From Huaraz I took the bus to visit an old friend from my school days - Dave. We used to hang out together in the village when we were about 15 but I don't think I have seen him for about 10 years or more. I was interested to see how Cajamarca was as all the Peruvians I had mentioned it to has said it was lovely but its not quite on the Gringo trail. As it turned out Cajamarca was a nice little city in the mountains but I enjoyed it much more because I got to do lots of [View Full Entry]

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Another night bus through the black landscape and I woke up back in a misty morning mountain landscape. Huaraz is a proper Peruvian/Andean town in the valley formed between the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca and in the high season is probably swarming with walkers and climbers drinking and eating in the numerous cosy looking bars and restaurants that are all around town. However, being the low season right now, as usual, I had to trudge round all the agencies asking if they had any groups going to do the 4 day Santa Cruz trek. I found one agency first [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Cusco on a drizzly wet evening which made the cobbles in the main plaza shine like gold. I immediately liked the city with its big sloping plaza surrounded by churches and arched walkways hiding posh shop fronts. Plus the novelty of easily accessible gringo delights like Chinese food, red wine, Skype, and an efficient post office made me all excited, like a kid at Christmas again. I met up with Marsha my friend from Sucre film nights and along with her 3 friends from her volunteer work in Pisco plus Adam and Kara we ate our way round a [View Full Entry]

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So after just a few days back in La Paz I met up with an Aussie and dragged the unsuspecting fool to yet another fiesta and then persuaded him to come to Lake Titicaca with me. After so long on my own, Adams constantly amusing chatter and impersonations were refreshing, so off we tripped to the Isla del sol, after a rainy night in Copacabana, without much of a plan. We spent the first night in Yumani at the southern end having huffed and puffed up the Incan staircase without stopping to admire it much, and the next morning woke to [View Full Entry]

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Well I have completed my final adventure in Bolivia.... a 7 day trip up river from Guayaramerin to Trinidad followed by a 3-bus, 27hr journey to La Paz. After a run-in with one of the afore mentioned swarthy sailors on a boat called the San Luis, I had to find myself another boat going to Trinidad the next day. This time with a captain called Jesus, so I thought I should be safe enough until he mentioned that this boat was only rented because his previous one sank. The only other female on board was a young girl called Maricela who [View Full Entry]

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I think I have discovered that 3 months is my natural limit for a country, when I get to the end of that time period like I am now, I start getting a little bored of the place and itch to get on to the next. I have absolutely loved Bolivia and I am still having some great times as we speak but the adventures here come in spurts. The reality is that I have spent a lot of hours alone in hotel rooms watching cable TV waiting to get somewhere or meet someone interesting and 'to be honest I am [View Full Entry]

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Wow what an adventure I’ve been having. At this moment I am in a sleepy little town called San Jose de Chiquitos, on the Jesuit missions circuit in the lowlands of Bolivia. I arrived last night from San Ignacio and have spent hours today just sitting in the plaza waiting for the internet café to open. There really isn’t much to do here and I have another 8hrs until my train leaves from Santa Cruz. I already checked out the church, bought my train ticket and walked round most of the village which took me all of half an hour. Bolivia [View Full Entry]

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Samaipata is a tranquil, green, warm retreat for the residents of Santa Cruz but seems to have been invaded by a host of lost hippies and dutch people who have set up businesses here. I cant blame them for wanting to settle here but they kind of spoil it a bit. That said they have set up some beautiful hostels and restaurants which I have been happily eating in while I was there. Including Hostel Andoriña and La Vispera where I was presented with a menu with about 8 herbal teas. The ingredients all home grown and dried there at the [View Full Entry]

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Everytime I go to Potosi I find out about another thing going on there in a few weeks time which I want to go back for. I like Potosi more each time I go back, it feels like a real place. Most travelers only come for a few days to see the mines on their way from Uyuni to somewhere else and so it doesn’t feel very touristy, instead its bustling with students, government workers, miners and real life all combined with altitude, sunny days and cold nights. Which all add up to a pretty tough and hard drinking population. Anyway [View Full Entry]

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Pictures from The festival of San Bartolome (24th Aug) at La Puerta nr. Potosi and the festival of Ch'utillos (25 +26th) in Potosi. I danced with Fraternidad Inca (No 74), Tinku/Sayarry. [View Full Entry]

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