Sailing the San Blas islands.

Above pic: Dolphins chasing the boat.

Above pic: Our first island.

Above pic: Another view.

Above pic: Starfish.

Above pic: The local Kuna tribes canoe.

Above pic: All this for 11 us dollars.

Above pic: Jo taking things easy.

Above pic: Not the best sunset but not bad.

Sailling from Colombia to Panama via San Blas, a.k.a Paradise.

The boat we agreed to board was the Windseeker with an Aussie captain named Mike and his first mate a half Scottish, half Italian with a curly moustache (you had to see it). We left Cartagena on the 2nd May with the two crew, myself, Jo, an Isreali, Boris, his girlfriend Julia, a German girl, Maggy, and a Swiss lad, Danny. The trip was 6 nights and 7 days long, sailing through the San Blas Archipelago for $360 us.

The first 3 days was continuous sailing and not much scenery apart from the other 5 pasengers getting sea sick and leaning over the side of the boat. I tell a lie on our first day at one point we were accompanied by a pod of dolphins. On our thrid night we arrived at the first island and had a celebratory drink involving lots of cheap rum.

The next 3 days we were literally in paradise. We sailed and stayed the night off 3 different islands, all uninhabited, with white sand, palm trees and crytal clear waters. We had snorkelling gear to explore the coral, saw more dolphins, sting rays and many tropical fish. Our captain Mike was great appearing to do the trips for the love of sailing more than financial gain. The boat was also perfectly comfortable, it wasnt the largest but me and Jo had our own room and double bed.

There was a problem between Mike and the first mate Maurizio on the last night, which resulted in Maurizio getting kicked off the boat, for continuously getting caught stoned or pissed when he should have been working. Whilst he was banished to a near by island we were spending our last night drinking rum and eating lobster which we had bought of the local Kuna tribe at $11 us for 8 lobsters and an octopus. The next morning some local Kunas took us by canoe to the main land where we caught a jeep which drove through the jungle to Panama city.

Above pic: Walking up the mud volcano.


Above pic: It was a bit of a sqeeze.


Above pic: Not easy to get off.


Above pic: Streets of the old town.


Above pic: Sunset over the fortified walls.

Cartagena, Colombia.

The reason for putting ourselves through such a grueling journey in such a short space of time had been to reach Cartegena on the caribean coast of Colombia. We had a flight booked for the 14th May from Quito to San Jose (Costa Rica) and decided we would tavel from Solento Valley all the way the Cartegena via Cali and then break up the journey at various stops on the way back down.

The city of Cartegena was the main highlight of Colombia. The buildings were colourful, the sun was shining, and there were fruit stalls everywhere. The main tourist attraction is the old town, which is surounded by fortified walls which were built after an attack in 1586 by Sir Francis Drake and for future protection from Pirate raids.

We had reached Cartegena on the 24th April a day before Jo´s birthday and for her birthday went for a dip in the mud Volcano. This was probably one of those things you would do once, but never again. It was definately an experience but a very weird one. We got some good pictures, and there is a video somewhere on the blog.

Half way through Colombia we had realised just how little fun getting a bus back down to Quito (Equador) for our flight to San Jose (Costa Rica) on the 14th May would be. After the very accurate way of looking at the map and seeing Costa Rica only a thumb print or two away from Cartagena, we had decided to cancel our flight and try sailing to Panama and travelling through to Costa Rica.

We found out that there are no such ferry services doing this route but yacht owners take backpackers for a fee. After searching the web and hearing many horror stories mainly involving over crowding on the boats and pissed/stoned captains we found a few recomendations.

Solento Valley in the Coffee growing region of Colombia.

Above pic: The jeep that took us through the valley to the start of our treck.


Above pic: The group from our hostel, including Rachel to Joannas left from Burnley and Tom and Karen to my right from Leeds.


Above pic: Our view from the above picture.


Above pic: The walk was littered with hundreds of these trees, possibly rubber trees.


Above pic: How many people can you fit in to a jeep, well if you put 2 on the roof, 3 hanging on the back and the rest inside, 11. Sitting on the top was the only way to travel.

Solento Valley in the Coffee growing region of Colombia.

After a much needed day whith out sitting on a bus we got on another bus to visit Solento Valley, 40mins drive from Armenia. Solento had been reccomended by someone we met in Argentina and is in the coffee growing region of Colombia. Here we stayed in an old coffee plantation that had been converted in to a hostel by an English bloke. Although we didn´t get to do a coffee plantation tour here, we did do a nice treck with a group from our hostel.

Lima to Colombia via Equador.

Above pic: The pet turtles from our hostel in Lima.


Above pic: Worst border crossing ever, Peru to Equador at La Balsa. I forgot to mention the bridge had been washed away meaning no vehicles can drive over and we had to cross the river by walking across a broken down tree.


Above pic: 10mins into Equador and there had been a landslide, luckily a JCB was already removing the dirt.


Above pic: We spent Equador on a bus, and so this is Popayan in Colombia.

Above pic: Another picture of Popayan.

Lima to Colombia via Equador.

Our next destination was Lima where Beadle´s trip ended and he flew back to London. We weren´t expecting much from Lima and so only stayed one night before a massive bus journey from Lima through Ecuador and on to Colombia. The whole journey was very grueling but as we had not planned to go to Colombia originally, we hadn´t enough notice to buy a cheap flight ticket.

We spent the next week on a bus staying in random little towns and crossing the most remote and needlesly complicated border crossing going from Peru in to Ecuador. From Lima we had to travel to Chiclayo, Jaen, San Ignacio, get a 3 hour taxi to some little town I forget the name of (which I can´t find on google map either it´s that remote) to get another 3 hour taxi to the border town of La Balsa in Colombia. I can´t find La Balsa on google map either or a recognised road although these were dirt roads through the mountains which may explain it. From here we then had to get a truck to Zumba which was delayed due to a land slide that put 10ft of dirt in our way. Then when we did arrive in Zumba we had to wait for 8 hours to get a bus to Vilcabamba. Vilcabamba also does not appear to be on google map but Loja is which was 1 hour north of Vilcabamba. From here it was on to Cuenca, Riobamba, Quito, the border town of Tulcan over to Ipiales in Colombia and on to Popayan where we did finally spend a day looking around the very scenic city.

Above pic: 3 days camping and walking in the rain for this.


Above pic: Beggining to clear up.


Above pic: Getting better.


Above pic: Llama, Alpacca, I forget the difference



Above pic: The full classic view over Machu Picchu.


Above pic: Group photo.

Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail.

The treck we chose to do was the classic inca trail and the most expensive trail at 450 us dollars. There were alternative routes which were cheaper and there was also an option of getting the train up but this was still expensive with park fees. It was expensive butwe had picked one of the better companies offering the treck, who treat their staff well and the food was excellent. Like many tours it was another 4 days and 3 nights to Machu Picchu camping en route.

The first day as advised was very easy with around 5 hours walking, one Inca site, and over a hour listening to our very good but a little over talkative guide. The porters or Chatskis we already had huge respect for as they were running past us with masive loads on their backs to set up camp before we arrived for every meal and camp site.

The second day we had been warned was the hard day ascending from something like 2400 meters to 4200 meters in 5 hours continualy up hill. This was the day we realised how many people were on the Inca Trail as 500 people were all walking the same path, some faster than others. At the top of the ascent we also had the first real rain that then didn`t really stop for the remaining 2 and a half days.

The 3rd day was mostly downhill (not easy in the rain) and we started to come accros larger and more impressive Inca sites. By this point it really was raining which meant the tent at lunch was much appreciated, and we picked the pace up a little to get to the next camp quicker.

We spent our last night at a camp only 1 hours walk away from Machu Picchu. To beat the other groups we were away from camp at 5am and walked fast to be the first group there. When we arrived at Machu Picchu the weather was how it had been for the previous couple of days, which was rain and very poor visibility due to the rain clouds. The first point of entry was called the Sun Gate where on a clear day you get a great view of the whole site. We on the other hand could see only a matter of metres in front and so walked on down to the main site and took some bad photo´s and begun to question whether it had been worth it. As the guided tour began at around 8am our luck changed and we saw the first bit of blue sky since we started the treck. From then on it just got better and better until the whole sky was blue and we could see the whole site from every view point and the trip was suddenly well worth it.

Arequipa and Cuzco.

Above pic: Arequipa central plaza.


Above pic: Volcano Misty the backdrop to our river rafting.


Above pic: It wasnt possible to get pictures whilst rafting so this is it.


Above pic: Cuzco central square.


Above pic: The hill overlooking Cuzco.

Arequipa to Cuzco, Peru.

Now firmly in Peru we had about a week before our Inca Treck on the 8th April so caught yet another bus to Arequipa, Peru`s second largest city, partly to kill time. It turned out that the city was full of spanish colonial arcitechture, white walls and a very nice central square. After a day of walking the streets we arranged to go rafting the day after at 15 pounds for 3 hours, bargain. The scenery for the rafting had volcano Misti in the background as we were taken down grade 2, 3 and 4 rapids.

We got to Cusco 5 days early which was not a problem as the city is very scenic and was nice to walk around. It was extremely touristy but like many South American cities had a great central square with cathedrals and other impresive buildings surounding. We spent the 5 days before the treck taking things easy, only thing of note was meeting up with Liñe a Danish girl we had previously met in Santa Cruz and Sucre for a few drinks. That and watching the football in Nicks Sports Bar which had Samuel Smith beers amazingly.

Lake Titticaca, Bolivia and Peru.

Above pic: Cathedral in Copocabana, Bolivia.


Above pic: Sunset over Lake Titticaca, Bolivia.


Above pic: One of the floating islands off Puno, Peru.


Above pic: An example of some handcrafts for sale on the floating islands.

Lake Titticaca

Travelling only 3 hours from La Paz we reached Lake Titticaca which we would travel around into Peru. We stayed in Copacabana (not quite as nice as Rio`s) and took a boat to the Isla Del Sol (island of the sun) for a walk around the island, a visit to some inca ruins and to eat Trout which the lake is full of. The other island that we decided was worth a visit was on Peru´s side of the lake just off Puno. The islands are known as the Floating Islands as they literally are being man made from straw and cubes of dirt tied together. Luckily the tour was only short as the novelty did wear off quite soon.

Above pic: Bolivian wrestling.


Above pic: Me, Joanna and Beadle all geared up.


Above pic: Racing down.

Above pic: The reason its not a good idea to drive too close to the edge.

La Paz (Bolivia)

After breaking down in the middle of nowhere twice, we arrived in La Paz late and very tired. Leaving us just enough time to find a hotel and to go and see the Bolivian wrestling. This was one of the weirdest experiences of the trip and involved men, traditionally dressed Bolivian women, dwarfs and someone dressed as Rafael Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle wrestling in a ring. The costumes looked as if they were made at home that afternoon and the crowd got involved by throwing whatever they could find into the ring at whoever was closest. Strangely entertaining.

Another tour that had been recommended to us whilst we were in La Paz was the prison tour. La Paz prison is run from the inside with the prisoners establishing their own community and hierarchy. With the guards outside turning a blind eye the inmates are able to run guided tours to the tourists waiting outside the prison gates. This however was soon scrapped when I turned on the news to see guards on top of the prison walls (they don`t have guards inside the prison) firing shot guns and gas into the prison.

An arguably safer alternative was mountain biking down the worlds most dangerous road, which was given the name in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank christened due to the high number of motorists who have persihed over the cliff edge over the years. This turned out to be one of the best days of the trip, going as fast or as slow as you like down a bending gravel road from a high altitude (again snowing at the top). A bonus was that we managed to get our tour for half the price of many of the others. The equipment was arguably not as good (one of my gears didn´t work) but it was all down hill so all you need is good brakes.

Above pic: The start of the trip.


Above pic: Our first flat.


Above pic: Volcano and blue lagoon.


Above pic: Flamingoes


Above pic: Funny shaped rock.


Above pic: Another funny shaped rock.


Above pic: The classic picture, which looks mucho, mucho better with the sun shining.


Above pic: Inside the salt hotel.


Above pic: A view over the salt flat.