David on tour

I then spent 2 nights in Santa Marta waiting for my flight to Medellin, which cost a paltry £50 and took 1 hour. Alternatively I could have caught a bus which takes between 16-18 hours and you don’t save that much, for someone as tight as me it was an easy decision to make. On the flight I bumped into another chum from the boat trip who ended up at the same hostel as me. Medellin was a beautiful city and everybody I bumped into elsewhere on my travels couldn’t stop raving about it. The place didn’t disappoint, after a quick wander round with my chum we headed out for a few beers. The hostel was in El Poblado which is a little way out from the centre but the place for nightlife, pure coincidence I ... read more

The main point of this trip was to fulfil a long held wish to visit Colombia, but it would be too easy to just fly there so I arranged to travel my boast from Panama City via the San Blas Islands. My flight to Panama City took me via Atlanta. My taxi driver that I had pre-booked from the hostel obviously had better things to do on a Friday night so decided to do that rather than pick me up so I had to get a taxi from the airport, which delivered me to the Hostel just in time for a few beers before I hit the sack (even though it was equivalent to 04:00 in the morning UK time. The first thing I had to do the next morning was get some money, which was ... read more

The next day found myself on the greyhound again, this was luxury compared to some of the buses I have been on but 8 hours on a bus is 8 hours on a bus and can be boring at times!! My destination was telegraph cove where I was to go grizzly bear watching. I arrived at Port McNeill not far drom the northernmost part of Vancover Island from there I had to call yet anither taxi to get a life to the beautiful port that was Telegraph Cove, it was a former fishing port which now was one its main draws as it was unspoilt. I can certainly recommend the campsite here, it was surrounded by dense woodland, and 5 mins away from a hiking trail and a bubbling brook wound its way past the tents, ... read more

Soon after breakfast I made my way to the bus station to catch the greyhound to Lake Louise, it’s located next to the train station so I was lucky enough to be there when the Rocky Mountaineer arrived. I would have loved to catch this train but it is extortionate and just caters for the high-end market not the backpacker type. So instead of the train I boarded a packed Greyhound for the 45 minute ride to Lake Louise. The hostel there is the smartest one I’ve been in, it has a sauna! but also one of the most expensive, I had to bite the bullet as it’s the only one in Lake Louise and there isn’t much else to be honest except for the scenery and wildlife. After checking in I set off for what ... read more

Despite me just getting back from Japan only two months ago I am off on my travels again, I had always wanted to go hike the Rockies in Banff and when I found out that a new chum from Kyoto lived near there I got myself an invite. Despite the train breaking down on the way to the airport I got in there time for a 9 hour flight direct to Vancouver, I stayed at the airport and straight away caught another flight to Calgary and despite my body clock saying it was 04:00 in the morning met up with my chum Josh for a few beers. The next day he took me on a 2 hour trip to Head-smashed-in Buffalo run, this was as gory as it sounds, especially for a veggie!! Up until 2 ... read more