Riding the Rusted Rails The railways in the countries we have visited service minerals not people. Building railways in the Andes is not a very practical proposition in the first place, exports are more important than public transport, and the major population centers are in some very crazy places; La Paz and Quito for instance …
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Crossing Salar Uyuni in the Bolivian Altiplano This is the world’s largest salt flat and contains a number of major roads across the Altiplano. The real fun is blasting off away from those routes but you get a real shock when you stop and actually feel the razor sharp salt after you’ve ridden at 115mph …
Like Sailing Without Currents The Salar de Uyuni is 5,000 square miles of evaporated salt in the Altiplano in southern Bolivia. It is perfectly flat to within one meter over its entire extent though we did have to have a discussion on geodesics and gravity after I got the question “If it is entirely flat …
Sin historia; no futura On our first night out of La Paz, we stayed in the guest house and bunkhouse on Teneria Ranch that has been in the family of Hans Hesse for generations. He and his family welcomed us with open arms and made a fantastic dinner of roast pork and local vegetables and …
Staggering Natural Beauty vs: Ugly Daily Reality The story of how I got assaulted by an old drunk woman in Cohoni, Bolivia. Of the six countries we are visiting on this journey, Bolivia is by far the poorest. For comparison, the GDP per Capita of the USA is $57,000. Chile and Argentina are both about …
The Only Way is Up. Traveling in South America is a constant battle between the outstanding natural beauty and the choking poverty and pollution of the towns and cities. Towns overrun with farm animals, construction and detours everywhere, roads jam-packed with ubiquitous passenger vans shuttling people in all directions, and buses and trucks with unmaintained …
Whatever Floats Your Home Today we visited the Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca that straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia and met five families on one island. There are now 87 islands with 4,600 inhabitants and three elementary schools – all floating on rafts of reed roots covered with layers of reeds. This island …
I’ll take COUNTRIES NAMED FOR PEOPLE for $400 Alex There are three of them in South America – one for Christopher Columbus (Colombia) and two for Simon Bolivar (Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) As we learn about history we are drawn to the stories of great people and we develop a short list …
Colca Canyon Condors If you want to see Andean Condors then you have to go to Colca Canyon in southern Peru. The ride along the edge of the canyon from Chivay is spectacular reason alone to come here. The locals claim that Colca Canyon is the world’s deepest but Peru’s own tourist organization says that …
Peru Farmers Union Meeting As we left Laguna Pacucha and headed to Cusco on Saturday, we came across this gathering at the side of the road. I managed to talk to a couple of the people who were still turning up and learned that this was the regular meeting of the farmers’ union. The men …
Colin's Travel Journal 