Leaving Tupiza and heading for the Argentine border, I boarded a proper 'Bolivian Special' of a bus. Clearly a death trap, we headed out of town and into the hills via a network of dry (and not so dry) riverbeds. The bus nearly tipped over on more than one ocassion, and looking at the faces of the locals it was clear that they were as scared as I was. I had met some English and some Aussies on the bus and once we got to the border it was clear we had been rippe...

From Puno I crossed the border into Bolivia and onward to the madhouse that is La Paz. As luck would have it Kev, Claire and Fabien were in town so I dropped my bags off and hooked up with the gruseome threesome for a night on the spaz in downtown La Paz. This time we hooked up with some local guys who were determined to show us the 'real La Paz' . This involved a nightclub and some bizarre Morris style dancing, complete with hankerchief waving, stumbling and ge...

I had originally thought of (thought not planned by any means) flying from Colombia to Rio de Janeiro but having searched high and low for an affordable flight I drew a blank. So a year in South America with no Brazil it is... or is it? International flights might be expensive but a series of internal flights, connecting boats / buses / whatever are a jolly good deal indeed. So I decided to fly from Cartagena in the north of Colombia to Leticia in the Colombian ...

I arrvied in Cartagena on the coldest bus known to man. It was actually rather warm outside, but the bus driver insisted on having the aircon pumping out snow for the duration of the trip. So no sleep for me. But what the hell... I often stay awake all night for my own amusement so no great shakes there. Cartagena then - Colombia's tourist destination par excellence. Famed for it's incredibly beautiful old town and fortifications which took two centuries to comp...

Before heading onward to Medellin we had decided on a farewell dalliance in Bogota, the Colombian capital. Once considered a good place to avoid, Bogota is now relatively safe and brimming with culture. Not that we saw much of it - we spent the weekend either in bed or in the student bar which was basically the nearest bar to the hostel. Though we did visit the Pablo Escobar museum. Which was good. After the weekend it was goodbye to Kev and Claire, they were he...