- FOOD: An abundance of salt, fantastic and varied cooking by the wonderful cook Braulia. Such a variety of dishes using eggs! And every type of corn going (including quinoa). - AREA: Depressing cold Uyuni; train cemetry; salt processing village; the huge, white, flat expanse of Salar de Uyuni, including a hotel made from salt and a cactus island; stone trees; 5 lakes including the bright red Laguna Colorada and the not so bright green Laguna Verde; active volcano, plenty of llama and vicuña, flamingoes; geyser and hot springs; tiny villages. - PEOPLE: The excellent driver Jubenal and co [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Coca leaves (is legal and non drug like in this form), llama - ok but a bit fatty. - AREA: Beautiful, very lively town with stunning colonial churches being the reminder of a time when it was the richest city in the world. Cerro Rico mines - anyone who dislikes work should visit this place for a kick up the ass to realise how lucky we are. - PEOPLE: LOTS of them who wander around the narrow, winding streets at night. Happy (god knows how - maybe the coca leaves and 96% alcohol) miners. Very young tour guides who [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD & DRINK: Salteña's (like empañadas but tastier), pastry covered in syrup, alpaca (yuk), the loveliest bananas and oranges. Freshly squeezed OJ stalls, Chuflay cocktail (local spirit Singani with Sprite), chicha (alcoholic wheat drink - an acquired taste). Very difficult to find a typical Bolivian restaurant amongst the tourist places. - PEOPLE: SO very friendly and laid back, many in traditional dress, brightly coloured shawls used to carry the cutest babies on their backs, LOVELY Spanish teacher, knowledgeable 13yr old cemetry guide, sweet locals, shoe shine boys, patient salsa [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD & DRINK: Bolivian wine 'Kohlberg' very good. Hot choc with breakfast - yum. Food in the best restaurant for under 3 quid. None when it was needed on a long bike ride. - AREA: Beautiful little village where the locals from Santa Cruz escape to for their weekends away. Amazing mountainous scenery all around the town, long walks, long mountain bike rides up and down the hills to waterfalls. 'El Fuerte' site - Pre Inca and Inca engravings and and remains of an Inca town. - PEOPLE: Very nice. Big families who run the hotels, lots of hippies on [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Chicken straight from the freezer to the fryer (will my stomach cope?), - AREA: The border town Quijarro in Bolivia is the most depressing border town so far. Suddenly transported into worse poverty as Bolivia is South America´s poorest country. Santa Cruz is very different to Brazil and I immediately liked it. Small city though with not much to do but it feels safe. - TRANSPORT: The 'Death Train' to Santa Cruz perhaps called the Death Train due to the fact it´s on it´s last legs. First experience of overnight travel without a blanket provided. - PEOPLE: Very laid [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Beans, rice and chicken for lunch, beans, rice and chicken for dinner. Melon for breakfast thank god - and the return of dulce de leche - YEAHHH. Corumba has a cheap pizzeria with 25 different types of pizza including chocolate and banana/cinnamon. - AREA: Campo Grande is an area people only visit on their way to the Pantanal - bit of a depressing ghost town. The Pantanal is a very peaceful area the size of France of pure swamp, trees and wildlife (although not as much as I was expecting to see). It´s mosquito hell - 100% deet is [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: Good hot rolls on the plane to Campo Grande, new restaurant discovery buffet style like in Rio (I´d missed it) - AREA: Learnt a new Brazilian dance (although it was the same as salsa as far as I was concerned), HI hostel in the area where big bass bands play with 3 tier bunks that are VERY high - PEOPLE: Many who wanted to show us how to dance - WEATHER: Rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, rain Thur 5th May: Salvador didn´t seem as scary as it had done before. I think because we knew what to expect and [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: BBQ with lots of delicious meat bought to you, the best pina coldadas in the world made from scratch by the sweetest cocktail seller, fantastic breakfasts with toastie maker, crab served in it's shell with VERY hot sauce, good steaks. - AREA: Small island with no roads or cars, 4 tropical beaches, nice boutique shops, no ATMs, hardly any people due to low season, lighthouse parties, choppy boat trip to an even quieter beach. First experience of showers that give you electric shocks. - PEOPLE: VERY friendly with non aggressive selling skills, strong 'taxi' men who push wheelbarrow [View Full Entry]

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- FOOD: More lovely Bahian dishes (moqueca, cashew jugo, faijoado (smoked meat, black beans and orange), local cake base snack with shrimps - the whole shrimp including shell and tail to be eaten, Brazilian only 'pina' fruit and gorgeous lunch cooked by Regina (my local Salvador contact) - AREA: Big city. Pelourinho area has small, cobbled streets and a nice feel. The rest of Salvador has miles of quite unspoilt beaches, favelas next to wealthy areas, local market in Bonfim that certainly doesn't pass health and safety regs, very interesting candomblè religious ceremony where people go [View Full Entry]

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- Food: Very tasty. More lovely sucos, the best breakfasts yet, frango (chicken), coconuts, Bahian moqueca (fish cooked in palm oil) - Area: Very small and laid back with a hippy feel about it. But also very touristy with practically nothing else here except pousadas, restaurants and tourist shops - all of which are quite pricey compared to Rio. Idyllic paradise beaches with palm trees, cliffs, clear sea, white sand... - People: Locals friendly but the holiday makers (mostly Brazilian) not so! Hardly anyone speaks English and felt a bit like an alien again! But very nice to have totally [View Full Entry]

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