Mad Dash To Cusco

I'm not a fan of mad dashes regardless of how shiny and comfortable the buses are and here in Peru the days of your fellow passengers being of the feathered, egg laying variety are long gone. They can put some airlines to shame, the only chicken you'll see is the one in your little metal [...]

Visiting The Moche

Huaca Del Sol. It's a big pile of adobe bricks and sand, they haven't started digging it up properly yet. Huaca De La Luna. Now that's worth a look. I wasn't going to bother but I had free time and Jasmina was keen to check it out so we headed over with her mate from [...]

Chimú Ruins And Ugly Dogs

Got to Peru. Tried to log into Facebook. Fail. Someone had hacked it and changed my password. They also got to my Hotmail, Skype and this blog (2019 Edit: This blog used to be hosted on the now defuct Travelpod) which they deleted but yay for Jacques at Travelpod, he restored it all and let [...]

Getting High

At 2850m Quito can be described as pretty fucking high up which means you can blame the altitude for everything. Drunk after two drinks? Altitude. Can't walk up a flight of stairs without dying? Altitude. You're looking a bit porky these days, Claire. Yeah, can't help it, it's the altitude. But if 2850m still isn't [...]

Journey To The Middle Of The World

So I've left the land of coffee and entered a country where they drink their coffee instant which is a bit of a push for someone who only started drinking coffee because obtaining a decent cup of tea was a mission to rival the search for the Holy Grail. Thanks for the coffee addiction, Colombia. [...]

A Very, Very Short Time In Medellín

Sooo… Medellín. Didn't think much of it to be honest but then again I didn't stay here for long enough to give it a proper chance. It used to be the cocaine trafficking capital of the world. It ain't that interesting anymore although you can do a Pablo Escobar tour where they take you around [...]

The Journey Vs The Destination

I've come to the conclusion that there's an extra Insanity Section in the Highway Code that all Colombian bus drivers have to pass before they're granted a license to transport people from place to place. Exercises include overtaking at high speed on blind corners, not slowing down for hazards until the last possible second and [...]

Cartagena Plus A Vat Of Volcanic Mud

There are three obvious types of people in Cartagena; Gringos, cops and dealers. There are others of course, going about their daily lives, but as you walk through Getsemani it seems that everyone wants to sell you cocaine or weed. Um, apart from the cops of course, they just want to stop and search you [...]

Well That Was Overrated

I'd been trying to ignore the fact that Venezuela and Colombia weren't talking to each other as I travelled though the former on the way to the latter. The two countries have never been particularly fond of each other and shit went down a couple of days after I got into Venezuela causing Chavez to [...]

General Mérida-ness

My main reason for visiting Mérida was to see the Catatumbo Lightning near Lago De Maracaibo but as it turns out the town as a whole is a pretty pleasant place to be and I liked it from the minute I stepped off the bus and wasn't descended on by men shouting repetitive place names [...]