So after 11 months of travelling we arrived at our final destination, Rio de Janeiro. It was a strange mixture of excitement both from being in Rio and also being so close to going home. Much of our time in Rio we spent like a normal holiday, relaxing by the pool and enjoying the first…
Iguazu Falls – wild, wet and wonderful
Over the last year we have seen many places that have been designated, either by others or more often by themselves, as “Wonders of the World”. Some of them are ancient, some modern, some are man made and some natural. Whilst many of these are questionable in terms of their provenance the Iguazu Falls certainly…
Buenos Aires – football, politics and tango
If you ever find yourself in Buenos Aires then either avoid the topics in the title or be prepared for a long and passionate discussion. Each of them plays a vital role in the life of the city but also has contributed to the divisions within it. Argentina, like much of South America is a…
Santiago – family time
Santiago as a tourist destination doesn’t really have a great deal to offer. It’s a typical south american Spanish colonial city with the amazing backdrop of the Andes. You could probably see everything worth seeing in a couple of days, but tourism wasn’t our main reason for going there. My cousin has been living in…
La Paz – terrifico Teleferico
La Paz is probably best known as the highest capital city in the world. Other than that there isn’t really much else to the place! We did a hop on/off bus tour the name of which is misleading as it only runs twice a day and takes about an hour. Fifteen minutes of that are…
Cusco, Puno and Copacabana- living the high life.
Either side of our time on the Inca Trail we spent a few days in Cusco. This helped us become accustomed to the altitude that we would be living at for the next couple of months. We also had the coca tea and sweets to help us, but drew the line at chewing the leaves!…
The Inca Trail
Where to begin with our time on the Inca Trail!? It was one of the toughest yet most rewarding experiences of our trip, and probably of our lives. The trail is around 52 km long but the main challenge is the altitude which reaches a high of 4200m. This means the air is very thin and…
Medellin – Botero and Escobar
Two men stand out in the recent history of Medellin and for very different reasons. Fernando Botero is the most famous artist the country has produced and although he may not be as widely known internationally as some of his peers, he is often known as the artist who paints (and sculpts) the fat people….
Amazon – mud, mosquitoes and monkeys
After flying from Bogota to Lima for an overnight stop (surprisingly interesting place Lima, we would have liked to spend longer there) we then caught a flight to Puerto Maldonando. On landing there we were met at the airport and transfered by bus and then boat to our lodge on the edge of the river….
Cartagena – old town, inquisitions and knockers!
Cartagena is without doubt one of the most beautiful cities we have visited. To be more precise the old town, which for the most part seems to have been virtually unchanged for the last two hundred years. The Spanish colonial style has aged well and the weather helps produce flowers in abundance on the numerous…
Bogota – museums, tours and rain
We did have a bit of concern about travelling to Colombia but were assured that it was safe – as long as you were careful! In Bogota we were told that there were no go areas but stay away from them and the rest is reasonably safe. What we weren’t prepared for was the beauty…
Hua Hin – little Britain
Now this was a strange little place. We decided to stop off here for a few days on the way back to Bangkok. It’s known as one of the first Thai resorts, made popular by the royal family because it was an easy weekend getaway from Bangkok. Nowadays it is still a weekend destination for…