5th July - 9th July venturing on my own after almost 2 months, i found a hostel called ¨The Way Inn¨. There was only 2 of us in the whole hostel! kinda of strange. spent the day organising the Santa Cruz trek, and trying to sort out my video camera...seems that some sand managed to slip its way through when i was at the sand dunes in Huacachina! Day 1 less than 5 hours sleep, and i wake to meet my trekking group at 6:30am. 2 girls from Holland- Lynn + Hilda. 1 guy from France- Jerome couple from Brazil- Marcello [View Full Entry]

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3rd July- 4th July after a restless night sleeping in a room filled with little scattering cockroaches we woke up at 5am to board yet another bus! Ballestas Islands (part of Paracas national reserve), nicely nick-named ¨the poor man´s galapagos¨, offered a short 2 hour tour through the nearby islands off the shores of Pisco. islands, filled with birds, and covered in white (alot of birds, alot of shit!!), containing a maze of caves and home to a multitude of cute Sea lions. there are 5 females to every male sea lion- the men are twice the size of the females, [View Full Entry]

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30th june - 2nd July imagine...driving up to a lagoon, set among trees, and surrounded by mammoth sand dunes!!! i have seen my very first Oasis- such is the magical place of Huacachina. 10 minute drive from the nearby town of Ica, this backpackers wonderland was the perfect break i needed from the days of bang bang touring preceding! our hostel- Casa De Arena, with its own pool and sand in the backyard, full of backpackers and a bar...the only thing missing was umbrellas in my cocktails... ok...its no beach-side paradise, but its the closest thing ive come to the beaches [View Full Entry]

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30th june Life seems to be half-lived aboard buses! saving money and saving time by taking overnight buses results in sleep deprivation and memories of those strange creatures of the night! boarding another bus heading to Nazca for the day, i get placed next to a man that begins snoring before even getting to sleep. sitting up in a chair that reclins only so far, and having your legs choked by the seat in front of you so that the need to go to the bathroom is left till the last possible moment as you fear further damage by attempting to [View Full Entry]

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27/6/06 - 29/06/06 leaving my beloved Cuzco was hard...it also meant parting of ways for many of us that had been travellin together for a while. Elliot was making his way to Lima to catch a flight back to Canada. Alex (whom i´d been travelling with since Buenos Aires), was making his way down to Puno with Helen B qwand Simon (2 Brits), Nick left to Santiago for a flight to New Zealand, Dave headed up quickly to Ecuador for galapagos trip.... so 5 of us left, we caught a bus to Arequipa. The bus (company called CIAL), was luxurious by [View Full Entry]

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16/6/06- 26/6/06 arrived at 5am and were kicked out of the bus, after been told that it would be Ok to sleep in the bus till a sane hour as it can be dangerous to wander around in the dark. stepping outside (with Elliot, Rachel, Helen, Nick), we got hounded by 5 people to stay at their hostel! do these people sleep! made our own way to Loki hostel. perched high on the hills and demanding spectacular views over the historic city of Cuzco. damn steps that lead up to it though! me and steps have not yet acquired a supportive [View Full Entry]

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11th June- 15th June Arrived In copacabana...beautiful scenery, bordering the tranquil and spiritual Lake Titicaca. The town just had an awesome vibe right from the start. It was therefore not surprising to find it filled with hippies making beads and wristbands and other forms of hand-made jewelery! stayed in a hostel called hostel Emperador, with the sweetest Bolivan woman that you can meet....pity she loves to talk to herself! It is a small town , centred around a beautiful cathedral, where tourist everyday line the streets outside to witness the blessing of the autocar! yes it is as [View Full Entry]

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Having finally made it back from Rurrenbaque (finaly made it on a plane the next morning!),we check into our cool hostel- The Adventure Brew- strange but it seems that a Bolivian who is a mechanical engineer had caught onto what a hostel needs- free beer each night (created by the engineer/owner), and unlimited pancakes in the morning..one catch..the place was still under construction...so as u are there having a shower, there are these small Bolivians, working outside your window, occasionaly trying to peer through the foddy glass!! I had gotten quite worried when my flight got cancelled, [View Full Entry]

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The best place to view wildlife in Bolivia…surrounded by jungle and rivers. I had high hopes!! Someone should have, however, warned me about the 15hour bus journey getting there! Crammed in the right back corner, with a family of Bolivians and their extended family for 15 hours is uncomfortable. Not been able to open the jammed window was suffocating. Being eaten alive by invisible mosquitoes and god knows what else was enough to convince me that I was definitely getting a flight back!!! Day1 Straight from the 15hour bus trip, onto a jeep for the next 3 hours that covered the [View Full Entry]

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This has become the de facto capital of Bolivia- beautiful city surrounded by hills with houses and mansions hugging the mountain-side catering for a rapidly growing population. Having arrived from Sucre by overnight bus that left my body numb with cold as the roof window refused to close above me…we made it to our even colder hostel called Hotel Torino- Which happens to make the best coffee in Bolivia. But as we sat down savour the body thawing coffee, we could here the music outside jiving to the sounds of Ricky Martin´s ¨She Bangs, She bangs….ooh baby, the way she moves, [View Full Entry]

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