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Tag: South America

  • Chachapoyas and the Fortress of Kuelap

    Chachapoyas and the Fortress of Kuelap

    To say Chachapoyas is a mandatory stop in northern Peru would be an understatement of criminal proportions. Not only is this small town, the capital of the Amazon basin, just brilliant to visit with it’s fantastic cafes and friendly people, it’s surrounded by the most amazing pre-Inca ruins of the Chachapoyas people – or People…

  • Welcome to Peru: Quick Update

    Welcome to Peru: Quick Update

    As I said in the last post, I was still planning on heading out to the archaeological site of Tucume before leaving Chiclayo. Once again there was a drought of any combis signed with Tucume, they all left for a place called Salas. When I was asked if I was headed for Salas, I shook my head…

  • Welcome to Peru, and the Oldest Civilisations in South America

    Welcome to Peru, and the Oldest Civilisations in South America

    The first thing that is immediately noticeable when catching the bus between Piura and Chiclayo was the fact the bus was pretty damn awesome. The girl at the ticket counter asked if I wanted the panoramic seat, so I figured why the hell not. I thought this was just a fancy name for the window seat, something which I…

  • 2 Weeks in Cuenca, and Goodbye Ecuador

    2 Weeks in Cuenca, and Goodbye Ecuador

    While waiting at the Banos bus termainal to head out to Riobamba, a good portion of people I had met at the hostal made an appearance. They were catching the same bus that I was, some heading onto the buses final destination of Guayaquil, or were changing at Riobamba to another bus into Cuenca. I was…

  • Banos

    Banos

    The town of Banos is an adrenaline junkies haven. I’ve not seen so many rafting, climbing, jumping and nature defying tour companies in the one small town. It’s a tourist town for sure, but like so many tourist towns in Ecuador it’s filled mostly with South American (predominately Argentinian) tourists and a handful of gringos. The bus…

  • El Oriente

    El Oriente

    After spending 2 weeks in Canoa it was time to make the conscience decision to leave. This is a lot harder than one would think when you’re surrounded by a beautiful beach, great weather and cheap beer. Finally I summoned the courage to pack the backpack and jump on the bus to Bahia, the main…

  • Christmas and New Years on the Beach

    Christmas and New Years on the Beach

    One of the most stressful decisions on this trip so far has been where to spend Christmas and New Years. Trust me, after only having to worry about street maps and whether this bus is actually going to where I want to go, I had to think long and hard on how to approach this dilemma. …

  • To the Pacific Coast – No Photos Edition

    It’s been a week with no internet access from any of the hostels since I left Otavalo, and today I sit in an Internet Cafe quickly getting used to the Spanish keyboard layout. So what’s been happening this past week and what I’ve been getting myself up to. From Otavalo it was a short bus…

  • Lakes, Condors and a Bit of Walking

    Lakes, Condors and a Bit of Walking

    Tonight is the last night in Otavalo. What was to be a 5 night stay turned into 7 nights. For most people this would be a week longer than planned, but when you’re surrounded by the Andes it’s hard to just walk away and say yep I’m done here.  There’s just something so serene looking…

  • Otavalo and a Waterfall

    Otavalo and a Waterfall

    A two hour bus journey from Quito leads to the town of Otavalo, famous for this Saturday markets. There’s a lot more than just the markets that make this town great, there are no less than four volcanoes surrounding the area, three lakes and several small villages. It takes some hiking to get around (or…