Arequipa, the white city, so called because a white volcanic stone, Sillar, was used to build everything. We had the most amazing hotel, Los Tambos, it was only 3 stars but with 6 star service, they were all lovely and couldnt do enough for us. It was also 2 mins from the Plaza de Armas but really quiet, so perfect for me of the light sleeper brigade! We were offered coca tea (their cure for altitude sickness) on arrival as the city is at 2,380m but we were fine...

Wow, what an amazing few days we've had. The Amazon river and rainforest lived up to my very high expectations that I've had since studying it at school. We flew into Iquitos city on Sunday morning to a blanket of heat and humidity of the sort I have never encountered before. One of the maddest sites I imagine I will ever see was from the plane...... trees that seemed to go on forever, with nothing but a few rivers breaking them up, they looked a bit like broco...

Hola mi Amigos! Ok so short stop at our next destination and so a short blog. However, this doesn't mean it won't be the usual startlingly entertaining read from my good-self :o). So a big hello to the city of Lima, the next stop on our journey!! After the good times of Colombia, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Peru. To be honest, I tend not to think too much about the places we're about to visit and just prefer to wait and see. That said, outside of t...

Hola chicos! Well we've had a further few lazy, very hot days on the Colombian caribbean coast. First stop, Taganga, a small fishing village that has become "gringo heaven". As G mentioned in his previous blog, as we drove from Cartagena we went through Barranquilla where there is an annual four day carnival, which started on Saturday, the same day we arrived in Taganga. Carnival is obviously not confined to Barranquilla and it was mayhem in Taganga, with music...

Cartagena, Cartagena, what can I say? Well for a start, we liked it so much that we extended our stay for an extra two days. Lovely, lovely city. A coastal city which of course means beaches, but more impressive than the beaches (which actually aren't that impressive, at least not the ones we visited), was the old colonial walled city. Now many a city bills itself as one with splendid colonial architecture and all, but I'm not sure too many can boast the way Car...