Hello everyone, I've suspended writing blogs on here for a while because I'm not travelling too much at the moment - just idling in Santiago, breathing fumes, counting thieves, plugging my ears and teaching English. I am, however, continuing my blogs at this site: http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/blogs.html Saludos desde Chile... Jamie P.S. The photos are from a trip back to Wales in may 2008. [View Full Entry]

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Hello, again. It’s been a long time since I’ve even thought about this site, let alone written anything - until I was reminded of it recently by a man called Mike from Swansea who’s bored with his job and prefers to read my stories. So, I suppose you may or may not want to know what’s been happening down here in Santiago, Chile for the last four months. In October we went down south to visit Puerto Varas, Puerto Montt, Isla de Chiloé and the a few other places and it was lovely all the two weeks long. Jessica had a [View Full Entry]

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One month into my Chilean move, things have been interesting. After a hard fifteen hours of flight from London to Santiago - via an early morning Sao Paolo - I arrived in Chile to be greeted by Jessica and her family wielding a huge Welsh flag, cameras, mobile phones and camcorders. Flash! Pop! Click! Flash! went the bulbs and buttons as someone hung the flag over my shoulders like a long distance runner who’s just crossed the finish line. I was truly happy and comforted to see Jessica and the familiar faces of her family - all of whom I was [View Full Entry]

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Well, it's been some time since I last put finger to keyboard in anger and now it's time for that to change. For one reason or another, I haven't seen some of you in a long, long while. Maybe it's because we live on different continents or we've inexplicably lost touch in this modern communication age. Maybe it's because we've changed addresses, lifestyles, phones and friends. Maybe we've just changed? Anyway, here's an almost chronological update of what's gone on in the previous sixteen months since I returned from my Latin American adventure... I arrived back at Heathro [View Full Entry]

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I have spent four weeks in New Zealand and yes, it was OK. It was beautiful and breathtaking, safe and clean and the people were very nice and polite. I cannot lavish much more praise upon it, so I won't. You know, sometimes you just don't click in the places you'd expect to and maybe you normally would if you hadn't been to somewhere you consider more inspiring beforehand. Maybe the truth is that ten months of Latin America moulded me and acustomed me to something that was full of life, zest, soul and warmth; but also it took the wind [View Full Entry]

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For those of you who know me best, you will know that I change my mind often. And after the last blog where I was almost defeatist and slightly down-beat about coming into New Zealand and simply finding a job after the memorable adventures of South America had passed... Things have changed. I have now bought a little mock camper-van, fitted out with a bed, gas stoves, cutlery, plates, cups, cupboard and curtains. I am going to get out there on the open road of New Zealand for the next few weeks and see what it's all about. The mountains, the [View Full Entry]

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The time has come now to move on and leave Latin America, leave behind the sweet language, the warm people, the rolling landscapes, the culture, the music, the many friends, the life... But not forever. Of this I am sure. Ten months of lucid memories I shall never forget. Ten months of noise and confusion. Ten months of ups, downs and travelling Euro-clowns. Ten months of vitality and jadedness. Ten months of breathtaking scenery and sprawling smog-laden cities. Ten months of plazas, the streets and latin beats. Ten months of drink, smoke, release and occasional detachment. Ten [View Full Entry]

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It's a strange little fact that not that many people know about, not even most Welsh people, but deeply tucked away in south America there are small Welsh colonies in the Patagonia region of Argentina, nestled away off the usual beaten gringo-trail. Being from Wales and travelling south America anyway I decided to pay them a visit for a few days. And here´s the brief story... The first band of Welshmen and women arrived in Puerto Madryn in the year of our lord 1865, on a ship called Mimosa that set sail from Liverpool docks a few months earlier with [View Full Entry]

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The thin strip of south american land that faces the thundering Pacific ocean is Chile. That's where I am. What's it best known for? Stealing part of Bolivia's border and its access to the sea, Augusto Pinochet and his deadly rein of power, Salvador Allende and his sad demise, the atacama desert of the north, the once world-renowned seaport of Valparaiso and the stunning landscapes of the south... From Mendoza, I arrived in the Capital Santiago after a few uncomfortable hours on another bus. I say without shame that long-distance buses are now starting to really get up my nos [View Full Entry]

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So what have I done? Another year over and a new one just begun. I spent my christmas and new year's eve in that small dusty beach town called La Paloma in Uruguay. It was so low-key and relaxing. It was perfect. A sweet antidote to the usual drunken, debauched, foul-mouthed, thumping-music and untenable hungover times of years gone by. And so here we are... 2006. Buenos Aires: I travelled here, by super-fast ferry, from Colonia in Uruguay with Patrick the old Irish-American guy from La Paloma. I cannot say for a second that I particularly liked Buenos Aires; staying in [View Full Entry]

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