Quito

Isla De La Plata

Surf's up in Ecuador

It's amazing what you learn about yourself when you head off travelling for a few months. You see these strange patterns emerging. For instance, I've found that I seem to have a strange gravitation towards adventure sports which involve wearing tight-fitting clothing! First white-water rafting, then mountain biking... and now surfing!



Other than that, just spent most of my time here in Montanita chilling; reading, writing...



... and snoozing in the hammock at my little hostel on the beach. This is the life!

The 3 S's

Santiago:



Sick:



Sympathetic Friend:



John arrives in Santiago sick. Sympathetic friend brings to hospital and entertains during recovery.

I owe you one, Fanny, thanks.

Now I'm better and off to continue adventures...

And the winner is...

I reckon my trip is actually a travel version of Big Brother, with people getting voted off along the way. It started out with 15 of us, and that gradually became 5... 4... 3... and now one, me! So it's looks like I've won!

Briana and Oisin headed off to Lima last friday for their flight to Dublin, and I have to say, despite all their shortcomings(!), I am missing them! Hey, guys, great to travel with you, hope the Graduation's a blast, looking forward to recounting our adventures over a pint when I return!



But since they've left, I've been firing on all cylinders, and travelling far and wide. Spent another day in Cusco, after they left, and headed back east towards Lake Titikaka, where I did a day trip to the islands from Puno. The lake's beautiful, a really Meditteranean feel. And we visited a couple of the islands. Some made out of reeds, are where the Uros people live in their reed houses, sail their reed boats, eat their reed food... you get the idea!



The other was Isla de Taquile, a 'real' island, where the 2,000 inhabitants farm, fish and sell things to tourists to make a living. All the men wear hats to display their maritial status! I thought on an island that small, it would have been obvious.



From Puno, I headed South to Arequipa where the All Saints day celebrations where in full swing! Enjoyed that, and had a bit of a wander around the beautiful 'White City'.



Anyway, from Arequipa I thought I'd make a bit of a detour and pop back to Santiago to see my friends Fanny & Geraldine, before continuing up the Peruvian coast and into Ecuador. It's only about 30hrs bus ride from here, so I thought I might as well make a quick detour! One final visit to Chile and then I really am going North. Off to get my bus to Tacna now.

Hasta luego amigos...