On Friday we left La Paz in pouring rain to make the short one hour flight to Arica in Northern Chile. In just sixty minutes we came forward about sixty years, from the traditional culture of the Andes, unchanged in centuries, into the twenty first century. It was a pity about the rain because flying over the Andes would have been most scenic. However, once we were over the northern Chilean desert, the clouds cleared to reveal a land of sand. After ten minutes more, our Airbus soured over high dramatic sandstone sea cliffs, dropping vertically to the Pacific Ocean. The pilot headed out to sea a short way then made a sharp turn to approach the shore and the airstrip, sitting parallel to the sea, beneath massive high sand dunes. Any readers who saw the ... read more

The return journey to Copacabana was quite unlike the delightful outbound trip to the Isla del Sol. There were thirteen of us on the journey out and there were fifty of us, plus rucksacks, on the journey back, in a much smaller, older wooden boat: thirty inside and another twenty sitting on top. The last two passengers to come on board were two Indian ladies, with bundles of goods to sell in Copacabana. We were in the tiny front section of the boat with a family of five local people and we managed to squeeze up so that one of the ladies could join us. In the rear part of the boat were several young backpackers; these people all got on first, so we had to climb over their luggage, laden with our own, to get ... read more

"MERRY CHRISTMAS" TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY - HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GREAT ONE! Friday 26th December – Boxing Day We left Puno on Tuesday 23rd December to travel by bus across the border from Peru into Bolivia. The journey from Puno to Copacabana is only 178 kilometres, but it took five and a half hours, two and a half to the border, two and a half crossing the border, then another half an hour into the town of Copacabana. The journey wasn’t that scenic, Peruvians like littering their highways with mountains of dumped rubbish, and the coach windows were so filthy, that photographs would not have been any good anyway. Check out the photograph of the main bus terminal in Puno, next to the unofficial town rubbish tip; not exactly a good lasting impression of ... read more

Friday 19th December 2014 Cuzco is a splendid city, full of superb architecture. It has many fine precision-made Inca walls, as well as 16th Century Spanish churches. The oldest church in Cuzco is San Blas built in 1562. The cedar wood pulpit is a masterpiece, which took indigenous Indian woodcarvers twenty years to create. It is rated as one of the finest examples of Cuzcan Indian art in the world. Although a Catholic Church, it has many Native American symbols which can clearly be seen in the frescoes, so coca plants, Peruvian fruits and llamas are depicted. url=file:///C:/Users/Vivien/Documents/Blog%2023From%20cathedrals%20to%20floating%20islands.docx#_msocom_1 tolerated these symbols, indeed they encouraged them as part of their strategy to convert the native peoples to Catholicism. The altar, covered in 22 ct gold leaf is Baroque in ... read more

Our last photos taken in Ecuador were of the three volcanoes, Tungurahua (5,023 m) and Cotopaxi (5,897m), both taken on the bus journey to Quito and Pichincha (4,784m), taken from the plane. For our four day stay in Baños, Tungurahua had been cloud-bound, then as we drove away on Saturday morning, the cloud cleared and we got a final photo of this huge active volcano, which dominates the whole valley and beneath which we slept peacefully for four nights (check out the smoke coming from the crater). Cotopaxi looked stunning, and most majestic, covered with a crown of snow all year around. Yesterday, Monday 15th December, was my brother´s 70th Birthday. “Happy Birthday Stephen!” We made an early start on Monday morning, leaving the hostel at 5.30 a.m. for the airport and our journey to Cuzco ... read more