Colombia, my last highlight in 9 months travelling, is absolutely wonderful. A country where you'll experience hospitality and friendliness at it's best. A country with geographical diversity, interesting cultural history and fruit juices you wouldn't even dream about. Or have you ever heard about Nispero? It all started on the coast in Santa Marta, where legendary football player Carlos Valerrama supposedly has his own statue. Sadly I've only heard about it after I left. Santa Marta is a rather uninteresting place, while its jewels are scattered around town. About 35km to the east is the mar [View Full Entry]

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There is a place in the south of Venezuela called Santa Elena, which is unlike the rest of the country quite an enjoyable and plesant place. People are relaxed and more open minded than in other places I've visited in Venezuela. Maybe it's because of it's location close to Brazil. As you might have already figured out at this point, my time in the 'Democratic Dictatorship of Venezuela', was not the best I've had on the continent. Therefore, I only spent a mere 10 days on the oily ground. I think at this point you deserve some explanations. Well, it all [View Full Entry]

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I must have looked really lost, when I was standing in the bus terminal of Brasília. Either this or just the overwhelming friendliness of Brazilians explain how I ended up in the student houses of the university. This guy, who actually was on the same bus with me, just showed up and offered me to help (yes, I'm still easily identified as a foreigner)...with accomodation. Furthermore, he also walked around Brasília with me for an entire day and showed me around the weird architecture while helping me learning some Portuguese in the meantime. Eating in the university cantine reminded me of [View Full Entry]

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...was crazy. ...was beautiful. ...was exhausting. But first things first. I arrived via a bus connection in Porto Alegre at Florianopolis and went straight to Ilha Santa Catarina where the beautiful beaches are located. Checked into a crappy HI-hostel as it was the only cheap option in town and was welcomed there by some fun Argentinian (again!) room mates. Actually the whole place was full of Argentinians and Chileans and bumping into Brazilians turned out to be hard work. Nevertheless, I spent 3 enjoyable days around the island with these people and would have stayed a lot longer if Ca [View Full Entry]

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Uruguay was my last stop over before heading to Brazil. This comparatively small South American country is mostly known for beautiful, though Argentinian invaded beaches, and Mate. But to justify the country a bit more I should tell you a few more details and stories. By ferry I reached Colonia del Sacramento from Buenos Aires which is a convenient 3 hour trip. It also turned out to be the only possibility to travel into Uruguay as the land boarder crossings were blocked for some disputes between the countries. (If I'm not completely wrong Argentina accuses Uruguay to pollute the Rio Uruguay. [View Full Entry]

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Alright, I agree it hasn't been a busy blog during the last two months but hey, I'm on vacation after all. So here is my humble attempt to resume my time in Chile and Argentina. So I crossed into Chile from Bolivia to catch up with my friend Patricia who was in Arica to visit her family. But first I had a quick stop in a place called Putre to visit the gorgeous Parque National Lauca. I was quite shocked about the price differences between the two countries. With the money I spent to visit the park I could have lived [View Full Entry]

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Boliva, a country where, as the title says, everything is possible but nothing is certain. Despite it's natural beauty and hospitality, it's a chaotic country. And the combination of these factors allows every traveller to experience some unique happenings. You can, for example, enjoy the bike ride down "The Death Road", supposedly the world's most dangerous road, which offers fantastic views into the deep valley and during the same trip see bloodcurdling manoeuver of trucks and buses where as much as 1mm of free space is left to the edge. Statistics say that within one year about 200 of t [View Full Entry]

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First of all, I'd like to tell my friends in Poland that, although I've spent about 6 weeks in "darkest Peru", I havn't found Paddington Bear. But I'll keep on looking for him in Bolivia as well. Maybe he moved. But back to more serious topics...TRAVELLING...and it's positive and negative aspects. "Negativ aspects?" one might ask a little bit surprised. Well, that seems to be a bit a harsh expression. But in this blog I would like to mention a few of the annoyances a traveller has to bear. Here is my personal top 3 list of negative happenings in Peru: [View Full Entry]

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So I finally started my South America trip and by the time I'm writing this blog I've already spent one month in Ecuador and am on my way to Peru. Jet lagged after an exhausting trip, I reached Quito on September 2. Usually I can adapt to a new time zone very fast but this time it was different. During the bus ride on the next day I fell asleep and missed my destination. So I ended up in Ibarra instead of Otavalo where I wanted to visit the famous market which takes place every Saturday. As soon as I came [View Full Entry]

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Hey people! On September 2nd 2006 early in the morning it is time to say good bye. Final destination: Quito, Ecuador. Until then there are still a few things to prepare which will keep me busy for the last two weeks here in Switzerland. With every day I'm getting more excited. Can't wait to leave... [View Full Entry]

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