Cali was somewhere that did not move me to wonder, speculation, or humour. Just one of those things that sometimes happens. So I leave you with a picture of some bookstalls in a plaza where I failed to find a map of Colombia, and a building that I found quite attractive. Ah well, onwards and upwards! Cali estaba en algún lugar que no me mueve a pensar, a especulación, o a humor. Sólo una de esas cosas que a veces sucede. Así que usted dejo con una foto de algunos puestos de libros en una plaza donde no pude encontrar un mapa de Colombia, y un edificio que me pareció bastante atractivo. Ah, bueno, adelante y hacia arriba.... read more

Bogota is safer than it used to be but when they give you a street map they still fold it in two and say don't go to the other half. While in Bogota it was nice to visit the older original part of the town (see first photo). Like Caracas, Bogota is also a city partly surrounded by mountains. I also visited the museum largely dedicated to the works of Fernando Botero (born 1932). While there I was asked to pose in front of one of his sculptures (see second photo) for a ceremony of good luck for travellers, known as 'giving the finger to the foreigner'. Bogotá es más seguro que lo que solía ser, pero cuando te dan un mapa de las calles que aún se dobla en dos y dicen que no van ... read more

Well, here I am back in Manchester, after a trip with more ups than downs. What do I think I have got from it? I had travelled in a way that was to an extent similar, mostly by myself in my late-twenties out towards India, and wanted to know if I could still manage it at the age of 65. Could I survive psychologically, medically, and financially? I went through an initial phase of adjustment, even occasionally wondering how long would I have to stay away to be able to return without loss of face. Well, eventually I settled in and lasted the full planned six months. I now know that I can survive and enjoy such a trip by myself. That is not to say that I might not prefer to make a subsequent trip ... read more

At last I met the woman of my dreams on this trip on an excursion to a local national park (see first photograph). A friendship developed and we seemed closer with each passing moment (see second photograph), eventually achieving such a rapport that she fell asleep in my arms (see last photograph). However, my future happiness was cruelly snatched from my grasp when due to the callous adherence to petty regulations by the British Embassy they refused to grant her a British passport. What hope for this world if such coexistence is discouraged! Por fin conocí a la mujer de mis sueños en este viaje de excursión a un parque nacional (ver primera foto). Una amistad y nos parecía más a cada momento (ver segunda foto), con el tiempo el logro de una relación que se ... read more

La Paz was an amazing place set in a bowl of mountains; a city of steep narrow cobbled streets with houses and buildings crowding in on each other. Reminscent in some ways of drawings of Victorian cities in Britain. In many places housing and streets go right up to the rim of the surrounding mountains. While there I was lucky enough to see the Gran Poder parade, a continuous stream of dancers (see first photo) and bands (see second photo). I stayed to watch it for four hours but it had started early in the morning and carried on until well past midnight. La Paz era un lugar increíble conjunto en un cuenco de las montañas, una ciudad de empinadas calles estrechas y empedradas con casas y edificios en hacinamiento en entre sí. Reminiscencia de alguna ... read more