Archive for May, 2008

The Rules of Travelling

During our trip in South America we always joked about the Rules of Travelling: basic rules of thumb that ensure that you get the most out of your travels with the least amount of hassle/pain/irritation, especially when backpacking. These will also work on city trips.

The Rules have been developed and refined on the numerous trips we’ve collectively made throughout the last 30-or-so years. As my last post, I want to share them with you.

1. Drink water whenever you can. Sub rule: Always take a water bottle with you wherever you go.
2. Use the toilet whenever you can. You never know when/what the next toilet is going to be like.  Sub rule: Always carry toilet paper and antiseptic hand gel on you.
3. Withdraw/exchange money whenever you can.
4. Sleep whenever you can. You never know when the next comfortable bed will be available.
5. Eat whenever you can. Sub rule: Always carry snacks with you, ideally enough to cover one whole meal.
6. Always take a water/wind proof jacket with you. It can rain/blow even in the most unlikely places.
7. Always have basic medication with you to last two days. Someone is going to need it.
8. If in doubt, add more sun tan lotion. You get burned in the most unlikely places.
9. If in doubt, take the photo. You can always delete it later. Subrule: Upload the photos whenever you can. The next internet caf is likely to have a really slow connection
10. Finally a top tip for preventing “holiday hangover”: start planning your next trip while travelling. Even better if you can book it before you go!

P.S. Check out our 50 favourite photos from the trip

Back from down South

South America that is- Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru. 6 weeks of truly inspired travel, amazing sights, hairy bus rides, deadly rides….the blogging continued on another site…now I’m back, new flat, time to make money again…

More pics

The backlog is going up online at last – back in the land of fast connections, hurrah.

Final posts will be up later….cheers!

Lake Titicaca

We just got back from a cool trip on Lake Titicaca, the famous body of water that borders Bolivia and Peru. We took a boat out and visited the man made reed Islands of Uros, and then continued on to the lovely Island of Amantaní, where we stayed with a local family that put us up for the night.

Life is very basic on this island, but the people seem happy and are very hospitable. Our adoptive mother cooked us amazing local food in the most basic of kitchens, which would put most of us with our fancy kitchens to shame! We played football against the locals (not sure who won really), then we had a really fun dancing party in the evening where the locals dressed us up in traditional clothes for the occasion. The womens garments were really beautiful and colourful, whilst the men had to make do with ponchos (i quite liked mine) and those silly pointed woollen hats that abound in the Andes. We had a really good night, bit of wine and dancing with the locals to music from the local bands which included 2 kids from our family. 

The family we stayed with where really nice, and had 4 kids, including their 5 year old son Oscar who was a real character. It definitely was a worthwhile experience and once again showed us how different life can be around the world.

Now we are back in Puno, and the next stops will be Cuzco, the Amazon jungle and Machu Picchu – cant wait!