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Hi All,

It’s 1135am here (4:35 your time) and I’ve been on the go for the past 31 hours non stop, with maybe an hour or three’s sleep here and there. In order to get used to this time I’m going to keep going until bedtime when I’ll sleep better than Rip van Winkle did!

We’re in an Internet Bar, having a beer looking out at the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador. The city itself is what you’d expect from a South American capital, lively, car fumes everywhere, insane drivers and chaotic traffic, vibrant colours and inviting odours teasing you to try the local Indian (or is that Andean) quisine. What is amazing though is the view. A clear blue sky with mountains and volcanoes on all sides of the city, towering over you – breathtakingly beautiful.

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Quito is that you feel funny – and it’s not just the fact that you’ve been in the air for 20 odd hours with just one stop in the Caribbean (yep, we were there… for a while!), the thing that makes you feel strange is the altitude. Quito is the second highest capital in the continent of America, being just shy of 10,000ft above sea level. I find myself a little breathless and lightheaded at times – but thankfully no severe headaches or nosebleeds, so I expect it to pass in a day. Needless to say it’s a place where cutting down on cigarette consumption is easy. Sorry to say that I haven’t totally quit…. yet! Virginia, edit that last sentance out before reading it to the folks…. nearly 26 and I still pretend I don’t smoke!

We’re just waiting for the resaurants to start serving and then I am going to gorge myself because I am STARVING!! After that it’s off to explore the Old Town of Quito with it’s 15th and 16th century Spanish cathedrals and traditional market. Tomorrow a trip to the Ecuator is on the cards, with what I reckon will be an interesting, if not entertaining, trip on one of the local buses! Then Monday we’re going to climb Volcañ Pichincha, the active volcano that looms above the city. It’s on Yellow Alert (meaning that it could erupt in days, weeks or months… not very comforting in it’s lack of accuracy!) but we’re told it’s been a week or so since it last spurted out some gases and ash! Either the volcano or one of the mountains above the city will be climbed – it’ll be worth it for the view!

OK, being inside is cat – Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun as Noel Coward said, but fuck that – suntan.com!

See you all in the next cartoon,

Be Good,

Alex

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Hey All!

This is a long one, so get a cup of tea before starting to read it! Go on! The email will still be here when you get back!

Another day nearly over (well, not quite – its only 6:30pm over here, 11:30 by you, so you probably won’t get this until tomorrow), and what a day it was. I’ll try and put it down in words, but I doubt it’ll do it juctice. Here goes anyhow:

We woke up this morning at about 6:30am, having slept for over 15 hours – but we needed it and it has totally tuned us into Ecuadorian time. Got up and had a cold shower and cold shave. Went downstairs and got breakfast in the Hostel – very nice and very cheap (like everything over here…. $1 for a pack of 20 Marlboro Lights!!). Then headed off in the morning sun – already nice and hot at 8:30am!

My guide book told us that to get to the Equator (or Mitad del Mundo, Centre of the World as it’s called over here) is to get a bus from the intersection of Ac. Colon and Av Americana, which we found quite easily, Quito being a city whose streets are in a grid. The bus journey was certainly an experience!

In Quito there are really no official bus stops – every public bus has a conductor type person who hangs out of the door and you get his attention and he stops the bus for you. It is also worth noting now that South American drivers are absolutely insane – breaks and not compulsory, the horn being used as a satisfactory alternative!! Anyhow, we were looking for the bus stop when I spotted a bus hutling down the road with Mitad del Mundo on the front and pointed at it to get Pat to take a look. The nice conductor man saw me pointing and stopped the bus for us! We hopped on and tried to pay him, me asking him in my pigeon Spanish how much it was! He told us to sit down and not to worry! So we did.

About 20 minutes later he sauntered down to us and we paid him. I was expecting the journey to cost about $1, instead it cost 35cents (about 28p). He then tried to make conversation with us, which was hard since he had no English and I only have a phrase book!! Anyhow, he gave up after I jusr kept repeating “Mitad del Mundo, por favor”.

The journey itself was about 45mins and I felt like I had spent about 2 days in a tumble dryer! To say that it rattled was an understatement! However, it got us there! We weren’t quite sure where to get off and it was only when the people next to us on the bus indicated that we were at the stop did we realise. The conductor also was on his way up to tell us… we were beginning to realise exactly how friendly the Ecuadorian people are – and now we know. We, as Irish, claim to be the friendliest nation but that’s crap. Compared to the Ecuadorians we are rude!

We then began exploring the ecuatorial village – a very tasteful collection of museums, cafe’s, and the Monument itself – with a long yellow line running through the middle signifying the ecuator. In the middle is the monument, a 120ft high structure with an observation balcony at the top and museum to the various Ecuadorian cultures inside. But the best was to come.

From the top we spotted a museum area a little further north from where we were… so we went exploring! It turned out to be the REAL equator. Seemingly in the 70′s when they built the monument they got the actual position of the ecuator wrong, and then a guy came along 10 years ago with a GPS and found the real one and opened his own museum. It was here that the we were shown how water flows clockwise south of the ecuator and anticlockwise north of the ecuator and straight down on the ecuator! The spin starts as close as 2m from the ecuator itself. He then challenged us to balance an egg on top of a nail – which is possible to do since gravity is acting straight down there. I got it and was awarded a certificate to mark my memorable achievement!

He then brought us around the rest of the area which was dedicated to the ancient race that lived on the Ecuator or the Inti-Nan (Sun Trail) as the race called it. I got to shoot an arrow at a cactus 10m away through a blow pipe (hit it thank god!)!

We then signed up for a tour of Pululuha – the dormant volcano just north of the equator, whose crater is 4km wide and has its own people living in it. While we were waiting for our guide Pat went to the shop to get water and change. I was sitting on a bench when this girl came up and started talking to me… fair enough. She asked where I was from, how long I was staying, how old I was, where I was staying in Quito (told her I didn’t remember the name) and then she asked me if I was married!!! OK, then! When Pat came back she introduced her sister and they asked us if we were going to a bar tonight. I asked her where the good bars were and she told me that they would be in a place called No Bar and that we should come along etc. etc. It was then that the girl we bought the tickets from rescued us telling us that it was time to go. We shook hands with the 2 girls and said goodbye, mumbling something about maybe seeing them in the Bar (yeah right!). Pat then told me I seem to attract strange people – thanks Pat!

We and three others (2 Belgian and 1 Dutch girl) were herded into a mini van where we met Fernando, our tour guide. He drove us to the base of the crater and said that most people only get to see the edge there and then travel down the path to the bottom. However, he is a member of the race of people that inhabit the volcano and the lands around it and that he had permission to bring us up the side of the crator and to the highest peak. Excellent! It didn’t prepare me for what was to come.

After a 10minuter hike we came to a vantage point into the crater 1000ft below. The clouds were rolling in but occasionally they would break and the view down below was so beautiful it’s impossible to describe. I thought that was it but Fernando then said that we were going to hike along the upper edge of the crater, then through some jungle and then climb to over 9,000 feet to the top of the volcano’s lip!

We trekked along the indside of the crator, no other humand to be seen (Fernando and his brother are the only ones allowed to bring people there), cliffs on our left dissapearing into the clouds and a couple of feet to the right (narrower at some points) a drop of 1,000ft to the crator floor – again through the clouds, with brief glimses of the Panorama below when a break came in the clouds. You have to remember that we left Mitad del Mundo with the sun shining down from a clear blue sky, the volcano being so big it produces it’s own microclimate, with clouds billowing in from 12noon onwards.

We then came to the jungle – lush green vegitation with huge leaves and flowers of vibrant yellows and reds and purples. Very little animal life due to the altitude, just snakes, hummingbirds and eagles. It was powerful, trekking through this small path in the jungle, just 6 of us with the cry of eagles above us. Looking left into the crater itself you saw the cloud flowing up and over you with the sillouette of the green cliff faces behind it and below you. Patrick was suffering a bit, sue to his fear of heights and when we came to the climb to the summit he elected to stay behind.

The climb wasen’t too bad at all – a little treacherous here and there but well worth it. We sat at the top, surrounded by living cloud (I say living because when we see cloud from above in a plane or below from the ground it seems still, but this cloud was moving – flowing up and over us from the crater below). While there was nothing really to see it was the magic, the mystic nature and the pure serenity of the place that made it so breathtaking. After we had taken a few photo’s and Fernando had explained some more of the history and nature of the area the 5 of us just sat there in silence, broken only by the cry of an eagle every now and again, lost in our own thoughts.

It was a place for introspection and I found myself thinking about my life and, I suppose, my future. I wonder if the others were thinking the same thing…? Why sitting there made me think about that particular topic I don’t know – I suppose you felt alone and totally at one with yourself, probably becaue when you looked around all you saw was the ground you were sitting on and a thick blanket of white cloud surrounding you. I told you it was hard to put into words and I’m not sure I did it justice.

We must have been there for about 30mins, but it seemed like days. A magical moment and a magical place. We then climbed back down and picked up Pat for the trek back to the van. We drove back to the ecuator, where the sun was shining and left Pululuha and it’s clouds and mystical aura behind. As we were saying goodbye to Fernando the girl that sold us the tickets handed me a note… from the girl that came over and started talking to me! I read it, reread it, handed it to Pat and laughed for about 5mins solid! When Pat had finished reading it he joined me in the laughter! Below I hav typed exactly the note:

I invite yours to my home today or tomorrow. or, you can callme, my telephone numer is XXX-XXX, If you want dance going to NO BAR. I wait your call Mercy email: -email address-

They’re forward these Ecuadorian girls hunting for Irish husbands, I’ll give you that. Needless to say NO BAR is not on the top of our list of places to go tonight… as Pat said, I don’t want to wake up with a ring on my finger tomorrow morning, thank you very much. As if I’d let that happen to you, Patrick!!

We then had coffee, a beer and a sandwhich each (total cost $4.60!) and caight the bus back to Quito – again the friendly conductor letting us know when our stop was.

Everything here is so cheap (except for ringing home, which is mucho expensive!) – Ireland could take heed. For example, 1 hour on the net is $0.80 (same thing at home would be a fiver), beer is less than $1 and 20 smokes is exactly $1….. how bad!

Tomorrow we’re going to explore the Old Town of Quito and the many many old churches and architectural gems.

Talk to you all soon and don’t work too hard!!

Alex

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Hey All,

This morning we booked our flights out of Quito, on Wednesday night we travel 1,500 miles to Cuzco and begin out trekking and exploration of Lake Titicaca (the worlds highest navigable waterway), the town of Puno, Cuzco itself and the famed Inca Trail. I{ll be sorry to leave Ecuador behind, with it’s many sights and experiences – it’s been a great starting point to South America and I WILL be back! Another day and a half though…

Today we went and visited the Old Town of Quito. Located South of the New Town (where we are staying) the two are worlds apart. Where the New Town is oppulent and safe, the Old Town id}s very poor and decidedly dodgy. It does, however, have far more character and life that the New Town. The streets leading away from the Plaza Grande are full and alive with stalls and people plying their ware. Indians selling hand woven garments and other assorted traditional garb. Clothes, shoes, bags… you name it and they were selling it. Interspersed with these stalls were people cooking food, which just added to the experience.

Imagine it, a narrow street with old old buildings and churches looming over you on both sides. On your left and right stalls with people calling to you to buy their goods… the familiar call of “Eh, Gringo…” meant that they were talking to us Gringo’s – easy to spot due to our clothes, skin pigmentation and the fact that we were a good 4-5 inches taller than anyone else on the street! The hustle and bustle of the street, the sound of the merchants in your ears and the aroma of cooking all around you made for a unique experience.

However it had its flip side. This area is very unsafe after dark, especially so for tourists, due to the poverty all around. This was plainly evident during the day. People begging for a few cents, a pittance to us but a meal for them and their family. Old men, old women and children all begging or selling some pitiful thing they fashioned out of the scraps and litter they found on the street. All around me was fantastic architecture and culture, but all I think about was the extreme poverty that there people lived their lives in. We see poverty at home and people begging and living on the streets, but for the most part these people get food and shelter from charitable organisations – here however, if the people I saw begging didn’t make enough to buy food, they starved. While I tried to prepare myself before I left for sights like these, experiencing it first hand was still a shock and an eye opener. We have no idea how lucky we really are. I boast about how cheap things are over here, but the flip side of that is that the rich get richer and the poor stay down trodden and destined to a life of poverty. Despite this I have experienced nothing but warmness and friendliness from the people of Quito. Always helpful and patient (despite my dire Spanish!). We would do well to take something from this general lack of begrudgery.

After the Old Town we went to amountain on the southern end of Quito, to the Virgin of Quito (Yes, seemingly they exist…!!), where we were presented with a panorama of the whole city below us surrounded by it’s protection of mountains and volcanos. Protection indeed! As we looked we could see Pinchincha belching white, grey smoke into the air – threatening, our friendly hostel owner told us, another eruption within the next few weeks. The last was only 2 weeks ago and the government have told the population of Quito to have at least a weeks supply of water and food at home at all times, as well as dust masks for the whole family… er, where are ours Efriain?! As long as it holds until Wednesday night when we fly to Peru, we’re ok… but what of the people of Quito?

Tomorrow we are thinking of heading on a 2 hour, bone shaking, teeth jarring bus journey to Ootovalu in the Northern Sierra, with it’s lakes and famed market… sounds good!

In case you’re wondering if I have nothing else to do but send emails, I want to tell you that here you can drink beer WHILE using the net… how bad!!

See you all in the next cartoon,

Regards,

Alex

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Hi All!

Guess what? Pat is sick! His stomach is at him and he is feeling faint! We were in one of the Parks of Quito relaxing when he said that he needed to go back to the hostel… so we went back to the New Town and into a Net cafe (I was hungry) where we are now. Now the sun has come out and I want to pan out and get some sun on my skin…. but Pat is sick. If he goes back to the hostel I’m hopping back on the bus and into the park for some rays.

I reckon I might be out on my own tonight, he’s not eating and feeling really bad – I’d stay in with him but all he’s going to do is sleep and spend the night on the bog… like this morning, he actually blocked it! I spent the morning laughing at him, he joined in at times too!

Tommorow we fly to Lima and then down to Cuzco. From there we reckon we’ll either do the Inca Trail (I say we assumming Pat will be better, if not it’ll be just me!) and then the train to Puno, over the mountains, and Lake Titicaca; or train, Puno & Lake Titicaca and then the Inca Trail… we’ll see. It really depends on availability of guides for the Inca Trail. We’ll know Thursday morning. Pat is busy making out timetables where I’m more of the mindset of “see what happens”… as I say “If you build it, they will come!”

Talk to you soon…. I’m off on my own lonely wander!!!

Alex

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Ah, our last day in Quito and our last day in Ecuador.. for this trip anyhow!

Glad to report that Pat is feeling all better, so I have a travelling companion once again! The concoction of drugs I gave him must have worked!

Went to an Ecuadorian restaurant last night and ate a traditional Ecuadorian meal (they were out of Guinea Pig, unfortunately.. no seriously, it’s a delicacy here!) and finished up with Matte de Coca, tea made out of Coca leaves… a genuine pick me up. Met up with 2 Americans in the restaurant who joined me on my pub crawl of Quito.

No Bar…. a great place. It`s a disco bar, free entry and beers for just over a dollar…. needless to say I consumed many many beers and managed to spend less than $20. The Ecuadorians know how to have a good time, I can tell you that! The atmosphere in this place was great… and Rory, remember the girls in Carlingford? The Ecuadorians are worse!! GFI!! To explain: While we were playing pool we attracted a bit of a fan club… and fair play to the 2 American lads (who had no Spanish) they were getting on very well with 2 pretty little Ecuadorian girls when I was leaving.

Left the club at about 1am… I think and walked home. Saying Buenos Noches (sp?) to every armed police man and security guard and person I met on my wander home. Managed not to get lost either. Thats something worth noting, not my not getting lost, the fact that everyone in a uniform has a gun here – from the police to security guards in shops. In the parks the cops go around on motorbikes, with the guy on the back brandishing an Uzi 9mm. I was in a bar last night where the guy at the door had a pump action shot gun. At night the cops walk around with big, ugly, mean looking dogs and big guns. While disconcerting in one way, it does instill a certain sense of safety. In fairness, who is going to try anything when there is a guy with a rabid dog and a big gun at the end of the street??

In a couple of hours we fly to Peru and begin stage 2 of our travels.. the Inca Trail and then onto Lake Titicaca. We’ll have to get used to functioning at altitudes of about 15,000 feet. Maybe I’ll quit smoking in Peru….. who knows!

See you all in the next cartoon,

Alex

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Hi All!

At the moment we are in Cusco, Peru. Cusco is the ancient capital of Inca empire and is a beautiful, beautiful town. Last night we stayed in the airport and got no sleep, ’cause YES! Lima is as dodgy as reported! The flight from Quito to Lima last night was very very rough. It was an old plane and it bounced around for the whole flight and then made a really rapid descent into Lime. We made it safely and thats the main thing!

By contrast the flight over the Andes from Lima to Cusco this morning was breathtaking. There was a blanket of cloud broken only by the peaks of the Andean mountains poking through… it was like flying over a white sea with the mountains like hundreds of Islands passing beneath us. Then we landed in Cusco. It was the first time I was on a flight that didn’t need to loose altitude to land!! He just banked the place and set her down. Cusco is so high that it is above the cloud layed, very warm in the sunshine but temperatures fall to well below freezing by night, they expect around -15 degrees tonight!!

At the moment they are preparing for the Inti Rami festival, the annual festival to mark the start of the sowing season. The place is alive with colour and people from all the little villages around Cusco, so our timing is working well!

Tomorrow we get the train to Puno on the banks of Lake Titicaca… higher up than we are now…! Then back on the train through the mountains to Cusco on Monday and then the Inca Trail starts Tuesday. We managed to book all out accommodation, travel and the Inca Trail today for $280 each… not bad, it sorts us out until we fly to Lima the morning of Saturday week!

All is going well so far, handling the altitude fine too!!

Regards,

Alex

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Hi All,

Lima wasen’t too bad.. although it was just the airport. We found ourselves a lot more defensive, but that was possibly due to the huge rush of people that come at you when you leave the arrivals area. Also, in the airport there were roaming bands of guys who were obviously looking for hapless tourists to prey on and steal from… I spent a lot of the time spotting them and watching them… whether they noticed or not, I’m not sure – but as Efrain (the lovely guy in the hostel in Quito) said:

“You Guys..” (that was a favourite saying of his, by the way!), “You Guys.. noone will come near you, you are two big strong Irish guys, they are very frightened to come to you”. Maybe, Efrain, just maybe – but I won’t count on it!!

Cusco is fantastic, and we’re there Monday night (to sleep and prepare for the Inca Tail.. we’re doing a slightly longer one than most people… far more to see and more pictures for you!) and then after the Inca Trail on Friday night, and then on the absolute batter!!! Up at 5:30am the next morning for our flight and then Lima for a day and a half and then home to you!

Anyway, Cusco. The next few days are big festival days in Peru.. last night was Corpus Christi and today, saturday and Sunday are Inti Rami, the celebration of the beginning of the Sowing Season. Yesterday in Cusco there was a big parade with people in national garb from all the villages around Cusco. They made such an effort on all their floats, all religious icons. Then later that night (well, about 7pm… but it gets dark here at 6ish!) we were having dinner on a balcony overlooking the beautiful main square when we got a rare treat…. one village ditched their icon and decided to keep playing their music and dancing around the city. They stopped right under where we were sitting and the band played some traditional music and the men and women (all in traditional dress) started dancing. It was great! The kids all had flowers made out of wood and paper and were waving them happily in the air. This village stopped traffic, literally! The was a big jam behind them and they were hooting their horns to try and get the people to move.. no such luck for them but all the luck for the onlookers. Some cops came over and tapped on roofs/bonnets of the hooting cars with rather large and mean looking sticks… needless to say the hooting quickly died down!! Eventually they moved on.. about 200 metres to another part of the square and continued to dance and have a good time!

This morning we caught the train to Puno, on Lake Titicaca. The scenery was spectacular… we travelled up to through the Andes (hitting 14,000 feet at one point, still no altitude problems!). I, ehm, took 34 pictures on the train! It got less exciting towards the end as the landscape became more bleak… we were on a large Plateau 13,000 feet up in the Andes with only the highest of peaks above us. Here and there were dotted small and isolated villages. The people are so friendly, kids would all wave at the train as it passed, smiling and happy with their lives and people working the fields would also stop and wave. What a friendly people the Peruvians are!

We’re now in Puno, a small but lively little town… full of activity because of the Inti Rami festival which we get to experience here. It is bitterly cold (I saw a thermometer and it said -5 degrees) by night, but the sun is scorching by day. Tomorrow morning I hit the markets and then tomorrow evening we travel 45km East to a pre-Inca site with fantastic ruins. Sunday is an early start and onto the lake and the floating islands….

See you all in the next cartoon,

Alex (on tour!)

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Hey Folks!

Firstly thanks a million for all your emails enquiring as to whether I’m still alive or not… it’s good to know you care!! Morbid and all as some of them were….

Gillian, we were in fact on the banks of Lake Titicaca when the quake hit, but since that is over 13,000 feet high in the Andes the effects were nothing like they were in Arequipa and Lima, thankfully. I can now add “Survived and Earthquake” to my CV… wonder if DDSI will give me a pay rise for having that one under my belt!!

Just to warn you all, I’m onto my 9th roll of camera film… be afraid, be very afraid! Rory and Frank, you thought YOU two were bad!

We’re still on for the Inca Trail.. the aftershocks have died down and we were told that doing the Inca Trail would be OK.. so it’s up at 5am tomorrow morning and then 4 days of intense hiking and great views and slogging and digging deep etc. etc. We’ve signed up for a longer hike than normal. Instead of starting at Kilometre 88 we’re starting at Kilometre 82… Suzanne, I had to try and outdo you in some way.. whether I make it or not is another matter!!!

The train from Puno to Cusco got delayed for an hour and a half today, at the highest point it reaches in the Andes, 14,330 feet above sea level. We were told that we would be there for an hour and a half! I spotted a small mountain that I reckoned I could climb up and be down in about an hour, so off I set – utility belt with everything I’d need to survive (Swiss Army Knife, Binoculars, Well Stocked First Aid Kit, Water Canteen, MagLight, Emergency Survival Kit and Camera) around my waist. The stewardess asked me to stay near the train and when I pointed to my destination mountain she looked shocked, laughed (’cause she thought I was joking, probably) and then fell silent when I started up the hill!

It was an easy climb and the view from the top was spectacular.. looking across the valley to snow capped peaks and then looking down at the train and the ant sized people milling around it. Pat stayed at the foot of the big hill/small mountain until I got back. He said that he lost sight of me near the top ’cause my fleece is green and I blended into the colour of the scrub!! Naturally, I sat at the top for a while and had a smoke. When I got down to him he told me: “OK, I now know what people mean when they tell me that I’m going to South America with a certified lunatic!”. Sly on poor old Alex!

Am going to try and get a bag of coca leaves home… not in the least bit druggy, more feel really goody! May be ringing for bail money from Dublin airport though…

We’re into our last week now, with just the Inca Trail and Lima left until the long flight home. Conclusion: I’ll be back. This place they call South America is the bomb… come here, ah no really.. come here! The people are so friendly that they wave at you on the train as you pass them working in the fields. Despite their abject poverty they manage to somehow maintain a happy outlook, smiling face and selfless friendliness to foreigners or “Gringo’s” as they call us! If anything this trip has taught me it’s how good we really do have it in the “Western World”.

See you all in the next cartoon!

Alex (on tour… despite the odd natural disaster!)

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Hey All!

Well, we’Lre here in Lima – our last stop before flying home and back to reality! Lima is entirely unimpressive (excluding a few churches and ruins) and has an angry and oppressive atmosphere (compounded by the blanket of grey cloud that covers the city from May until November). The contrast between here and the other places we’Lve been is huge and I’Lm glad that we’Lre only spending a couple of days here.

In the past two and a half weeks (and it seems like two and a half months) I’Lve seen and done a hell of a lot. From the friendliness of urban Quito to the serenity of Tacquile Island (Lake Titicaca), to the breathtaking beauty of the Inca Trail and the Andes, to the horror that is Lima, to the seemingly infinite Pacific Ocean. We reckon that we’Lve covered near enough to 30,000miles in our travels… on planes, trains, buses, boats and (very dilapidated!) automobiles! Never mind our poor legs and feet!

The contrast has been amazing: from the barren desert of western Peru to the lush and fertile expanse of the Amazonian rainforests; the happy smiling faces of Ecuador and Andean Peru to the angry and hostile feel of Lima (my first impression of Lima came in the Taxi to our hostel where I saw a pack of dogs savaging another dog while a group of very young children looked on laughing); from relaxing on a Pacific beach to lugging a backpack up snowcapped Andean mountains, 15,000 feet on the Inca Trail; the clear blue sky of Western Peru to the unending blanket of cloud over Lima (sums up the city really… so shit they only named in once.); and from the pleasant mid-twenties temperature of the days to the well below zero cold at night (try camping in the Andes…. its fucking freezing at night!!).

South America has a lot to offer, a lot to see and a lot to experience. A traveller from the “Western World” needs to have thick skin, a smile on their face at all times and a lot of patience. You get it all here, grinding poverty and extreme wealth, cold and heat, barren and fertile… the list is endles. There is no shortage of both very good and very bad experiences one can have here – thankfully we’Lve only had the good.

Loads of stories to tell have I: earthquakes, broken trains, sights, sounds, smells and generally stuff and things!

So, see you all really soon (in the next cartoon!),

Alex

Tags: email, south america, travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 12th, 2002 at 14:26 and is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.