Uyuni - which we didn't manage to catch the first time round since we vamossed to Brazil to watch the World Cup - and to take in a little of Ecuador and Peru on the way. So, our first port of call was to head south from Bogota for San Augustin. There we found a beautiful wee countryside hostel just out of town with cute wee huts and where they make excellent fresh bread and have [View Full Entry]

---

---

Where was I..... somewhere halfway down the Amazon, I think. So.... I've already tried four times to update about the time I spent in the jungle from Manaus and each time lost all my work (yes, I know, I should've saved!). Suffice to say it was an incredible and unforgettable experience, involving camping with our hammocks deep in the jungle, spear fishing in the dead of night, breakfast with a local family (we even tasted a type of large rat they were preparing.. and FYI, it was quite nice), piranha fishing, silently canoeing through the dense jungle looking for monkeys, jaguars, [View Full Entry]

---

---

The bus we took from Fortaleza to Belem was to be the last on land travel as the next leg of our trip was, inevitably, the Amazon River and Rainforest! From here on rivers are the new roads and boats are the new cars as we make our way upstream along the Rios Negro and Solimoes, which make up the mighty Rio Amazon. You can get a cargo boat that takes passengers on the upper decks where you get approximately a 6 inch wide space to hang your hammock, which will be bed for the next few days. Our voyage started [View Full Entry]

---

---

So... we were in Rio for almost three weeks living in an apartment on Copacabana beach. It was just like being home again, like having a holiday from backpacking, ie living room, couches, TV, phone.. all the things we usually take for granted - like EVERYTHING unpacked and in WARDROBES ... wooOOooo!! - except we´re right next to one of the world´s most famous beaches. They have running and cycling tracks right along the 4km of beaches and we were even good enough to make use of them in the mornings (when we can be bothered!), drink some coconut water and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Whilst still waiting for Lorna´s bank card to arrive, and getting sick of the same old sights of La Paz, the two of us decided to get a change of scenery and take a few days at Copacabana, a tiny town on the banks of Lake Titicaca. Beautiful, peaceful, tranquil, that´s this place. The Lake is massive and lies across Bolivia and Peru. You can see it for miles and miles and miles from loads of different viewpoints almost all the way on the 4 hour bus journey from La Paz, it´s an amazing sight. When we got to Copacabana we [View Full Entry]

---

---

You can go the road from La Paz to Coroico on a bus or you can go on mountain bike and it's mostly all downhill. It has some of the most dramatic scenery imaginable with a gaping valley, a huge forest and views that go on for miles and miles. At Coroico there's a beautiful wee hotel where you can sunbathe, swim and just chill right out from the hustle and stinks of La Paz. Sounds amazing... bikes, scenery, luxury... but I decided months ago I would not under any circumstances be going down what is otherwise known as the World's [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well.... Bolivia!! Where to start.... it´s been so long since I blogged so I´m gonna try catch up like a mad woman!!! Villazon First thoughts on crossing the border from Argentina into the border town of Villazon ... being at about 3400m above sea level, I noticed the altitude effects pretty quickly, you can just be standing doing nothing and be completely out of breath so traipsing around with a backpack on can be difficult, and it´s also freezing cold. Villazon appears to be a poor little town of shacks and markets (mostly selling blankets) lots short assed people (it´s strange [View Full Entry]

---

---

From Valle Fertil we had to go back south to San Juan to catch a bus north again to Salta where we´re meeting up with the rest of the crew. I hate doing that, doubling back on ourselves, especially when the journeys are long enough as it is. It´s the woman at the bus station´s fault for not telling us we could move north from Valle Fertil even though we told her where we wanted to go. You get that a lot in Argentina, people not giving obviously useful information, or only giving half the info, such as if you ask [View Full Entry]

---

---

Left Mendoza with Bo, Max and Lorna to head for Valle Fertil (the Fertile Valley) which is just north of San Juan. The others were due to meet up with us in San Juan but they ended up going straight to Salta instead after being too drunk after the paragliding to understand the plan. We went straight to Valle Fertil and found the cheapest hostel ever at only 8 pesos a night (it turned out it was only that price for the first night but it was still cheap). On the first night I had the rankest wine i´ve ever tasted, [View Full Entry]

---

---

With a real sense of achievement and extremely tired after the volcano experience, we left Pucon and moved on to our next destination, enduring one of our weirdest and worst journeys yet. We had to go to Santiago and from there to cross the border back into Argentina, however after a few hours on the bus and almost reaching the border we had to wait on the stationary bus while ´they´decided if we could proceed or not as there was too much snow on the Argentinian side. Finally, after over 3 hours of waiting we had to turn back... awwwww!! So, [View Full Entry]

---

---