TravelBlog » Willow

Willow - Wendy Smyth

My travels so far

Map Legend: 17%, 47 of 263 Territories

Now Here

Places I've been....

My story so far....

2005: Left the UK and headed to New Zealand, spending a great year working in Wellington and travelling the country - vineyards, trekking , kayaking and more.

2006: When my working holiday visa expired I booked a ticket to Singapore and had an amazing 6 months in Asia - Orangutans in the Borneo rainforests, Tibetan plateaus and the ancient temples of Bagan and Angkor.

2006/07: Out of money but not quite ready to return to the UK I moved to Australia for 9 months or so, living in Sydney, travelling the East Coast and realising my career was never going to be a surfer.

2007: After over 2 years away I headed back to the UK... stopping in Africa on the way home where I spent a great few months in Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa - I went on my first safari and couldn't get enough! How can you ever tire of seeing a Giraffe?!?!

2008: After a year back in the UK I was off again - first Africa, then India and now South America.

Living in New Zealand
April 1st 2005 -» April 1st 2006 Back to Asia.... again
April 2nd 2006 -» October 31st 2006 Living in Australia
November 1st 2006 -» June 9th 2007 The way home... via Africa
June 10th 2007 -» July 20th 2007 World trip 2008/9 - Africa, India and South America
August 1st 2008 -» September 30th 2009

Private Message Subscribe 16 Forum Posts Top Photos Blog Map

Trips Guestbook Search Blogs Favorites First Entry Latest Entry

Joined on: June 20th 2005
Last Login: October 22nd 2009

Blog Entries: 112
Photos: 3687
Recommended by 13, Recommends 5

TB Code: [blogger=4367]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Willow, order by Date newest first.

By Willow
October 3rd 2009

Chasing the sunshine, climbing giant sandcastles and Peru's answer to Tutankhamun South America » Peru » Lambayeque » Chiclayo

Bruning National Archaeological Museum

'Couldn't find a room in a hostel so I've checked into the Radisson....' OK so perhaps not the exact words of the text Shirley sent me but they're pretty close! At the time I was sat at a truck stop halfway through a 24 hour bus journey from Cusco to Lima and facing the usual dilemma of biscuits vs. crisps for breakfast, everything else on offer being, well, meat, meat, meat or.... i.e. not very veggie friendly. As she was only here for 3 weeks Shirley had taken the posh option and flown to Lima, leaving me to the much slower [View Full Entry]

By Willow
October 1st 2009

The way from Machu Picchu - barricaded roads, hiking along railway tracks and meeting Moses, our guardian angel South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu - constructed around 1462, at the height of the Inca Empire
This is the view from the Watchmans tower, taken after we'd just climbed Huayna Picchu, the peak in the background that towers over the site

The small friendly town of Ollantaytambo was easily my favourite stop along the Sacred Valley, with its impressive Inca fortress, stunning views and grid like Inca town planning it was a fascinating place to spend a day. The Inca Emperor Pachacuti built a town and ceremonial centre here when he conquered the region in the mid-15th century and the rebellion leader Manco Inca later retreated here in 1536 after his defeat by the Spanish at Sacsayhuaman. Francisco Pizarro's younger brother Hernando followed with his troops, determined to capture the rebel leader, but at Ollantaytambo they met fier [View Full Entry]

Along the streets of the Inca town of Ollantaytambo

The Incas also built at the top of Huayna Picchu

By Willow
May 25th 2009

The Sacred Valley part 1: Inca ruins, colourful markets and stubborn llamas South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco

Pisac

With just a few days to explore the historic city of Cuzco I discovered, rather controversially, that I didn't like it all that much! And yes I'm pretty certain that'll be the complete opposite view to everyone else who's ever been there. I found my disappointment compounded by the fact I'd looked forward to coming for so long, really ever since I'd visited the Mayan sites of Mexico and Guatemala in 1997 and discovered a love of pre-Colombian history. Perhaps I'd just seen so many unexpectedly fantastic places on this trip that it couldn't match up. There were a few things [View Full Entry]

By Willow
May 20th 2009

Return to Lake Titicaca.... again! South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca

Sillustani pre-Inca ruins

In keeping with the bad habit I fast seemed be developing (and seriously needed to lose!!) it was dark by the time we finally pulled into Puno bus station. OK so we hadn't helped ourselves by having a lazy morning, not leaving Arequipa until lunchtime for what I already knew from experience to be at least a 7hour journey, but on the upside at least this time I had company!!! We pretty much jumped straight in a taxi as soon as we arrived, picking a random hotel from the guidebook and heading straight there - we even managed to haggle the [View Full Entry]

By Willow
May 16th 2009

From colonial architecture to condors and the climb that nearly killed me - a week in Arequipa! South America » Peru » Arequipa » Colca Canyon

Arequipa

Having woken up early and with a sudden burst of enthusiasm I decided to see if I could make it to Arequipa (Peru) from where I was staying in Sorata, Bolivia, that same day - 14 hours, 5 buses, a rather uneventful border crossing later and we finally rounded a corner to see the lights of Arequipa brightening up the dark sky ahead. Of course we arrived late, just the 3 hours mind, not pulling into the bus station until 11pm. I hadn't booked anywhere to stay and neither the thought of spending a night in the bus station nor the [View Full Entry]

By Willow
May 11th 2009

Moon rising over Lake Titicaca South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata

Street parade, La Paz

'Hold onto your bags!!!' At least I think that's the message the lady from the bus company was trying to give as she waved us onto the night bus from Uyuni to Potosi, a trip memorable only for the record breaking number of potholes that we jarred and bounced our way across during the next 8 hours! I think there were actually more potholes than road! But the lady was really sweet and seemed quite determined to tell us to watch out for our bags in case some undesirable decided to relieve us of them in the middle of the night. [View Full Entry]

Poshing it up - the view from our lounge in Copacabana

By Willow
April 30th 2009

Looking for Max, breaking down (again...) and other Salar adventures South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Salar de Uyuni

Day 4: Huge cacti at Isla des Pescadores

"Excuse me, are you Max??" Loitering on the street whilst trying not to look tooo dodgy we'd already accosted two or three likely targets, each guy looking slightly bemused before making a hasty retreat down the road. Our target was a 19 year old Scottish bloke by the name of Max and our reason for stalking him, to suss out how much Spanish he spoke and whether he'd mind translating on a Salar de Uyuni tour. You see we'd found a tour leaving the next day and whilst the price was right the driver didn't speak English. With the three of [View Full Entry]

By Willow
April 22nd 2009

How 10 hours became 23... the joys of travelling Bolivia by bus! South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Tupiza

At the fantastic Museo de Arte Indigena, textiles by Jalq'a women
Entirely figurative and almost always only black and red in colour, they depict a primordial chaos filled with strange animals

I really shouldn't complain considering that ALL the buses I've taken in Bolivia have been far better than any I had the pleasure of 'experiencing' in Africa or India. I mean in Bolivia I've not been on one where it seems everyone but me is puking (some into a receptacle, others not...), I've not sat next to a young girl with diarrhoea and a bus driver who refuses to stop for her (I'll let your imagination do the rest with that one....) and hey, I've even had a whole seat to myself! But you see Argentina and Chile have spoilt me. [View Full Entry]

By Willow
April 20th 2009

The amazing Bolivia, part 1: Cholita's, altiplano and pre-colombian ruins South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku monolith

The city of La Paz varies in altitude between @3000m - 4100m, a fact that was enough to blow my mind even without the altitude sickness I was suffering from! OK so perhaps travelling here from sea level in just one day hadn't been the best idea ever but experience told me my first few days at altitude were going to be pretty evil regardless and there really hadn't been anywhere else to stop in between. Still I tried to be a good little backpacker during those first days, pushing myself out of the hostel to do 'touristy' things (interspersed with [View Full Entry]

By Willow
April 17th 2009

Ghost towns, beaches and goodbye Chile South America » Chile » Tarapacá » Iquique

The road to Bolivia

Iquique hadn't featured on my original plan and I'd rather ended up here by accident. Or you might call it a lack of planning ;0) Basically I hadn't booked the bus from San Pedro to Salta in Argentina in time (even though I knew it only went 3 times a week, derrr), didn't want to wait a few days for the next one and decided a loop around Bolivia instead sounded like a much better idea. Look at a map of the region or try the buses in Bolivia and you might challenge the wisdom of that one! In the end [View Full Entry]

Vicunas grazing by the lake shore, Lauca NP

TravelBlog » Willow

Willow | Wendy Smyth | Travel Blog

Willow - Wendy Smyth

My travels so far

Blogs & Travel Journals