Two hours late to Lima from , we finally arrived at our hostel in Barranco, Lima, by 2 am on X-mas Day. Barranco's Backpackers Inn can really be recommended: safe area/hostel with nice rooms and great breakfast. (we were fed even though we overslept by about an hour and a half the first morning!) Having wolfed down some lovely bread, hot chocolate and a banana we headed for the beach (5 minutes' walk, downhill) as it was really sunny, and besides, the whole town seemed to be down there as well... We only stayed for about an hour though, with pasty skin frying yourself 15 degrees south of the equator isn't a terrible good idea :/ Then we walked round the area for most of the day, before sitting down in a sunset-facing restaurant above the ... read more

We don't have a lot to compare with yet, since the US is our first country on the trip, if we disregard the few hours in Mexico. Nevertheless, the US gets top marks for nature and friendly people, and so-so for food (hard to find anything that isn't junk within a backpacker budget). People usually say Germans are very well organised, which seems generally true, but, with a few exeptions the Americans are as well. Their national parks, for instance, are very well organised. The entrepreneurial spirit is something that shines through pretty much everywhere. People seem to live by JFK's words: don't ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country (and yourself). We wish we could see a bit more of the same mentality in Europe. Now, ... read more

The trip to Tijuana started well. We parked the car just north of the border and took the bus to Tijuna - a 15 min ride. The main street, Revolucion, was, as you expect, full of people trying to sell you anything and everything. They did lack a bit of sales technique though. Hello, welcome, come have a look, best store! hardly trigger any buying needs. Once off Revolucion, it got a bit more interesting, with vibrant street markets, street musicians and underdressed ladies. We had a very nice seafood meal and headed back to the bus. For some reason the way to the border from Tijuana is a lot longer than the other way. This time it took us 2 hours. Later we discovered that the US immigration added the extra 1h45min. At last we ... read more

To get to the Joshua Tree National Park we drove past some interesting (to say the least) towns with names like Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. Could it have something to do with basically the only vegetation out there higher than 5 feet being varieties of the Yucca lily (yes, it's not a palm tree at all...)? In Twentynine Palms (which hosts a massive military base and seems to be the reason the town is around at all) we were told that coyotes would come up to the car and beg for food, so we looked, and looked, and looked... D saw a tail and a stripy behind, and that was it... The only other interesting fauna we saw was a black-tailed jackrabbit. The park, which is part of the Mojave Desert, is enourmous. You could ... read more

Day 1 of the road trip: Santa Barbara. We drove along the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), looked at the sea, the nature, the mountains, the pretty houses... PCH must be must one of the most beautiful roads around. It's easy to forget that you're driving and to just look at the views. Santa Barbara itself we didn't spend long in, although it was a beautiful place, we headed back to Malibu for the night... Dag 1 pa bilresan: Santa Barbara. Vi korde langs Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), tittade pa havet, naturen, bergen, de fina husen... PCH maste vara en av de vackraste vagarna som finns. Det ar latt att glomma att man kor bil och istallet bara titta pa utsikten. Sjalva Santa Barbara stannade vi inte lange i aven om det var fint, vi akte istallet ... read more