http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/mrgazwilson/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from mrgazwilson en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 19:03:41 BST Tue, 13 May 2008 19:03:41 BST The last week or so of my time in South America was spent on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Santa Marta Taganga and Cartagena. I have included all three in a single blog as I got lazy towards the end of the trip and I didn't do too much on any one day. It could have been a result of the warm and humid climate that makes you constantly sweat or simply the fact that I had travelled the entire http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-264760.html This was originally going to be a blog about Bogota the Colombian capital however I only slept there for two nights and I spent no time there during the day. My time was spent in Villa de Leyva instead and hence it is the subject of this blog. The reason for my change of destination was that some of the people I met in Salento were heading to Villa de Leyva and so I thought I would do the same. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Villa-de-Leyva/blog-261054.html Quito to Salento was a long journey that involved an overnight stay in Cali. I had to change flights in Bogota and the connection was delayed. On arrival at my hostel in Cali I found out that it was somebody's house and that the owner was decorating so I couldn't stay there. Instead the owner called a friend of and I stayed at her house. The next day I got a bus to Armenia which was also delayed http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Salento/blog-259810.html Arriving in Quito was a relief despite the fact that it took some 15 hours to get there. At one point in the morning when Cusco airport had been shut for several hours and my flight looked no closer to taking off I thought I was certain to miss my connection in Lima. Luckily the flight out of Lima was delayed as a knockon effect of the Cusco delays and I was delighted when the girl at the airpo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Quito/Quito/blog-258424.html The Galapagos Islands were near the top of my list of places to go as I wanted to see the place that inspired Charles Darwin so I didn't mind forking out some 1100 US dollars for my flight and fourday cruise there. That price incidently did not include the fee to enter the National Park the entire archipielago. Whether or not it represents value for money depends on how you look at it. If I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos-Islands/blog-258141.html Machu Picchu is one of the bestknown tourist attractions in South America and it probably doesn't need much of an introduction. There are many ways to get there and I am describing the route that I took. I was recommended a tour company called Conde Travel by a couple of Swiss folk I met in La Paz and I am glad I took their advice. The tour I went on was not part of the official Inca Trail as acc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-254863.html My journey from La Paz to Cusco took two days because I made a stop overnight in the town of Puno on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca. The journey from La Paz to Puno was fairly short at around six hours which included quite a while at the border. We had to walk over the river that represents the border on foot which gave it a sense of occasion. On the Peru side there was a long row of tables with http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-254797.html La Paz sits at an altitude of over 3500 metres making it the worlds highest capital and my stay here has extended my time at this altitude. I think my body is now well and truly used to this altitude. I can't say it is well and truly used to Bolivian food though as I have just had to get some antibiotics and diahorrea tablets for a stomach that has been dodgy all week. Hygiene is no better in th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-251426.html This blog differs slightly from my usual offerings as I am describing an area rather than a single town. I took a threeday tour from San Pedro de Atacama Chile to Uyuni Bolivia and this blog describes the tour.A group of six of us and our driver set off in a 4x4 from SPDA at around eight in the morning and passed surprisingly quickly through Chilean customs I guess they don't worry so much a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-250440.html The trip from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama was the longest bus journey I have taken in my life and lasted 23 hours. I expected it to be tough and I tried to buy one of the Executive seats that can recline fully but I got on the bus and found out I had an ordinary seat. I had bought a bottle of Chilean red to open 'in case of emergency' but luckily the journey turned out to be a lot less pain http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/San-Pedro-de-Atacama/blog-248783.html Valparaiso is about an hour and a half away from Santiago by bus although it was only five minutes for me as I slept the whole way despite our ClaudioRanierilookalike guides relentless comentary. The city is home to one of Chiles main ports and as a result of a decision made by Pinochet home to the Chilean parliament. The city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site which means people get t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-248293.html It takes six hours plus a few hours to get over the Andes from Mendoza in Argentina to Santiago in Chile. The vague few hours is how long it takes to get through customs. Chile takes fruit and vegetables seriously as I mentioned in my El Calafate blog. Every bus gets taken oneatatime into a shed where all bags are taken out and individually xrayed for any fruit vegetables and animal produ http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-248052.html A 12hour bus journey took me from Mendoza to Cordoba which lies pretty much in the centre of Argentina. It was a long journey with just one 10minute stop along the way and only Argentinian country music for entertainment. There was some strange stuff indeed such as a song all about cows with a video showing milking cheesemaking etc. The farming theme continued outside the windows too as we p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Cordoba/Cordoba/blog-246715.html Mendoza is on the west side of Argentina close to the Andes and roughly level in latitude with both Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile and it takes 19 hours on an overnight bus to get there from Bariloche. The bus I took was one of the better ones I have been on during my time in South America due to the food and entertainment on board. Amongst some reasonable films they threw in a game of bingo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-245212.html San Carlos de Bariloche or Bariloche for short sits in the Argentinian Lake District on the west of the country and it offers similar mountain views to El Chalten however the Lake District countryside is greener than it is in Patagonia. There are also numerous large lakes in the area such as Nahuel Huapi which the town is next to. Bariloche sits on a steep hill that descends to the lake and he http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-243147.html Like El Calafate El Chalten is another Patagonian town that visitors are attracted to by its scenery. Near to the town is the Fitz Roy mountain range which can be seen from the main street. It is not hard to see far from the town as it is tiny and only has about four streets running parallel to its main street. The town consists mainly of hotels hostels and campsites with the odd restaurant an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Chalten/blog-241564.html The journey from Ushuaia to El Calafate is a long one that takes somewhere in the region of 19 hours. The exact time varies as it is not a straight journey. To get to the Argentinian mainland it is necessary to pass through the Chilean section of Tierra del Fuego and into southern mainland Chile which requires passing no less than four sets of customs officials.The customs were amusing at times http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-239767.html Ok I am currently uploading some photos but I think I will stick to just text in these blogs to keep things consistent. I will get the photos on Facebook so please have a look or send me a message if you're not on Facebook and I will send a separate link. On with the blog...Landing at Ushuaia the main town in Tierra del Fuego was exciting as the flat lands around Buenos Aires were replaced by http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/blog-239391.html Some good news and some bad news I now have a shiny new digital camera and I have managed to hold on to it for a week without it being stolen The bad news is that I cant figure out a way to transfer the photos to PCs here via USB so this is another black and white blog. I will save up the photos and copy the memory card to a CD in a couple of weeks so I can put them on Facebook if I cant find http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-238060.html Foz do Iguacu is a town very close to where the borders of Brazil Argentina and Paraguay meet. It is on the Brazilian side and it is one of the main places to stay for people wanting to visit Iguacu National Park. Foz do Iguacu with a population of around 300000 is small compared to places like Rio and Sao Paulo and it doesnt itself have anything to distinguish it from other towns of its size http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/Foz-do-Igua-u/blog-234987.html