Chile to Peru - lots of pics

---

Couldn't be bothered to write lots so thought I'd send some pictures with captions on instead.

Would have done it before but my camera broke and it took me ages to find a digital camera shop!

I'm in Cuzco at the moment and hopefully heading to the Nazcar lines then sandboarding in Huacachina next before spending a few days in Galapagos. After that I come back to England for a couple of weeks, starting on Sept 14th. Let me know if you fancy meeting up for a pint.......

---

Photos

Partying in Arica, Chile
practicing our moves before we hit the local nightclub! Thats Roberto, the hostel owner leading the charge being accompanied by the three English girls I was travelling with...

Roberto, the mad hostel owner.........
Thats his "son" Bobby, and his favourite phrase is "Fuck off!"

Becky and Sarah....
Two of the three English girrls Ive been travelling with for a while. Thats Bobby in the middle, the "son" of the Hostel owner Roberto.........Mad as a badger........

After a night out in Arica
We ended up going back to the hostel at 5am. Me and the girls were supposed to catch the 10am bus to La Paz, so we decided to stay up, chatting. Then at about 8am, when it was light, I had the great idea of playing round the world ping pong. 5 players, and you run around the table trying to hit the ball. There werent enough bats so I stupidly decided to use a book instead. I then compounded this error by saying "I know, whoever does a foul shot has to down a shot of vodka"......Lets just say I missed the bus......

Me and two Chilean girls
Despite only speaking in Spanish, they invited me to there house in Chile. Their fathers work at the Escondida mine and are currently on strike.

La Paz, utterly bonkers city!
Its the highest capital in the world, andis built in a bowl with shanty towns covering every inch of the surrounding hills. Its not a city so much as one big market. Old women in colourful clothes place a rug on the pavement and sell anything from lama foetuses to batteries. I was even approached by a shoeshine boy asking me if I wanted my shoes cleaning. I was wearing flip flops at the time........

Shot of the La Paz hills
The shanty towns are quite imposing and quite freaky. You can see them wherever you are in the city.

La Paz, bonkers but colourful and unique.
It is great the way that the women still wear there traditional dress of extremely colourful fabrics. Though western dress is creeping in, and along with globalisation, it remains to be seen how long this will last.

The view from my bedroom window in La Paz
Feel sorry for the poor bugger that has to use that toilet!

Lake Titicaca, as taken from the bus.
Didnt have time to stop at lake Titicaca. I was on a bit of a tight schedule and had to get to Cuzco for a trip to Macchu Picchu the next day........

Our bus, broken down..........
Which wasnt helped by our bus breaking down 4 hours from Cuzco. We had to wait an hour and a half till we eventually flagged down an empty minibus. We all managed to pile in somehow. Even had to bribe the police a couple of times cos it was so packed! Eventually arrived in Cuzco 4 hours late, at 11.30pm. I had to get up at 4am the next day to head to Macchu Picchu. Was tempted to stay up all night, but after I tried that in Arica, I decided it wasnt such a great idea..........

First view of Macchu Picchu
Ok, so I did it the lazy way up and got the train to Macchu Picchu instead of doing the 4 day hike. And yes I did feel a bit guilty. That was until some hikers arrived to be greeted by the whole sight covered entirely in cloud. One hopeful American hiker asked her guide "What time is sunrise? Do you think it will clear by sunrise?" to which the guide replied "Errrr, sunrise has already happened" Had to laugh!!

Proof I was there!
Me, still laughing at the American tourist....

Arty shot
Come on, you would have done the same....

Me and Sarah.........
Met her as I was trekking up the huge great mountain behind Macchu Picchu. Turns out she is quite a well known concert pianist, and was on the tv in young musician of the year a while ago........

Shot from Huchuypicchu
There are two cone shaped mountains behind Macchu Picchu (Old Mountain). The first is Waynapicchu (Young Mountain). Couldnt stop thinking of Wayne and Colleen trekking up there. Colleen in her peddle pushers and white stilettos, whilst Wayne carries her shopping! Anyway, the smaller of the 2 is called Huchuypicchu (Baby Mountain). It took me about 3 hours to go up both, and some parts of the trail are quite hairy.............No, not that type of hairy, fools.........

Final shot of Macchu Picchu.
Ok, so these boots didnt spend 4 days hiking up, but I can pretend!