I´ve wanted to go to Peru for a very long time, probably over half my life, ever since I first discoved the travel writing section in my local library. Now that I´m finally here, my opinion of the place is somewhat mixed to say the least. Yes, the countryside is beautiful and the Incan ruins worth seeing, but having been scammed, hassled and hounded by trinket sellers for the last week, it hasn´t got a hope of knocking Bolivia off the top spot of favourite places visited to date. To get the picture, think more Bali and Sri Lanka than Borneo [View Full Entry]

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Peru - a new country (another one crossed off the list). Our journey began with a painless border crossing and an easy ride to Puno, the staging post for the floating reed islands in Lake Titicaca. We weren´t planning on staying long, but were persuaded by some Kiwis we met to stay an extra night and go visit the reknowned floating islands. This, it turns out, was a stop well worth making, and our half day trip was very rewarding. We took a little launch out to the closest island (name???) where we had an interesting overview of the local history [View Full Entry]

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For a city we´d barely planned to visit, we had spent far too long in La Paz and it was definately time to get out. Besides, our visas were due to expire in a few days, so we had to make moves to leave the country, no matter how reluctantly. First there was the small matter of posting home some presents and unwanted items. Would the Bolivian postal system prove as eccentric and buerocratic as the argentinan one? Sadly yes, so several hours and much frustrated mutterings later we finally started to make our way to Copacabana, via one of those [View Full Entry]

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After an evening relaxing in Rurre at a dream of a hotel, complete with hammocks in the garden, we were refreshed and ready for stage 2. Complete with a new guide and cook we set for a dusty three hour drive through villages towards the Rio Yacuma from where we caught another narrow river boat. The previous trip had been through more remote and unspoiled territories, where we only once briefly spotted other foreigners. The pampas tour was quite different, as it appears to be the main trip that gringos do in the area. We were quite glad that our group [View Full Entry]

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The big jungle trip began with a very early start in La Paz, around 5am...some fellow travellers didn´t make it back from the pub that night so we were delayed until the agents finally decided to ditch them. Once on our way, pretty much having an entire bus to ourselves, we headed off for the Death Road which leads down from La Paz to the jungle below, and which crazy Gringos choose on a regular basis to mountain bike down. The bus journey confirmed my fears about this road, and I´m quite happy not to have taken the bike. Imagine, if [View Full Entry]

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Well, out of the things you ought to do once in your life, chartering a plane has got to be up there. And if you´re going to do it, then you may as well do it in a cheap country like Bolivia. Which appears to be what we´ve just done with two friends. After two days aclimitizing in La Paz and taking it easy reacquainting ourselves with friends from various parts of our trip, we all endevoured to get up early and book a jungle trip this morning, before planning to head to Tiahuanacu to explore the ancient ruins. At 4pm, [View Full Entry]

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The flight to Santa Cruz was great...if indirect. We made a scheduled stop in La Paz to pick up a few folk along the way, which meant we had a wonderful chance to see the fantastic scenery in the area...from the high Andean peaks above the city to the phenomenal Altiplano extending out from the great step upon which the City sits all the way to Lake Titicaca...certainly one of the great airport approaches of the world. We were to be staying with a friend of Laura´s dad, Charlie , who moved here some time ago for a new life...the irony [View Full Entry]

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Several people in Potosi tipped us of about the option to take a taxi from there to Sucre, thus saving us the pain of having to trail our bags back to the station. Given that the city is at such a height that we wheezed our way to the hostel a few days earlier, it was a no-brainer really, so off we set in the company of two business men who were on route to Sucre airport. The young cab driver has a certain career ahead in Formula One, but his tendency to drive on the wrong side of the highway [View Full Entry]

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Another dodgy bus journey (6hrs timetabled, 7.5hrs actual, 3 breakdowns - thankfully not the brakes) took us from sleepy Uyuni to the city of Potosi. Potosi is apparently the highest city (of its size) in the world - at some 4km - , and when we turned the last bend on the bus and the city appeared it was quite a sight. Nestled at the foot of Cerro Rico, the source of the city´s historical wealth, the city looks lovely. We´d been briefed in advance about hassle at the bus station, so we grabbed our bags close to us and shuffle [View Full Entry]

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Less than 36 hours in Bolivia and already a victim of the dreaded Bolivian Belly...hardly an auspicious sign the night before a 4 day trip around the salty lakes! Duly medicated up the next morning, we set off with our new Irish and English friends. The 6th member of our group had decided to pursue his romantic dream of life a la Butch Cassidy and went horse riding instead, but to be honest, it was probably a good thing, as it would have been a tad cramped with 6 people inside the jeep. Day one consisted of driving through lots of [View Full Entry]

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