After toasting mum a safe journey home with a Pisco Sour it was back to travelling with a bump as my overnight bus to the mountains had a screaming baby one row in front!

Huaraz is a standard town at the foot of Peru's largest section of Andes. As it was Easter weekend had a nice procession on the Sunday but the main pull is trekking to the various glaciers and lakes which didn't disappoint as you can see from the photos.

Highlight for me was the Canon Del Pato or Duck Canyon. Decided to venture by bike alone from Caraz along a very scenic downhill (thankfully) mainly tarred road. As in a valley you can't get lost! In true Brit style I donned my hat, slopped on my sun cream and headed out into the midday sun with not enough water!! A gentle meander for 39km ended with the last 12km in the Canon Del Pato. Armed with my crappy head torch I cycled through the 35 tunnels getting covered in mud and with each tunnel running the gauntlet with potential on-coming traffic. By the end having gone through dust, mud and tar I felt like a cartoon villain covered in all sorts of materials.

My reward was a quiet village by the river which due to traffic restrictions for the return journey was my home for 4 hours...so I plonked myself in the only restaurant to kill time. The restaurant had no menu so my option was only meat; it was served by "the only gay in the village" Little Britain character; had Peruvian Strictly Come Dancing starring 12 Anne Widdecomb's to keep me entertained...the only saving grace was the owner like football so enjoyed Chelsea 0-0 draw in Champ League!! As you can tell the 4 hours passed pretty quickly just observing Peruvian life.

I decided to make one final stop on my Inca / Peruvian culture tour at Chachapoyas back in the jungle (ish). After a while archaeological sites get samey just like in Thailand and India with temples. Still good but sometimes need a change of scenery.

Chachapoyas is a neat little town with these old houses and balconies similar to Cuzco. After a bus travel fail over 24 hrs to get there i checked into a single room for $9...bargain! Just what i needed as was tired and smelly!

The pull factor here is Kuelap a sort of Machu Picchu but built 900yrs before. Hence although set upon the hill and a defensive fortress it lacked that WOW factor of Machu. It didn't help that it was raining...but still impressive given when it was built.

The other reason people visit is for the statues/tombs/sarcophagus of the Chachapoyas people placed upon shear limestone cliffs around 1200AD...they would destroy the paths once placed to avoid thieving. Unfortunately as limestone meant erosion over the years and so loads of fallen and broken...even a few bones lying around the place!!

Prior to this stop were some caves where we donned some wellies as turned out to be very sticky mud...a few came face to face with it! Again the caves used to be a cemetery but also a cavern of stalag "might touch the ceiling" and stalactites. 




Prior to going into the caves i had an "old people" moment which at 3* yrs is bad news but now see what my mum's friends must go through on a daily basis! We were waiting to pay entry and one of the group picked up a broomstick...

In my head i was oh "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" or a witch from "Wizard of Oz"...

Group member said oh its a "something 2000" (something = he said something but didn't register)

I was like "uh"

He said "you know quiditch"

I was like "uh"

He said "Harry Potter"

I was like "ohhh" after which i found the nearest seat, put some comfortable velcro shoes on, lit my pipe and read the back section of the Daily Mail deciding which pair of elasticated trousers to buy next!

After another long bus journey (3 buses in total) i am finally at Mancora beach for some rest and relaxation. Was last at the beach at Xmas and need to have some time to recharge the batteries...assume I have no sympathy!! Staying at the party hostel in town which reminded me why beaches are a good place...lots of scantily clad young ladies everywhere meant I had to jump into the pool like Kevin and Perry!!

Quick annoyances from the bus journey. Reading "Captain Philips" about the Somali pirates and as I jumped on the bus guess what film starts...and for the first time not dubbed and in English!!...alas despite my speed reading I finished the book as the film closing credits came up. Secondly when people jump onto buses (and planes) why can they not find their seat?? This guy was looking for seat 56487..his luggage ticket number!

Anyway the beach is nice and the water warm and after a lame attempt at surfing decided to go body boarding which I also failed at...I realise that I am not a water baby. What I did realise I am good at is beer pong! My team made the final but couldn't make the final cup which meant drinking copious amounts of beer and a blood bomb (don't know nor want to know what's in it!). The same night I got a complement of looking 25 yrs old although my smile was removed when someone else said "you're not an accountant are you?" What?? Do I have a badge on? Is it really that obvious? You would have thought being away for 7 months I would have lost it!

As I said in my blog title I am off to Ecuador tonight but thanks to my stupidity I have also signed up for the Lima marathon on 18 May. Need to somehow get race fit in just over 2 weeks...so ventured out for an 1.5hr run which apart from getting chased by dogs was a relatively successful run. Issue being not many training opportunities over coming weeks so won't be getting a PB but will have ticked off a marathon in South America...will be 4 continents down!! In my 40th year plan to run the Antarctic marathon...tick off my 7th continent and RETIRE!!

Luckily I don't get car sick otherwise these bus journeys could be a burden rather than a joy. Currently on an 10 hr bus ride from Mendoza to Santiago (Chile)...got a 22 hr one next week as a reminder of the distances to travel when I head up to the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. The route today takes me over the Andes past the highest peak in the Americas called Aconcagua. At nearly 7000m it is an achievable climb and like Kilimanjaro is a non-technical climb...one for another trip!! Issue is it is overcast and raining so can't confirm how beautiful the scenery is!! Having said that the border proved a lengthy wait but interesting after watching the Fratelli's (Goonies reference) + Maradona lookalike try to smuggle numerous house hold goods into strict Chile...one of my worst border crossings of about 3 hrs. But before sharing stories about Mendoza check out the photos below from a recent flight in Patagonia from Calafate to Bariloche...one of the scenic commercial flights I have taken.

Mendoza is a must stop for anyone on a trip to Argentina. The city has loads to offer but top of this list is wine...lots of red Malbec wine to enjoy. Also is known for its food quality, art and adventure sports. I participated in 3 of the 4...let's just say I was lazy for 4 days!!

"Nice legs" and "lovely body" are the crap jokes in my wine repertoire and not comments I get on my travels! After visiting 5 vineyards to sample the local vino (mainly Melbec) my rubbish banter didn't improve!! I know a little more about the wine than before but to fair just enjoyed the vineyards (bodega), food and company. Perhaps my nose/mouth just hasn't got the palette to taste all the flavours...no comments about my Roman nose!! Reminds of that gin advert sketch..."hmmm I'm getting oyster shells, lavender, chocolate...Rubbish!"

The settings weren't always as beautiful as Cape Town but the wine tours and tasting certainly matched Stellenbosch. The knowledgable staff meant I learned more about the process than before...also here many of the vineyards are relatively new due to the previous economic crisis's forcing bodega to be sold or left fallow...so the passionate owners often showed us around. We visited small and organic vineyards like Clos de Chacras, Carinae, Pulmary through to larger estates like Luigi Bosca and Escorihurela.

Also the food here is great and the abundance of steak is starting to show across the waist line! Went to a place called Ituzaingo which is a closed door restaurant...essentially a local has converted his house into a restaurant but still lives there. On offer was a taste journey of 7 courses around Argentina with accompanying wines. Nice idea when you have a nice place...not sure my Balham flat has the same wow factor! My foodie friend Nancy (who runs her own catering company in Sydney) picked the restaurants and bodega and choose winners every time!!

A stroke of genius from Nancy was the flat we hired for the 4 nights. Meant we had more space, could cook and had a roof terrace for sundowners...felt like being a local and my old life back in London. Bumped into a friend Tiffany from Bariloche who we invited over for drinks and nibbles. 6 of us had a cracking and raucous night...good litmus test is getting a knock at 1am from an angry neighbour about the noise!! Like all parties numerous bottles of wine helped lubricate the conversation!! The issue as always is the head the morning after which appears to get worse with age!! But well worth it as learnt a new drinking game and how to beatbox...important life skills at the age of 33!! Cheats way to beatbox is to say "boots n cats n boots n cats..." over again and quickly and then throw in "cats n tits n cats n tits..." Once mastered that can mix it all up to sound like an average beat boxer. The beauty of travel is learning about life experiences and skills of others around the world...in our flat were people from London, Sydney, Georgia USA, Auckland.

Finally to ensure we tick the art box we stumbled across a Pablo Picasso art exhibition in town...always nice to throw in a bit of culture once in a while!

Nancy departs tomorrow and has been a great 3 weeks sharing my travel experience with her. Going back to Sydney means work for her and me to find a new Scrabble partner. I know that I am not ready for work yet...so much more to see!!

Travelling or backpacking can have its highs and lows...some days everything goes to plan and others not...some days you meet great people and other times you need some personal space...Travelling solo has its advantages and disadvantages as well...although i need to constantly remind myself that i am not working for 12 months and going places many dream of there are times when the fairytale doesn't go to plan! You crave your sofa; some home cooked meals (note cereal for dinner not consumed yet...not have i cooked in months mind you!) or just some beers with mates (love getting photos from London of mates catching up with now ex-pay chums or Skype calls from parties where we end up both dancing!).

So i am in Chile and initially has been disappointing. Issue being very busy as holiday season so places are full...there are hitchhikers everywhere! The weather is often damp. Plus having the realisation thanks to delays that been wasting a few days that could of been spent elsewhere. Like all decisions about travel its a case of "what if" or FOMO (fear of missing out). You cant see it all so have to be selective based on LP (Lonely Planet aka travellers bible) and traveller stories...as you can sense from my intro i was in a little slump!!

So the past few days have been slow due to Chiloe way of life and distances to travel. Arrived on the island of Chiloe (halfway up/down Chile) for 3 days turning into 6. Rained first few days which means just sitting around with minimal exploring. Went to penguin sanctuary to see 100 or so penguins...again as have been lucky to be exposed to so many wonders of the world sometimes its hard to get wow factor...for local Chileans probably has wow factor but for global jet-setters like myself you need them in bow-ties tap dancing! German beer festival was good and shared beers with some great travellers (Germans settled here ages ago). Then karma slapped me across the face...

Had a 5 hr bus journey to the port for 23:00 ferry departure. Arrived cutting it fine but the ferry (sailing through fjords and stunning scenery...apparently) was delayed by 13hrs. After trawling the streets found no available hotel rooms. After contemplating the beach/park bench the thought of the stray dogs licking my face put me off. Luckily found 2 Chileans in same predicament and we managed to stay in a spare room of a local resident...thus cool to see Chilean way of life. Next morning decided to scrap the boat and head on 7hr bus to main airport in the north (my connecting flight in south would have been missed and then stranded in middle of nowhere as meeting friend Nancy from Oz in South). Managed to get on same flight but from stop earlier thanks to staff at Sky Airline (bought them a Toblerone as made me happy as got on board and have an emergency exit window seat to see the scenery from the air! Which as you will see is awesome!!) so worked out in the end but essentially 2 days wasted with little sleep and food.

As i said some days you pinch yourself of how lucky you are others you just wish transport would work (ok London did have strikes) and wish there is a sofa and English TV at the end!

Luckily over the next few days can share the experience with a friend and the scenery is meant to be stunning! Glaciers, mountain lakes, camping (not massive fan!) - just hope Tierra del Fuego and Chalten live up to their reputation!