2015: Recalibrating

Posted by on Jan 17, 2016 in England, General, Great Britain, South America | 8 Comments
2015: Recalibrating

Almost two weeks in to 2016 it seems a tad tardy to begin reflecting on the previous year. After all shouldn’t we now be filled with hope, expectation and excitement of what the new year will bring? The truth is that I sat down to pen my thoughts about 2015 midway through December amidst impending […]

Colombia: Coffee, Deserts and Journeys End

Posted by on Apr 25, 2015 in Colombia, South America | 9 Comments
Colombia: Coffee, Deserts and Journeys End

Whilst originally planning my journey through South America, the mere mention of Colombia induced plenty of air sucking, and well meaning (if ill informed) cautionary tales. Pablo Escobar, drugs cartels, armed guerillas seemingly the extent of many people’s knowledge of this beguilling country. There is no shaking the country’s dark and murky past. Thanks to […]

Ecuador: City Life, Amigos and Frailejones

Posted by on Apr 3, 2015 in Ecuador, South America | 2 Comments
Ecuador: City Life, Amigos and Frailejones

As property investors and supermarkets continue to squeeze the life out of the British high street, each town and city is left with a bland, depressingly orderly and homogenised selection of the same high street retailers. Small independent retailers squeezed out by escalating rents, decreasing foot fall and the destablising effects of out of town […]

Ecuador: Trans Ecuador and rich dirt veins

Posted by on Feb 27, 2015 in Ecuador, South America | 8 Comments
Ecuador: Trans Ecuador and rich dirt veins

Whilst Peru brazenly lays its wares out to bear, offering a dizzying array of dirt roads through high Andean country, by contrast Ecuador has a girl next door charm. Shy and difficult to get to know at first but scratch beneath the surface, dig a little deeper and you will find a country as equally […]

Ecuador: Mud, Coffee and Biodiversity

Posted by on Feb 11, 2015 in Ecuador, General, South America | 2 Comments
Ecuador: Mud, Coffee and Biodiversity

A lot can happen in two months…or not as the case may be. Despite a concerted effort to make it over the Ecuadorian border in time for Christmas, the intense riding of previous weeks takes a different pace as New Year comes and goes. Flo patiently waits for a delivery from France whilst I hop […]

Caraz to Ecuador

Posted by on Jan 20, 2015 in Peru, South America | 6 Comments
Caraz to Ecuador

The Punta Olympica loop neatly deposits Flo and I in the town of Caraz, the starting point for one of Peru’s most famous treks; the Santa Cruz trek. Swapping dirt roads for trekking trails, we head in to the mountains by foot. Conscious of time and our apparent good fortune of continued blue skies we […]

2014: The Year That Was

Posted by on Dec 30, 2014 in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, South America | 16 Comments
2014: The Year That Was

Presenting my passport to the Ecuadorian border official raises a smile as he leafs through my passport and inspects my Peruvian exit stamp, the inedible red stamp reads “En Exceso de Permeanencia”. In many countries the implications of over staying your visa would result in you being banned from the country, deported or worse. Instead […]

Punta Olympica: Triple Heart Bypassing

Posted by on Dec 1, 2014 in Peru, South America | 8 Comments
Punta Olympica: Triple Heart Bypassing

The Peruvian rainy season provides us with ample rainy days to tick our way through Huaraz’s various restaurants, cafes, street markets, (plentiful) panaderias and of course sampling some exceedingly strong ale courteousy of the Sierra Andina brewery. Just as things start feeling a bit too comfortable to contemplate moving, blue skies and clear views of […]

Huancavellica to Huaraz: El Silencio Continuado

Posted by on Nov 21, 2014 in Peru, South America | 13 Comments
Huancavellica to Huaraz: El Silencio Continuado

After 10 days relaxing in Huaraz the weather finally lifts to reveal stunning views of the surrounding Cordeillera Blanca. It seems Peru’s rainy season isn’t conducive to far reaching views. Cloud lingers low down in the valley as we are treated to a series of dull overcast days, and afternoon rain reimisicent of an English […]

Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio

Posted by on Nov 14, 2014 in General, Peru, South America | 8 Comments
Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio

After our riotous arrival in to Cusco following the Ausangate Traverse. We ritefully put our feet up in the historic capital of the Incan Empire. Internet fixes completed and sweet toothes sated Cass and I cook up an equally grand plan to take us north to the large town of Abancay. Navigating our way out […]

La Paz to Cusco: Riding the Rails

Posted by on Oct 3, 2014 in Bolivia, Peru, South America | 2 Comments
La Paz to Cusco: Riding the Rails

What do you do when you become the new owner of a fat bike? You ride tarmac. Perhaps there was a certain amount of inneudo intended when Cass thrusts a 7 percent beer named “Judas” in to my hand the night before we are due to leave La Paz. Whichever way it makes for another […]

Bolivian Backlog: The Road to La Paz

Posted by on Sep 30, 2014 in Bolivia, Chile, South America | No Comments
Bolivian Backlog: The Road to La Paz

After abruptly jerking you forward, I am once again hitting rewind with the next installment in the Bolivian Backlog that sees us deposited in Bolivia’s capital; La Paz. As with much of our travels in Bolivia it has rarely been in a straight line, jaggedly weaving our way across the Bolivian Antiplano. Leaving the Salars […]