Travelling in South America - August 23rd to October 19th
We had spent a couple of months in the UK in July and August most of it rushing from one place to another and needed to be back there for a few weeks in October and November. Having sound reasons for not being in the UK more than 90 days in any one year we spent the intervening couple of months touring S.America. We chose S.America firstly because we hadn't been there and secondly because the weather should be good at that time of year. 

Wednesday 23rd August
London to Madrid
   Our South American trip started just a few days after the suspected terrorist plots disrupted London's airports and we were expecting all sorts of delays so had changed our flights to spend a night in Madrid rather than just the hour or so between flights we had originally scheduled. As it happened there were hardly any people at Heathrow's Terminal 2 and check-in and boarding were very quick. There are no direct flights to Quito in Ecuador from Heathrow so our options were to fly through Madrid, Amsterdam or airports in N.America. We had opted for Madrid. The flight arrived on time so after checking in to a hotel we had the traditional Spanish dish of paella for dinner before continuing on to Quito the following day.  

Thursday 24th August to Sunday 27th August 
Quito
   The flight to Quito was quite comfortable but boring. The hotel pickup at the airport worked well and we checked into the Cayman Hotel in Quito. The rooms were clean and neat and although fairly basic it had everything we needed. We spent Friday exploring Quito Old Town. There were many very ornate Spanish style churches and tiny hole-in-the-wall shops disappearing into buildings hiding small courtyards surrounded by shops and restaurants. All the people seemed pretty friendly and we had an interesting one-sided conversation with a shoe-shine boy who wanted to polish our trainers.
   On Saturday we took a car to the nearby town of Otavalo famous for it's enormous Saturday market. The market seemed to sell everything but had a large area devoted to local crafts. There were lots of ponchos both knitted and woven, hats and jumpers, paintings, jewellery etc all locally made. In another town nearby was a leather market with everything from coats, belts and wallets to saddles and bridles.

Sunday 27th August to Sunday 3rd September
The Galapagos Islands
Sunday
   Had an early start this morning to meet the Ecoventures rep at the airport to pick up our tickets. We were to fly from Quito to Guayaquil then on to San Cristobal in the Galapagos where we would pick up the cruise ship. Arrived about midday and met up with the guides from our tour boat the 'Flamingo 1'. There were 20 passengers altogether and 2 guides as well as the ship's crew. After the introductory chat we motored to a bay on the north side of San Cristobal. On the beach there were numerous sea lions lazing in the sun. We went snorkelling in the bay and were joined by the sea lions who just seemed to enjoy playing around us. The would swim straight at us blowing bubbles only changing direction at the last second. After leaving the beach we cruised slowly around a large rocky outcrop called Kicker Rock rising vertically to about 100 metres which was home to large numbers of blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, masked boobies, brown noddies and a few more that I've forgotten the names of.

Monday
Genovese Island
   The boat travelled overnight while we slept and in the morning we found ourselves anchored off Genovese Island at the north end of the Galapagos Islands. Ashore we found more sea lions (everywhere there are many many sea lions), red-footed boobies and frigate birds. The birds had no fear at all and didn't seem at all perturbed about having people just a foot or two away. The landscape is volcanic and very very dry. The only green is from a few mangroves and some faded cactus.
   On the afternoon walk there were many nazca boobies in evidence many with chicks from about 1 day old to almost full-grown. The vegetation looks like lots of dead trees but they are only dormant and waiting for the rains. There are also a few small marine iguanas on this island which grow to a maximum size of about 30cm.

Tuesday
Santa Cruz - North
   The landing this morning was on a sandy beach where great herons and pelicans were fishing at the edge of the water. A little way inland there are 2 lagoons where you can sometimes see flamingos feeding. Their diet consists of crabs and shrimps and these give the flamingos their pink colour.
Again we snorkelled from the beach. Despite being on the equator the water is very cold. The Humboldt Current flows up the South American coast from Antarctica lowering the sea temperature dramatically. Quite a change from the 28 - 30 degrees Celsius we get in Malaysia and Thailand. There is little coral but quite a few fish and always the chance of the occasional sea lion.
North Seymour
   There was quite a lot of wind this afternoon and a bit of a swell so our dry landing turned out to be very wet. The panga (or dinghy) was almost swamped and one of the party became quite distressed as we were clambering ashore. Once ashore we followed the designated path around the island seeing some large land iguanas (about 120cm or around 4ft from nose to the tip of the tail), blue-footed boobies and many frigate birds. This particular species (called Magnificent) has no set mating season so we saw them in all stages from males displaying their enormous red chest pouches to attract a female to pairs incubating eggs and young from hours old up to almost full grown. On the far side of the island was a relatively new lava field which was home to many birds. It dropped straight down to the sea so was a good place for birds hunting for fish. We were looking particularly for the short-eared owl which is camouflaged to blend into the terrain so is particularly difficult to spot but our sharp-eyed guide found one so we could tick that off the list.

Wednesday 
Isabella - Tagus Cove
   This is the largest of the islands and has 5 active volcanos. From the landing site it's possible to walk to a peak to view some of the volcanos. The landscape is quite barren on the slopes although the older areas have the same dormant bushes that we'd seen elsewhere. Along the coastline we could see pelicans, blue-footed boobies, galapagos penguins, pacific green sea turtle and the inevitable marine iguanas and sea lions.
Fernandina
   Here we found many marine iguanas lying in jumbled heaps all over the rocks. It is also the home of the flightless cormorant. These birds must have evolved from the common cormorant but there is so much food on the shore-line and no predators that the wings were no longer required and have all but atrophied.

Thursday
Santiago
   Here the marine iguanas have slightly different colouring because they feed on different algae. The sea lions are fur sea lions and choose to live on the lava rocks rather than the beaches. There are deep pools in the lava rocks where they play. This island has more vegetation than we have seen elsewhere and is home to the galapagos hawk, oyster catchers, numerous types of finch and 2 or 3 types of heron. While swimming and snorkelling the sea lions come out to play and pacific green sea turtles can be found grazing the algae on the rocks under the water.

Bartoleme
   Bartoleme gives us a good illustration of how the islands were formed showing different kinds of craters and landscapes formed by different kinds of lava flows. There is very little life on this island, just lava lizards, grasshoppers and the inevitable sea lions and penguins on the rocky shore.

Friday
Santa Cruz
   This morning we visited the Darwin Centre to learn about the giant tortoise captive breeding programme. Baby tortoises are raised here until they are 4 -5 years old when they are relatively safe from predators. Some adult tortoises remain in captivity for various reasons but as far as possible the young tortoises are returned to their natural habitat. On the higher areas of Santa Cruz where it is relatively damp there is enough vegetation to support a colony of tortoises so we were able to visit them in their natural habitat.

Saturday
Espanola
   We were able to snorkel around the rocks at Espanola. The water was pretty cold but quite clear and we were able to see turtles, sea lions feeding and playing, white tipped reef shark and some reef fish.
   The island has an impressive blow hole. Waves force their way into a small fissure then erupt 6 - 10 metres into the air. This island also has nesting albatross.

Sunday
San Cristobal to Lima
   We returned overnight to San Cristobal to be ready to leave in the morning. From the Galapagos we were heading to Lima so we had to catch a flight from San Cristobal to Guayaquil in Ecuador then an onward flight to Lima in Peru. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Lima at about 8:00pm. The city looked quite menacing in the dark. The drive from the airport took about 30 minutes or so and most of the city looked pretty drab and run down.

Monday 4th September
Lima
   Lima has some spectacularly ornate cathedrals and churches and quite an interesting changing of the guard ceremony outside the presidential palace. We only had one day there but we thought that was probably enough since we were quite keen to see the rest of the country.

Tuesday 5th September
Lima to Huarez
   The most common way of getting around Peru is by bus. There are numerous bus companies running long distance routes and the buses range from those with super-vip seats that go almost flat so you can get some sleep to fairly basic local buses with hard upright seats and not much leg room. The most well known company in the northern part of Peru seemed to be Cruz Del Sur. Their buses were comfortable and ran to schedule so that was our choice for the 7½ hour trip to Huarez. The bus left about 7:30am so we were there by mid-afternoon.

Wednesday 6th September to Friday 8th September
Huarez
   Huarez is about 3,100 metres above sea level. North of Lima it's the main centre for trekking in the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. Because of the altitude we had decided not to do any serious trekking here but did a tourist trip to some pre-inca ruins at Chavin and a short trek through a valley to see a lake.
   The ruins at Chavin are of a temple complex and include some galleries inside the temple buildings where historians think the priests and their families lived. Given that the ruins are some 3,000 years old they are in remarkably good condition.
   The trek started at about 3,800 metres and followed a river valley climbing up to a mountain pass with a lake at about 4,900 metres. We had some wonderful views of the snow-capped mountains of the Cordillera Blanca on the way up. The walk in itself would not have been a problem at sea level but at altitude it was quite hard going especially as we were not properly acclimatised and we both suffered from mild altitude sickness.

Friday 8th September to Saturday 9th September
Huarez to Nasca
   The next place on our itinerary was Nasca on the coast south of Lima. Getting to Nasca meant an overnight bus from Huarez to Lima then a second bus from Lima to Nasca. Overall it took about 15 hours including an hour and a half wait at Lima. From Huarez to Lima it was dark so we couldn't see much but from Lima to Nasca we excellent views of the landscape. Most of the trip was along the Pan-American highway which sounds a lot grander than it actually is but the landscape was desert pretty much all the way. The road followed the coast so we could see the sea on one side but the other side was sand dunes stretching into the distance.

Saturday 9th September to Sunday 10th September
Nasca
   The reason for stopping at Nasca was to see the famous Nasca Lines. Around Nasca is a vast stony desert plain and the lines are a series of geometric shapes, long straight lines and stylised animal figures created between about 500 BC and 700 AD. Because the area is so dry (annual rainfall is less than 1 mm) the lines are well-preserved. They were made by removing the rocks and topsoil from the surface leaving the lighter soil beneath. There are many theories about their purpose but as yet no-one knows for certain why they were made. Some experts think the straight lines were pathways to aquifers, others that the lines were walked in religious ceremonies to ask the gods to send water.
   To view the lines you can either climb a small tower at the edge of the desert which overlooks 2 of the figures or a much better way is to take a flight in a light aircraft over all the figures. They stand out quite clearly when viewed from the sky. The figure in the photo is about 200 metres from end to end.

Sunday 10th September to Tuesday 12th September
Nasca to Arequipa
   Nasca to Arequipa meant another overnight bus trip - we're getting used to them now. We got to the hotel at about 8:00am where there was a room waiting for us and a good breakfast. It was called the Colonial House Inn, fairly basic but quite adequate and close to the centre of town.
The most interesting building in Arequipa was the Santa Catalina Monastery (which is or was a convent). Present day nuns live in a small secluded part of the building which is closed to visitors but the rest of the old monastery gives a fascinating insight into their way of life. Some of the nuns came from very wealthy families and had their own cottages and servants to care for them. It was originally a closed order and nuns could only receive visitors on very special occasions and even then were separated from them by heavy wooden grilles.

Wednesday 13th September to Thursday 14th September
Colca Canyon
   From Arequipa we went on a tourist trip into the Colca Canyon which we were told is the deepest canyon in the world. The main reason for going was to see the canyon itself and to watch condors flying. The options were for a 2 day coach trip stopping at various villages, staying overnight in the main town of Chivay then up to see the Condors or a 3 day trek staying in mud floor huts. Since the landscape is hot, dusty, high and steep we opted for the coach trip.
   The condors are magnificent. They have a wingspan of up to 3 metres and soared above us on the updraughts from the canyon. The guide told us that when they think their time is up they simply suicide by diving from a great height straight down on to the floor of the canyon.

Thursday 14th September to Friday 15th September
Arequipa to Cusco
   We travelled on the overnight bus again from Arequipa to Cusco. The road was full of bends so we were rolled around a bit more than on the trip from Nasca to Arequipa.

Saturday 16th September to Monday 18th September
Urubamba
   We'd booked a 3 day horse riding trek in the Sacred Valley with a company called Perrol Chico. When we arrived at the ranch we found that the owner, Eduardo, specialised in breeding and training Peruvian Paso horses. These horses are bred to have a very smooth, high-stepping, running gait rather than the more normal trotting gait that we were used to. This made these horses very comfortable to ride and since they were top-class horses they were also very responsive. The first day was spent learning to ride the Peruvian way which was ideally suited for riding long distances. The horses were beautiful and by far the best horses either of us had ever ridden. The second and third days we spent riding up into the mountains and visiting some Inca sites. The horses were a joy to ride and Eduardo, his wife Maria and stable hands Erin, Jose and Walter did everything possible to make the whole experience very special.

Wednesday 20th September to Sunday 24th September
The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu
   We were collected from our hotel around 5:30am to join the other 10 trekkers, 2 guides, 17 porters and a cook then driven by bus to the start of the Inca Trail at km marker no 82 on the railway line from Cusco to Machu Picchu. The trek is 32 km altogether and takes just over 3 days to complete. We start at about 3,000 metres, climb to 4,200 metres on the second day then back down to about 3,000 by the time we reach Machu Picchu.
   The first days trekking was quite easy, mostly downhill walking. By the time we reached the camp site at about 4:00pm the porters had set up camp and greeted us with applause and cold drinks. The porters run the trail carrying about 20kg or more each so that they can have the camp all set up when the trekkers arrive.
   The camp was much the same each night and consisted of enough 4 man tents for each couple to share one, a long tent set up with benches and stools where our meals were served and another large tent used as a cook tent. Each camp site has a toilet block with a couple of sinks but for a long hot shower you have to wait until you get back to your hotel.
Meals were pretty good and servings were generous. I can't pretend to enjoy sleeping on a thin foam pad on the hard hard ground but the sleeping bags were quite cosy so we were warm.
   The second day was quite hard work. We were woken at 5:30am with a hot drink and after a substantial breakfast were on our way by about 6:30. All the walking was up. We had a climb of about 1,200 metres from 3,000 metres up to the pass at 4,200 metres. By the time we reached the top we were tired and breathless but jubilant at having completed the most difficult part of the trek.
   Day 3 was gentle ups and downs through the rainforest which was full of wild flowers. In places the path was quite steep and in the wet would have been treacherous. We reached the camp site late in the afternoon having passed many Inca ruins on the way.
   Day 4 we were woken at about 3:45am so that we could walk the last 2 hours and arrive at the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu as the sun rose over the valley. It almost turned into a race to reach the Sun Gate first. When we arrived at about 7:00am we had a superb view of the whole of Machu Picchu spread out below us with the sun's rays just creeping over the eastern edge.
   Having walked down to the ruins the trekking guide gave us a tour of the temples and royal palace then left us to explore for a couple of hours. The rest of the group were returning to Cusco that afternoon so didn't have much time to look around but we had decided to stay an extra day to give ourselves the opportunity to explore thoroughly. In the event this was the right thing to do - we were so tired by the time we arrived at Machu Picchu that we couldn't give it our full attention but the following day we were able to explore thoroughly and really appreciate it's wonders.
Much of the site is still the original stonework and some is reconstruction. It's possible to see how the buildings would have looked in their original state but difficult to know for certain the purpose and function of some of the buildings since the Incas had no written language and therefore left no records. The stonework itself is remarkable in that the stones were carved to fit together with no mortar and no gaps. The fact that much of the walls are still standing and some are in near-perfect condition is testimony to the skill of the Inca stonemasons.
   We returned to Cusco by train (there is no road) the evening of September 24th. Coming into Cusco was an interesting experience. Cusco lies in a basin surrounded by high mountains so for the train to get down into the town it's necessary to negotiate a series of hairpin bends. Now trains are not too good at hairpin bends so the solution was to build the track in a series of bends with a continuation of track at each 'corner' to allow the train to go forwards along one section, reverse down the next, go forwards along the next, reverse down the next and so on until it reached the bottom. An interesting and successful solution to the problem.

Wednesday 27th September to Monday 2nd October
Manu
   The Manu reserve is a conservation area in the Amazon jungle. A small section is open to organised tour groups. We travelled there in a 15 seater twin otter. The landing was a grass strip in a small area of cleared jungle. Our guide told us that in the past it was used by drug runners before drug trafficking in Peru was cleaned up a bit.
   From the airstrip we went by boat first along the Rio Madre de Dios, then the Rio Manu. The trip took about 6 hours but there was plenty to see on the way. The guide was pretty good and seemed very knowledgeable about everything we saw. The jungle camp consisted of a number of wooden platforms with thatched roofs each containing a good sized tent with comfortable beds (which was a relief after spending 3 nights sleeping on the ground on the Inca Trail). There was a shower and toilet block and a dining hut. The showers and toilets used river water which was very silty. The river was the colour of milk chocolate.
    We had a number of excursions into the jungle, some on foot and some by boat. During these excursions we saw, amongst other things, 4 or 5 different species of monkey including tiny tamarind monkeys which crept down the tree trunks to peer at us curiously. There were numerous birds some of which we recognised such as cormorants, egrets and herons and some of which we didn't. We also saw numerous caimans (like small crocodiles) and the largest rat in the world - the capybara (actually it's not really a rat but it is a close relative of rats and mice) which averages about 4 feet from nose to rump. It was scrabbling up the bank as quickly as it could to escape from us.
The guide was also very knowledgeable about the medicinal uses of some of the trees and also of the varieties we were likely to find. We discovered later that he used to be involved in research within the rainforest but later decided that he preferred to be a guide.
   The reserve is part of the Amazon Rainforest which stretches almost across the whole  width of S. America. After we left the reserve area we went to a clay lick frequented by parrots, parakeets and macaws. These birds gather at the clay lick in the early morning to eat some of the clay which provides them  with necessary salts. There were literally hundreds gathered on or around the area but they are very nervous because they are quite vulnerable while feeding on the clay and the slow flight past by a lone white egret was enough to frighten them all away.
   The last day was spent travelling to the town of Puerto Maldonado for our return flight. After travelling for some hours by river we transferred to a car. There were 6 of us squashed into one car for a long trip along a dusty unmade road - not the best part of the trip but the jungle experience was well worth it.

Wednesday 4th October to Friday 6th October
Puno and Lake Titicaca
   We went by train to Puno to make a change from the innumerable buses. The trip took about 10 hours but was quite comfortable and passed through some impressive scenery. It stopped for 10 minutes or so at the highest pass (La Raya at 4,000 metres) to give the local people a chance to sell souvenirs to the tourists. We arrived in Puno at about 6pm.
   The following day we took a trip on Lake Titicaca first to the man-made Uros islands then to the island of Taquile. The man made islands are constructed from reeds. Large chunks of reeds including the roots and soil are dug out of the reed beds and lashed together with nylon line. Layers of cut reeds are laid on the top until the island stands about 1 metre above the surface of the water. The whole thing floats in about 20 metres of water. About twice a month more reeds are laid on the top to maintain the surface. The houses are also made from reeds, the inhabitants use reeds for their beds and also eat the soft inner pith. They keep ducks and herons for food and catch fish in the lake. Anything else they need they barter for with the people from the mainland. Until recently they also used the reeds to make boats but now the reed boats are used mainly for tourists and the islanders use wooden boats.
   Taquile is a natural island, it's fairly dry and rocky but it is possible to grow food crops. We were given a demonstration of various crafts and a talk on how the people live. It's a very co-operative society. If a family has a big job which needs doing everyone helps out. There are about 2,000 people living on the island but as so often happens with traditional isolated villages the young people leave to work in the big cities and only return for family visits or special occasions.

Friday 6th October to Sunday 8th October
Puno to La Paz
   We went by bus from Puno to La Paz. The bus left Puno at about 7:30am and reached the Bolivian border about 10:30am Peru time (11:30 Bolivian time). There we had to get our passports stamped out of Peru, walk about 300 metres up the road under a stone archway into Bolivia then get our passports stamped into Bolivia. The bus was allowed into no-man's land where our bags were offloaded onto 2 minibuses. The bus then had to return to Puno and we were transported by minibus to Copacabana a few kilometres away. Once in Copacabana we had to wait 2 hours or so  for the Bolivian bus to take us to La Paz. There was quite a bit of chaos and confusion since there were too many passengers for the buses and 2 or 3 people ended up sitting with the driver while the bus boys sat on the floor. About an hour from Copacabana we had to cross a narrow strait over Lake Titicaca. This entailed all the passengers disembarking and crossing the lake on a small passenger ferry while the bus with our luggage on the top was gingerly loaded onto a very rickety wooden barge which rocked and rolled all the way across the lake. Eventually bus and passengers were reunited and we arrived in La Paz about 5:30pm.
   The city of La Paz is a vast sprawl of houses stretching along the floor and sides of a valley overlooked by snow-capped mountains. The population is about 1 million and most of the city seems to be a bit dusty and scruffy. The city centre is a mixture of old colonial buildings and more modern anonymous blocks. Our hotel was close to the area inhabited by the indigenous Aymara people and was made up of narrow streets full of little craft shops and brightly coloured market stalls. The day after we arrived we found stands and benches set up along the sides of the street in front of the hotel and discovered that there was going to be a fiesta. Preparations seemed to be going on for most of the afternoon and about 5:30pm the bands started playing and hundreds of people in brightly coloured costumes were dancing and spinning their way along the street. The processions lasted 2 or 3 hours and were followed by a street party that lasted well into the early hours of the morning.
   The next day we flew from La Paz to Sucre.

Sunday 8th October to Monday 9th October
Sucre to Potosi
Sucre was very different to La Paz. The old town centre was the original capital city and centre of government. Sucre is still the official capital of Bolivia but the centre of government is now in La Paz. The centre of the city is full of old colonial buildings and local law decrees that most of these buildings have to be painted white. It's a much quieter and less chaotic city than La Paz and seems to have a very large number of museums (as well as numerous churches as have all the cities we've visited).
   The main reason for stopping at Sucre was to visit the dinosaur tracks. Some years ago a local cement company discovered strange markings on the wall of it's quarry. These were later identified as dinosaur tracks. In pre-historic times the wall was a lake bed but has since been pushed into a vertical position when the Andes were formed. Currently experts have discovered tracks from over 600 species of dinosaur. The cement company have built a dinosaur park with life sized models of some of the dinosaurs. This seems to be an excellent way of bringing the whole thing to life especially for children.
   Having visited the dinosaur tracks we moved on to Potosi. We had been told there were no buses to Potosi in the afternoons so had booked a private car. Subsequently we found there were lots of buses. When we arrived in Potosi we found that the road leading to our hotel had been demolished in preparation for resurfacing and was totally impassable by car (in that there were great piles of rocks all over it) so we had to walk the last hundred yards or so.

Tuesday 10th October
Potosi
   In Spanish colonial times Potosi was one of the main sources of silver indeed the town is overshadowed by Cerro Rico - Silver Mountain. The silver was mined by the indigenous indians working in desperately poor conditions in which many thousands died. Now there is very little silver left but the mines are still worked by local co-operatives digging for zinc, lead, tin and what little silver is left.
   We visited one of the mines and after being kitted out in waterproof jacket and trousers, boots, helmet and light were led into the mines through a small tunnel. inside the tunnels were quite low and very narrow. There was enough width for a man with a wheelbarrow but not much more. Some of the tunnels were so low it was necessary to stoop to get through them. The miners work either singly or in small teams of 2 or 3 men following seams of ore in a rather random way. They earn about $6 for 18 barrowloads of ore bearing rock, each barrow weighing about 120 kg. Many of the miners suffer from silicosis because of the dust and of the 8,000 miners working in the mountain 1,000 of them are children. The tourists take in gifts for the miners usually a selection of coca leaves which they chew to dull the appetite and get them through the day, dynamite, cigarettes, raw alcohol - about 98% proof which they dilute with water and canned milk to help relieve the silicosis.
   In the afternoon we visited the now disused mint which has been turned into a museum. Coins were made here until about the mid 1950s when the mint was closed. Bolivian notes and coins are now minted in Europe because Bolivia is too poor to buy the sophisticated equipment necessary to make currency which is difficult to forge.

Wednesday 11th October to Friday 13th October
Potosi to Uyuni
   From Potosi to Uyuni we went by local bus. About half an hour out of Potosi the bus was stopped by the narcotics police. They searched the bus thoroughly opening and searching quite a few items of luggage then disappeared again. We arrived in Uyuni in the early evening to be met by the rep from the tour company we were going to be using. The big attraction of Uyuni is the salt flats. They cover an area of about 12,000 sq metres and the salt layer is up to 20 metres deep in some parts. In the distant past the salt flats were a lake but due to climate change the water in the lake evaporated and was not replenished leaving a vast expanse of salt.
   About 9:30 the following morning the our guide arrived at the hotel with a 4 wd, a cook and enough food for our 2 day trip. Our first stop was the railway cemetery. Bolivia used to have a rail network but over the years most of the lines have fallen into disuse and the trains and rolling stock have ended up rusting away at Uyuni.
   The next stop was the village which survives by processing the salt from the flats. The villagers scrape away the top surface of salt and bring it back to the village. The salt is left to dry in the sun then moved into a wooden trough where it is heated while being constantly turned by a worker in wellington boots, using a big spade. The purpose of the heating is to burn off the unwanted minerals and there is an acrid smell around the burning troughs. The residue is then ground to a fine powder, mixed with iodine then packed by hand into 1kg packets and distributed for sale in Bolivia. The villagers also make small items such as pots, candle holders and ash trays to sell to tourists. We then drove out onto the salt to a seemingly unending vista of dazzling white salt lake and deep blue sky. We were driven to one of the islands in the middle of the flats where our cook prepared lunch at a table made entirely of salt. The island was covered in the largest cacti we had ever seen. Some were over a thousand years old.
   We spent the night in a small village nestled under an extinct volcano on the far side of the salt lake and the next morning visited the remains of an ancient village overlooking what would have been an enormous lake. At the level of the lake under a rock overhang and enclosed by a rock wall was a burial area containing many bones and mummies.
   On the way back to Uyuni the guide stopped to show us what he called 'the eyes of the salt'. These are small broken patches where gas bubbles rise through the underlying water to bubble to the surface. They look like hot springs but the water is cold and the theory is that the gases come from beneath the circle of extinct volcanos around the lake.

Saturday 14th October to Monday 16th October
Back to La Paz
   Now we're on our way back. We have a couple of days in La Paz before returning to Lima then to the UK.
   Having a day or two to spare in La Paz we decided to do a mountain biking trip down what was advertised as 'the most dangerous road in the world'. The trip starts at a height of about 4,700 metres and for the first couple of hours the road is paved and mostly down with just a little bit of up. The next 3 hours is down an unmade road about a truck and a half wide full of hairpin bends with a sheer drop on one side. It's quite a busy road so the were frequent cars, buses and trucks squeezing past. Unfortunately the cloud base was very low so we had rain and fog for most of the trip and the dirt road quickly became a mud track but at least by the time we got to the mud track it was warm. When we started at the top it was so cold we quickly lost all feeling in our fingers. Despite being cold, wet and unbelievably muddy we had an exhilarating ride from 4,700 metres down to 1,100 metres and to cap it all just before we reached the stopping point the heavens opened and we were not just wet but absolutely drenched - but it did wash some of the mud off. Once the bikes had been loaded onto the van we were driven to the village of Coroico for showers and a hot lunch.

Tuesday 17th October to Thursday 19th October
La Paz to London
   Tuesday we started the long trip back to Heathrow. We went by bus from La Paz to Puno and had the same chaotic border crossing but in the town of Desaguerro instead of Copacabana. When we reached Puno the hotel we'd booked had obviously had a better offer and tried to tell us there was a poor sick woman in our room who couldn't possibly be moved. We'd had the same story from a hotel in Cusco so were somewhat sceptical but still had to find another hotel.
     From Puno it was an early morning taxi to the airport for the short hop to Lima then the much longer hop to Madrid then Heathrow.

Friday 20th October to Wednesday 15th November
UK
The reason for returning to the UK at this time was that Steve's daughter Louise and her husband Terry were expecting a baby so we couldn't possibly miss that. Baby Eleanor was born on October 12th weighing 5lbs 13ozs. We think she's very cute and wish Louise and Terry great joy with her.

Thursday 16th November
Langkawi
We returned to Carillon at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club to find her a bit musty but no major problems. We will be staying in the Yacht Club for a short time while we have the engine and generator serviced and a new sun cover made then we will go back to Thailand until about mid-March.