Sudamerica....el mejor lugar en el mundo

After Auckland I flew to Tahiti where I spent 20 hours waiting for a connecting fight to Easter Island (Isla de pasque)....pure bloody torture.


(Church Choir, Tahiti)

Arrived in Isla de pasque suffering from a severe case of sleep deprivation so bed for about 12 hours....awoke to the sound of howling sea winds and torrential rain...an exploration of the island was understandably enough put on hold.


(Me on the Isla de Pasque, or Rapa Nui)

The next day however was beautiful so mike & charlotte (English couple), a chilean student and I hit the trail with our guide who proved to be very knowledgable about the Island.


(Maui´s en la isla de pasque un otra vez)


(Simply can´t get enough of easter Island)


(and again)


(Some unfinished stone mauis which never made it to their intended place of erection)

After easter Island it was straight on to Santiago, Chile where I got stuck into a 5 day string of spanish lessons. These proved to be quite enjoyable and well worth the time and money. I did manage to see some sights in Santiago...though not as many as I´d normally have managed....those old spanish lessons were pretty intense...going out at twelve at night and coming back shagged tired at 6 in the morning on a few occassions didn´t help either.


(Statue of the blessed virgin atop Cerro San Cristobal, Santiago, Chile)


(Buick, Bellavista, Santiago...close to Cerro San Cristobal)

Next stop was Buenos Aires, Argentina....a great spot....lots of great cheap red wine 920ml bottles of Cerveza and red meat to beat the band. They have these places over here called ¨Tenedore Libres¨ this literally means free fork but to all intents and purposes its basically a all you can eat buffet with great food....I ate and drank like a king here and found similar joints in other big Argentinian cities such as Cordoba and Mendoza.

They´ve also got some great nightlife here for dancing off all those calories...although the old going out at one in the morning and getting back in the early hours takes its toll after awhile.


(La Casa Rosada Buenos aires....from the balcony of which Eva Peron rallied support for her husband)

Now I did also manage to see some sights such as the area around Plaza de mayo...where the Casa Rosada stands.


(Riot police, buenos aires)

You can´t miss the riot police in this place they come out in force every time theres a demonstration of the least significance.


(El Jardin al dentro el casa rosada, buenos aires)


(Dodgey, dodge...san telmo, buenos aires)

I strolled around San Telmo at some stage and popped into Cafe Plaza Dorrego for a coffee and a sandwich. Oh thats another thing the Argentinians certainly know how to do coffee....these people are sophisticated....I felt like a ragamuffin nearly every time I went out to eat.


(The main road leading into the district of La Boca, Buenos Aires)

I spent a half day strolling around La Boca.


(Colourful houses...la boca)


(Mural in La Boca)


(The final resting place of Eva Peron in La Recoleta cemetery, BA)

La Recoleta cemetery has to be seen to be believed some of the tombs in here are as big as houses and a dam sight more ornate....its a bit mad in my opinion.


(Siesta, BA)

After Buenos Aires I headed up to Puerto Iguazu, where I saw the truly amazing iguazu falls from both the brazilian and Argentinian side. I´m sorry but without the best day, a wide angle lense, top class camera and a helicoptor photos simply can´t do this place justice. The experience of being there just can´t be replicated.


(Catarata iguazu, Brazil)


(Mi, a lado de el catarata iguazu, Brazil)


(As Arthur Guniness would say...if a toucan can then you can too)


(The birds just love to pose for the camera)


(El garganta del diablo, Catarata iguazu, Argentina)

Thousands upon thousands of tonnes of water gushing over the side of the monstrosity that is ¨El Garganta del Diablo¨ or the devils throat simply has to be seen and heard in real life to be appreciated. The way I look at is if Ian Thorp slipped and fell here that´d be it...good night Irene....no one´s going in after you and no swimming skills are going to help you here.


(Rainbow, iguazu, Argentina)

After Iguazu I hit Cordoba en route to Mendoza...a beautiful little city.


(La vista sobre Mendoza)

Hit Mendoza next took a quick snap of the city from atop the municipal building. Later I did a one day tour of some wine bodegas followed by a trip to a chocolate factory...pretty good day all told.


(Wine cellar in one of a number of bodegas visited in Mendoza)

Spent a whole other day up in the Alta Montanas where we hit each of the following sights.


(Puenta del inca, Argentina...cerca de la frontier con Chile)


(Church close to la puenta del inca)


(In front of Mount Aconcagua, Argentina)


(Relaxing in los pentitentes)

Later in Salta further north in Argentina I spent a day horse-riding with some other Irish people I bumped into earlier in Mendoza.


(Me y Enrique despuis de mucho vino tinto!!!)

Half-way through the day the bossman Enrique fed us a meal fit for royalty copious amounts of red meat and red wine to beat the band.


(Ready for the off again)


(Al dentro la cathedral, Salta, Argentina)

Next it was off into Bolivia entering via Northern Argentina now the ride was pretty rough but the scenery was nothing short of amazing....of the true spagetti western variety...sorry no shot of that...it was a bit cramped in that old 4WD. But man I made up for it on our three day trip around the Salar de Uyuni.


(El cemeterio de trens cerca de Uyuni, Bolivia)


(y un otra vez...)


(Experienced mechanic urgently required!!!)


(La Hotel de Sal, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia)


(La Isla de pescado, Cerca de uyuni, Bolivia)


(Y un otra vez..)


(uno tiempo mas...)


(La salar de uyuni, Bolivia)


(Our 4WD pulled up in front of one of many colourful mountains close to the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia)


(Una Laguna, cerca de la Salar de Uyuni)


(Y un otra..)


(Seagull...hover above one of the lagunas)


(Me at 4,600 meters above Sea Level on the way to the geysers of Sol de Manaña)


(Y mi un poco mas alta...)


(Arbol de Piedra..)


(Laguna Colorado, cerca de la salar de uyuni, Bolivia)


(Laguna colorado con muchas flamingos)


(..y llamas)


(La laguna roja)


(Geyser at Sol de Manaña)


(Sol de Manaña)


(Sol de Manaña)


(La laguna verde..)


(Landscape on the way back to Uyuni..)

As you can see the scenery in this neck of the woods is beautiful and varied. Apparently Bolivia is one of the 12 most diverse countries in the world in terms of flora and fauna...and after a short spell here this was easy to believe. The Salar de Uyuni was hands down no contest the best place I visited in my entire trip...up to this point I thought there was no way I could beat the iguazu falls but I managed it....in fact i´d have to say Bolivia was all round the best counrty I´ve visited.

Things I liked about Bolivia
1 Freshly squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice from the street vendors in the
early morning.
2 Followed by breakfast in a local comedor surrounded by the local constablury eagerly recommending shops where I could purchase one of their military style ponchos in la paz.
3 Practicing my spanish with the shoe shine boys in Sucre, the receptionist of La Casa Real de la moneda and her glamorous friend, and the old ladies in the markets around La Paz.
4 Oh did I mention the scenery...well there was lots of it.
5 Even though these people are poor they don´t ever seem to complain and yes theres crime here...surprise surprise...they don´t have a monopoly on it though...personally I found most of the people to be hard working and honest.


(Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia)


(La vista sobre Sucre)

Sucre turned out to be my favourite city in Bolivia...believe it or not its the official constitutional capital...not la Paz although you always hear of La Paz being referred to as the highest capital city in the world...well Potosi also in Bolivia, though not a capital city either is the highest city in the world.

Sucre is so much better organised than La Paz...to be honest La Paz is a bit of a mess in my opinion....end to end markets and houses that look like they´ve been just left htere in mid construction.


(La Plaza de Mayo, Sucre)


(Dinosaur Footprints, Sucre, Bolivia)


(Backstreet, Potosi, the highest city in the world)

After Sucre I made my way to Potosi where I did a tour of the Silver mine el Cero rico...its still a working mine and the work conditions are real dickensian to say the least a good experience but glad to be out of the place in the end.


(Our guide preps some dynamite for explosion, el cerro rico, Potosi)


(Mine Workers, el cerro rico, Potosi, Bolivia)


(El Cerro Rico, Potosi, Bolivia)

Next off to La Paz where I did a trip out to the Inca site of Tiwanaku....some of this was quite interesting but to be honest there still digging the bloody thing up.


(Ruins of a dwelling, Tiwanaku, an Inca site close to La Paz)


(Puerta del Sol, Tiwnakau...pity about the barbed wire)


(Stone carving, Tiwanaku)


(Wall surrounding one of many temples, Tiwanaku)

Eventually Oisin a friend from Ireland arrived with John and Briona also Irish and we headed off to ride el camino mas peligroso en el mundo or el camino del muerte. The weather was absolutely atrocious....pissing down...visibility was very low...I came of the bike once at high speed around a corner...I pulled the back brake and the wheel just slipped away from me....back on and myself and the other two Irish guys were the first three to make it to the top of the rather steep hill near the start of the ride. Anyway the worst was yet to come this road isn´t very well paved so your bombing over stone after stone and it really gets your wrists after awhile. Now bare in mind that theres a sheer drop of a view thousand feet at the side of this bloody road....at one stage there was three cyclists and a pick-up in front of me the three cyclists steered around the pick-up...between it the cliff edge I was just about to follow them when the pick-up starts to reverse towards me narrowing the gap between it and the cliff edge...the bloody fool can´t see me because he´s so much crap piled on the back of the pick-up that he has no rear view....I hurriedly try to dismount and as I do the rain jacket I´m wearing catches in the saddle, I lose my balance and both me and the bike go over the side. I just threw myself into the side of the cliff and luckily there was something there to hold me...not much mind you..but enough...great view. Two lads pull me back up and we´re off again...I think I was very lucky to have gone over at that place.


(John and Oisin on the Death Raod)


(The Lads head back to La Paz from Coroico)


(Coroico)


(Welcoming if not somewhat worn Mural, Coroico)


(View down into the valley below, from above Coroico)

Finally we reached Coroico the little town at the end of the road...I decided to stay there for a few nights and explore Coroico....theres a massive fiesta going on there when we arrived.


(Festivities in full swing, Coroico, La Paz)

I ended up going out one night for dinner, I brought my diary with me to update it etc....but things were going so well I decided not to go home straight away. I ended up having some beers with some locals...anyway after quite alot of beer I left my jacket down in a nightclub and some dude swiped it while I was busy dancing....oh well...as the mother would say he´s only fooling himself...he probably ended up throwing that diary of the side of a cliff...if I could find him I´d throw him off after it.


(The Untouchables beat out some local tunes)


(Street dancers, Coroico)


(Two members of the flamboyant Untouchables posing for the camera)


(Two close friends I met travelling together in Coroico)


(...and a friend of theirs)

Anyway back to La Paz, some shopping to replace some items and on then to Copacabana...where I ended up taking a trip over to Isla del Sol with an Australian guy I´d previously done the death road with and two Irish nurses...whoopee. We did a hike from one side of the Island to the other....great scenery...then we decided we´d stay a night on the Island.


(The Cathedral in Copacabana viewed from atop a nearby hill)


(The path along the top of the Isla Del Sol)


(View from the top of the Isla del Sol...down into Lake Titicaca)

Headed back to the mainland the following morning and on to Cusco, Peru.

Cusco, Peru what can I say....its probably the most touristy place I´ve been to this trip...gringos all over the shop...great nightlife here though...although you need to make sure you get plenty of sleep the old thicker can´t do without it...at this altitute lepp´n around the place like a lunatic has some very noticeable side-effects.


(View of Cusco from above the city)


(Writing on the hillside above the main square of Cusco)


(The doorway into the Inca ruins of Puka Pukara situated in the hills above Cusco)


(The inca site of Sacsaywaman...also close to Cusco)


(An indigenous woman gazes down on the ruins of Puka pukara)


(Children in a street parade..Cusco)


(Cusco´s Cathedral at night)

I visited a number of sites around Cusco before venturing off on a three night four day hike all the way to Macchu Pichu along the reknowned Inca trail.


(The view from our mountain side campsite on the third day)


(Machu Pichu in the Distance....beneeath the clouds unfortunately)


(Me at Machu Pichu)


(A pose somewhat reminiscent of Che in the motorcycle diaries)


(Machu Pichu)


(San Francisco Church, Central Lima Peru)

After the Inca trail I made for Lima, Peru to await my return flight back to Ireland via Madrid. Did a fair bit of shopping while here....got some great bargains etc. But alas all good things come to an end and while its been great...the best year of my 27 years so far...bar none...I am looking forward to returning home to hibernia. To steal a few words from old Frankie blue eyes himself..¨It was a very good year¨...vintage in fact.