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barnsleylad - martin hallas

"to travel is to take a journey within yourself"

its time to awake from this sleepwalk and get busy living! theres a whole world out there to explore time to expand my tiny little world and small minded "local" views people to meet places to see so little time! but hey "lifes a big canvas and you have to throw as much paint at it as you can!"

welcome to my blog hit subscribe and fill in your email and recieve updates of my travels sorry i wont be able to offer you a littary masterpice or proper spelling and punctuation for that matter! but hopefully i can make up for some of my shortcomings with some nice pic's :D

bye for now see you when the money runs out!

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Joined on: July 22nd 2008
Last Login: October 13th 2009

Blog Entries: 30
Photos: 818

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by barnsleylad, order by Date newest first.

By barnsleylad
August 30th 2009

Chachani Mountain South America » Peru » Arequipa » Arequipa

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We came to Arequipa looking to climb a mountain, as there was nothing suitable for novices in Cusco and we didn't have time to return to La Paz. My first choice for us both was Ampato, a mountain of 6310m about 70km from Arequipa. I thought it would be impressive to see, having a permanent large glacier, and would be easier to ascend on summit day as it would be crampons all the way. The other option was Chachani, a volcano just outside of Arequipa. This fit Josie's requirement of being over 6000m (to make up for not having done Huayna [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 23rd 2009

Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu

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Our smooth talking tour operator wasn't being altogether truthful when he told us that our group would be small (max. 8 people) and we would be picked up at 4.30 prompt from our hotel. In fact, we were quite certain by 5.15 that he had taken our money and run. Then just as we were nodding off again, fully clothed in our big comfy bed, there was a knock at the door, and our friendly guide, Yuri was there to take us on our next adventure. Our group, it turned out, consisted of about 20 people, lots of Gernans, some Dutch, [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

Charquini South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz

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Charquini was to be our practice climb before attempting Huayna Potosi. We hired our own personal guide, Sergio, and a driver, and off we set, up the mountain. Starting at a dizzy 4700metres we traversed an aquaduct for the first hour, with huge drops on one side, water on the other, and set off to the foot of the glacier. The views were quite amazing, with Huayna Potosi towering on one side and the deep Zongo valley below us. Our guide showed us a where two Israelis had attempted to cross it by mountain bike and had plummeted to their deaths. [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

sucre South America » Bolivia » Chuquisaca Department » Sucre

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The first thing we spotted on our arrival in Sucre was an icecream parlour, and succumbing to temptation, we headed here for peach melba and Viennese sundaes before looking for digs. This was to set the tone for the remainder of our stay. Apart from some nice walks, the best thing about Sucre was the food. We stayed in a quite nice hotel just off the main square, and spent some time just wandering around and sussing out things to entertain us for the next couple of days. That night we found an intersting Dutch/Bolivian restaurant and ate far too much [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

Bomb scare! South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz

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The 12 hour night bus to La Paz from Sucre was an interesting experience to say the least (Josie still has the scars to prove it :)). We chose the cama bus for it's comfort, cama (bed) and the luxury of an onboard toilet. All was well as we settled into our comfy, fully-reclining bed-seats, with woolly blankets for when it got cold. As we set off two things upset the karma: Firstly I discovered to my horror (more horror at telling Josie actually) that the loo wasn't functioning. Secondly, as we were getting comfy, a strange woman, who didn't seem [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

La Paz Death Road South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Coroico

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The road from La Paz to Coroico is known as The World's most Dangerous Road. This probably isn't strictly the case anymore, however. It is a narrow road that descends 3600 metres over a distance of 64 km, winding round hairpin bends with 600m drops at some points. But these days, the only traffic on the road is mountain bikers and their support vehicles. It may not be the world's most dangerous road anymore, but it must certainly be one of the world's most amazing roads and bike rides! When we set off there was snow on the ground. When we [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

Huayna Potosi South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz

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After our practice on Charquini Josie decided the summit of Huayna Potosi was beyond her ( a decision she would later regret) but I still wanted to do it. So we reached a compromise. I would climb it in 2 days instead of the usual 3 (missing out the glacier training) and Josie would come as far as high camp and wait there for my return. The weather took an unexpected turn during the climb from base camp to high camp on day one. The clear blue skies to which we had become accustomed had clouded over and it began to [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

The Jungle South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque

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The are two options for those visiting Rurrenabaque: A pampas tour or a jungle tour. Nearly all the tour operators were pushing the pampas tour, and nobody seemed interested in taking us into the jungle. However, since we had come to see the Amazon rainforest, it seemed strange to then only visit the pampas. Wer wanted to see big trees and were also under the impression that the pampas tour would be very busy with large tour goups. So when one of the operators we talked to finally got excited about the jungle and told us it would be a much [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
August 16th 2009

cerro rico South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Potosi

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The journey to Potosi was short and hairy. The bus was full of sweaty people eating smelly food and Josie was fretting from the word go about when she would get to stop for the loo. The unsealed gravel road wound for 4 hours round hairpin bends, on multicoloured mineral-rich hills, past llamas and a silver mine where Butch Cassidy had apparently held up a train. When we did stop for the loo, there was no loo and there was a mad scramble for the nearest bush, where Josie managed to impale herself on a cactus! Once in Potosi, we decided [View Full Entry]

By barnsleylad
July 31st 2009

san pedro de atacama South America » Chile » Antofagasta Region » San Pedro de Atacama

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After a short flight from Santiago to Calama with a very hairy landing, we hopped on a minibus and arrived an hour later in San Pedro. The landscape was completely different from that of Santiago. Everywhere was sand and distant volcanoes. Nothing appeared to live there, not even cactuses. San Pedro is a small oasis town, surprisingly awash with gringos and Chilean tourists. With your eyes half shut it is a charming town of narrow sand streets and mud/ adobe houses. On closer inspection, nearly every straw roof houses either a tour operator, a pizza place, a trendy wholefood or cappucino [View Full Entry]

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