Graham Williams's Travel Writing

Hoi An and Hue - Vietnam

will — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:48:00 GMT

This week I entered Vietnam from Southern Laos, through the small border post of Bo Y, which has only recently been opened to foreigners. My bus then headed down highway 14 towards Da Nang following the valley of the PoKo River. I had heard that Southern Vietnam had been hit by Typhoon Ketsana at the end of September but I didn’t know that this area of the Central Highlands had been so badly affected. It was easy to see how high the river had risen and how torrents of water had poured down the hillsides and cut new channels along its banks, many of which looked like they had covered the road and gone through people’s houses. We crossed landslide after landslide, all of them now cleared but in a couple of places the road had completely disappeared, and we had to negotiate temporary roads bulldozed through the mud. It was still raining and all credit to the Vietnamese, the road was open and they were already rebuilding the missing sections but the people here really must have suffered.

My first destination in Vietnam was Hoi An, the historic trading town on the coast, whose centre has streets of wonderful old buildings, many made of wood. I’d met a couple of people who’d been in Hoi An when Ketsana came to call. The power was off and the town was flooded, not much new there I thought, as the last time I was here, fourteen years ago, I had to wade through a meter of water to get to a hotel and the power was intermittent. This time everything was fine, and whatever damage had been caused had been cleared up, although a lot of houses with corrugated roofs still had the sandbags on top of them which were used to hold them down. Hoi An was completely changed from when I was last here, the beautiful historic buildings were much the same, but there has been an explosion in the number of shops particularly, but also hotels and restaurants. If you have the cash you can stay and eat in some wonderful places. All these shops, particularly the tailors, rely on steady streams of tourists, most on packages and predominantly Australian who are bussed in from resorts on the coast. Walking up the street, the cries of ‘You buy something in my shop’ follow you all the way. All this commercialism doesn’t distract of the charm of the place, it is a lovely place to wander around and there a lot of very beautiful things to see. The waterfront now has rows of restaurants and when night falls and they’re all lit up, it’s very photogenic, and a great place to eat.

One thing that’s unique to Vietnam is that the cities don’t seem to have any kind of organized public transport system, there are no city buses. There are also very few private cars, instead everyone gets about either by cycle or by small motorbikes/mopeds, which throng the streets in their thousands. It’s like society had jumped a step, from no transport to private transport, missing out the publicly owned bit in between. What happened to communism? Everything can be carried by motorbike, usually with the driver holding on to it with one hand. I’ve seen pipes, metal rods, plate glass, five pigs (in metal cages), and to cap the lot, a motorbike carrying another motorbike and its driver. Interestingly for a developing country, Vietnam has a helmet law which is enforced and almost universally complied with. Another essential accessory, particularly for women are face masks (‘Hello Kitty’ masks being very popular) to keep out pollution, dirt, the sun and germs; swine flu is a continent wide obsession. Add sunglasses, and the city girls look like they’re all heading out to rob a bank.

My journey from Hoi An up to Hue took me past China Beach, which during the Vietnam War was the R & R ‘resort’ for American soldiers. Now it has been carved up into huge fenced off lots all with pictures outside of the luxury apartments that are going to be built there - For sales call the hotline number now !!!! A few of these behemoths are already been built and it’s clear to see that in a couple of years, China Beach will just be a wall of concrete. What would Uncle Ho have made of it all?

I passed through Da Nang which is a city made new, with lots of hotels and business centres and Hue is very similar, at least in the ‘New City’ which is on the southern bank of the Perfume River. The sights, the citadel and the Purple Forbidden City of the Vietnamese emperors is on the northern bank, and fourteen years ago this is where I spent all my time, I never had a reason to go to the southern bank at all. But now for travellers, the New city is the place to be, as most of the hotels, restaurants and travel agents are clustered in one area, with one street P.N.Lao as its centre. There’s even a backpackers hostel here with its residents permanently sprawled outside the entrance with beer bottles in their hands.

Hue is very flat and great city to cycle around. The size of the citadel is very impressive and easy to explore. Head out to its northern end, which has lots of lakes and a countryside feel about it, few tourists go there. When I went to the Forbidden City in 1995, the area you could visit was very small and there was little to see. Bombed to bits pretty much summed it up. Since then they’ve had the builders in with replica buildings constructed and more going up. Of course very little of it is authentic, but in a couple of year’s visitors with get a sense of the scale and grandeur of the original.

Just outside the citadel is one of Hues great institutions, Lac Thien, the famous restaurant where the owners are deaf and dumb. I went here in ’95, as did just about everybody as they were listed in the Lonely Planet guide, the only one in English at that time. Or I think I did as there were two restaurants next to each other then and outside one was a woman saying ‘Don’t go in there they aren’t the one in Lonely Planet, those people are just pretending to be deaf and dumb!’ Now there are three restaurants next to each other, all with similar names and all boasting the Lonely Planet quote ‘The food is awesom’. They also all have big boards outside listing all the guidebooks they are now in, which is pretty much all of them and have the same ‘world famous’ bottle opener, a piece of wood with a screw in it. Even though they are now a long way from where most travellers stay and eat they seem to be doing OK, and are even on the tour circuit. Two of the restaurants do seem to be owned by the same family, and the one I ate in did have a man who was dumb. Unfortunately, like so many places who are in all the books, they don’t have to try very hard and the food I ate there was pretty poor. So go and have a look, pick one of the three, have a drink opened with the famous bottle opener, but give the food a miss.

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Islands of the Mekong

will — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:21:00 GMT

Southern Laos used to be one of the backwaters of South East Asia and rarely visited by travelers. For me it was one of the few places in the region I hadn't been too but I’d seen pictures at a lecture some years ago of the rapids on the Mekong that looked well worth exploring, so I made a point of going there this time around.

Travel in Laos and Cambodia has changed a lot since I last visited these countries in the mid nineties. Road travel in both countries was still considered quite dangerous and you could only travel to certain ‘safe’ places. In Laos I traveled around by air. Not only is all that ancient history but the growth of transport links is way ahead of what is described in the guidebooks. It’s now possible to travel all over the region by VIP long distance buses and routes and border crossings that would have seen fanciful in the past are now wide open. It helps that many counties allow visas to be bought at border crossings allowing travelers to be more flexible.

I crossed from Ubon in Thailand to Paske in Laos buying a visa at the border (fees vary according to nationality). Of course as Laos was once part of the French Empire one of the first things I saw as a woman selling baguettes. From Paske I took a songthaew (a big pickup converted into a bus) to the town of Champasak. This involves crossing the Mekong on a ferry which was made of three boats nailed together with bits of wood. In Champasak there are various guesthouses and a new boutique hotel – the ‘Inthina Hotel’ (rooms $50 a night). Champasak is a small agricultural town, the reason to go there are the ruins of Wat Phou, which is a Khmer temple built before Ankor Wat. It is much smaller of course but it is very atmospheric as you climb a grand staircase up to a sanctuary built beneath a cliff face. There is also a very good museum, with some of the finer stone sculptures on display. Another pleasure is getting to the Wat, the 8 km cycle through the countryside with its backdrop of forest covered hills.

There are now well established mini bus links for travelers between Pakse and the Cambodian border and I took one down to Ban Nakasang, the main ‘port’ for the Mekong Islands.

At the most southern point of Laos the Mekong broadens out and splits up into what are known as ‘The 4000 islands’. Don Muang is the largest and the most developed but the two that attract the most visitors are Don Deth and Don Khone. Both these islands are now firmly on the backpacker itinerary and have both seen a lot of development.

Don Deth has the most guesthouses which stretch from its northern tip almost all the way around is shoreline to the south. Most of these have bungalows with either shared or en suite bathrooms and you pay for the comfort levels. In the cheaper places the water comes from the Mekong with squat toilets, some have fans. Very few places have 24 hour electricity and most places run generators from 1800 to 2200. Prices for rooms go from $2 to $12 per night depending on the amount of comfort. This may all change soon, as the islands have been wired up for mains power and there was talk of it arriving in the next month or so and this will probably lead to more facilities and higher prices. Don Deth is where most people stay and it the northern tip is the party place. A few places have slow and pricy internet connections. (I’m writing this in Pakse).

Don Khone is the larger island but is much less developed. The two islands are connected by a bridge built by the French in the 1920’s for a railway line the remains of which run across both islands. This was built to by pass the rapids and most of the guest houses and restaurants cluster around the bridge at the northern end. This is where I stayed as it’s quieter and more laid back than Don Deth.

Most guesthouses rent out bikes although the islands are small enough to explore on foot. Don Deth is very rural, mainly paddy fields, the homes of the local people are scattered amongst the guesthouses. Most of Don Khone is forested with only the northern tip cultivated and most of the population live in villages at the north and south of the island. One way to see a cross section of the islands is to walk or cycle the railway line.

Located at the north west edge of Don Khone is what I had really come to see, the Li Phi Falls. Falls doesn’t really describe them, they are more like grand rapids and although there is a good viewpoint they actually extend far further than you can see. They are impressive. On the other side of the island are more rapids, which are even bigger but few people make the trip out to see them as they are much less accessible and difficult to see. Here local fishermen have built massive fish traps where tons of fish are caught when the river reverses it flow in June and July. If you’re really keen (like me) you can take a trip out to the Khong Phapheng Falls downriver which are even bigger.

The islands are one of those places where people just keep on extending their stay, they’re great places to hang out. Moving on is pretty easy too, most guesthouses and restaurants sell bus tickets, and from here you can get a bus to anywhere in Laos south of Vientiane, to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap (one and half days away) in Cambodia and even Bangkok. So if you are traveling in this region make time to see the Mekong islands, it’s worth the effort.

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Khao San Road - Bangkok

will — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:29:00 GMT

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Many travelers have mixed feelings about Khao San Road, the travelers ‘district’ in Bangkok. Its not the real Bangkok, its tawdry and commercial and is pitched only at the Westerns who are just passing through. It’s fairly unique though, I can only think of Themal in Katmandu and maybe parts of Cusco that have such an enclave that is pitched only at travelers.

For myself I’ve always rather liked it, when I was traveling around Asia in the mid nineties I used it as a base, visiting Laos, Burma, the Philippines and other parts of Thailand from there. It was familiar, the Thais in my regular hotel and eating spots knew me, and after spending time in places like Manila, it felt very safe. Khao San Road isn’t a destination, it’s a base camp, somewhere you can get things done; stock up on books, catch up on the news and then head off. This is where trips and adventures being. A few years I was in a travel agency in Copenhagen where they had a live web cam to Khao San, it was evening, people were walking about. I couldn’t imagine a stronger inducement to hand over the cash and run to the airport, I wanted to be there right then.

I was last here in 1998 and arriving here again was quite a shock, I was totally unprepared for the amount of change that had occurred in the intervening years. I could barely walk down the road the evening I arrived, the place was heaving with people, the street is a good as predestinated now, and closed off to most traffic. Chelsea and Liverpool were playing, and every bar was showing the match, which was also displayed on giant screens so every passerby could watch. In the past I’d always stayed at the back of Wat Chana Songkhram, a quiet area with a few guest houses and eating places. The road to it, Soi Ram Bhuttri, was even quieter, which made my shock even greater. The Soi and the whole area has become an extension of Khao San Road, huge bars, blaring music, hawkers’ stands, new restaurants and hotels, buildings completely demolished and rebuilt. There is even a British café that specializes in Fish and Chips and pies. I was stunned.

What’s interesting is that the people have changed too. The Road is filled with young Thais in the evening, looking for bargains, a night out, cheap drinks and some fun. There are more Asians too, Chinese and Koreans and even a few Africans milling about. You can even spot the occasional grey haired hippy no doubt thinking the whole place has gone to the dogs.

One group that has really arrived are the Indians, who run the tailors shops on every street corner and like to hustle, ‘You look in my shop’ or ‘A suit for you today’. The will do a complete outfit, suit, shirt and tie for $100, which reminds of one classic line from a Hong Kong guidebook, that a suit made overnight is going to look like a suit made overnight. What is completely new is that they also run restaurants, which seem to be popular with the Thais but are a little overpriced for the backpacker market.

Most people go to Khao San for the cheap hotels, a chance to eat some Western food, in addition to the banana pancake places,Starbucks, Macdonalds and Burger King have all arrived, and to buy cheap goods. The counterfeit knock off culture is alive and well with phony branded clothes, DVDS, CDs and general tat. There are more hawkers, ladies dressed in Andean costumes prowl the streets with jewelry and carved frogs, which make a kind of croaking sound with the back is rubbed, which of course they do endlessly and men walk around flashing laser pens. It seems that many people don’t leave without having a least one tattoo.

At night it’s all very loud, a real assault on the senses. Music blares from bars, people thrust placards in your face, cheap drinks, strong cocktails. People walk about with beer bottles in their hands. Men in Fez’s try to persuade you to visit their Moroccan restaurant. One common placard is one for a fish massage, called icthyotherapy. This is where you put your feet in a trough full of small fish who then nibble your feet and eat all the dead skin, apparently it tickles. In the bars the girls all wear branded cocktail dresses, and each tries to outdo the others in selling more of the beer brand that’s on their dress. I’ve never stayed up long enough to see when it all stops, but many places boast of being open 24 hours a day. Because it is so hectic few bars and cafes show movies anymore, which used to be a mainstay attraction.

One oasis of peace still remains and that’s the Wat Chana Songkhram, a beautiful Wat and seminary, which is now completely surrounded by commercialism. A few noodle stalls and T shirt sellers have got a foothold at one end but otherwise it’s very quiet. In the past the Wat was a refuge for unwanted animals, including at one time an emaciated pony that could barely stand up and a pack of mangy dogs, some of whom were down to their bare skin and still scratching away. It would have been a mercy to put them all down and maybe someone did because apart for a couple of dogs, they’ve all gone.

So love it or hate it, its worth seeing once, if only to buy some cheap clothes, buy a bus ticket or just to watch the people go by. It’s no longer purely for travelers, if anything the Thais and other foreigners are taking over, but as a traveler’s district – it’s still pretty unique.

Back to Malaysia

will — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:30:00 GMT

In the mid nineties I traveled all over South East Asia passing through Malaysia several times and I managed to explore most of the country including getting over to Borneo. It has always been a favorite of mine, a mix of cultures with a positive feel to it, although most travelers just pass through, regarding it as expensive and not that interesting. I was last here in 1998, when the roaring of the Asian tigers was muted as they were going through the Asian financial crisis at the time, a local version of what we are all now experiencing. Abandoned building sites were fairly common, as the money ran out. Returning this week after eleven years I was eager to see what had changed.

Zooming into the city from KL Airport on the super fast express train, you do feel that you’re in a country that’s still going places. Out of the window we pass by palm oil plantations and the odd stands of forest and bananas, watered by big brown rivers. Mixed in with all these are developments, huge apartment blocks, some of them twenty to thirty stories high, have been built with new ones being added. For some reason in a country that has a lot of land in proportion to its population, these monoliths are all clumped together, so a group of them probably contain the population of a small town.

Beside the railway you also see brightly colored buildings, Chinese and Hindu temples, and the more subdued mosques. Malaysia has a mix of races that all seem to get along together, although this has not always been the case. As a traveler it’s difficult to tell what tensions lie under the surface, but it has always appeared to me to be a tolerant place, it certainly makes it colourful.

As the train approaches Kuala Lumpur, their big ass status symbol appears on the horizon, the Petronus towers, the largest buildings in the world. This is Malaysia’s statement – we have arrived and if the number of new apartments still going up is anything to go by, the country continues to boom on.

In KL itself, little seems to have changed. Malaysia has a distinct smell, it’s the smell of spices, very subtle, not overpowering, mixed with cloves, again not too much; almost as it has just wafted over from Indonesia. The train station is filled with little kiosks piled up with goods, and the buildings are dimly lit, as if they couldn’t find any higher wattage light bulbs. I find my hostel in Chinatown, which is as hostels always seem to be in this country, tiled floors, no windows, a fan and nothing on the walls.

The night market in Chinatown has changed very little, although they do seem to have built a roof over it but very high up, so you still feel as if you are outdoors in a street and not in a building. Stalls are piled high with counterfeited goods, clothes, DVD’s,CD’s, watches and bags; though the software hawkers seem to have gone. Waiters try to hustle into their restaurants to drink their overprice beer, all is noise and bustle.

But it’s the little things that bring it all back, the chopped up fruit sold by the bag with a cocktail stick to eat it with, fried rice with a fried egg on top for breakfast. People walking by with plastic bags of Milo, the chocolate drink; yes - this is a familiar place.

There are some changes, Starbucks and Nandos have arrived as has Macdonalds, which were here before but now seem to be on every street corner. People use them for directions - turn left at Macdonalds, after all you can hardly miss them. Also continuing their plan for world domination, Tescos has arrived big time; their own brand products are omnipresent.

Travelling up to Georgetown, the Malaysians don’t seem to have a problem with their colonial past so haven’t gone in for renaming places, the countryside seems much as I remember it. There are still quite large stands of wild looking forest at the side of the road, mixed in with the palm oil plantations. As we pass towns, more of the high rise apartments are going up everywhere. On the outskirts of towns cookie cutter estates are being built for the middle classes which to a western eye these look rather soulless places, as the developers forgot to plant any trees or gardens.

When I tell people I haven’t been here for eleven years they all say, you must have noticed a lot of changes. Well the answer to that is no. Some new buildings have gone up, but where in the world haven’t they? It’s not the swanky new buildings that make a country, its the people, the smells and the small everyday things. I wonder if this will continue to be the same, as I make my way up the peninsular to the countries further north.

More Travel Writing

will — Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:15:00 GMT

I have created a second blog at TravellerWill which is for shorter pieces of travel writing and general thoughts. Take a look. On my forthcoming trip to South East Asia I shall be jumping between blogs, with the World Nomads blog being reserved for the meatier stuff.

Frey Bentos

will — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:41:00 GMT

Years ago, when I was first planning my trip to South America I was looking at a map and saw that on the Argentine/Uruguay border was a small town called Frey Bentos. A name from past, when corned beef was a staple part of the British diet but one still found on supermarket shelves. It’s always interesting to discover a town which gave its name to a brand, so when I was in Uruguay I thought go and see what was there.

Frey Bentos itself is a quiet, pleasant town on the banks of the Rio Uruguay and it is named for its connections to the meat industry because on its outskirts is probably the biggest industrial archaeology site in South America – the Anglo meat packing works.

This massive complex of industrial buildings was a company town, complete with workers houses, grander dwellings for the managers, a hospital, a football club and even a golf course. The factory, which was one of the first industrial concerns in South America and was originally set up in the 1860’s by a German to produce a meat extract from Uruguayan cows, whose carcasses had until then been dumped, after their hides were taken for leather. The Liebig Extract of Meat Company was set up with British money to render down the meat to a product known to the world as OXO; and in 1873 it also started producing corned beef.

It is now possible to visit and tour the buildings which have been pretty much left as they were when the plant shut in 1979. An excellent museum has been created in the former abattoir, which displays the history of the site with a particular focus on the immigrants from all over the world who worked there. The captions in the museum are in Spanish but there are examples of wonderful old ads and Fray Bentos tins. In its heyday the plant employed 4000 workers and processed 400 cows an hour, as well as thousands of sheep, pigs and chickens; as the site is next to the Rio Uruguay, ocean going ships could take the products directly to Europe and the US.

I had my very own guided tour around the buildings (in Spanish only), which are much as they were when production stopped. None of the big machines have been removed and the huge compressors for the refrigeration plant and the meat cookers have just been left as they were. In one room thousands of meat hooks were piled up. There were separate walkways for cows and sheep, where they had a shower to clean them up before they were killed. In the factory’s switch room are banks of ancient electrical equipment, all imported from Great Britain and down at the riverside, were cranes and an old pumping house that brought water up to the plant from the river, all the machines British made. One massive building stored the carcasses ready to be shipped out; this was usually staffed by Russians and Scotsmen as only they could put up with the cold. Also on show are the company offices, which look perfect, if somewhat old fashioned, as if the workers had just popped out for a fire drill.

After being taken over by a British firm in 1924 and renamed the ‘Anglo’ the factory was expanded (helped along by the jump in demand during the two World Wars) to produce cheap meat for the world, which it did until 1979, when it finally closed. Britain’s entry into the EU effected sales and in 1971 the plant was given to the Uruguayan Government, who closed it in 1979. By that time it had become obsolete and unable to compete with modern Brazilian plants.

I visited the plant in 2006, but in October 2008 a Brazilian meatpacking company, Marfrig, reopened part of the factory and is exporting corned beef again. It has a much smaller capacity and only employs 100 people. I imagine the museum is still open to visitors if not the tours and if you are in the area, it’s very worth while checking out.

View Pictures here.

Trekking in Western Crete

will — Wed, 5 Aug 2009 00:50:00 GMT

One of my favourite places to trek in Europe is around Loutro a village/resort in district of Sfakia on Crete’s South Coast. It nestles around a small bay, the only natural harbour on the South Coast and there has been a settlement here since Roman times. Nowadays only a few hundred people live here, and the place is almost deserted in the winter months. One of Loutros main attractions is that you can only get there by foot or by boat, the foothills of the Lefka Ori - the White Mountains, rise up directly behind the village, effectively cutting it off. As well as making it a very quiet and pleasant place, it is convenient base for some great trekking, particularly as it’s on the E4 trans European walking path. I have been coming here since 1988, walking my favourite routes many times as well as exploring the rest of the E4 and the Lefka Ori.

I have described some of easier trekking routes around Loutro, which I first wrote up for the Lonely Planet guide to Crete (3^rd and 4^th editions) but I have expanded and revised these online versions.

Two Easy Walks

Loutro has a small pebbly beach which can get quite crowded at weekends. Luckily there are here are two good beaches to the west and east of Loutro, both about an hours walk away. Both have small tavernas where you can food and drink, and have a boat service to Loutro if you can’t face the walk back, which is how the majority of visitors get to and from them.

Loutro to Marble Beach (Marmara Bay)

Marble Beach is a small beach at the mouth of the Aradhena gorge which lies 3 km to the west of Loutro and takes about an hour to walk to. There is almost no shade on the trail but there are places to stop and get drinks. The route starts in ally next to the Hotel Dhaskaloyiannis, in Loutro and climbs up to a gate and the top of the headland. To your right are the ruins of the sizeable Venetian fort. The Venetians scattered forts all along this coast the remains of which can be discovered in even very remote spots. The headland jutting in to sea is the site of ancient Finikas, a major town in Roman times, but there is nothing left to see now.

Bare left and follow the signs to Phoenix, note the black and yellow paint marks and poles which waymark the E4 path. Walk over the top of the headland bearing west until you are looking down on the next bay which contains the small settlement of Phoenix. The route now descends down a rough path to a junction with a sign to Phoenix. Take the right hand path that goes around the houses and which leads up to a dirt road. Cross the road and head up hill to the corner of a fence where there is a path junction with a very battered sign to Livaniana, which is the village you can see on the hillside above you. Bare left and head towards the gate in the fence.

The route descends down to Likos which is just a few houses, and is the place to stay if you want to get away from it all. You may be surprised to see a few cars here and in Finix. Roads were pushed through from Anopoli in 1996 which has led to some development particularly in Finix, although it must be a nerve racking drive and not the place to bring the hire car.

The trail now passes by the tavernas on the beach, including one called the ‘Small Paradise’ which is lovely spot for a drink. Walk past the last house and head towards the large cave and black/yellow paint markers at the end of the beach. You now climb up to a rock arch, care is needed here as the rock is very polished, (especially if you are coming the other way) and the easiest way not always apparent. Walk on with care as there is sheer drop to the sea on your left.

Shortly afterwards there is another short climb, then the path begins to open up. You will pass a junction with a path on your right which goes up to Livaniana, you continue on until you reach an open hillside. The path then descends easily, down to Marble Beach.

The beach is fairly small and pebbly but it’s a great place to swim. There are caves to explore and an area of rock beside the main beach is colonised by nudists. You can rent sun lounges and umbrellas and when you’ve had enough of the beach you can retreat to taverna on the headland above which does very good meals. You can even stay here in their very simple (no electricity) rooms. There is regular boat to take people back to Loutro each afternoon, if you don’t want to walk back.

Loutro to Sweetwater Bay

This is a very easy walk with no climb involved, about 3km distance and which takes about an hour. The path begins on the eastern edge of Loutro, ask for directions for the path as it starts behind the houses. You should end up at a gate with a small shrine and goat pen just beyond it. This is also the junction for the walk up to Anopoli. You are walking directly ahead along the coast, a little further on the path has a short climb up over a small spur at the bottom of which the village burns some of its rubbish.

Continue on for about an hour, the path is obvious all the way along. At one point it descends to the sea and a small beach if you fancy a swim. Just before it reaches Sweetwater the path crosses a headland with the small church of Timios Stavros on it. The concrete benches are for when people come here on his feast day. The path then descends steeply to the bay.

Sweetwater Beach is so named because there is fresh(ish) water here but you have to dig for it, as it’s around half a meter down. You will see rock pools that have been dug out by the semi permanent residents who live here, they are quite possessive of their water so don’t stick your water bottle in their pools. The beach is all pebbles and there is very little shade, though the taverna now rents out umbrellas. It’s also a nudist beach, so feel free to take your clothes off. Because there is water here, some people live on the beach all summer long, heading into Loutro of Sfakia only for provisions.

Try to avoid being too close to the cliff face, as stones do come down, particularly if it’s been raining and in the Spring and Autumn. One local told me that people run along this beach if they have to come this way out of season, because of the risk of falling rock.

When I first came here in 1988, an English man was selling food and drinks out of a cool box; by the mid nineties a hut was built on a concrete block which is still there selling drinks and simple meals. There is also a regular boat service to Loutro, which leaves in the late afternoon.

If you want to continue onto Sfakia, pick up the trail at the end of the beach. The path now continues across a large rock fall, which involves some climbing around, although it is waymarked. The route then climbs upwards until you are walking on ledge which has been cut out of a cliff face. Soon afterwards you join the tarmac road that goes up to Anopoli from Sfakia. Sfakia is 2.5km further on along the coast. Loutro to Sfakia, non stop will take about 2hrs.

Loutro to Marble Beach via Livaniana (3 ½ hours) 6.5 kms.

An alternative route from Loutro to Marble Beach that goes via the small mountain village of Livaniana and the lower reaches of the Aradhena gorge. This walk takes around 3 ½ hours and is 6.5 km long.

Take the path beside the Hotel Daskalogiannis up to the Venican fort. Follow the yellow/black E4 paint spots over the headland to Phoenix. As you descend there is a sign to Phoenix, take the right hand path that goes around the houses. Cross the dirt road and head directly up the hill towards Livaniana in the distance. At the top of the hill there is a junction with one path signposted to Livaniana. Follow the blue paint marks, the path now heads uphill and crosses the road again before entering a small gorge.

The old mule path then traverses up the gorge and links up the road again on the outskirts of the village. (One hour) 200 meters on is a simple taverna that sells cold drinks.

When I first passed through Livaniana in 1989 the village falling into ruins and was only inhabited by a few old people who moved like black ghosts amongst the derelict houses. All the young people had left for the towns. It’s notable feature was the remains of an enormous olive press, which is still there. In 1996 the road to the outside world arrived and this has allowed some redevelopment like the taverna and renovation of some of the houses.

To continue, walk past the taverna and up the hill into the village aiming for the church at the top. Walk past the church, following the blue spots to a fence where there is a sign pointing to Marble Beach and Anopoli. Follow the sign to Marble Beach, the blue spots will take you around the field and along the edge of the old olive terrace. After 100 meters you come to a gap in a fence, from where you can look down into the Aradhena Gorge.

The olive terraces you now see before you are hundreds of years old and from these generations of villagers extracted a living. After been nurtured by tens of thousands of hours of back breaking work, they have now been left to nature.

Turn left and follow the blue paint beside the fence, the path then lead you down towards the floor of the gorge. (35 mins) At one point you are directly under the gorge wall so watch out for falling stones and hurry through this section. If you look above you, you may see Bonelli’s Eagles riding the thermals. These large raptors nest on the gorge walls in this area and are commonly seen.

At the bottom there is sign up to Livaniana, beside a large tree. Turn left here down the gorge towards the sea and Marble Beach. After a few minuets you will pass a trough where you can collect water. The route now crosses an area where the gorge is filled large boulders. Often the path is not obvious but if route seems particularly difficult, then you have probably gone the wrong way. At one point the path reaches a sheer drop and turns left through some trees. Red and blue waymarking paint spots mark the way, with the red being the most reliable. As the path levels out it passes close to a sheer cliff, again move quickly here as there are goats above who can dislodge rocks; you will pass the remains of goats which have fallen off. The last few hundred meters are flat and easy and you then arrive at Marble Beach and its welcome taverna. 1 ½ km (45 mins).

To return to Loutro, follow the E4 path that starts behind the beach and the yellow/black paint spots. After half an hour you reach the hamlet of Likkos. Walk through the tavernas then follow the path (blue paint spots) which lead over the headland where you meet the path to Livaniana.

Loutro to Anopoli and the Aradena Gorge. 7km (9km if walking back to Loutro on the E4) (5 – 6 hrs).

A strenuous, full days walk, which takes in an authentic country village, and spectacular gorge with a beach at the end of it.

Make an early start (I usually get going about 0700) as all the hard effort is at the beginning, a 680 meter climb from the sea up to the plain of Anopoli. The path starts behind the Kri Kri taverna in Loutro, follow the path up to a fence with a new metal gate. On the other side is small shrine and goat pen. A path continues along the coast which leads to Sweetwater Bay (see Two easy routes). You turn left here and follow the good path which traverses back and fro across the hillside. After twenty minutes you will reach a junction by a small gorge, this path leads to Phoenix, you bare right here and continue climbing. Your objective is the small chapel you can see high above you.

After one hour you reach a dirt road with bee hives on it, cross it and keep going until you meet it again higher up. Then turn right and walk 100 meters until you reach a cistern on your left where you pick up the path again. At this point I am usually racing to beat the sun which is just over the horizon.

When walking this route in Summer 08 a new development was a goat fence that had been strung across the path. Turn left when you meet it and continue up the hill on a newly made path which soon reaches the original path higher up, turn left again when you reach it. Continue walking up, you are aiming for the point below the walled compound you can see above you. At the top (1 ½ hours, 4.7km) you have a fantastic view of the coast and the plain of Anopoli with the Lefha Ori mountains behind. Follow the tarmac road, which leads to the town square at the centre of Anopoli. (20 mins, 800 meters)

Anopoli is a small country town which sees few tourists. This is a place where you will still see old men dressed in black with large boots and hair nets, although they are dieing out fast. There are a couple of tavernas where you can get a simple breakfast and stay the night if you really want to get away from it all.

The easiest way to get to the Aradena gorge is simply to follow the road. Walk on following the road sign to Aradena. You soon reach the hamlet of Aghios Dhimitrios which has a shop and small guest house. Walk through the hamlet, the road soon switches back on itself by a large sheep fold.

Just as the ruins of Aradena come into view. 1 ½ kms (20 mins) look for a small charin and path on the right side of the road marked with faded blue spots. This is just after a bend. Walk along the path, it points directly at Aradena, until you reach a small shrine and the start of the path that traverses down into the gorge. Until the bailey bridge was built in 1986, the only way to get to Aradena and Ayios Ionnis further on was to walk down into the gorge and up the other side. The bridge is now used for bungee jumping.

At the bottom of the gorge turn left and walk on passing under the road bridge which is 130 meters above you. After 20 mins you will reach a wooden fence and the start of a staircase cut into the side of the gorge, complete with handrail - follow it with care as the path is not in good condition. After 300 meters you descend into the gorge again.

In the past the Aradena Gorge was a tough proposition as getting around this section meant scrambling using fixed ropes and ladders. The staircase was built in the mid nineties to make it more accessible, with the aim of popularising it for groups, which has not really happened because of poor transport connections, you still have a fair hike when you get to the bottom. Thankfully Aradena is still a wilderness walk, unlike the Imbos gorge near Sfakia which when I first did it in the late eighties was rarely walked. Now it is an ‘alternative’ Samaria, with ticket offices, a collection of tavernas at the bottom and coach loads of walkers marching down it every day.

Continue down the gorge following the cairns and faded red paint spots as the path passes over rock falls. Just before an area of vegetation you will see blue paint marks which indicate a path up to Livaniana and on right side of the gorge the same blue paint marking a path up to Aghios Ioanis. Walk on down the gorge until you reach a second junction just below a hillside with olive terraces. There is a large tree here and a sign for the taverna in Livaniana, which is above you.

Walk on and after a few minuets you will pass a trough where you can collect water. The route now crosses an area where the gorge is filled with large boulders. Often the path is not obvious but if route seems particularly difficult, then you have probably gone the wrong way. At one point the path reaches a sheer drop and turns left through some trees. Red and blue waymarking paint spots mark the way, with the red being the most reliable. As the path levels out it passes close to a sheer cliff, again move quickly here as there are goats above who can dislodge rocks; you will pass the remains of those who fell over. The last few hundred meters are flat and easy and you then arrive at Marble Beach and its welcome taverna. The gorge length is 5.5km from the bridge to the sea and the walk should take 2 to 2.5 hrs.

If you got up early, after a swim it’s probably time for lunch. A boat from the taverna backs to Loutro in the late afternoon or you can walk back, see Two easy routes.

Practicalities

Crete is a tough environment, particularly in summer, which in many ways is part of its appeal. Most of these routes are fairly rugged and it helps to have a decent pair of boots. Although on these treks you are never to far from civilisation you must carry some water, I work on an average of one litre per hours walking. You can usually buy more along the way. Also essential is a hat and plenty of blocker. Try and get the climbs done as early in the day as possible, slogging up in the midday sun is no fun.

Try and tell somebody, such as your guest house owner, where you are going and when you expect to be back. A twisted ankle could be a major problem if you run out of water. On some routes like Aradena don’t expect too many people to be passing by.

Maps. Maps of Greece used to be a state secret as they always imagined that the Turks would use them to invade the country. With the advent of Google Earth you can count the hangers at the Air Force base in Chania, making restricting maps a bit pointless. The Greek map publisher Anavasi now covers the Lefka Ori on three excellent maps to a scale of 1:25,000. On one side is a topographic map and on the reverse the same area showing the trekking routes including distances and walking times. The routes above are all covered on sheet 11.11. These maps can be bought locally or from Standfords in London.

GPS. The Anavasi maps use the Greek Geodetic Reference System. I took a GPS unit to Crete for the first time this year and tried to set my unit up to use the Greek system. This is extremely complicated (even with expert advice) and I didn’t manage to do it. Of course you can still use the lat/long coordinates and they are marked on the maps. On the walks described, a GPS really isn’t necessary, a good eye for the path most trodden and paint spots are a better instrument for finding the way ahead.

See pictures of landmarks along the route

Tunisia

will — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:35:00 GMT

Unusually for me I have just visited Tunisia on a package tour, the first bucket and spade package I’ve ever been on. Convenience and cost were a factor of course plus the fact it was a new country only 2 ½ hours flying time away; but Tunisia has been on my ‘to see’ list for a long time, and it was a good opportunity to see the sun before winter began in earnest at home, which it did the following week.

Arriving at night you are soon aware that you have arrived in a developing country. The bus takes you through streets with flats made of poured concrete with the washing hanging up in the windows, and the streets are shuttered up and deserted. The only people about are men sitting out in front of cafes, which are just a bare rooms filled with plastic tables and chairs, just as they do all around the Mediterranean. On the roads there are lots of police, hanging around roundabouts and junctions, stopping cars at random. Large areas of blackness separate the housing blocks.

But Tunisia is very civilised. One surprise is how very French it is. Even though the colonial masters have been gone for 52 years, everyone speaks French to some degree, all the signs are in Arabic and French, as are all documents. And as in every former French colony I’ve been to, from Vietnam to Senegal, in the early morning people walk back from the bakers - carrying baguettes.

It also appears a very tolerant place, Islam is very unobtrusive here. There are mosques of course but apart from the odd minaret, one is unaware of them. The Adhan – the call to prayer is seldom heard and there isn’t the sunset ‘prayer rush’ that you see in other Muslim countries. The dress code for women seems to be pretty much up to them, from completely covered up, to West European. The older people wear traditional dress, women in brown robes with a headscarf, men dark jackets usually, but a few old men wear jelibias with the Tunisian fez, a blood red colour but more of a felt cap than the more traditional ‘bucket’ type fez seen in the rest of the Middle East.

I imagine that this tolerance comes from Tunisia being a truly rainbow nation. The descendents of slaves brought from across the Sahara have mixed their genes with the Mediterranean peoples, including the Phoenicians who came originally from the Levant, to produce a mix of colours from completely black or white to all shades in between.

I was staying at the beach resort of Hammamet, and made a couple of excursions out to Tunis, the capital, which is only an hour away by local bus. The motorway passes through a lot of vineyards, for a Muslim country Tunisia produces a lot of wine, another legacy of the French and their Rosé is pretty good. Along the way a old woman herding a flock of sheep along the hard shoulder - the traffic didn’t slow down for a moment.

Arrival in Tunis and you know you are in a developing country, the smell of low grade petrol and lots of battered yellow taxis, all French models of course. Surprisingly the taxis not only had meters that worked and which were used but the speedometers were connected!

The centre of Tunis has two distinct parts, the medieval medina and the new French city. The medina really was an unexpected surprise, as interesting and colourful as any others I’ve seen in the Arab world. The tourist tours to Tunis from the coast consist of half day ‘shopping trips’ to the Medina, where groups of tourists are herded around the streets that surround the Great Mosque (which you can look into, mornings only). The stalls sell the usual tourist fare, jewellery and handicrafts and after a while you realize that most of the shops are selling pretty much the same stuff.

If you get away from the ‘shopping streets’ and head into the souks around them, then you discover a vibrant community where people have lived and worked for centuries. Tucked up small alleys are artisans making furniture and jewellery in simple workshops, herbalists hang their wares outside their shops, all of which are tiny; and everything else that people need to live, the butchers, bakers, and the rest are scattered down the narrow lanes. The streets are so narrow many are built over, forming arcades, rather like an enclosed village and as no vehicles can get down them, everything is delivered by barrow boys. Tucked away are small community mosques and coffee shops were fez wearing waiters take the orders, and men puff away the day on hubble bubbles.

When you out of the medina into the New Town you are immediately confronted by miniature version of the Arc de Triumph, so that you are in no doubt; this part of the city is French. The main drag, the Avenue Bourguiba, in an impressive tree lined boulevard with wide pavements and ornate cast iron lights. Cafes spill onto the pavements and sitting under the trees, you could at a push - imagine yourself in France. Its like walking from 12th Century North Africa into late 19th Century Northern Europe.

On another day I went on an excursion to another part of Tunis, to visit the ancient city of Carthage, or what little remains of it. Tunis has a good tram and suburban train system which is very cheap and efficient and I took a train from the city centre, across Lake Tunis on a causeway and out to the suburb of Carthage. This is where the rich live, lots of large houses surrounded by high walls and barred windows, and looking just like wealthy enclaves on the Northern side of the Med.

The archaeological sites of old Carthage are scattered around a large area and seeing them involves quite a bit of walking around. The main site is on Byrsa Hill which has the remains of some houses and a very impressive museum. I was always under the impression that when the Romans finally defeated Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War they had effectively trashed the place, famously sowing the soil with salt to make sure it never rose again. What I discovered was that the Romans rebuilt it, making it even bigger and grander than before and the remains that you see are of this Roman city.

When you’re tired of archaeology, and you do need lots of imagination to imagine a great city here, then it’s time to head up to Sidi Bov Said, another must for the tour buses. This is a little village on a promontory overlooking the sea, a very pretty place with lots of white and blue and grand studded front doors that are a feature of Tunisia. It’s no wonder it’s been attracting artists and bohemian types for centuries. Walking up from the station you have to walk the gauntlet of traders flogging tourist tat but the village itself is lovely and surprisingly quiet. There are great views of the coast, the ferries coming into port, and the massive Palace of Ali Bey the President, whose beaming face is on almost every wall.

As this was for me more of a relaxation holiday I didn’t venture further. You can travel out to the edges of the Sahara, either independently or on tours but this involves a couple of days on a bus. I was happy with my trips to Tunis and pleasant days on the beach. Tunisia has sun and sand but even if you are staying at a resort with a little more effort you can discover a lot more.

Unusually for me I have just visited Tunisia on a package tour, the first bucket and spade package I’ve ever been on. Convenience and cost were a factor of course plus the fact it was a new country only 2 ½ hours flying time away; but Tunisia has been on my ‘to see’ list for a long time, and it was a good opportunity to see the sun before winter began in earnest at home, which it did the following week.

Arriving at night you are soon aware that you have arrived in a developing country. The bus takes you through streets with flats made of poured concrete with the washing hanging up in the windows, and the streets are shuttered up and deserted. The only people about are men sitting out in front of cafes, which are just a bare rooms filled with plastic tables and chairs, just as they do all around the Mediterranean. On the roads there are lots of police, hanging around roundabouts and junctions, stopping cars at random. Large areas of blackness separate the housing blocks.

But Tunisia is very civilised. One surprise is how very French it is. Even though the colonial masters have been gone for XXXX years, everyone speaks French to some degree, all the signs are in Arabic and French, as are all documents. And as in every former French colony I’ve been to, from Vietnam to Senegal, in the early morning people walk back from the bakers - carrying baguettes.

It also appears a very tolerant place, Islam is very unobtrusive here. There are mosques of course but apart from the odd minaret, one is unaware of them. The Adhan – the call to prayer is seldom heard and there isn’t the sunset ‘prayer rush’ that you see in other Muslim countries. The dress code for women seems to be pretty much up to them, from completely covered up, to West European. The older people wear traditional dress, women in brown robes with a headscarf, men dark jackets usually, but a few old men wear jelibias with the Tunisian fez, a blood red colour but more of a felt cap than the more traditional ‘bucket’ type fez seen in the rest of the Middle East.

I imagine that this tolerance comes from Tunisia being a truly rainbow nation. The descendents of slaves brought from across the Sahara have mixed their genes with the Mediterranean peoples, including the Phoenicians who came originally from the Levant, to produce a mix of colours from completely black or white to all shades in between.

I was staying at the beach resort of Hammamet, and made a couple of excursions out to Tunis, the capital, which is only an hour away by local bus. The motorway passes through a lot of vineyards, for a Muslim country Tunisia produces a lot of wine, another legacy of the French and their Rosé is pretty good. Along the way a old woman herding a flock of sheep along the hard shoulder - the traffic didn’t slow down for a moment.

Arrival in Tunis and you know you are in a developing country, the smell of low grade petrol and lots of battered yellow taxis, all French models of course. Surprisingly the taxis not only had meters that worked and which were used but the speedometers were connected!

The centre of Tunis has two distinct parts, the medieval medina and the new French city. The medina really was an unexpected surprise, as interesting and colourful as any others I’ve seen in the Arab world. The tourist tours to Tunis from the coast consist of half day ‘shopping trips’ to the Medina, where groups of tourists are herded around the streets that surround the Great Mosque (which you can look into, mornings only). The stalls sell the usual tourist fare, jewellery and handicrafts and after a while you realize that most of the shops are selling pretty much the same stuff.

If you get away from the ‘shopping streets’ and head into the souks around them, then you discover a vibrant community where people have lived and worked for centuries. Tucked up small alleys are artisans making furniture and jewellery in simple workshops, herbalists hang their wares outside their shops, all of which are tiny; and everything else that people need to live, the butchers, bakers, and the rest are scattered down the narrow lanes. The streets are so narrow many are built over, forming arcades, rather like an enclosed village and as no vehicles can get down them, everything is delivered by barrow boys. Tucked away are small community mosques and coffee shops were fez wearing waiters take the orders, and men puff away the day on hubble bubbles.

When you out of the medina into the New Town you are immediately confronted by miniature version of the Arc de Triumph, so that you are in no doubt; this part of the city is French. The main drag, the Avenue Bourguiba, in an impressive tree lined boulevard with wide pavements and ornate cast iron lights. Cafes spill onto the pavements and sitting under the trees, you could at a push - imagine yourself in France. Its like walking from 12th Century North Africa into late 19th Century Northern Europe.

On another day I went on an excursion to another part of Tunis, to visit the ancient city of Carthage, or what little remains of it. Tunis has a good tram and suburban train system which is very cheap and efficient and I took a train from the city centre, across Lake Tunis on a causeway and out to the suburb of Carthage. This is where the rich live, lots of large houses surrounded by high walls and barred windows, and looking just like wealthy enclaves on the Northern side of the Med.

The archaeological sites of old Carthage are scattered around a large area and seeing them involves quite a bit of walking around. The main site is on Byrsa Hill which has the remains of some houses and a very impressive museum. I was always under the impression that when the Romans finally defeated Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War they had effectively trashed the place, famously sowing the soil with salt to make sure it never rose again. What I discovered was that the Romans rebuilt it, making it even bigger and grander than before and the remains that you see are of this Roman city.

When you’re tired of archaeology, and you do need lots of imagination to imagine a great city here, then it’s time to head up to Sidi Bov Said, another must for the tour buses. This is a little village on a promontory overlooking the sea, a very pretty place with lots of white and blue and grand studded front doors that are a feature of Tunisia. It’s no wonder it’s been attracting artists and bohemian types for centuries. Walking up from the station you have to walk the gauntlet of traders flogging tourist tat but the village itself is lovely and surprisingly quiet. There are great views of the coast, the ferries coming into port, and the massive Palace of Ali Bey the President, whose beaming face is on almost every wall.

As this was for me more of a relaxation holiday I didn’t venture further. You can travel out to the edges of the Sahara, either independently or on tours but this involves a couple of days on a bus. I was happy with my trips to Tunis and pleasant days on the beach. Tunisia has sun and sand but even if you are staying at a resort with a little more effort you can discover a lot more.

Colombia - the real risk

will — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:15:00 GMT

I’ve had a number of mails recently from people asking about safety in Colombia and I thought it would be useful to place things in context. The picture above is a chart in a Colombian bus station, which are displayed in all the bus stations in the country. On it are the names of the bus companies operating from that station and the number of passengers who were killed or injured travelling with them in the previous month. Every company managed to mangle someone. Of course Colombia, despite its reputation, is a fairly efficiently run place, so it can insist on these statistics being collected and displayed. Who knows what the figures would be in other countries in South America, let alone Africa or South Asia, where only the most spectacular crashes (body count 10+) make the headlines. Travelling on the roads anywhere in the developing world is risky, especially at night. It’s probably the most dangerous thing you will ever do. The risk of being robbed or kidnapped on a bus does exist in Colombia, as it does in other countries of the world; but this risk is dwarfed by those you run - just riding it in the first place.

When it's time to head home....

will — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:50:00 GMT

There comes a point in every trip when you realize that there are only a few weeks left and you have to come to terms with going home. For most of us that means reconnecting with their previous life and going back to work, the free and easy days of travel and doing what you want when you want are over.

Arriving back can be a ghastly crash landing as I discovered after my first long period abroad. My friends were sitting in the same pub talking about their car sunroofs and had no comprehension of the experiences that I’d had, nor were they interested in finding out. To cap it all there was a pile of letters from the Inland Revenue waiting for me at home and the next day it was pouring with rain. It took a couple of weeks for me to reconnect with my old life.
With a little planning, the trip back can be an enjoyable part of the whole travel experience; you may well be heading home with a new appreciation of what you are going back to; there will be friends and family to meet up with and simple and forgotten pleasures to be enjoyed. So make the most of it.

Iron rule number one - always come home to some money. I have met people who were endlessly ringing up to change that last flight, prolonging their trip until there were as good as broke, with their cards maxed out. Trying to survive with almost no money is difficult in any country, your own is no exception. No matter how much in demand your skills may be, finding a job and actually getting a pay check is likely to take several weeks. Especially if you have been away for a long time, it’s nice to rediscover your home slowly, meet up with people and have a few drinks. Even simple expenses like getting about and paying for food will soon mount up, let along putting down deposits for flats or buying a car. Soon you will be regretting that extra rafting trip you took, when you are counting every penny.

Try and plan coming home into your overall trip plan. I have always come home in the Spring, a positive time of year when you will feel like restarting your ‘home’ life again, and you have the summer ahead of you. If you have been in the tropics and you head home in the middle of winter, to dark days, cold and rain; there’s no way you are going to feel good about it.

If you don’t feel that your backpacking days are over then you probably feel some regret at having to finish your trip, but try and get things in perspective. Look at your time at home as an interlude, a period where you can plan your next campaign and more importantly raise the cash to make it happen. I’ve always enjoyed the reading and scheming for the next trip almost as much as travelling itself. Always believe there will be a next time.
Psyche yourself up for the change in lifestyle. Arrival home can be a nice surprise, think of all the things that you’ve missed while you were away, the company of family and friends. Even simple things can give a great deal of pleasure, small indulgences like having your favourite food or drink again. Make a list of these things while you are on the plane home.

Arrival back in the ‘real’ world may be quite a shock especially if it is early morning and after a long flight. Try not to take on the world all at once. If you can, have a friend pick you up at the Airport and get some rest in a quiet place. There’s time enough to hit town later.

When you do get out and about don’t expect anyone to really understand what you’ve experienced. For most people, travel is a two week holiday on a beach. Going off the beaten track or even being abroad for a long time is something that many people cannot get to grips with, and they probably won’t even make the attempt. Tell a couple of colourful anecdotes, which will keep most people interested and try not to go on and on about your trip. Many of your friends will be envious and you won’t endear yourself to people if you become in their eyes, a travel bore.

You probably met some great people on your travels and many of them became friends. Some of them you will keep up with but be prepared for most of them to fall by the wayside, for the simple reason that the one thing you had in common with them- you were all travelling, no longer exists. My partner and I travelled in China with another English couple for several weeks before going our separate ways. Back in the UK we met them again by chance in a cinema queue. We exchanged news but after the film was over no arrangements were made to meet again as we all realized we had nothing more to say to each other.

If you are returning to a rich, western country you will probably start appreciating it for the first time. After my first trip, where I lived in the Sudan for a year, I was just staggered when I got home by how rich Britain was. I’d supposed I’d never realized before. You may have been to countries with better weather or a more laid back lifestyle but if you living in any first world country in the early twenty first century, you have won a prize in life’s lottery. I’ve had rows with people at home when they come out with trivial moans about life, or rant on about how much tax they pay. Most of the world’s population would give their right arms to have their opportunities and problems. If you’ve seen women in Africa digging into riverbeds for water before carrying it for miles, you’re not going to have much time for people whinging about their mobiles not working.

As T.S. Elliot put it, “to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”

Make the most of it.

The New India

will — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:32:00 GMT

I’ve now been in India for almost three months. It’s always been a favourite country of mine, a place that’s always been very good for the ‘WOW’ factor, always full of surprises. Even in the centre of the cities you can see people on the streets that looked like they’ve just walked out of the Old Testament or just come down from the hills of the North West frontier. Orange robed and painted fakirs wander around, as do lots of cows and even the occasional elephant. I was last here nine years ago and my first visit was in 1989, and what is really surprising is how little has changed over that time.

India is thought of in the west as the next economic powerhouse where the cheaper well educated workers will soon be taking all our jobs. Seeing the country as a traveler there is little evidence of all this, just an increased prosperity for some sections of the population. Just as everywhere in the world, everyone who can afford one now has a mobile phone, with five million new subscribers being added every month. There are lots more new cars on the road but they are easily outnumbered by scooters and motorbikes which are much more affordable. This has added to the noise and stress levels in towns as every scooter rider feels he (although sometimes she) has the right to drive down the street as fast as he can with horn blaring. The onus is on the pedestrians to get out of the way. In India every street supports a small pack of dogs (as well as a couple of cows), but what is really new are people having dogs as pets, mostly small breeds, as most Indians live in cramped houses. Their owners walk them in the streets on tight leashes, and often carry a big stick as well, to keep the rough street doggies away from their pooches.

India is a country that rejects rules and has an aversion to change; which has made it a land of great liberties. A European equivalent would be Italy. Laws may exist on the statue book but people only heed the ones that suit them or which they cannot get away with. Lax policing and a live and let live attitude keeps the whole system running. For example, drivers can and do pull out into the road, even major highways, without a signal or even bothering to look in their mirror (if they have one). There is an expectation that the traffic in the road will make way for them even if it risks an accident, and I’ve seen lots of close calls. Usually the only admonishment from the other drivers who have to swerve or brake will be a blast on the horn, because they know that the next time they also want to pull out, they will do exactly the same thing, and so life goes on - in a semi chaotic way.

When journalists write about the new India they are usually referring to the shiny new offices and businesses parks on the outskirts of the cities. These look like they have been dropped from somewhere in Europe and are full of earnest young people for whom the good times really are rolling. The middle classes have forsaken the trains and now get around country on the start up airlines that are competing hard for their business. Some of them (I particularly recommend Kingfisher Airlines) are really excellent. Another showcase of the New India is the Delhi Metro. This is work in progress with several lines being built that will by 2012 cover the whole city even reaching the international airport, (which technically is in another state), with most of the lines being built on cheaper elevated track. Most of this is being paid for by Japanese money, and unusually most of the equipment is imported rather than made in India. And it is impressive, unlike everywhere else in Delhi, it shines, you could eat your dinner off the floor in the stations and potted plants line the sides of the walls. Constant announcements tell people not to walk across the tracks(!), spit or throw rubbish and unusually for India, people heed them. One of reasons may be because security is so tight, with police with sub machine guns patrolling the trains and metal detector and bag searches just to get onto the platforms.

Outside these showcases life in India goes on much as it did when I first came here in 1989; this is particularly so in the countryside where most Indians still live. At dawn, people still walk out into the fields to do their ablutions; water comes from wells and bullock pull huge carts filled with straw. Cooking is done on Indian fuel cells which are made of cow dung mixed with straw and which are heaped in piles and sold on the side of the road. Also on the roadsides are brickworks where the bricks are still made by hand and fired in primitive kilns. The families who do this work live in the most desperate poverty, their ‘houses’ are little more than primitive tents made from rags and rubbish in the corner of the brickyard. One of the reasons these people live on the job, is because they cannot leave, they are indentured workers who work to pay off a past debt, sometimes from a previous generation, in conditions of virtual slavery. In one region I saw another agricultural/industrial process, the rendering down of sugar from sugar cane. These primitive factories on the roadsides crush the cane bought in from the surrounding fields with the ‘juice’ then boiled up in huge pans. Lines of these factories belching black smoke, with workers ladling the hot sugar out of the vats gives the impression of an early industrial scene, rather like the first days of Coalbrookdale. Yet this is modern India.

Where India is particularly unchanging is in anything in which the state is has any involvement, and as a hangover from the socialist planning era, it’s involved in a great deal. Its interests range from banks and insurance to (on a state level) running juice stands but by far its biggest interest is running the railways. Apart from there no longer being any steam engines around the railway system doesn’t seem to have changed at all over the last eighteen years. The train carriages have a chunky, metal, built to last feel to them, which is just as well as there doesn’t seem to been a penny of new investment for decades. Booking a berth involves filling in a cheap paper form then joining the queuing hoards so that someone can input your details into a seventies era computer system. Indian railways are the largest employer in the world with 1.6 million on the staff, and it looks just like a giant job creation scheme. As elsewhere in government run India, there are lots of ‘supervisors’ sitting around reading the paper and everyone knocks off for lunch. Surprisingly, the whole system does work very well, even if everything (even the journeys) usually happens very slowly.

In Delhi, Ambassador cars still line up outside the Lutyens Government buildings. These cars are based on the 1948 Morris Oxford design and are still made in India today. Although the President now has a BMW, the lower ranks will be motoring around in their sixty year old cars for some time. One of reasons Ambassador have kept on going is because they are strong enough to cope with India’s roads. Road widening is now commonly seen as the poor roads are seen as a brake on economic growth. Much of the digging work is done by (locally made) JCB’s, but a lot is still done by labourers, usually women who excavate earth in baskets and carry it away on their heads. What would these people do if they were all replaced by machines? In many ways everyone has a vested interest in resisting change, as doing these people out of their jobs who just mean more beggars living on the streets of the cities.

For the tourist India can be overwhelming, and it has certainly become a more stressful place to visit. Touts seem to be almost everywhere and the traveler is bombarded by questions all the time. ’Do you want a rickshaw?’ ‘Look in my shop?’ ‘What country?’ or simply ‘What do you want?’ Even more irritating are the people who seem to think they know want you want, so they give you orders like, ‘You need to go over there now’ or having supposedly read your mind, tell you where the ticket office is, even as you walk down the street minding your own business. Normally there is an ulterior motive for all this free advice, usually a postcard or rickshaw sales pitch. Add to all this, the children following you down the street shouting ‘Hello, Hello’ and tourists often feel they are under siege.

Also the Indian tourist industry hasn’t worked out what foreign tourists really want. So in a country awash with cheap labour, hotel walls are grubby, and things often look like they haven’t had a good clean for years. Of course if you pay out real money you can expect the best but for most Indians in the tourist trade, if they think they can offer it to you cheaply, then everything will be all right, no matter if every corner is cut. After all, it wouldn’t do to interfere with all that newspaper reading time. In Nepal, they’ve worked out the standards that tourists expect and consequently, overall, it offers a much better travel experience. Not surprisingly, it’s a country that allows foreigners to own a business, which pulls the standards up; in India this is almost impossible.

So what’s the future for India? The economy is supposed to be overheating and a downturn is expected. Inflation is on the increase and the Congress party recently got hammered in state polls because of the price of onions, which shows what really matters for most Indians. I think though, due to strength of numbers alone the economy will continue to grow and people will get richer in relative terms. I can’t imagine large parts of the country will be like the Delhi metro anytime soon; there are too many vested interests in keeping things the same. But the cities will become even more frantic, with more traffic and gridlock and the blare of the horns being heard on the other side of the world. See it now.

Namaste – Impressions of Nepal

will — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 07:22:00 GMT

Nepal has had rather a mixed press over the last few years; countries going through a Civil War tend not to be on the list of ‘must see’ places for most travelers. Since late 2006, the countryside has been quiet with the Maoists now in the government and their guerrilla army in camps. So now is the time to make that trip.

I was last in Nepal in 1998 and I had forgotten what a pleasant and welcoming country it is. Arriving from India the differences soon become apparent once you get past the border zone. The country is better tended, the streets for the most part are clean and there is less traffic and noise. When the people here say ‘Namaste’ (the all purpose greeting) they genuinely greeting you, not saying ‘Namaste’, would you like to look in my shop, do you want a taxi etc,etc. Women also play a bigger role in daily life, working in shops, taking part in discussions in the street and even waiting on tables, which gives the whole society a more mellow feel.

Where Nepal is far ahead of India is in the provision of tourist services. This is a country that lives on tourism and has worked out what tourists want. So the hotels really are clean and there really is hot water. Although the tourist menus are pretty much the same everywhere, the quality is consistently good. Even up in the villages on the trekking trails you can always get something tasty to eat.

In Pokhara I was surprised by how much the Lakeside tourist area had expanded, obviously things had been going well until the downturn during the war. What was very different were the tourists themselves. On my last visit, most of the tourists and trekkers were European, now they are outnumbered two to one by Asian travelers. The Nepali’s had worked out that if the Westerners were going to be scared off , they should try and attract tourists from countries closer to home, where people were keen to travel - like the Chinese. Nepal offers free Visas to the Mainland Chinese and there are direct flights to Kathmandu while the Koreans have direct charter flights all through the peak season. Many businesses had signs up in Chinese, Japanese and Korean and some restaurants and hotels catered only for one particular nationality.

The Chinese were mainly groups of young women (I suppose the men are all at home building the economic miracle), all of whom spoke good English and were from the prosperous Eastern cities. They are all kitted out in brand new outdoor clothes and nearly all carried a big digital camera. Unfortunately, city life had not prepared them for the rigours of mountain trekking, and even with guides and porters carrying their bags, many of them found it very hard work. As one poor girl said to me as she was helped through the snow by a porter, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it out of these mountains alive!’

No doubt these are the vanguard of the new Chinese middle class tourists, who as more countries open up to them, we will be bumping into more and more often around the world. This is great as they are pleasant and good company.

Despite the tourists coming back, there are still signs everywhere of the problems the country has had. Army posts and principal buildings are surrounded by coils of razor wire and heavily armed soldiers man sand bagged gun emplacements. The Maoists are now part of the government and their soldiers have surrendered their arms to the UN on a temporary/permanent basis. What they need now are jobs. To help things along the USA has now cut their aid budget to Nepal by 25% as it regards the Maoists as ‘terrorists’, which will make things interesting if they should win the forthcoming election. I didn’t dare ask the young Chinese what they thought of Maoism, no doubt they would have no idea what it meant and the great helmsman himself would just be a figure from history.

With the new government and the removal of the monarchy from power the ‘Royal’ word is being expunged from society, so the Royal has been painted out of some of the signs for what was the ‘Royal Chitwan National Park’. It was interesting to see that many businesses and houses, particularly up in the mountains, had pictures of the Royal family on the walls. Unfortunately all those in the picture died on the same night on 1^st June 2001 when they were gunned down by the Royal Prince. It seems that the Royal Family per se were quite popular, hence all those pin ups, it was the last King, the evil uncle Gyanendra who really alienated the country.

As elections are on the way, various interested interests are jockeying for position. In Nepal that means that if you are traveling around the country you will soon be taking part in the great Nepali Participation event – the road block or strike. My trip was delayed a couple of times by bus strikes, which doesn’t always mean the drivers are on strike but that the main roads have been blocked by stone wielding youths. I had the same thing happen when I was last in Nepal so nothing much has changed in that regard. On one journey on this trip I had to wait for a couple of hours in a mini van because of a road block. This had been caused by a bus hitting and injuring some children as it passed through a road side village. Given the terrible standard of Nepali driving, this sort of thing is fairly common; I saw the wreck of one bus that had crashed into a river valley a few days previously, killing 16 people, and two overturned Lorries on one 100 km stretch of main road. In a country with no third party insurance this means that the local lads blockade the road until some agreement for compensation is made, which involves getting a senior policeman from the nearest main town, plus a couple of passing monks to make a deal with a bunch of emotional youths. This all takes a long time.

Most of these kinds of problems can happen in any third world country; I endured plenty of such incidents when traveling in the Andes last year. What Nepal does offer is a World Class outdoor experience, from trekking with varying degrees of difficultly, rafting, mountain biking and paragliding. It also has accessible wildlife in the Chitwan National Park and historic towns. This along with affordable and good quality services for tourists and very friendly people make it a great country to travel in. So don’t let recent headlines stop you from making the trip, like me you will find yourself going back again and again.

To see pictures click here

Learning to cook Indian, in India

will — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:14:00 GMT

I really enjoy Indian food but had never considered cooking it at home; after all if I wanted to eat it, it always seemed easier to walk out to an Indian restaurant or pick up the phone and order a take away, than go to the trouble of making it myself. Unlike say cooking Italian where the food is simple and familiar, Indian recipes always seemed so daunting, with their endless lists of ingredients which are usually a pinch of this or a gram of that, including many things I'd never heard of and all of which have to combined together in just the right way. Even if I was able to amass all these spices, it seemed such an effort - best to leave it to the experts.

When I arrived in Udaipur in Rajasthan, I found that quite a few places offered Indian Cookery lessons, so I it seemed a good opportunity to discover the mysteries of making a good curry, is it really that difficult and if so how can the local take away knock one together in twenty minutes? So I signed up for two three-hour lessons at two separate schools, as they both offered slightly different dishes.

My first class ⁽¹⁾ was with Shakti, a chef who taught from behind a workbench with a gas stove and a chopping board. Helpfully he had mirrors arranged on the walls so that you could see what he was doing and what was cooking without having to stand up. As there were only three of us in the class we all had a go at donning the apron and having a go. Also provided was a printout with idiot-proof instructions to making the dishes. What was good about this school was that Shakti had an assistant who could prepare things while the lesson was going on, so there were no delays getting ingredients ready. The School had been running for seven years and when they first started all the pupils had to make the dishes from scratch; this meant that some classes lasted up to eight hours while the pupils had their turn boiling up their potatoes or whatever

Firstly we were introduced to the ‘Spice Box’ a large round metal tin with seven smaller tins inside that held the basic spices, which most dishes contain. Some of them are familiar, like Red Chilli Powder, while others like Fenugreek Seeds are not. Apparently they can all be bought in Indian delis around the world.

The base ingredients of most dishes are also quite simple, mashed onions and garlic and some of the basic spices cooked together in cooking oil make up most of the ‘gravy’ in Indian dishes; just adding tomato paste to this makes the base for tomato dishes. From there adding vegetables, meat or Indian cheese (Paneer) allows you to make many of the dishes Westerners are familiar with. We also learnt to make Korma, which uses the base spices and ingredients plus cream, ground seeds and coconut powder.

Other straightforward dishes that can be learnt in a three-hour lesson are Vegetable Cutlets, Biryani Rice and rotis (chapattis). Rotis are incredibly simple to make, just flour and water mixed into a dough and rolled out, then heated in a dry saucepan.

On the second day I went to another school ⁽²⁾ where the lessons were given by Shree, a woman who had also been teaching for seven years and who claimed to be the first person in Udaipur to start cooking lessons. She had a kitchen classroom worthy of any TV chef, with a large cooking bench and spices and ingredients arrayed on the shelves around her. Unfortunately, a very much simpler recipe handout was only given to us at the end of the lesson, so we spent a lot of the time making notes. Also Shree did everything herself, so a lot of time as taken up with her preparing ingredients.

This lesson was more of a cookery demonstration than a lesson, the four us in the class didn’t get to do much apart from make our own Samosas. Again these are fairly simple, rolled out dough is folded into triangles and filled with a potato/spice mix and then fried (although they can be baked). Getting the edges to stick is the tricky part.

Again we had the introduction to the Spice Box, which slightly different from the day before, I guess you learn what you use the most as you do more cooking. We also learnt some old favourites like Dal, which again is the basic spice, onion/garlic mix plus lentils, plus another paneer (cheese) dish.

Of course at the end of the lessons you get to eat all this tasty food for lunch.

If you are interested in Cookery and are travelling in India I would recommend heading to Udaipur and trying a basic class. If you are really interested, both the schools I attended offered longer courses and speciality courses, such as for South Indian dishes. Surprisingly, for one of the world’s great cuisines I found it very difficult to find out information on Cookery Classes in India and Udaipur is the only city I’ve been to that has a choice of schools. I guess Indians take it all for granted. Also most Westerners believe that if you want Indian food at home, it’s a lot easier to pick up the phone and order that take away, than trying to make it yourself. Dare to be different.

¹Indian Spice Box, 38 Lal Ghat, Udaipur,Ragastahan. Ph: 0091 294 2424713

²Sushma’s Cooking Classes, 35 Lal Ghat, Udaipur, Ragasthan. Ph: 0091 294 2420163

Security for Travelers - staying safe on the Road

will — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 06:51:00 GMT

Many travelers have some apprehension when they go abroad, especially if traveling alone for the first time. Despite what you may think from the media, most people’s trips are trouble free and violence against tourists is particularly rare. Of course there is a level of crime everywhere, but most of this is opportunistic; criminals just like everyone else, look for the easy option and generally don’t want any trouble themselves. By taking simple precautions you can do a lot to keep yourself and your processions safe. These notes are based on my travel experiences over thirty years and ninety five countries and particularly on my current trip through Central and South America and Africa, and are aimed at independent travelers on a budget. A lot of these tips may just seem like common sense, but that often seems in short supply and a lot of people get into trouble because they don’t think about what they are doing. Please feel free to add new comments; criminals are inventive and there are always new scams and tricks.

Protecting your valuables

What do you carry that would give you the most hassle if you were to lose them? For most travelers these are their Passport, Money (either in cash or credit/debit cards) and their air ticket home, if they have one, and these are the things which you must do the most to protect. You should keep them in a money belt under your clothes, if the thieves can’t see them, they can’t steal them and NEVER in a bag which you are carrying. I have met several people who put their valuables in a bag which they then left on a rack on a night bus, and were surprised when it was stolen. Of course, thieves know about money belts but they are very difficult to steal without direct confrontation. Have a cheap wallet to carry only the money that you need that day and avoid opening your money belt during the day, particularly on the street, do it in a toilet. Never put you wallet in your back pocket. There are now lots of clothes aimed at travelers that have zipper pockets, and although they aren’t completely secure are better than just carrying a purse or wallet loose. A variation on the money belt is the leg wallet which you carry on your leg, which you can buy in travel shops. Another way to conceal your cash is using tubagrip, an elasticated bandage, which you wrap around your leg with you valuables (inside a plastic bag) inside. This is not that comfortable and I only use in very dangerous cities or on night buses. It is however, very secure, I have been frisked at Airports and my stuff has not been found. Buy the largest size of tubagrip and experiment.

Instead of carrying your valuables around it is usually safer to put them in a hotel safe, if they have one. Assess if you feel comfortable about doing this, if they put them in a draw in reception and the person on the desk is often away, you may be better off carrying them. Theft by hotel staff is also a possibility; usually just a few notes are taken which is not so obvious. Some hotels seal your valuables with tape and have you sign across the seals to prevent this happening and you could insist on this. In particularly dangerous cities, like Mexico City or Rio de Janeiro, it is always better to leave valuables in the hotel safe. Never leave them in a hotel room not even for the shortest time. I met one traveler (in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) who left her room for fifteen minutes to have breakfast. In that time her room had been turned over (probably by the staff) and her valuables and gadgets taken.

Everyone now seems to carry a couple of gadgets, ipods, cameras, phones and even laptops; these are all highly prized by thieves - everywhere. If you are traveling for a long time you may want to consider trading down some of your toys, like buying a cheap phone just for your trip. Is photography important for you, or could you make do with a compact camera? Again only use them when you have to, if they can’t see them etc. Flashy jewelry will get you noticed everywhere. I traveled on a truck through Africa with a man who wore a $5000 Swiss watch on his wrist; in those kinds of places I make do with a $20 digital. Some insurers, like World Nomads offer cover for gadgets.

Protecting your bags

Like most budget travelers I carry a rucksack and it is worth considering security when you go to buy yours. Try and get one with an internal frame, where the bag is riveted to the metal frame inside the pack. You can then get a flexible metal cable (sold at bike shops) and a padlock and secure you bag to immovable objects. This is particularly useful when you are traveling on buses and trains as you can padlock your pack to the luggage rack or bus hold. I’ve been on a bus (in India) where people have arrived and their bags did not, thrown off the roof somewhere along the way. It is also good if you are staying in dorms where you can padlock the pack to the bed, even if the thieves get your clothes at least they won’t be able to carry them off in your rucksack. Another scam this prevents (from Lima, Peru) is a thief getting into a hostel and throwing the packs out of the window to an accomplice in the street.

On my most recent trip I have been using a Pacsafe, which is a steel wire mesh which you wrap around you pack and secure with a padlock. This can also then be attached to things. The wire mesh stops your bag being slashed open when you can’t see it, like in the hold of a bus. I also put my gadgets in my pack when I leave them in my room which is wrapped in the Pacsafe and then padlocked to the bed. The disadvantages of Pacsafe are that its quite fiddlerly to put on and it weighs around 1kg. They are also quite expensive at around $100 each. Even a rucksack cover will stop little fingers opening zips when you are standing around.

It is important to bear in mind that all physical defenses will be defeated, given enough time and the right tools and knowledge but padlocks and wire will deter the opportunist thief; you don’t see many people wandering around with saws and wire cutters. The harder it is for them, the less likely you are to lose your bag. Try and buy good quality locks, cheap combination locks particularly, often go wrong and you may end up having to saw them off yourself (as I had to recently). It is useful to carry a padlock or even two of different sizes, to lock up lockers in hostels or even hotel room doors, sometimes a padlock is the only lock on a room and it would be safer to use your own. Keep the spare keys in your money belt or with your partner if you are traveling with someone else.

Always be careful who you give your rucksack too. One traveler I met (in Ecuador) had given her bag to a man in a hotel lobby, thinking he worked at the hotel. She then started walking up the stairs to her room, just in time to see him run out of the door with her pack. Never give your bag to anyone in a rail or bus station unless you are certain they are legitimate. I don’t even allow taxi drivers to touch my pack.

Another simple precaution against bag snatchers, especially for day packs is to use some paracord to attach them to things. You can buy cord and carabineers in most outdoor stores. Use them to clip your bags to a table or chairs, then if some tries to run off with it they either can’t move it or they take some extra furniture with them. On night buses I clip my day pack using paracord to my belt, making it difficult for people to move it without me knowing.

Daypacks are vulnerable to being pulled off your shoulder if you only have one strap on, either wear them on the front of your body or wear it with both straps on (and the belt if it has one). You can buy small padlocks to lock the zips together, which will deter the opportunistic thief.

Safety when traveling

Railway and bus stations, and increasingly Airports are particular hangouts for thieves. This is a universal truth, no matter how developed the country, they attract the lowlifes; I was almost robbed standing in a queue in the Frankfurt Central Station. These are always places where you need to keep a close eye on your processions and try and be alert. These are also places where you will get the most hassle, from touts and taxi drivers, stand your ground and take your time. Avoid arriving at them at night. In many countries (like Mexico) there is a system of checking bags into the hold of the bus, and you are given a ticket to present when you reach your destination. Bags checked in this way are usually secure, it’s usual to tip the bag checkers.

One way to avoid a lot of problems is to not travel at night. There is a risk of theft but a far bigger risk is having an accident. Traveling on a bus in a third world country is probably the most dangerous thing you will ever do, crashes with fatalities are not unusual and are much more common at night. Of course your stuff is at more risk as you are likely to be half asleep and it’s difficult to see what’s going on when the bus stops. Unfortunately, in many countries you have little choice as long distance buses only go at night. Trains are much safer, as are planes.

Although flying may be a smarter way to travel, this does not mean that there aren’t opportunistic thieves wandering around Airports. Always keep a close eye on your bags. Many airports offer plastic wrapping for bags and it is worth the couple of dollars to have this done, as rucksacks are particularly vulnerable to theft by luggage handlers, and this should deter most of them. It is not foolproof though, I wrapped my pack to fly to Johannesburg Airport (which is notorious for theft) and left a carabineer on the strap. When I picked the bag up, someone had made a hole in the plastic and stolen the carabineer, worth about $4!

City metros and subways carry their own risks, there are lots of crowds and pickpockets are active. One of the few times I was robbed was on the metro in Mexico City (which has bad reputation for crime) where a gang of men charged into my back when the doors were closing and went through my pockets. They managed to take my guidebook and were very intimidating so I got off at the next stop. Don’t expect other passengers to get involved. Although pickpockets are everywhere, bag slashing is not as common and I have only ever seen one example on the MTR in Hong Kong. Metros which are safe by day can be very dangerous at night, even in relativity safe cities, at night it’s usually safer to take a taxi.

Taxis are usually recognizable the world over, they are black or yellow or have a big sign on top, and most taxi drivers are friendly and hardworking people. However there is problem in some countries with people getting into taxis which are not driven by legitimate taxi drivers but by thieves. It is too easy to stick a ‘Taxi’ sign in the window of a car and pick up some tourists and then rob them. Some towns have a particular reputation for this, Cochabamba in Bolivia for one. In Cusco in Peru, official taxis have a large black and yellow checkerboard design painted on their doors, as illegal taxis were a particular problem there. Find out the plates or registration stickers legitimate taxis should have displayed in the place in the country/town you are in; and don’t get in a car that doesn’t have them.

People are more likely to get in an unofficial taxi late at night, when they are tired or pissed and what to get home. Not surprisingly, this is when most of the robberies happen. Apart from just sticking a knife or gun in your face and asking for your cash, victims are often taken to an ATM and ordered to take out money. This often happens around midnight as the robbers can then take you to another ATM and get you to take out the next day’s daily limit. In countries where this type of crime is a problem, like Brazil, ATM’s only dispense small amounts during night hours.

Usually illegal taxis pick up the drivers ‘friend’ who robs you while the driver drives. In many countries legitimate collective and shared taxis are common. Find out the local protocol, or insist you want the taxi to yourself. If it’s not usual to share a taxi and someone else gets in, try and get out of it as soon as you can.

Some legitimate taxi drivers are not above some theft (apart from the fares) like driving off with your rucksack. If you are traveling alone, try and put your bag in the back seat of the taxi and sit next to it, avoid putting it in the boot (trunk). If there are two of you, use the following drill. When you hail a taxi wait for the driver to get out and come to the back of the car to open the boot. One person then gets in the car while the other puts the bags in. Wait for the driver to close the boot and walk back to the front of the car, then the second person gets in. When you get to your destination, wait for the driver to get out of the car and walk to the back. One person then gets out and starts taking the bags out; the second person then gets out. Never hand over any cash (find out the fare and get the money ready while you are in the car) until you and your bags are out of the taxi.

Protecting yourself – staying safe on the Street

Most people traveling are on holiday, they are relaxed usually not thinking about looking out for danger on the street. Again most places in the world are safe and walking down the street or sitting in a café will present no danger at all but there are places where they do and where you should be on your guard. Some countries and cities (Barcelona springs to mind) are well known for street crime, and in these places you should be on your guard.

If you travel long enough you should build up a street sense - you will spot the group of youths on the street corner who may spell trouble, and learn to avoid problems. As ever the risks of being robbed on the street go up at night and in some places it’s always safer to take a cab. If you can’t find a ride and have to walk in a town late at night, don’t draw attention to yourself. Don’t talk or use a torch (flashlight) unless you have to. If there is no traffic, walk down the middle of the road to avoid anyone hiding in shadows. Don’t forget to look behind you.

Walking around in any city, you should try and be aware of your surroundings and the people around you. Try and look confident and alert and walk with purpose. In some places it helps not to look like a tourist, although this can be difficult (like in Africa if you are white) and to carry a big camera or a guide book. I usually wear shoes or boots when walking around cities as against sandals or flip flops. That way I can run from or after people. If you wear flip flops and a mugger stamps on your foot and grabs your bag there is not much you are going to do about it.

One method to get at your wallet that seems to be universal is the bird shit trick. This is where one guy sprays mustard (or some other nasty substance) on you; his accomplices then surround you and ‘help’ you to brush it off. As they do so they go through your pockets then run off. It’s never happened to me but apparently it’s done very quickly. If you feel something land on you (and it may be real bird shit) put your hand on your wallet or bag and get away from any ‘helpers’ as fast as you can.

Another common scam is the bogus policeman. A man approaches you in the street and pulls out what looks like Police ID; he then says he wants to search you. He then either finds your wallet or moneybelt and helps himself or he plants drugs on you. A variation is the bogus policeman tells you to get into a car, he needs to take you to the policestation. You are then taken somewhere remote and robbed, although I have heard of the thieves (in Ecuador) creating a bogus policestation, so as to hold their victims longer and extract information like PIN numbers. If you are stopped by someone claiming to be a plainclothes policeman start looking around for a policeman in uniform and insist on finding one. Start shouting if you have to, this should usually get rid of the bogus ones. Whatever you do don’t get into a car.

When arriving in a town, ask at your hotel which areas are safe to walk in, particularly at night. If the locals say don’t go there - don’t go there. For example, the safe area of a tourist town like Cusco is a couple of blocks in the centre; away from there the streets quickly become dark and dangerous. Even in the most crime ridden cities most of the problems are in areas where tourists have no reason to go, and the violence is between the locals, usually gangs. If you want to see these areas (like South African townships) go on a tour.

If you are going for a night out on the sauce, try and go with someone else or better still in a group. It would help if one of the group stays reasonably sober to sort out transport or problems later on, a sort of designated minder. If you walk home late even in a group, try not to draw attention to yourselves like yelling or singing. Walking alone, pissed and late at night is a recipe for disaster just about anywhere on earth.

Some cities have reputations for crime that go before them; think of San Paulo (Brazil), Johannesburg (South Africa) or Manila (Philippines). Consider if you need to stay in these cities and if not don’t go, there are often towns close by which are safer and if you want to see a particular sight, either visit on a day trip or take a tour.

Don’t underestimate the risk of street crime in countries that are usually regarded as safe. The only time I’ve seen someone robbed in broad daylight (in a park on a Sunday afternoon) was in Boston USA. The only time I’ve ever seen a policeman go for his gun was on a Saturday morning in downtown Vancouver, which is quite a risky place anyway.

No matter how careful you are there may time when you are confronted by some robbers wheedling guns or knives. Unless you think you can make a run for it there is not much you can do, apart from do what they say, despite how unpleasant that may be. Handing over some cash should be enough in most cases, don’t give them an opportunity to rough you up or search you. Muggers also want quick results and no trouble, its best just to get the whole thing over quickly and learn from your mistake. Don’t underestimate the threat a knife poses, you are just as likely to receive a lethal wound from a knife as a gun.

ATMs (Autoteller machines or ‘Hole in the Wall’ ) have become the easiest way for travelers to get at their cash when they are abroad. In most countries using them is straightforward and poses little risk. They are very tempting for thieves, as they can not only steal the cash you have taken out but with a little effort steal what you have in your account as well, so some care needs to be taken.

I usually try and check out a couple of ATM’s when I arrive in a town, firstly to check they take my card and for security. Always use them in daylight hours. I always try and find one that is inside a bank, and if it has a guard all the better. Also then, if the machine ‘eats’ your card you can get it back. Second best is a machine in a lobby and the worst option is one directly on the street. Always have your card in your pocket ready, don’t go digging around in your money belt. Check the card slot for anything unusual, pieces of tape or plastic or an appendage that shouldn’t be there. Stand in front of the machine to stop anyone seeing your PIN number. If there are two of you one should look out into the bank or lobby to see if anyone is taking an undue interest in what you are doing. Travelers are often robbed the same day they have been to an ATM. In some countries (like South Africa) where PIN theft is a problem, screens have been put in front of the machines to stop people seeing your PIN. If anyone approaches you and offers to ‘help’, walk away. If I’m in a bank I put the cash away in my money belt, if in the street I put it in my pocket with my hand over it and walk quickly back to my hotel and sort things out there. If you are staying in a town for some time, vary the times of day you get out money or use different machines.

Never hand your card over to anyone in a foreign bank; they should normally have no reason to see it. One scam I heard of (in Ecuador) is a smartly dressed man looking like a bank official, comes up and says there is a problem with your card. He carries a hand held card reader and swipes your card though it, this captures all the data on it including your PIN. He gives it back and later makes a copy of your card and empties your account.

Never give anyone your PIN number. This may seem very obvious, but I did meet one traveler who used to give her card and PIN to her friends to save herself the trouble of going to the cashpoint. She got cured of this habit when a ‘friend’ of one of her friends completely cleaned out her account, having ‘borrowed’ her card while they were all at a party. This was in the USA.

Cons have been around since the dawn of time. They come in and out of fashion and many are particular to certain countries. Usually a well spoken man or woman spins a hard luck story about how if you give them some money then can then find or free up something and you stand to make a fortune, all it needs is some of your cash. Most people’s inboxs receive these kinds of messages; when you travel you get them delivered in person. There are always enough greedy and stupid people around to make these cons worthwhile. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

One con that has been around ever since I have been traveling (it’s probably of ancient lineage) is the Gemstone/Ruby scam, and is fairly common in Thailand and South America. A man tells you that due to family problems he needs some money fast so he is forced to sell his collection of gemstones (usually Rubies). If you buy them, when you get home you can sell them at a much higher price, and make a big profit for your trouble. There are various variations on this theme. This con can be quite elaborate, you can be taken to a (bogus) Jeweler to have the gems value verified, and grand certificates can be produced. You hand over the cash and when you get them home you find out they’re glass, or in one case I heard, red plastic from the stop light on a car polished up. It’s amazing that people are still falling for this old chestnut.

Hotels and Hostels.

I have not had anything stolen from a hotel room as far as I can remember and in most cases hotels and hostels are owned by honest people who don’t want trouble. In some parts of the world where crime is a problem, many of them employ guards and bars on the window come as standard. Hostels particularly, are careful about who they allow in off the street. Although there is the risk of theft from staff, and you should not tempt them by leaving valuables around, most theft is by walk in thieves. Note the precautions above concerning locking your rucksacks up and carrying your valuables in your money belt. Try and assess how safe a place is when you check in, that’s also the time to find out how you would get out of the place if it caught fire. In some countries fire regulations and precautions are non existent and some countries (like the Philippines) have a reputation for hotel fires.

Usually the less secure places like beach huts are the most vulnerable to theft, particularly if the thieves know that everyone is at a party. Generally I always carry my room key with me, the staff will nearly always have a duplicate but it prevents the walk in thief from helping themselves if the reception is unattended.

One trick I heard of (in Colombia) is thieves using poles with hooks to lift valuables out of hotel room windows, which they do even when people are asleep in the room. Keep your gadgets in your pack; I always sleep with my money belt under my pillow.

The higher class hotels are not immune to theft; the pickings are usually better there with most business travelers carrying a laptop and phone. Once I was staying at a conference hotel in a leafy suburb (in the UK) and a thief got in via an open window and stole the MD’s suits. He had to go to dinner in his track suit!

Staying in dorms implies an element of trust between travelers and usually you should have no problems. The era of the traveler who seemed to exist on practically nothing and knew the price of everything seems to have passed. They had often been on the road for years and were the sort of people that you had to watch out for. Although they are not so obvious, there are still travelers who supplement their funds by stealing off others. Never tell other travelers how much money you have or where you keep your valuables, or allow them to keep hold of them, unless you are absolutely certain you can trust them. In hostels it’s usually safer to allow the hostel to look after your valuables or use a locker and your own padlock.

The Nature of risk

If you have read everything above you are probably thinking that traveling abroad is very dangerous and if you haven’t traveled before you may be reconsidering your trip. In the West we have been conditioned by the media to think that crime is everywhere, yet in Europe, Australia and most of North America you would be unlucky to be a victim of a crime, particularly a violent one. Most of the crime in developing countries occurs in areas where most travelers never go, and although in some places tourists are targeted, the locals are much more likely to be victims. If you use your common sense there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a trouble free trip. I have just traveled in South America for nine months with no problems, nor did I personally meet anyone who had been robbed. Considering the numbers of travelers there are scattered across the world the odds of you having any trouble are very low, just use your common sense, heed the precautions above and have a great time.

For up to date information on the risk of traveling in different countries, look at travel bulletin boards like Lonely Planets Thorn Tree, or the scams and robberies section of World Nomads Journals. The British Foreign Office and the US State Department’s advice to travelers are full of useful information on areas that are risky and they often know about the latest cons in circulation.

South Africa – the Backpacker Experience

will — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 09:14:00 GMT

For most of 2006 I have been traveling in South America as a backpacker and had enjoyed how easy it was to travel there. The quality of budget hotels was good and transport was affordable and mainly comfortable. In most cities I went around by cab as these were plentiful and cheap. Living there on a budget was easy. From South America I was traveling onto South Africa.

I had been to South Africa in 2000 so I knew that traveling there would be more of a challenge compared to South America. My first visit was a two week holiday and I hired a car and drove around KwaZulu Natal, this time I was staying a month and traveling as a backpacker on a budget. What was interesting was that South Africa is perceived as being very backpacker friendly and a must on many travelers’ counties to visit, yet the reality is quite different.

The social situation in South Africa where the whites have most of the money while the blacks do not, throws up a host of problems for the traveler, not least with transport. Firstly, white people don’t walk – anywhere; they go everywhere by car and only the very poorest use public transport. When I arrived in Pretoria, the hostel manager had no idea of how I could get to the center on public transport; she had only ever been there by car. So as a white backpacker you have to use the transport the blacks’ use, which are shared mini vans which you hail on the street; or the rare regular city buses. The problem with the mini buses is that they don’t run regular routes and don’t have destination signs, so you may have to take a couple to get near where you want to go, and there is an element of risk, not only of crime but also of accidents. Suburban trains (with a few exceptions) are regarded as too dangerous for whites to use even in daytime. Taxis are rare and expensive, whites don’t use them, and blacks can’t afford them. Some sights, particularly the ones which may be on the outskirts of a town are pretty much out of bounds to backpackers as there are no convenient or cheap way to get to them. To get to some places, the only way is to pay out for a tour.

Some of these gaps are filled in big tourist towns like Cape Town by companies like Riki taxis, which cater to tourists but only go to certain areas. If you want to go to Kirsentbosch Botanical Gardens (the third most visited sight in Cape Town) you will have to get a group together and hire a Riki taxi, or go on a tour. There are a couple of public buses a day, early in the morning and late in the afternoon for the convenience of domestic workers, not tourists. If you want to go to somewhere unusual, like the Rhodes memorial, forget it. I ended up walking there.

Traveling long distance is easier; there are some good quality long distance bus companies that travel between the main cities. However if you want to go somewhere off the beaten track, you will either have to hire a car or go on the ‘Baz Bus’. The Baz Bus travels on a couple of routes and drives between backpacker hostels, many of which are outside of towns and so difficult to get too affordably. Most of Baz Bus’s marketing empathizes how safe and fun it is, what they should be pointing out is the obvious truth – you haven’t got a rats chance of getting to half these places, unless you go on the Baz Bus. Of course there are some downsides to this, the fares are not cheap (almost double what you would pay for the same distance on a regular bus), you have to stay on the fixed route and you have no flexibility, you have to travel when the Baz Bus leaves.

I carried a couple of guide books and I was interested in seeing the main sights in each city. What I quickly discovered in Pretoria is that I was almost the only white person walking around in the centre of the town. This was quite unnerving and I got some hostile looks. I was almost mugged walking out of the central station in Cape Town at six in the evening, as again I was the only white face around. At most of the tourist sights I went to like the Union Buildings or Paul Kruger’s house, the only other tourists I saw had arrived on a tour. Whites don’t walk, particularly in the Central Business Districts, where many of the sights are, yet none of the guide books mention this.

Another aspect of the divide in society is that internet facilities and international phones are difficult to find. Whites have PC’s and phones at home, blacks can’t afford them and don’t make international calls, so there is not much provision. Compared to South America, using the internet was very expensive, which is not likely to help the South Africa’s development. In tourist areas of Cape Town it is easier to find internet cafes but they’re still not cheap. As a general rule of thumb, the richer the country the more difficult and expensive it is to use the internet. It was only when I got up to Tanzania that it really became affordable again.

Unlike South America, most budget travelers in South Africa can’t afford to stay in regular hotels, so ‘Backpacker’ hostels have been developed to cater for them. Most of them offer a bed, usually in a dorm and basic facilities, some of them very basic indeed. As they cater for backpackers you would assume that they offer a good deal but this is not always the case. One or two I stayed in were little better than slums. If you only stay in Backpackers you will only ever meet other backpackers and the same goes for traveling on Baz Bus. South Africa has a good network of guesthouses and B and B’s, usually a room in someone’s home, but often of a very high quality. If you are traveling as a couple it is worth checking these out, as they often have some good deals. Even traveling alone I stayed in some great guest houses for little more than I would have paid in a backpackers. The word ‘Backpacker’ in the name of a hostel or anything else, does not always mean that you are getting a good deal, yet many travelers accept them at face value and wouldn’t consider staying anywhere else.

South Africa is a wonderful country and would like to go back and see more of it but as a budget traveler it is not an easy country to travel in, hence the irony that it has become a great backpacker destination. It reminds me of Australia, another backpacker favourite and another country where traveling is hard work and expensive. The quality of the travel experience in other parts of the world like South America and South East Asia is much higher than in South Africa or Australia. If you are considering where to go in the world, bare this in mind.

Zanzibar

will — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:16:00 GMT

Zanzibar, even the name has an exotic ring to it and conjures up images of Sultans, Spices and Slaves. One of the great island ports of the mystic east, ships traded the goods of Africa, the Middle East, and India and out across the Indian Ocean to the Far East and the Spice Islands. Even now as the Dhows with their lanteen sails ply the waters between island and mainland you get that sense of the past, when these same boats traded to Arabia and the sub continent which one senses are only just over the horizon.

Zanzibar glory days are now behind it and as much of its wealth was based on slavery this is perhaps no bad thing. Its existence as in independent Sultanate has also ended and it’s now part of Tanzania although travelers still have to show their passports on entry and are stamped in as if it were entering a separate state.

Much of Zanzibar’s attraction lies in its position and its distinctive culture. The landscape and people of Tanzania are what most would think of as Africa, the animals, the savanna landscapes and the colourful tribes; but by then making the short trip to Zanzibar you are suddenly dropped into another world, one that is Arab and Muslim. It is the juxtaposition with the African that makes it such an interesting contrast.

Arriving in Stone Town is to enter an ancient Arab city a warren of small streets and squares. Although such places are found all over North Africa, the smallness and randomness of it all marks is out as special when compared to the sprawl of mainland towns across the straits. Wandering around is a delight, the narrow streets have a vague order but by taking a wrong turn you can end up on the other side of town from where you started but it doesn’t matter, as the town is too small for you to get really lost. Along the sea front are grand houses, some now luxury hotels with wonderfully green and refreshing gardens lining the road behind them. The streets are full of those small shops so distinctive of the Arab world, selling non perishable essentials like washing powder and tea, although some areas are now given over to shops selling to tourists. Each street seems to have a small mosque in it, which are often not obvious as I discovered one morning when I was blasted out of bed at a quarter to five in the morning by the Muezzins call to prayer from the mosque which was just across the street. This is town where life is lived on the streets, people sit out on their doorsteps at all hours of the day, talking and drinking tea. The men are traditionally dressed with the dish dash and round hats, while the women are completely covered. At some times of day the streets are filled with children as they pour out of the madrasahs, which are often located being ornate wooden doors, all dressed like miniature versions of their parents.

From Stone Town I took a bus up to the north of the island to the village of Nungwi. The bus traveled through a lush green land of small villages and for some reason, lots of police checkpoints. Nungwi is a large traditional village which also happens to have a beach resort attached. The coast all around the northern tip is now being developed at an enormous rate and some of luxury hotels there are very big indeed. Land at the coast is now at a premium and one plot was recently sold for a million dollars. The business of Nungwi is the repair and building of dhows, which are beached to enable the work to be done, while the women and girls walk across the exposed beach at low tide collecting shellfish. The village is very traditional and the local people have very little to do with the thin tourist strip where most of the workers are from the mainland. What the locals think of Westerners lying around practically naked and guzzling beer I wasn’t able to discover.

The beach however is wonderful; the sand is white and the sea turquoise and the sky usually blue. This is in contrast to say Dar es Salaam just across the straits where the weather was usually horrible, hot, wet and humid. Zanzibar seems to be blessed to have its own more pleasant climate. The quality of accommodation is also very good, as good as places I’ve been in say Thailand and other backpacker resorts.

One drawback of Zanzibar however are the number of touts. A word you will learn very fast is ‘Jambo’, which means basically Hello in Swahili, but its multi purpose, so the are ‘Jambo Inns’, ‘Jambo Bros’, Jambo this, Jambo that, Jambo, Jambo, Jambo; pretty much all day as you are approached by men saying Jambo, and you can hardly not reply, who then want to sell you something or get you into their taxi. After the hundredth Jambo of the day you are almost ready to wring someone’s neck.

Zanzibar is a great destination, distinctive and exotic but with great facilities for the traveler. If you are going to Tanzania it is a must see, as interesting and unique as any of the great game parks. Three fast boats a day link Dar es Salaam with Stone Town and take two hours, with a cost for foreigners of $35. There are slow boats which are cheaper ($20) but some of these are very slow indeed so do check the travel times and try and buy the fast boat tickets the day before as they often sell out at peak times. Don’t forget your passport.

Africa by Overland Truck - Two

will — Thu, 7 Dec 2006 10:25:00 GMT

By chance I caught up with the ATC truck I’d been traveling on when I saw it stopped at lights in Dar es Salaam; I then spent a day with everyone at a beach on Zanzibar. What was surprising was the contrast to the experience I had had and the current moral of the passengers and crew, which was very low indeed. Lots of people did not seem to be enjoying themselves at all and were planning to leave the trip early. This had been bought to a head by a group of people the previous evening when there was a large row which ended with the tour leader saying she wanted to resign.

There seemed to be various reasons for this. Most of the passengers who left Victoria Falls consisted of small groups who had got there on other trucks. They had made their own friendships (mainly based on nationality) and a communal spirit was very lacking. The consequences of this was that jobs like taking down the camp each day took longer and this had a knock on effect, on one day the truck didn’t reach camp until nightfall which meant everything had to be put up in the dark. On my trip everyone started together in Cape Town. Anyone considering joining a tour at the mid point should bare this potential problem in mind.

Another factor was lack of clarity in the itinerary, which as I’ve already mentioned should be studied carefully. Many people were not expecting the long drives that are part of traveling in Africa. The itineraries usually say, ‘Today we shall travel from A to B’, what they should be saying is, ‘Today we will be spending seven hours driving on crap roads to get from A to B’. This may deter a few people from signing up but at least those that do will have no illusions about what to expect. What should be obvious from the current itinerary is that you are on a tour and touring across a very big continent and this means pretty much constant movement. This is one aspect I myself found quite wearying (like being on exercise in the Army) so think carefully before signing up for the full seven week experience.

Traveling for seven hours on crap roads and it’s pouring with rain the whole time makes the experience even more dreary. It may sound obvious but if you are going to sign up for a three week camping trip – anywhere, it helps to know in advance what the weathers going to be like. As the wet season has now started in East Africa there was a lot of having to take down and put up tents in the rain. In those kinds of conditions everything becomes damp eventually – which is depressing.

The group also suffered from a disproportional number of injuries, none of them serious but this led to further delays as people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

There seemed to be some very unrealistic expectations made of the tour leader who to some people should be everything from social role model to surrogate mother. A clearer defining of the tour leaders’ job and role at the beginning of the trip would probably help all concerned. For example, they cannot normally deviate from the route or stay at campsites not designated by the company, although some people expected this. There was also some bad feeling as she did not accompany the injured people to the hospital, is that part of the role?

I would imagine that none of these problems are new as ATC makes each passenger sign an Indemnity form so that everyone is aware of what they are letting themselves in for. This form is very useful in spelling out exactly what to expect and it say amongst other things – there are long driving days, roads are very rugged and tough on vehicles and clients, you will be living in tents, the cook may not always be able to buy food and that the tours are frequented by young people. The core of it is summed up in one sentence, “If you approach your trip with a spirit of adventure and a positive attitude, you and your fellow traveler’s will get the most out of the journey”. Obviously, some people either did not read or understand it or they just left their positive attitude at home.

Africa by Overland Truck

will — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:22:00 GMT

I had heard several stories from travelers about the overland trucks that do the route from South Africa up to Kenya, and most of them were bad. They seemed to have spent their trip with people who spend most of the time drunk or were just noisy and boring, with the rest of the passengers working out who was going to sleep with whom. Don’t do it they said - you’ll hate it. When it comes to traveling in Africa there’s no doubt the Overland trucks serve a purpose, making it fairly straightforward to travel up through the continent without the hassles of using local transport. The reason I signed up for a trip was because it allowed to me to see countries like Namibia and Botswana which are difficult and expensive to travel in independently. The tips below are based on my experiences on a truck journey from Cape Town to Victoria Falls which I did with the African Travel Company which took about three weeks, and are aimed at people thinking of signing up for a trip and don’t know what to expect.

Firstly the people, probably the most important factor and the one you can’t do much about. I was very fortunate to travel with a great group of people which made the experience very enjoyable. It helped that the average age was late twenties for most of the group although the range was from 18 to 68; so most of the people had jobs and some life experiences to talk about. My group was also very Northern European mainly British/Irish or German with a few Belgians and Swiss, which meant that most of us were pretty much on the same wavelength. For quite a few of the Germans this trip was their three week annual holiday. There are a few factors that push some groups towards certain overland companies. The companies that are based in London seem to have an overwhelming number of Australians and New Zealanders on them, this is because ‘doing Africa’ is quite a popular thing to do if you’ve just spent two years in London and you’re on your way home. Some companies provide German or Spanish translators which of course encourages those nationalities to sign up. At the end of the day there’s not a lot you can do about your companions and there is always someone who does not get on with anybody. I saw one truck which had ten eighteen year old girls on it; it would be a long three weeks if you didn’t fit into a group like that.

The Crew. I had three crew on my truck, the tour leader an Australian woman, and a driver and cook who were Kenyan. Its worth checking the number of crew before you sign up, if your truck only has two crew it means there’s no cook, so the passengers will being doing the cooking, so a lot more extra work for everyone. The tour leader has been on the road continually for eighteen months, starting in the Congo (to see the Gorillas) then heading all the way back to Cape Town with a two day turn around there before starting the trip back up the continent again. She lived pretty much on the truck and was paid at local rates. If you ever thought the job had an element of glamour, talking to her quickly dispelled that notion. The Kenyans were very friendly and considered they had good jobs.

The truck was large, rather like a coach inside with enough legroom and space to move around. All the equipment was stored underneath. Valuables like money belts were stored in a communal safe on board and the tour leader slept on the truck most nights. There was also a safe for cameras and gadgets. Don’t expect frills like Air Con or toilets on board; the usual procedure was for men to head off into the bush in one direction and the girls in another. One cause of friction was that the tour leader insisted that everyone sat somewhere different each day, so the people at the front of the bus moved to the back of the bus the next day. Of course there were disputes about which seats in the middle were in the front or back, or someone didn’t move. It also meant that you were usually sitting with the same people the whole time from day one.

Traveling overland usually means camping. All the companies seem to use the same tents which are large heavy duty Army style things made in South Africa. Most people have to share a tent and you had to put it up and down each day yourself. It seems to be standard for all companies that you provide your own sleeping bag and mat/mattress. The facilities on the campsites varied, from one night wild camping with just a drop toilet to some very smart places with hot water and bars. In many places you have the chance to upgrade to a room, which are usually poor value for money but which may look attractive if you tent has been packed soaking wet. It really helps if you like camping and to have done some before, for me three weeks was about my tolerance level, I was looking for to a bed and a roof after that. All the jobs on the truck/camp were done on a rota system, with each group alternating each day including a day off each week. The jobs were usually fairly easy liking sweeping out the truck to helping with the food preparation for meals. The most disliked job was ‘pot wash’, cleaning the cook’s pots each evening, often a real challenge when you only have a bowl of cold water. Everyone washed their own plates and as there are no cloths to dry them for hygiene reasons, everyone ‘flaps’ their plates dry which looks pretty bizarre when you first see people doing it. Our tour leader was also very hot on hygiene; everyone had to wash their hands in disinfected water before meals and after going to the toilet, Detol, as someone commented - the smell of Africa.

The food on my trip was good, filling and plenty of it. It was nearly always some form of meat and we quite often had steak. We had one Vegetarian on the truck who was often given fish so if you don’t eat that either you’d better check at the start. Some of the food was a little bland as our cook didn’t seem to use any flavorings at all, not even salt. Lunch seems to be standard on all trucks, salad, bread and usually cheese and cold meats. This is the same everyday. Breakfast was cereals and toast (grilled on a brazier) and sometimes eggs and baked beans. On a couple of occasions we had canned spaghetti, much to the bemusement of the Germans.

The itinerary. It pays to look at this very carefully before you sign up. All the companies offer optional ‘extras’, tours into parks for example or guided walks. The main ‘extra’ on my tour was a three day trip into the Okavanga Delta. On the itinerary I received the delta trip was listed as part of the trip but it is in fact an extra $130 on top of the tour cost. What they don’t tell you is that if you don’t take up the ‘option’ you have to sit around in a campsite for three days with nothing to do. One guy didn’t take up the option and had to do just that. You may be quoted a price for an overland tour that looks really good but in fact all the interesting activities are extras. On my tour we also spent three days in Swakopmund so that people could do activities. Some of the people on holiday did a lot of these but the rest of us had a long time sitting around the town. Another feature of overland trips is the early start, on about a third of the days wake up was at 0430 so that we could be off at 0600. Very often this was so that we could get to places so that people could do activities in the afternoon but often we arrived at places at lunchtime where there was nothing to do. Some days could easily have been combined just by driving a few extra hours the previous day. Africa is big, on a couple of days we drove for up to six hours so pack plenty of paperbacks.

Overall I enjoyed my trip and it was good value for money especially if you are short of time. To see the Parks and countries that I did independently would have involved hiring a 4 X 4 and camping equipment with living costs on top. On the truck someone else did the cooking and driving and sorted out the problems. To anyone thinking about a overland trip I would suggest going through the itinerary very carefully and try and get some recommendations from other travelers. Once you’re on the truck, it’s difficult to get off.

This article has also been posted on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree bulletin board and more comments from other travellers have been added, view them here.

Hogsback in the Eastern Cape

will — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:54:00 GMT

Most Backpackers who travel in South Africa stick pretty much to the coastal route from Cape Town to Jo’berg and totally ignore the interior. But there are some great places to visit just off the coastal route which really reward those who seek them out. One of these is the small mountain village of Hogsback, which is very much a destination for South Africans visitors and should be for backpackers too.

Hogsback has a magical setting in the Amatola Mountains which themselves are an extension of the Drakensburgs. The name comes from the eroded edges of basalt sills that cap the peaks and which from a distance resemble the line of hair on a hogs back. The village residents are a bohemian, arty crowd who like to put it about that the wonderful setting inspired Tolkein when he was conjuring up Middle Earth, and there are places named Hobbiton and Riverdell in the village. The problem with that theory is although Tolkien was born in South Africa (a little known fact), in Bloemfontein, he never went to Hogsback and in fact left South Africa for good when he was three years old.

Apart from craft shops and guest houses Hogsback has few sights as such, what it does have is wonderful countryside all around it. Just below the village is a reserve of Afromontane rain forest which has lots of well way marked trails in it and information boards to tell you what you are looking at. The forest is filled with birds, including the rare and endangered Cape Parrot, butterflies and monkeys as well are more elusive creatures. Running through the forest are several waterfalls which pour over the lips of the hard basalt rock and they are particularly spectacular after rain; several of the trails take you right up to them. You can also climb high onto the Hogs themselves and subject to the weather this makes a good day hike. Even if you don’t want to do anything energetic, Hogsback makes a nice place to chill out and just look at the view.

There are numerous places to stay and eat in village, and many of them are booked solid during the summer. I stayed at a really friendly backpacker hostel called ‘Away with the Fairies’ which is run by a young English couple who came here eight years ago and never left. It has fantastic views across to the mountains; one of the hiking trails starts in the garden and the hostel have free maps and advice on where to go. They have a range of accommodation from a self contained cottage (called Hog End) to dorms. One of the best reasons to go there is the food. A Scottish genius resides in the kitchen and although there is only one set dish each evening it is always outstanding, with exotica like Kudu and Warthog on the menu. Many of the locals go there just to eat. The hostel runs a shuttle most days from East London (ask at the SugarShack hostel) so there is no reason to miss out on Hogsback because you don’t have your own car or are on the Baz Bus.

The one thing you cannot always expect is perfect weather; a rain forest is a rain forest because it rains a lot. What you can expect is the weather to be changeable; the days I was there I had a couple of days of hot sunshine and one of mist and rain, but even if it starts bad it can often clear by the afternoon.

So don’t let your trip by yet another one on the beaten track, make your way up to Hogsback, you won’t regret it.

To see more pictures of Hogsback click here

South America - the highlights

will — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:09:00 GMT

After nine months travelling through South America it is now time to move on, so I though a retrospective might be in order.

Best Country

It has to be Peru, a country with world class sights, mountains, great trekking and a well developed tourist infrastructure; and it’s very affordable. The Andean culture is colourful and interesting and the people friendly. I spent two months there. Argentina, despite lacking big things to see was the one country I felt I could live. A nice climate, a cultured European society, great infrastructure and a relaxing pace of life made it a very difficult to leave. Colombia was a great surprise; vibrate cities and towns, great countryside and very friendly people.

Best City

I spent a month in and around Cusco, a very pleasant city with a lot to see and do in the area around it. There was a good travellers’ buzz there and lots of good cafes to while away the time between treks. Buenos Aires is another great city, great cafes and a relaxed European feel. Arequipa in Southern Peru is another gem, just as you imagine an American Colonial city to look like.

Best Journey

Going up the River Madeira a tributary of the Amazon to Manaus. The rivers define the Amazon area and the best way to get a feel for it is to travel by boat. It was the only way to appreciate the immensity of the area. For further details click here. Crossing the Andes was also a great thrill. In Bolivia the best trip was going down the Death Road from La Paz to Coroico. The established backpacker thing to do is to do this on a mountain bike tour, but for real gut wrenching terror the only way to do this route is by bus. At some points if you sit on the left hand side of the bus you could look straight down a one kilometer drop, with the wheel less than half a meter from the edge and no crash barrier. The route from Mendoza to Santiago in Chile is pretty tame in comparison but still one of the world’s great mountain journeys. Fantastic Andean scenery.

Best Great Outdoors

Trekking in the Sacred Valley Peru was a big highlight. I didn’t do the organized tours or the Inca trail but did some independent treks with my girlfriend. The best was from Urabamba to Lares (more detail here.) where on the second night we camped alone at 4200 meters and only saw only two other trekkers in three days out. There are some great routes and the mountains are outstanding. Colca Canyon in Peru is also a good place to trek.

Another great experience was the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. This unworldly landscape is just as amazing as the pictures promise, not to be missed. Click for more info and pictures.

Best Sight

For want of being accused of going for the obvious choice, it has to be Machu Pichu. Nowhere else did I feel such an immediate sense of place. These ruins were not only one of those places I’d always wanted to see but that I would never forget seeing them. Of course you have to choose your moment, getting up before dawn to take the ride up to the site is well worth it. At first you can’t see anything but as the mist clears and the ruins reveal themselves – it’s breathtaking. The setting of thick primordial forest on the mountains all around adds to drama of the scene. The number two best sight was the Galapagos Islands, one never gets over the abundance of wildlife around you nor how tame it is. Swimming with sharks and sea lions were particular thrills as was being on a beautiful white tropical beach with only giant lizards to share it with. Well worth the expense of getting there. Iguazu Falls is also an outstanding sight, particularly from the Argentinian side.

Best Museum

No question – The Lord of Sipan Museum near Chiclayo in Northern Peru. This is a museum that exhibites the finds from a number of tombs, the reconstructions of which you can also visit. This is the complete antithsis of tomb raider. You start at the top of the building (which is shaped like a pyrimid) then slowly descend with the exhibits being displayed in the order the Archaeologists removed the layers, millimeter by millimeter. And what exhibits! I have never seen a muesum anywhere that has so much treasure in it.

One of the most unusual places to visit in South America and the only industrial heritage site that I know of is the former ‘Anglo’ meat packing plant in Frey Bentos in Uruguay. There is an excellent museum and guided tour, with the place being left just as it was when the place shut at the beginning of the seventies.

Best Hotel

Tricky, the standard of hotels and value for money is pretty good in South America. The Inka Fe Hotel (www.inkafe.com.pe)in Cusco was one of the best probably because the room we had was so nice, large with it’s own sun terrace on the roof.

Best Restaurant

‘Jacks’ in Cusco was easily the best. Good fresh interesting food served quickly by friendly staff, I often ate here twice a day. The Brazilian chain ‘Aipo and Aipim’ was also a great place to eat. They use the great concept of selling food by weight, so you fill your plate from their outstanding choice of salads and hot food and you only pay for what you want. The Colombian chain ‘Crepes and Waffles’ had some delicious things served up in stylish surroundings.

Best Food

South America is not noted for its gastronomic delights, and at times I thought that Chicken and Chips was the national dish in many countries. Certainly Santiago and parts of Brazil are fast food heaven if that is what you like. Still a few things stand out; Argentinean steak just about anywhere in the country is always wonderful. I’d heard of steaks that melt in the mouth but never eaten one until I came here. Ceviche on the North Pacific coast was also often very good. The best ones I had were in the Galapagos on Charles Binford Street in Pte Ayora. Empanadas in the Southern Cone countries were also excellent nearly everywhere, these are small pasties, usually baked with lightly spiced meat, pieces of boiled egg or olives in them. They vary slightly from country to country with Chile making slightly larger versions. Always good though.

Hidden Gems

Sucre in Bolivia is a lovely town especially if you go there after the cold and thin air of the Andes. A pleasant warm climate, fine white buildings and palm trees makes it like being suddenly dropped in the South of France.

Salento in Colombia was another lovely place, a colonial town with nice cafes and craft shops and the beautiful Wax Palm valley nearby.

Other impressions

Bars on the windows of houses. First seen as we approached the Mexican border at San Diego and omnipresent ever since.

An obcession with early nineties Western music particularly bands like Roxette and Guns and Roses. Every person on the continent must know the Bangles ‘Enternal Flame’ word perfect. In the Southern Cone countries, Robbie Williams is in ascendance.

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

The World Cup, which was a constant theme for the first half of the year. Only Latin American commentators could get so wound up over a goal, regardless of who scored it. Being in Brazil when they got knocked out of the Cup was quite an experience. This was total football, when not a person walked on the street or a car moved, a whole nation was watching T.V.

I always had some reservations about traveling in South America, partly because of the ‘aura of menace’ that seemed to surround it. Crime, gangs and rip offs seemed to be the sub text of many peoples experiences here. I have to say that I no problems at all, having had nothing stolen and not even being threatened let alone robbed. I met some people who did have things taken, often with some contributory negligence on their part, like leaving bags with credit cards on the luggage racks of night buses, but I never personally met anyone who had been mugged or robbed.

One of the best investments I made was joining the South American Explorers Club. The clubhouses in Quito, Cusco and Buenos Aires have been homes from home along the way and it’s been a great opportunity to meet some very interesting people. The libraries and trip reports have also been very useful. I would recommend joining to anyone spending time in the region, particularly if they are going to be in the cities with clubhouses. Click here for more details.

The Latin American Suicide Shower

will — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 16:29:00 GMT

Some areas of the world have particular things that define them, and although a good idea they are only found in one continent or region and nowhere else. This even applies to electrical appliances and for Central and South America one of the defining bathroom fixtures is the Suicide Shower. I was first told about them by some American friends in London who told me to watch out for a contraption that fits over the shower head and is plugged into the electric mains. Pretty scary until you get used to them, I was told.

The idea behind suicide showers is to provide hot water where the plumbing system does not run to a hot water boiler, which is the norm in most of tropical America. The water is heated inside the shower head and usually provides a constant and dependable stream of hot water. Getting the stream of water right is something of an art that comes with practice, if the water flow is low it will come out boiling hot, to high and it’s only lukewarm. Controlling the flow to the optimum level can take some time and in some hotels there are detailed instructions on the back of the bathroom door.

Of course the really scary thing about suicide showers is that they combine that lethal combination of water and electricity. They need a lot of power in order to work and so are wired straight into the mains; you know they are working because when you turn on the water all the lights go dim. Being South America you can buy one of these things in any hardware store and simply wire it up yourself using a few bits of insulation tape. Some of the bodge jobs I’ve seen have been truly terrifying, like you really feel you are taking your life in your hands. Do I really want to be clean that much? Sometimes when you turn the water up too quickly an electric blue flash of comes out of the side of the shower head and you really feel - this is it. One of the guide books says that they are perfectly safe as long as you don’t fiddle with them and I have only experience a mild shock off one, so this does seem to be true.

Of course some suicide showers are better than others, with most of the best made in Brazil. South of the tropic and the Rio/San Paulo area they are no longer found as its cold enough in winter here for hotels to install real heating and hot water systems. As I am leaving South America soon it is farewell to the suicide shower, a part of the Latin experience.

Argentina

will — Tue, 5 Sep 2006 21:07:00 GMT

Unlike every other South American country I’ve seen on this trip, Argentina is a country I have visited before, on a two week holiday in which I went to Buenos Aires and Patagonia, flying around the country in order to see as much as I could in the time I had. This was in November 2001 and Argentina was an expensive country to visit then, as the government was holding the Argentinean Peso to parity with the US dollar, a position which was under relentless pressure. There was a subdued feeling in the country, as if everyone knew that the economy was on the edge, an edge over which it fell a week after I’d left. For the rest of the year the cities were rocked by mass demonstrations with police shooting protestors dead in the street.

Argentina took a long time to recover from its economic collapse and is still one of the world’s most indebted countries. Arriving here now almost five years is to see a real contrast. This is a fat and happy nation again with real prosperity evident by the booming malls and smart cars on the roads. Most people seem to be doing very well indeed and there is sense that the country is going somewhere. But not everyone has recovered from the crash and part of the evening scene in Buenos Aires are groups of people going through the garbage looking for things to scavenge, plastic bottles having particular value. Even in the smartest areas men push supermarket trolleys around the streets loaded up with their booty from the bins. In the streets and restaurants, men and even children hawk small items like pens and calculators. They make quite a few sales too; hard times are a recent memory for many people.

In many ways this is a European country that just happens to be in South America. Most of the immigrants were originally from Italy and Spain and they bought their culture with them, including good food, wine and corruption, as well as an obsession for smoking at every opportunity and a liking for lingerie shops. Buenos Aires was laid out by French architects at the end of the 19^th Century and arriving there is like finding yourself in Paris but at a fraction of the price. In comfortable cafes, attentive waiters serve decent coffee and people write in pads and read books, a sight unseen in the rest of South America. Street performers with some original wit compete against each other on the pedestrian streets, while the buskers are made up of bands who really know how to play their instruments. Argentineans have a more sophisticated society than exists in most of the rest of the continent, and they know it.

So grateful are the Argentineans to their current President, Nestor Kitchner, for delivering the good times again that they have allowed him to increase his power at the expense of the Congress, which happily voted to hand over more responsibilities to him. For better or worse, Mr Kitchner has also dragged out some issues from the recent past, which is an uncomfortable place for many people.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo are well known around the world, helped along by Sting having written a song about them. They are the Mothers of the people who disappeared in the dirty war when the Army dictatorship ran the country in the 1970’ and 80’s. Every Thursday afternoon they gather in Plaza de Mayo, one of the main squares to march and remember; this has now turned into a tourist event with coach loads of mainly foreigners taking pictures. The Mothers have their own logo, a white scarf, which is painted on the paving stones where they march and they run their own souvenir stand. Most of them are now very elderly and the whole occasion is like an OAP get together as the ladies exchange gossip and chat about the events of the week. Now thanks to Mr Kitchner they really do have something to talk about, as he has removed immunity to prosecution from the Army torturers and even former government ministers and they are now being bought to justice.

Another issue from the recent past now revived by Mr Kitchner is the Falklands or Malvinas Islands, a sore point for many Argentineans after they were ejected by force during the 1982 war with Britain. Banging the Nationalist drum over this issue he hopes will help the Peronist party’s re-election chances next year. What is surprising are the number of new and very grand memorials that have been built around the country over the last year or so. Every town of any size has a Malvinas memorial, even if only one son of the town died there, usually the dead of the whole province are added on as well. The main memorial in Buenos Aires is very grand affair indeed with an eternal flame and honour guard. In Cordoba, there is a street stand which is manned most days by Malvinas conspiracy theorists claiming that the British ‘occupation’ is part of a wider plot to expand the British Antarctic Territory? Most of this is winging, as there is little Argentina can practically do to get the islands back. For example the TV weather gives the weather forecast for the islands, and it’s illegal to own a map of Argentina that does not show the Falklands as part of the country. Why a country with vast areas of empty space would want such a barren, useless place is a question someone here should be asking but no one is. The islands whichever name you use, will continue to be British as it would be political suicide for any British politician to hand them over.

The irony is that previous to 1982, the British and the Argentineans had always got on very well. Britain helped build the railways (now mostly in ruins) and develop the meat trade and the well to do of Buenos Aires, with their love of horses, dogs and Rugby have always been Anglophone in outlook. When telling people I am British I have received only kind words, usually with some comment on Beckham or Princess Diana (a sort of British Evita, pretty and died young) and British brands from Landrover and Cadburys chocolate to Robbie Williams are widely liked. So why rake up the issue again? Most people in Argentina and Britain just don’t care.

Politics aside if you want to visit a country where you can live well, with a great outdoors as well as nice cities, come to Argentina, before the prices start going up.

_{Check out the Photo Gallery on the sidebar called Argentina for some photos on this topic.}

Traveling in South America - how much does it cost?

will — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 21:34:00 GMT

I've had a number of mails recently asking me how much does it cost to travel in South America, and although it's nice to hear from people I thought it may be easier to write one post everyone can read.

For this survey there are three expense zones in Latin America, the Southern Zone countries of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil are the most expensive although still affordable compared to Europe. These countries have a large middle class who travel on holiday within the region so costs can be pushed up significantly during holiday periods, particularly the Southern Hemisphere Summer months from Christmas through to March.

The Andean countries of Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador make up the second group, they are much cheaper to travel in and as most of them attract budget travelers, prices are competitive and there is a budget infrastructure in place.

The third group includes Venezuela, which I have not been to so will not discuss it further and the Guineas countries in the North East, which I again have not been to but which are reputedly very expensive, with French Guaniean having similar prices to France itself.

As an overview, my partner Louise and I have been traveling through South America since the beginning of the year, spending three weeks in Colombia, two months in Ecuador (including the Galapagos), two months in Peru, a month in Bolivia, and one month in Brazil. In the last few weeks we have been in the Paraguay, River Plate region. We do all our accounts in US dollars and have kept records of all our expenditure, traveling long term as we do it is like running a small business, you have to know where the cash is going. The prices listed below are for a double room with bath and dinner costs are for two people with a starter and soft drink, so are just a guide. If you are travelling alone or staying in hostels and making your own meals, then you can adjust things downwards. We also traveled in towns and cites by taxi for the safety and convenience. Most rides only cost between $1 and $3 in nearly all countries. Our budget is $70 a day for all our needs (including transport, food, phone calls, internet etc) for both of us, and for most of our time in the region we have managed to keep within that figure.

The Countries in descending order of expense.

Bolivia

A very cheap country, we spent an average of $56 a day, a figure pushed up by the number of tours we did. A hotel will cost you $12 - $16 a night, although we did pay $30 in one tourist town. Dinner will average $10 for two. Transport is very cheap, so cheap we often bought a third seat to put our bags on. A 6 hour bus journey will cost around $3.50 per person, a 24 hour journey $15. Alot of the big sights are only accessible on tours which are very cheap and usually good value but shop around. Click on these links for info and pricing on Salar de Uyuni, Rurrenabaque Pampas tours, and Posati mine tours.

Colombia

At an average of $48 a day this was a cheap place to visit. This is mainly because most of the accommodation aimed at tourists are hostels and we spent some time trekking which is very cheap. A hostel room for two varies from $8 - $13 and hotels from $7 - $26. A meal for two is around $12 - $16, and food is of a very high quality. Transport is also reasonable with a 6 hour journey costing about $13 for one person. What is nice is that Colombia is a very developed and sophisticated country, so you can have a good time here very cheaply. As things are settling down more Colombians are travelling around and more people visiting, so get there before the hoards. For more practical details click here.

Ecuador

We averaged $60 a day in Ecuador which was probably higher than it needed to be as we spent alot of time in Quito, which is a little more expensive. Accommodation ranged from $14 - $21 a night and dinner was from $10 - $16. Transport is very cheap, a 4 hour journey costs about $3.5 and an 8 hour trip, $6.

These average living costs include the three weeks we spent in the Galapagos, but don't include transport, fees or tours there. Click here, for info on how to see the Galapagos without blowing the budget.

Peru

The travelers favorite and with good reason, there is a lot to see and do here and at an average of $63 a day it's an affordable place. Accommodation ranged from $15 - $20 a day, although we paid $23 for a room in Cusco as it was particularly nice. Meals cost from $12 - $19 although you pay more for poorer quality in tourist places. We were there in May, outside the high season, which is in July, August and September when prices jump.

Our average includes our entrances and transport to Machu Picchu but do not include any tours. We did not do the Inca Trail and if you want to go on an organized trek in the region you will have to factor that cost in. We trekked extensively in the Sacred Valley (click here for an example) and in Colca Canyon organizing everything ourselves, which was very cheap and enjoyable.

Argentina

We have only spent a week in this country but it's been a pleasant surprise cost wise. We were last here just before the crash in 2001 when the peso was one to one with the dollar, now there are three pesos to a dollar. A good double with bath in Buenos Aires (with heating, very essential at this time of year) costs $24. With meals ranging from $10 - $20. Arriving in Buenos Aires is like arriving in Paris at a fraction of the cost, you can afford to loll around in cafes half the afternoon. Transport is fairly expensive at $35 for an 8 hour journey but you are served an airline type meal, including wine and champagne (I though I was dreaming!).

Paraguay, where we spent a few days costs about the same as Argentina, the same goes for Uruguay, where we are now.

Brazil

Now the screaming really starts, as this was the budget buster with an average spend of $86 a day. Accommodation ranged between $24 to $40 for a room with bath. Meals were from $12 - $40. Taxis were only for when we were carrying bags as the average was $8 a ride. In the cities we went by bus. Long distance buses, although good are expensive with you paying $40 - $50 for an 8 hour ride per person, and all the distances are long. Also beware of areas that are popular with Brazilian tourists as these can push costs up. We paid $50 for a basic room in Ouro Preto (our trip record) as it was weekend, and we were lucky to get that.

One way to cut costs is to eat at diners that where pay by weight, the prices are usually quoted per 100g. These are often only open for lunch so it will be worth making this your main meal. Basically you only pay for what you want and the quality is usually very high. It's worth noting that hostels are not a good deal in Brazil particularly if there are two of you. Usually you can get a better deal by looking around the hotels. For example in Iguazu Falls we stayed in a very nice three star hotel, with a gym and pool and a big breakfast for the same cost as the IH hostel was asking for a double room, which was just that, a room with a double bed in it.

Although you will pay to see some sights, like the Sugar Loaf in Rio, Brazil also has some quality sights like the public buildings in Brasilia and the Itaipu dam which have free guided tours.

Chile

I didn’t spend long in Chile so this is not a very comprehensive survey. Accommodation is pricy, $30 a night for a double in a hostel. Food is variable, eating out is for Chileans a special occasion, so it’s expensive. There are lots of Chinese restaurants where you can get a meal for two for under $20. Chile is junk food heaven and if you can subsist on Hamburgers and fries, then you will have a choice of promotions to choose from and eating for about $3. Fruit (not surprisingly) is cheap as is internet access. Transport will be the real killer as there is so much distance to cover. A one and a half hour trip to the coast was $6 each way, so heading down to Patagonia is going to cost.

Travelers who will be in South America for a any length of time might want to consider joining the South American Explorers Club (http://www.samexplo.org/) which has clubhouses in Quito, Lima, Cusco and Buenos Aires. They also have discounts for members with lots of businesses in the region and can provide a lot of useful information as well as running talks and activities. A great place to meet people and very worthwhile.

If you are going to South America and traveling around the only guidebook worth taking is the 'South American Handbook' published by Footprint. This is the only guide that has the detail and depth you need and it is also the most up to date regarding costs and the quality of listings. Accept no substitutes; this is the only book you need.

I hope this is a useful guide, all comments welcome.

Paraguay

will — Tue, 8 Aug 2006 20:02:00 GMT

Paraguay has always struck me as an interesting place to travel too, partly because I’ve never met anyone else who has been here and I wondered why. All the backpacker/travelers routes in South America avoid it, a place where bad things happen perhaps? Certainly it has a reputation, run by a military dictatorship for most of the last fifty years it has cultivated friends amongst the more dodgy countries like Taiwan. With it’s large German immigrate population it was also a favorite for fleeing Nazis. As no one seems to go there and the bad vibes that hang around it, linger on, or maybe it’s just misunderstood?

As soon as you arrive from Brazil the differences are obvious, this is a much poorer place and things like immigration are a little more slapdash, your details are hand written in a ledger. The main crossing point of Cindad del Este is a massive supermarket run by the Chinese who sell mainly electronic gadgets and Perfume to Brazilians, while on the other side, Paraguayans carry in car tyres. On every street corner everywhere in the country there is a place to change money. The Paraguayan currency, the Guarani (named after the local indigenous people) is unloved even by the locals, everyone wants US dollars and Euros. At 5500 guarani’s to the US dollar, a trip to an ATM is enough to make you an instant millionaire. The whole country is a big money laundering centre and there are lots of casinos to help the process along.

Outside the cities, Paraguay is like a giant farm. Fields of wheat are in dispersed with cattle ranches and every few miles there are large groups of grain silos. Beside these farms are some very plush ranch houses, some of the most opulent houses I’ve seen in South America, which could have been dropped there from Texas. Clearly the farmers are a group that is doing well and the country towns are well kept and always have a neat central plaza. Only occasionally do you see the kind of shacks so common elsewhere in the region and they are homes only for the Guarani.

Asuncion, the capital has a pleasant faded grandeur much like the clapped out Mercedes’ taxis that take you into the centre from the bus station. The centre has a very sixties concrete feel with not much built since then. One exception is the new Congress Building which was paid for by the Taiwanese; in front of it is a lawn on which horses graze and a shanty town with people cooking over open fires, which kind of spoils the grand effect. The Republic of China is a generous friend to those that recognize it and throughout the country there are signs announcing projects paid for by the Taiwanese. Unlike other countries like Belize and Costa Rica that also recognize Taiwan, the Chinese have not taken over the commercial life of the country. Maybe the Europeans were too entrenched? The older immigrants have also built some nice French style buildings, created pleasant cafes and in the Germans case, made sure there is excellent beer and sausages everywhere.

In the centre of the main Plaza in Asuncion, is a large Parthenon type building which is a memorial to the ‘Hero’s of Paraguay’ and contains the tomb of the unknown solider, the unknown child solider and various dignitaries. It must be the effect of being run by the Army for so long that so much empathize placed on it’s wars, which must be some of the most futile and pointless in world history. The War of the Triple Alliance, 1864 – 70, in which Paraguay took on all it’s neighbours at once, mainly over trifling slights, and resulted in the deaths of half the population including almost every able bodied man in the country. The child solider in the Parthenon was one of those called up when they ran out of men! The Chaco War, 1932 – 35, was fought with Bolivia who tried to occupy the north of the country, both sides believing that there was oil to be discovered there. Egged on by rival Western oil companies over 100,000 died (mainly from disease) to defend a land that is uninhabitable even today.

Still Asuncion overall feels like a city that is opening up to the outside world. Unlike the rest of South America, Western music is popular and you can’t go anywhere without hearing Robbie Williams. Evangelical churches are also big here and walking through the streets on a week night, you can hear various brands of Christians praising the lord and Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses prowl the streets by day pushing their wares.

Traveling to a country which sees few visitors is usually a pleasure as the locals are genuinely interested in talking to you and hearing where you are from. I had a similar experience in Colombia at the beginning of the year. Unlike Colombia, Paraguay does not have a civil war going on, so there is no possible reason for not going there. So veer off that beaten track and try Paraguay.

Boat Trip to the Amazon

will — Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:29:00 GMT

There is something special about reaching a place after a long boat trip, especially when it is along a river. One of the places I’ve always wanted to visit was Manaus on the Amazon, having read as a child the epic story to build an Opera House there in the middle of the Amazon Rain Forest. This scheme was a victory of determination over common sense, a prestige project for the rich rubber magnates that ran Manaus at that time, after all, how many opera fans were there in the Amazon in the 1890’s? It took fifteen years to build and apart from some local wood, every piece of it was imported from Europe, from the Italian marble to the cast iron pillars made in Glasgow. Having read the inspirational story of its building, I had always wanted to see this particular Opera House.

After some investigation I learnt that there was a boat twice a week from a town close to the Bolivian border that took three days to reach Manaus, along the Rio Madeira, which at 3200 km was the third longest river in Latin America, and one of the Amazons major tributaries. So I arrived in the Brazilian town of Porto Velho so find the boat.

I arranged through a portside agent to have a cabin on the river boat “Alfredo Zanys”, a three decked vessel which carried cargo and passengers. The lower deck carried the cargo, on this trip, tomatoes, potatoes and Argentinean onions all neatly boxed up and loaded by hand. The crew also lived down here amongst the veg. The middle deck housed the passengers, most of them in hammock class. In the center of the deck was an empty space, 10m by 4m in which people hung their hammocks and piled their processions. This really was communal living as there were so many hammocks they were touching each other and some had two tiers, one below another. As more tickets had been sold, the hammocks had spread along the passages and to move about people had to duck and weave their way though the ropes and sleeping people. The space had filled from the front of the boat to be as far away from the noisy engine as possible. At the front of the middle deck were the cabins, where I was, the quietest and least populated part of the boat. Each cabin had two bunks and a tiny bathroom (all the water came from the river so it came out of the taps brown) and an air con unit which had power only at certain times of day. On the top deck there was very little, a few cabins, a snack bar with TV, and a large open space without shade and so good for very little. On the top of the snack bar was a satellite dish which was connected to a handle. As the boat moved the dish had to be realigned by hand, someone moving the handle until the picture was restored. As this took quite a lot of effort it was only done for important events like World Cup matches, when all the space under the meager shade was filled up to watch the game. When the TV was off, music blared out from a massive speaker.

Apart from a few foreigners like me everyone on board was Brazilian. After a few hours everyone settled down, the luggage was sorted out, children ran around and explored the ship and people started to get to know each other. There were even some Brazilian tourists on board, people from San Paulo discovering their own country. Meal times were a communal affair; at the back of the boat were the galley and a dinning room. You queued up for a sitting and the cooks put plates of rice, pasta and stew with great knuckles of meat and bone in it. This was served up for almost every meal, except breakfast which was coffee and crackers. As there were no lights in the hammock area, night came early for most passengers.

The ship ploughed on day and night up the brown river, only stopping briefly over the three days. At first the Rio Madeira was less than a kilometer in width, with few tributaries or habitation. The boat often traveled close to the tree lined banks; this was the famous Amazon rain forest; flat land was far as you could see, covered in trees. In rained in the late afternoons and clouds stretched away across the landscape, a wonderful view in such a natural landscape Most of the settlements only consisted of a few houses, most of which had banana trees growing around them. Where the larger trees had been cut down you could see the smaller plants and shrubs which were very diverse, as if you were looking at a botanical garden. Further up river, the settlements became sizeable towns and there was more river traffic. More rivers flowed in and we often passed sizeable tree covered islands, the far shore now being almost two kilometers away.

Early on the morning of the third day we woke up on the Amazon itself and now the river was six kilometers wide and we were passing ocean going ships. Instead of wooden huts the shore now housed an oil refinery and a naval base. In Manaus, the port is at the center of the city so you get off the boat and immediately enter the world of traffic, people and noise. After the quiet and isolation of most of the trip, this was startling reentry to the real world. It interesting how after a few days on a boat it becomes almost like home, familiar and insular, and that suddenly having to find a hotel reminds you that life goes on elsewhere and you had better shape up to it. Cruising the world’s great rivers is certainly a wonderful way to get away from it all, highly recommended.

Extortion - Andean Style

will — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 21:41:00 GMT

Having in the last year been marooned in a town in Ecuador for a week by protesters blocking the main roads and having just escaped the same thing near Cusco, I thought that the days of being held hostage by indigenous people was over, especially as I was now in Bolivia. Bolivia used to be the road block capital of South America until Evo Morales got elected, a man of the people, the road blockers are still seeing if he produces results before manning the barracks again, or so I thought.

I have just been on a tour of the Salar de Uyuni, a three day trip out into some very pretty wilderness and one of the ‘must see’ sights in Bolivia. On the last day our Land Cruiser stopped at a small relocated mining village called San Cristobal which has an interesting thatched church that was moved along with the villagers to the new location. While we were there our guide heard in the market that the road ahead had been blocked. We were then only 60km from Uyuni, the home base and the first shower for days and dusk was only an hour away. So our switched on guide phoned ahead and arranged for another Land Cruiser to be on the other side of block to pick us up. We then set off into the night. After about an hours driving we started to pass Land Cruisers from other tours, and Lorries parked up at the side of the road. The road blockers had chosen a bridge to put the block, as the area was so remote there was no way to get around it. We stopped and our driver walked ahead to see if our transport was on the other side. It was, so we got our kit down and started walking, it was a crisp, cold night with a wonderful display of stars. On the other side of the bridge there were about thirty Lorries parked up, as the road is one of the main routes into Chile. The drivers had to spend the night in them and had wrapped large plastic tarps around the cabs in an effort to keep the heat in. Our car was waiting so we were soon back in the comforts of Uyuni.

The big question was, why were the people blockading? At the block itself there was no one to ask not even the police. One rumor was that the people in San Cristobal were protesting about the mine lorries going through the village, so that instead of taking this up with the village council and the mine owners, they just blockaded the road. The next day I discovered that the San Cristobal road was not the only one that had been closed; all the roads all around Uyuni had been blockaded and they had been for a day or so. Only a few buses had managed to get out at night, and there were concerns that the town would run out of fresh food. The rumor now was that the local people were protesting about the state of the roads out of the town. Like most of the roads in Bolivia, none of them are sealed.

I was due to leave Uyuni on a night bus to La Paz so I went to the Police Station to ask what the possibilities were of the bus getting out of the town. Of course they didn’t know why the roads were blockaded but they said we would not have a problem leaving. Why? Because the driver will pay a bribe.

In Ecuador and Peru, the people were protesting to stop a Free Trade Agreement with the US, and earlier in the year the Bolivians had been protesting to bring down the government and reverse privatization. In Ecuador they have been partially successful as the Americans have called talks off but Peru are already members, so their protests looked a little futile (so what was the real reason?). In Bolivia it seems that even with Evo in power, busy nationalizing the gas industry and spending billions, his people still like to get out there and block roads. Legitimizing ‘primitive protest’ is a double edged sword. The real reason the locals are out there ‘exerting their rights ‘ is that have got used to the easy money to be made, extorting money from companies and drivers to allow them to continue their journeys. The night I left Uyuni, we were delayed for only a few minutes at the road block as the driver paid up. Political realities can’t be allowed to get in the way of a nice little earner.

Pampas tours from Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

will — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 14:13:00 GMT

Rurrenabaque in the North East of Bolivia has become a major backpacker’s center for organized trips into the jungle and pampas that surround the town. For many travelers a Pampas trip, along with biking the Death Road and taking a tour on the Salar de Uyuni, has become one of the ‘must does’ while they are in Bolivia. Just like in Uyuni, there are lots of agencies competing for the business, some of which are good and some that are not. Rurrenabaque used to have a Rankings Office (like in Uyuni) which tired to grade agencies but it no longer exists so travelers are reliant on recommendations from other travelers or trusting to luck. Having just returned from a Pampas tour I have a few comments which may be of use to other travelers.

Most tours are three days, the first and third days invoke getting out to the River Yacoma region while the second day is taken up with activities. You stay out in camps along the river bank some of which are owned exclusively by agencies. Booking with one agency does not mean that you will be on that agencies Land Cruiser or staying at their camp, just like Uyuni the agencies pool their clients to make up numbers. Prices are often very low, $20 a day for all transport, accommodation and food. With some of the more expensive agencies they were not running tours when I wanted to go as they had no other clients. In my opinion three days is too long as most of the activities that fill the time are boring and pointless and is some cases dangerous to the wildlife. This is what you get up to.

Day One. Starting at 1030 there is a three hour Land Cruiser up a dirt road to the village of Santa Rose where you have lunch at a restaurant with lots of captive animals. The food is quite good though and this was generally the case throughout my tour, a real highlight. You then go to the riverside to get on your long boat down the river. The trip down the river to the camp is the best part of the tour, going up and down the river is where you will see most of the wildlife, there is little around the camps.

If you have ever wanted to experience what living in third world slum is like, then this is your chance. The camp I stayed at had no power or running water and the dorm beds were practically bare wood. It was gloomy, very hot and alive with Mosquitoes, take lots of repellant. Some of the other camps do have generators and running water, I was taken to one of these for a shower on the second day and some have gas powered fridges for cold beer. Hopefully you will end up at one of the better ones.

After dinner you are taken out on a night boat trip. The stated aim of this is to see Alligators eyes in the darkness (which you do) but the real aim is for the guide to capture a caiman for the ‘look at me holding this croc thing photo op’. My group declined this but it’s apparent that some backpacker groups insist on guides finding animals for them to pose with. Some agencies say that they don’t do this and make a lot of their environmental awareness. Sitting in the boat gets boring but the stars are pretty.

Day Two. This morning you are taken out into the Pampas itself. You are given gym shoes (tough if you have small feet) or Wellington boots. You then spend two to three hours walking through a stinking swamp to little purpose. The aim of this activity is for the guide to capture a snake, preferably an Anaconda for the ‘look at me with the snake photo op’. There is a lot of birdlife on the Pampas but the guides don’t know anything about it. You have to wear trousers for this trip as you will be walking through long, sharp grass so if you only bought one pair with you, you will have to wear then wet and stinking when the mosquitoes come out.

After a rest and lunch the afternoon activity is ‘swimming with dolphins’. The guide goes up and down the river hoping to be the first to find some dolphins for his clients. You then moor and have a swim or stand around in the river, which is quite good fun for a while. The dolphins wisely stay well away. My guide found some dolphins but there were lots of boats trying to get near to where we were, so those guides’ clients could ‘swim with dolphins’ as well. As ever this activity went on far too long.

After this I was taken for my shower. At sunset the guides tend to take their groups to one of the few camps that have beer ($1 a can) to watch the sun go down, so there is quite a party atmosphere. Then it’s back to your camp for dinner and an early night.

Day Three. The morning is spent Piranha fishing! You are taken out in the boat to a likely spot, given some line, hook and bait and away you go. Some of my group did catch some, as did the guides. The fish are then fried and served up as a supplement to lunch so that everyone can say they’d eaten Piranha. How much fun this is depends on how much you like fishing, as ever it goes on far too long. Local people have always caught piranha, but how sustainable this is I don’t know, nor did the guide.

The trip back to the road by boat was again a real trill because you see lots of quite stunning wildlife on the backside, including in my case, a lizard a meter long and a large swimming snake! If the drive to Santa Rose wasn’t so long, the river trip who be an excellent day trip.

I can’t say that the Pampas tour was particularly enjoyable. I guess it’s what people want or what the agencies think they want. I wanted to see wildlife and I did, even when I was sitting around waiting for an activity to happen/finish. The FAQ from other travelers when I got back was, ‘Is there beer there.’ I can only guess that people go to party or because they are ticking the ‘things to do in Bolivia’ box. In the past there used to be a fixed $35 a day minimum charge for these trips, which was charged by all the agencies. This has now gone and agencies are now undercutting each other, forced to some extent by groups of backpackers insisting on lower prices for large numbers. At $20 a day for everything, there is not enough money to invest in improving the camps or in providing better training for guides. This constant pressure on prices just means that there will continue to be backpacker slums on the riverbank. So shop around, listen to recommendations and pay extra if you can and hope you see the value.

The Salar de Uyuni for Inderpendent Travellers

will — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:37:00 GMT

Uyuni is the kicking off point for trips into the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt pan in the world and a must on most visitors’ itineraries to Bolivia. The trip out to the lake also usually includes the dramatic landscape to the south of the lake, with is filled with volcanoes, salt lakes and geysers and takes about three days. I was a little apprehensive about booking a tour because of the many ‘bad trip’ stories I’d heard, drunk drivers, broken down vehicles, crap food and other rip offs. Everyone I’d met said that the fantastic scenery outweighed the problems but that you had to be careful who you went with.

Having just returned from a three day trip where I had a wonderful time here are a few tips. Firstly don’t book your tour anywhere else but Uyuni, there are now 62 tour agencies in town and the prices are very competitive. Booking anywhere else means you will pay more. I paid $70 for a three day trip including food and accommodation. In Uyuni there is a company that ranks the tour operators for quality, they were set up as an aid project but now fund themselves with a café and shop. They are impartial and will only take recommendations from travelers, not the companies themselves. The company is called ‘Ranking Bolivia’ and they can be found at Potosi 9, in Uyuni. The tour situation is changing all the time and the guide books are usually very out of date. Go to Rankings to find out who is currently giving a good deal.

I traveled with a company called ‘Oasis Odyssey Tours’, which was near the top of the ‘best of’ list. Note that many tour operators are shut on Sunday including many of the better ones. Oasis turned out to be an excellent choice, mainly because we had an excellent guide. His name was Javier Canaza who was the driver guide and his wife, Liset who was the cook. Its worth asking for him by name as guides often work for a couple of tour agencies. Javier only speaks Spanish, but almost no guides speak English. If you want an English speaking guide you will have to arrange it in advance and pay about $20 a day extra. Liset was an excellent cook with fresh, hot food served up at every meal. There were no problems or breakdowns during the trip. All the agencies use Land Cruisers, the one I traveled in was in better condition than others I saw. I did see one group that had to borrow a spare tyre from another Land Cruiser and we passed another group who ran out of gas on the way back, just 10k from Uyuni! Combining groups is very common; two people on my tour had booked with someone else. Do check the vehicle before you set out, see that it has a spare and a full tank of gas and if it looks bad insist on another one. I did see most of Oasis’s stock of Land Cruisers and they all looked pretty good.

Be advised, these trips are not for people who want their comforts. Most tours take six or seven people so it can be a little claustrophobic. Who your tour companions are is up to luck, I was fortunate to have some very nice people on mine. Three days cooped up in the same vehicle could be a problem if you don’t get on with people. If your tour is taking seven, it means that the driver/guide will also do the cooking, so don’t expect anything too elaborate to eat. The accommodation is also very basic, with dorm rooms, simple bathrooms and no heating. Power is from generators and it goes off at 2100. If you don’t have a sleeping bag you can usually hire one from the agency – do so, also if you don’t have warm clothing – buy some. The second nights stop is at 4300m and you will wake up to find water in bathroom frozen. The third days start is at 0530 with the temperature well below freezing. Most of the tours follow the same route so that there will be eight or ten Land Cruisers at the lunch stops and at the main Miradors. As there are no toilets most of the main stops double as large open air latrines, so watch your step when you walk around corners.

So is it all worth it? No doubt at all. The Salar de Uyuni is one of the worlds great sights, a great expanse of nothingness. Every guidebook has a picture and you will take lots too, so take plenty of batteries (you can charge them along the way but it’s difficult) and film/memory. The Volcanoes and lakes are very spectacular but perhaps the most enduring sight is that of so much wilderness (if you exclude the other Land Cruisers). There is also some wildlife like wild Vicuñas (primitive llamas), Vizcachas (giant rabbits) and a semi tame Andean Fox at one of the lunch stops. Seeing the Milky Way at night, when there is no light and Mercury rising in the early morning, things most of us never see, these are all bonuses. One thing you must do, although many people chicken out, is to have a dip in the thermal baths. You will reach these at 0700 on the third day when it is still very cold, but believe me it’s worth it. The water is about 30 c but you stay warm after you get out. It’s a highlight of many. Since getting back to La Paz I’ve met up with a few people who did not have such great trips, two people in hospital (one with altitude sickness), two cameras lost, moldy bread and generally crap food being served up, and guides that seemed to be total bastards. The prices paid bare no relation to what people got, some paid a lot and got rubbish. Grinding down the prices does mean that companies will cut corners, and maybe this is the whole problem, too many people chasing too few tourists. What Uyuni needs is a shake out so that only the best survive, Rankings is at least a step in the right direction.

Briefing for a descent into Hell

will — Wed, 7 Jun 2006 21:31:00 GMT

Posati which at 4000 meters is the highest city/town of it's size in the world. At one time it was the richest city in the world, it's wealth built on the conical hill Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) which dominates the town and which was mined for it's rich seams of silver. The silver was extracted under appealing conditions with an estimated eight million men dieing over the three hundred years the silver has been worked. By the early 19^th Century the silver was worked out and the town went into decline, nowadays it is full of ornate churches built on the silver wealth and lots of lawyers. Most tourists come to Posoti not to see the architectural sights but to experience one of the world’s most unusual tours, a visit to the mines that are still worked inside Cerro Rico. You know that it's an different kind of tour as you are asked to sign a disclaimer when you book it. Among the things it says is that although the guide will do his best to keep you safe, he can't protect you from a cave in, which for the miners is the commonest form of death; on average two die every month from this cause. In fact only one tourist has died in the twenty years of the mines being a tourist attraction and he died as he stepped back to take a picture and then fell down a 35 meter shaft. Cave ins excluded, the average life expectancy of a miner is only 15 years, the dust and medieval conditions all take their toll. Today 12,000 miners work inside the mountain and most of them do so because there are no other jobs.

Cerro Rico has been worked for almost 400 years and is riddled with tunnels, the interior of the mountain is like a giant Swiss cheese . The miners work independently above and below each other, exploiting each seam as they find it and opening it up with dynamite. There is no systematic planning for getting the ore out, no geologists, no maps and no mine rescue should an accident happen. A team of American Geologists and Mine Engineers did once inspect the mines and concluded that the interior of the mountain would collapse in seven years - that was eleven years ago; but as our guide said, hopefully today won't be the day it happens. The logical way to get at the ore would be to strip mine the mountain, which would be more efficient and safer. The downside would be that it would employ very few men and so that biggest opponents to this are the miners themselves who despite their appalling conditions at least feel they have a livelihood.

So if you're feeling lucky you turn up for the tour. Firstly you are taken to a house to be kitted out as a miner, overalls, Wellington boots and a helmet and light set. The next stop is the miners market. As the miners have to pay for all their own equipment and tools it is customary to take them some presents. These include sticks of dynamite, detonators and blasting cord, soft drinks and on Fridays, bottles of 97% alcohol which the miners drink to help them forget the week gone by. One of thrills for most tourists is handling explosives, as most of them are unlikely to ever do it again. Next stop is the Coca market to get presents for the workers at the ore refinery which we are visiting first. There are 32 refineries around the town which extract the minerals from the raw ore. These are small ‘shovel and wheelbarrow’ affairs with lots of whirling belts and machinery crushing and panning. To separate the heavy metals (mainly silver and zinc) from the ore some very unpleasant chemicals are used including Hydrochloric Acid and Sodium Cyanide which are in open baths. On the tour you are able to walk around all this, there are no safety guards or barriers at all. When the chemicals are spent, they all go into a local river and flow away into Argentina. How the Argentineans feel about having their rivers laced with Cyanide, nobody seemed to know. If the real cost of extraction was taken into account, with environmental cleanup afterwards, the whole mining operation would be uneconomic which is why everyone from the government (who take their cut of the extracted metal) downwards, turns a blind eye.

After the refineries we are off to the mines themselves. We drive to a shaft that is cut horizontally into the side of the mountain which is surrounded by a few adobe buildings and assorted rubbish. A compressor is pumping air down a tube into the shaft. Our guides are all ex miners and most of them speak good English. All around the shaft and the buildings there are large gobs of blood as a llama was recently sacrificed during a festival, the Cerro Rico miners are as superstitious as any others in the world.

When you first enter the shaft it’s not too bad, the roof being fairly high. This particular tunnel was hundreds of years old and quite well made. We had to stop for a while in a wider part of the tunnel as an ore wagon comes by. This has two tons of ore in it and is pushed by two men. Apart from the compressed air for the drills; there is no mechanization in the mines at all. The wagons are at least an improvement; previously the ore was carried out in sacks on the backs of the workers. In an offshoot of the main tunnel is a small museum which has a collection of tools and some dressed mannequins to represent the workers who have worked in the mines over the centuries. There is a lot of interesting information on display. Towards the back of the chamber what looks like asbestos in its natural state covers the walls and roof making me glad I’d invested one boliviano in a paper mask. We then continue down the tunnel, what is noticeable is that it gets steadily hotter and there is a lot of dust in the air, especially when a wagon goes by. After a while I have to admit I gave up and asked to go back to the surface. All the guide books warn you of how unpleasant and claustrophobic it is in the mines but this doesn’t really prepare you for how bad it really is. I was still on the first level when I turned back, the rest of the group descended down an incline to the second level where the mining was going on. The extracted ore is put into large canvas buckets and lifted up shafts to be put into wagons on the first level and pushed out. Very hot, dusty and unpleasant.

Back on the surface it’s playtime with the dynamite we have all chipped into buying. The guides make a few simple ‘bombs’ and light the fuses a short distance up the road. The explosions are pretty impressive, one wonders what they must be like underground where everything is compressed.

The lasting impression of the mines is - thank god I don’t have to work there, this is a tour after all. The tour company I went there with does give a percentage of the fee to the miners’ welfare but no amount of money can compensate for such a desperate and unpleasant way of life. It’s worth seeing to make you realize the real cost of many of the things we take for granted.

Trekking from Cusco to Lamay,Peru

will — Sun, 28 May 2006 14:51:00 GMT

This is a great trek, a wonderful upland walk with great views and lots of birds and flowers to see along the way. There is easy access from Cusco but you only have to walk for a few hours before you are in an isolated wilderness. We did this independently over two days, carrying our own tent, food and cooking equipment. We also have a water filter, there is very little water on this route and you have to take it where you can.

If you have a very early start and travel light who could do this trek in a day, it´s about 25km in total, but a tough day out.

We took Oats for breakfast and instant noodles and a package sauce for dinner, plus bread and canned fish for the lunches.

You need to take lots of woolies for this walk as it’s very high and exposed, when the sun goes down, it’s cold.

We worked off the description in the book `Exploring Cusco´ by Peter Frost, which is reasonable and took the 1:100 000 map (Calca) which topographically is very good. A compass is also very useful.

We found this walk quite easy navigation wise, OK we did it on bright, clear days, but the path/track is well defined the whole way and there are cairns marking prominent features. The landscape features and large and obvious and all of them are mapped. Note this is a very lonely walk, we saw almost no one the whole way, so don’t rely on being able to ask for directions.

The start of this walk is just beyond the fort at Qenco. If you proceed up the road to Pisac from the fort you will come to a junction on the right hand side of the road which is signposted to Saqsaywaman. From here if you look North, which is parallel with the Pisac road you will see a ridge ahead of you with some Inca stonework at it’s foot. Start walking here with the road on your right hand side. Soon you will come to a track, this then heads uphill and you will soon leave the road behind. You are aiming for a valley which you can see as a cleft in the hills ahead of you. The path will take you into the narrow valley; keep on the right hand side of it. Keep ascending until you reach a ridge with a large cairn (mound of earth and rock) on top of it. This is the first ‘pass’ at 4200 meters. In front of you is a large, spectacular valley (which Frost neglects to mention). Look to the left and you should be able to see your route which goes around the head of the valley. Turn left from the cairn and follow the route down. At the head of the valley you will cross a stream where there is a path leading off to the left, ignore this and head North East, you will ascend up into a shallow valley (with some rock sheep pens at the end) keep going North East and follow the track up to a ridge between two low hills with a cairn on top.

This is the second pass at 4300 meters. You should now be looking down on Lake Quellacocha (actually a reservoir) which is at the bottom of a shallow valley. On the other side of the valley is a road which is not marked on the Calca map. Turn left (Heading North) and contour around the side of the hill. You will reach a pass between two hills where there is a track off to the left, ignore this, keeping contouring around the hills, you are aiming for the cairn which you can see on the ridge at the Northern most end of the Lake Quellachocha valley. Ascend up to the ridge; this is the third pass at 4250 meters. On the northern side you should be looking down to Lake Coricocha and on the south side, back to Lake Quellacocha. Below you is a shallow valley with the road in it. Turn left and follow the track down to the road at the head of the valley. You only walk along the road for a few meters before heading up the side of the hill in front of you. The track is prominent and you should be heading North East. You will ascend to a ridge, in front of you will be a valley in between the hill you are on and one in front of you. In the valley are power lines which are not marked on the map. To your left you will have a great view of Lake Piuray, which is just to the south of Chinchero. In the far distance you will see a ridge with three cairns on it, you are aiming for these. The trail now descends into the valley and up the side of the ridge in front of you, ascending and contouring on the eastern side. As you reach the top of the ridge you should see some ponds on your right hand side (not marked on the map). You then descend to a stream before climbing up to the ridge with the three cairns. (We camped in the dry stream bed here as it was a little less exposed, and we found water in a steam hollow, although we filtered it and chlorinated it. The water in the ponds was too difficult to get at as their sides are covered in weed.) From the Three Cairn ridge (at 4300 meters) you follow the track north down the prominent valley towards the village of Pucamarca, with potato fields on each side of you. As you reach the top of the village you will see a path that braches to your right and which contours around the hillside above the village. If you go into the village you’ve missed the path. The correct path takes you around the village to a rock promontory with Inca stone work around it. Looking North you will see a narrow ravine. Descend down to valley bottom and along the path to the ravine. Just before you enter it there is a path off to your left (the path you are on continues into the ravine, don’t take it). The path to the left will take you down to a wooden bridge. This is a good place to take water as there is none ahead. You then cross and re-cross the ravine (very exciting) on two other wooden bridges before emerging into the wider valley, you should be on the left hand side. Walk along the path until you come to a junction with a path on your left hand side heading uphill. Just before this junction, black and white arrows are painted on a rock face, indicating you should go uphill. Take the left hand path and climb for a short distance before continuing to contour around the side of the valley. You should now see Lamay down in the Sacred Valley below you. Continue around the spur of the hillside until you are on the other side of it, you should now be able to see the Inca terraces of Hunchuy Cusco. Follow the path around until you reach the Inca gateway. At the moment there is no entry charge to the site, in fact no one else at all was there on the day we visited.

Getting from Hunchuy Cusco to Lamay is probably the toughest part of the walk. It’s a steep slow descent for which you should allow plenty of time. You will have to cast around for the path below Hunchuy Cusco but it’s pretty obvious when you find it. This path is now under some threat as a new road is being built up from Lamay to Hunchuy Cusco. This shouldn’t affect the upper reaches of the path as they are in a narrow re-entrant but further down the road has cut across the path, and at one point spoil from the road has covered the route, which forced us to make a long detour on the new road. A new path has been made from Lamay which joins the original path about two thirds of the way down. We tried this path but it is very steep and slippery and we though descending it was too dangerous.

As the road heads upwards it no doubt make further changes, perhaps it’s time for a revival of the alternative descent which went from Hunchuy Cusco to Calca. At the bottom of the track is a village (name unknown, it’s not marked on the map) walk through it to the suspension bridge that will take you to the main road in Lamay.

Cusco Peru - Tourist City

will — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:48:00 GMT

Come to Cusco, all of tourist life is here. Having now traveled in Central and South America for seven months, this is the first town I’ve arrived in that accommodates nd welcomes every kind of tourist. Of course, most of them don t come to see the town at all, the main attraction is the Lost City of the Incas at Machu Picchu, one of the world’s great tourist sights; and for younger travelers the only way to get to Machu Picchu is by doing the Inca Trail, for many it will be the only trek they will ever do.

To accommodate all these people Cusco has built up a vibrant tourist infrastructure. The area around the Plaza des Armes, the old Inca centre of the city and the streets around the lovely square and church of San Bas and crowded with restaurants, trekking agencies, laundries, internet joints (where I am writing this) craft shops and of course hotels, from five star converted monasteries to five dollar a night hostels, all of them vying for the tourist Sol.

And there is the hustle on the streets, which is very unique partly because it is so unrelenting and because it’s so varied. People are selling pictures, wooly hats, cloth and woven bands of all sizes, pullovers, postcards, painted gourds, figure puppets, cigarettes, shoe shine, pan pipes, jewelry and so on and on. There are even women offering massages. Along with all these people offering their goods and services there are the women from the hill villages who come into town in their best clothes, with their children and a llama in tow, who for a fee will allow you to take their pictures. For the cutest of the cute, the girls will pose with a little lamb.

The Plaza des Armes was the focus of the city in Inca times and the street plan around it dates from that time, as do many of the buildings, where the original Inca stone work can still be seen. The Spanish built their churches on top of the shrines to the dead Incas and the early conquistadors occupied all the main buildings around the square. In 1536 these were the scenes of hand to hand fighting as the Incas stormed down from their fortress of Saqsaywaman, which overlooks the city, during the first great Inca rebellion and the Spanish conquest almost hit the buffers. Nowadays, the great tourist icons are here, cafes and restaurants galore as well as the British pub, the brew pub (I recommend the Imperial) and of course the Irish pub, the highest Irish owned pub in the world for those of you for whom these details matter. As you walk around, the restaurant touts call out their dishes, pasta, pizza, steaks, and in the next place also, Pasta, pizza, and steaks. They throw themselves the lifeline of hope as you walk by, shouting ‘Maybe later’ after you. Not only do all the restaurants sell the same ‘international’ food, they charge the same prices (all slightly above the norm) and even have the same handwritten, grid like menus. Apart from risk of being sold overpriced, mediocre food the real downer about eating around here are the Pan Piper bands. As a rule I object to having to be a captive audience for someone else’s version of music. Not only is the music usually loud and bad but you are then intimidated into handing over money for the ‘service’. In Cusco, the bands go around in large groups, with a couple of pan pipers, some guitars and often a big drum. They are very, very loud. Although many do play ‘Andean Music’ the classics are popular, particularly the Beatles and the more mawkish Simon and Garfunkle tunes. A few evenings ago I heard a French group singing along to a Pan Pipe rendition of ‘Hey Jude’. It wasn’t pretty. Before they start playing maybe they should ask the ‘audience’ how much money they would pay for them not to play. They may find they do just as well for no effort at all, and the diners would be much happier.

The area of San Blas is just to the north of the Plaza des Armes and has a different character, quieter with an old town feel. The church and square of San Blas form the focus for the hand made jewelry sellers and the students from the language schools. There are comfortable cafes and the restaurants serve things other than Pizza, Pasta etc, there is even an Indian restaurant. Best of all the Pan Pipers don’t come here.

So what kinds of tourists come to the city? Top of the pile are the two week people. They are on their annual break and have paid top prices to agencies at home to do the Inca Trail. The Inca Trail has become a nice little earner for the Peruvians, not only for the trekking agencies but also for the bureaucrats who hand out the permits and licenses. The chance to walk it has now become a scarce commodity, although the message has still to get through to many people. Lots of travelers turn up in Cusco saying they want to walk the trail the day after next, only to be told they might get a place next August. Just how wonderful an experience it is, I don’t know, but I don’t think sharing a campsite every night with 200 other people (not including the porters) and then having to follow these people everyday is not quite the ‘communing with nature’ experience people might expect. However the two week people have it all sorted, they know what they are doing everyday.

Similar to them are the two week elder division, mainly wealthy, retired people who are paying top prices to see the sites. They are rarely seen walking the streets (and never on the trails) as they are shepherded around from their five star hotels to the museums and Inca forts on Mercedes buses and land cruisers with ‘Abercrombie and Kent’ stickers on the front. They only time they are seen en mass is around lunchtime at Machu Piccu, after the morning train from Cusco has got in.

A large group are the younger, longer term travelers, also known as the backpackers (which includes me), who are on the ‘Gringo Trail’, either they have come from Argentina and Bolivia or they are headed that way. The large part of the backpackers are made up of Israelis, a nation little seen elsewhere in Latin America, although they are common in Asia where there are at least a couple of battalions of the Israeli Army wandering around India and Thailand. They tend to go around in groups of eight and upwards, all know each other and all want to sit together in restaurants. They have carved out their own district to the west of the Plaza des Armes, where the restaurants have their menus in Hebrew and the trekking agencies boast Israeli prices, in other words, don’t try and bargain them lower.

Some of the most integrated tourists in Cusco are the language students. These are mainly young women from America and Britain who come here for up to three months at a time to learn Spanish. As they tend to live with Peruvian families and speak the language reasonably well, they have some real insights into what is really going on here and have the chance to build up friendships. They usually hang around San Blas chatting to/up the young Peruvian men who sell hand made jewelry there.

One of the largest groups and growing everyday are the volunteers. These are young people who have just left school, usually British or Australian who are doing their ‘gap year’. They come together in noisy groups of varying maturity, usually with an elder mentor in tow, and bond. They (or most likely their parents) have paid big money for their chance to enhance their CV’s by doing voluntary work abroad. Traveling for pleasure is not acceptable anymore; you have to be seen to be doing something not only to improve yourself and but to improve the world as well. Doing voluntary work abroad, preferably with disadvantaged children in a third world country, has become the modern equivalent of National Service for the British Middle Classes.

Last but not least are the ex pats. Travelers, who came here, liked it and stayed. They are mainly from the English speaking countries, Britain, America and Australia and they run the better cafes, bars and restaurants in town as they know what tourists actually want. In the mornings they meet in Jacks café, which is owned by an energetic Australian called Jane, to discuss the latest goings on.

Beyond the tourist center is the city where the Peruvians live. Most tourists only see this part of town in a cab on the way to the Airport or Bus station. Out here the locals have their own restaurants, markets and shops and the vast majority never come into the ‘tourist land’ center.

Before I came to Cusco I had heard of its reputation for crime. Strangle muggings, taxi muggings and just plain muggings awaited the unwary here. During the day there are a lot of policemen on the streets, but just like in the rest of Latin America, come 6 o’clock they’ve disappeared. The South American Explorers Club recommends that you don’t walk more than two blocks from Plaza des Arms or San Blas at night. They have a point, the streets suddenly become very dark with lots of unlit alleys and corners and there are certainly no policemen to be seen. For all that, most of the reports I heard or read involved people being set upon as they walked back alone to their hotel at three o’clock in the morning. Walking through deserted streets late at night with ten bottles of beer inside you can’t be recommended anywhere. No doubt there is crime, but as in most places it’s of the unthreatening kind. The young men hawking digital cameras on Avenue Sol are not deposing of unwanted birthday presents, there are almost certainly insurance claims on them, but it is unlikely they got the goods through force but because tourists were careless.

Since I arrived in Cusco, the bright sun, the clear air (there is little pollution) and the charm of the place has certainly made me like the place more and more. It’s very comfortable, the food is good, the people are friendly and there are always more travelers to talk to. A great place to visit and recharge the batteries when you are traveling for a long time. Give it a try.

Trekking in Colca Canyon, Peru.

will — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 14:00:00 GMT

Trekking in Colca Canyon is an easy and popular trek usually done from Arequipa in Southern Peru. Here are few notes on how to do it inderpendently.

The Canyon can be walked in ‘Tea House’ trekking style, staying in Hostals along the way who also provide simple meals. We camped on one of the nights and took our own supplies. The Hostals and the ‘Oasis’ campsite all provide simple meals of varying quality. If you are taking your own food, buy it in Arequipa as there is little choice in the villages near the Canyon. Water is a problem. All botttled drinks, Water and Beer have to be carried into the Canyon by Mule so are very expensive. 250ml of Water costs 8 Sols. We used a water filter.

All foreigners have to pay a fee of 35 Sols (US$11) to enter the Colca Canyon area. The toll is collected by Park Rangers (in uniform) who hang around the bus station, Cruz de Condor and patrol the buses to ensure everyone pays up. They also collect information on visitor numbers and what they are doing/seeing in the area, although they only seem to speak Spanish. We met a Ranger in the Canyon on a trekking path who asked to see our tickets, so they do check you have one.

Although most people see Colca Canyon on a tour you can see it inderpendantly. We took a local bus to Chivay, stayed the night there, then got the local bus at 0500 to Cruz de Condor arriving at 0630. We were the only people there and we did see some Condors. By 0730 you are going to be sharing the stop with 40 – 50 people. We then walked to another Mirador, Mirador del Tapay, about 5km or 1.5 hours away. Again we had the place to ourselves and dispite it being around 1000 by the time we got there, we did see some Condors up close. We then walked down a disused route from the Mirador to the main Cabanaconde – San Juan path. This is not recommened. The main route begins just outside Cabanaconde on the road to Chivay, it goes along a small plain before descending into the Canyon.

You do not need a guide to trek in the Canyon. The main routes are very well defined, and are used by mule trains as well as trekkers, just folllow the dung. You will also meet lots of friendly people along the way who will give you directions. There are also arrows painted on rocks, directing you to Hostals long before you get to them.

The route from Cabanaconde to the bottom of the Canyon takes about 4 hours. Cross the bridge and follow the signs to Hostal Roy. Very friendly people, they also do simple meals for around US$1.5 each. A room costs around 25 Sols and they have hot (solar powered) hot water. There are also three other Hostals in the center of the village. These have the slight advantage that they have electricity, whereas Hostal Roy does not.

The walk on from San Juan to Sangalle via the villages of Cosñirhua and Malata takes about three hours. Follow the path out of the center of San Juan up a gorge that joins the main canyon, the path follows a water course for part of the way. Cross the stream either by stepping across or on the bridge made of branches. The path then ascends up to Cosñirhua. At the top bear right at the water tank to walk through the center of the village. There is a simple place to stay here too. The path now contours along the valley to Malata. Passing through Malata you will come to a junction where the path continues right along a water course (this goes onto the village of Llahuar, which also has accomodation), to get to the Oasis you need to keep left and take the path that descends down the spur. On your right will be a basin with disused (olive?) terraces in it. Soon you will see the Oasis, with swimming pools below you, just follow the arrows. At Sangalle, there are two sites. The one furthest away from the trail probably has the best faclities. It’s a nice place to spend an afternoon lolling by the pool. Again simple meals can be bought here but water is expensive. Of course there’s no power so it’s early to bed.

The organised groups all start the climb up to Cabanaconde at 0200 or 0300 in the morning before it gets hot. It’s three to four hours up but you can hire mules to carry you or your kit. As you reach the top the paths to the village can by confusing. From here you can get a bus back to Arequipa but it’s worth spending some time here, it’s a very friendly village.

Visiting Colombia - some tips

will — Sun, 9 Apr 2006 14:39:00 GMT

I spent three great weeks in Colombia in December/January 06. Here are a few tips for other travellers going that way. It´s a lovely country and well worth the effort.

Travel was very easy, most towns have modern bus stations and lots of competition on routes which kept prices low. There was no mention of hold ups or roads being unsafe, although I did not travel at night, but then I wouldn’t anywhere in Central/South America. I was stopped at a police checkpoint only once. In some places you will see soldiers around, at the sides of the road etc, but I never saw anything that gave me cause for anxiety. The main danger, as it is almost every where in this region is reckless driving.

The guidebooks say that middle class Colombians fly everywhere! I went to places that attracted a lot of Colombian tourists as it was during the festival season, and people from Bogata don’t seem to have a problem driving around their own country. I would say that Colombia is safer for tourists than many of the surrounding countries, as there is a lot of general security in places like bus station and tourists are such a novelty that thieves don’t target them particularly.

One of the great things about Colombia is that people are genuinely friendly and interested to know where you are from, as they see so few visitors. Prices are also very cheap and the quality high, you will enjoy it here.

I flew into Medellin, not a lot to see there but it’s a good gateway. Lots of hostels most of which have opened over the last year to meet demand. They include ‘Black Sheep Hostel’, ‘Case Jerusalem’ and ‘Case Kiwi’. I stayed at Casa Kiwi, which is in a nice area, very safe. There is a great restaurant close by called ‘Crepes and Waffles’, good food and good prices. They have branches in Bogata and Cali.

I then took the bus south to Manizales and stayed at a hostel called ‘Mountain House’. Again in a nice area, near the University. I only stayed one night before heading for Salento.

Salento is a lovely colonial town in the coffee region. The place to stay here is a great hostel called ‘The Plantation House’, (no website) which is run by an English guy called Tim who is mine of information on the area. There is a great trek in the Wax Palm valley of Cocora, very beautiful. I also did a three trek up into the mountains here, staying at a Finca in the High Paramo. I’ve written detailed route notes on this trek, so if anyone wants a copy, drop me a line.

From there I went to Cali, which was over a holiday weekend so not much happening. I’m not a party animal so I can’t comment on the nightlife. One thing to do there, especially if you are heading to South America is to visit the Zoo. They have a great collection of Latin American animals in nice surroundings. I stayed at the ‘La Iguana’ hostel which was in a quiet area, with some good places to eat nearby, including ‘crepes and waffles’.

Next I went to Popayan, a lovely colonial town with a university so a really nice buzz, some great cafes to sit and hang out. There is no hostel as such here but lots of cheap places, I went up market and had a lovely room next to the Central Plaza for $26. I used it as a base to visit the statues at San Agustin. One of the books (Rough Guide) says that the road is difficult and dangerous. This is not true. The trip is a hard six hours because the road is in such bad condition and goes over a mountain range. San Agustin is a very laid back place and worth a few days, although you can see most of the statues in a day if you push it. Lovely countryside all around.

From Popayan, I went south to Ecuador breaking the journey at Pasto, where I stayed at the ‘Koala’ hostel. This trip is stunning scenery all the way, from Popayan to Pasto sit on the right of the bus to see the views, from Pasto to Ipiales (on the border) sit on the left.

Don’t let the out of date scaremongering in the guide books put you off going to Colombia. I would certainly go back.

Why not try Colombia?

will — Sun, 9 Apr 2006 14:26:00 GMT

I have been in Latin America since the beginning of the year and one Frequently Asked Question has been; which is your favorite country so far? And the answer has to be Colombia. Colombia, the name itself is enough to strike unease into most people, while the names Medellin and Cali conjure up images of narco terrorists, drug barons and murder on the streets. It’s not the sort of place where most people would think of visiting unless they absolutely had too, certainly not the sort of place you would want to go as part of your trip, but despite the negative press and the dire warnings on the websites of most Western Governments, travelers are visiting Colombia and in increasing numbers; so many in fact that three hostels have opened in Medellin alone in the last year to cope with the demand.

What they discover is a modern country untouched by mass tourism with colonial towns, world class archeological sites and stunning scenery. One such area is La Zona Cafetera, between Cali and Medellin, where most of Colombia’s coffee is grown, which has rolling green hills and a pleasant climate but is within sight of the High Andes.

One base for exploring this area is the town of Salento which has long been a favorite destination for Colombian tourists, with it’s small town feel, lovely architecture, craft shops and proximity to the stunningly beautiful Cocora valley, home to Colombia’s national ‘flower’, the Wax Palm – which can grow up to 70 meters tall. Here there are also easy walks and pony trekking into the cloud forest, which lies on the slopes of the high mountains. For more adventurous travelers it is possible to go high level trekking into the Pamamo, the unique ecosystem of the Northern Andes, staying in primitive Finchas along the way. This is what I did, climbing up through the hummingbird filled cloud forest to the Paramo, an ecosystem unique to this part of the Andes, its rather like high level grassland but with its own family of plants called Espeletia, members of the Sunflower family and which range in size from a few cms to 5 meters high.

One Englishman who fell in love with the Salento area was Tim Harbor who with his Colombian wife Christina, opened a hostel for backpackers called the ‘Plantation House’ in a country house on the outskirts of Salento.

Says Tim “I came to Colombia meaning to stay a week but stayed three months. I could see the potential for a backpackers hostel in the coffee region and bought the Plantation House a week after first seeing it”

Since the hostel opened over a year ago, Tim has had travelers from almost 40 counties staying with him, with ages ranging from 18 to 60.

“ I would say we have a more mature traveler staying here, people who can look beyond their governments warnings”.

Apart from Catagena, which has visits from cruise ships, Colombians see very few tourists so there is none of the hassle and hard sell that is often seen in other Andean countries. Most Colombians are very friendly and genuinely interested in meeting foreigners and this good news is being passed on by travelers. Also security is taken very seriously everywhere you probably in less danger of petty crime than anywhere else on the continent.

South of the Coffee zone is Cali is a modern and sophisticated city with good restaurants and shops and not a narco terrorist in sight.. It also has an excellent zoo with an outstanding collection of Latin American animals.

From Cali the road passes through spectacular Andean scenery to the Colonial University town of Popayan, which has really nice buzz, and some great cafes to sit and hang out in. Popayan can be used as base for visiting the statues close to the small country town of San Augustine. These statues are similar to those on Easter Island and are just as mysterious, no one really knows how put them up. They are scattered around on sites surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Of course bad things do happen in Colombia, and it is a highly militarized country. But if you listen to advice from the locals and always travel by day you should have no problems. If you’re planning to travel in South America don’t dismiss Colombia. I had a great time.

The Galapagos for Inderpendent Travellers

will — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 20:11:00 GMT

Going to the Galapagos is an expensive business and this tends to put many inderpendent travellers off going there, which is a great pity as it’s a fantastic place. There are ways to get around the expense and have a great time, this is how we did it.

Getting there, flying is really the only option. All Foreigners are charged the same return fare, just short of $400. In addition you have to pay a park entrance fee of $100 in cash as soon as you get off the plane, so you have paid out $500 and you’re still at the Airport. This is the ‘standard charge’ which everyone has to pay, whether they are going on a luxury cruise or doing everything themselves. My point of view is that if you are going to shell out all that money just to get there, you may as well as spend some time on the island. I was amazed when I met people in Quito who had just been there, taken a four (two) day tour and then flown back to the mainland, having now ‘done’ the Galapagos. If you on a two week holiday you will have to do it this way, but if you have time, take your time.

We went to the Galapagos without booking a tour but fully expecting to go around the agencies in Pto Ayora and booking one there. We had plenty of time (almost three weeks) so were prepared to be very flexible and we allocated a budget of $1000 to cover tour expenses and were looking for a tourist superior boat. It became clear after a few agencies and some detailed questioning, that most of the tours were not what they seemed. We were looking for a four-day tour, but in fact what you get is a two and a half day tour. The first day usually begins in the afternoon with either a meal on the boat in the evening and the boat then sailing, or a trip to the Charles Darwin center in Pto Ayora (which is 10 minutes walk away and is free) and then getting on the boat. The next two days is spent cruising around the islands and island visits. On the fourth day you visit an island (usually North Seymour) at the crack of dawn and are then left at the Airport on Baltra by 0930, and that’s you trip done. For this expect to pay $350. So we decided to do everything ourselves.

We did two day trips, one from Pto Ayora and one from Pto Baquerizo Moreno (PBM). The first day trip was to Plaza Sur and included some snorkeling and cost $65 and which considering the number of animals we saw outstanding value. The boat was also very good with a fresh cooked lunch provided on board. We booked this through ‘Live the Dream’, this was the only agency in Pto Ayora that made any effort to meet our needs. With the rest it was all, this is what we have take it or leave it. The trip we booked in PBM was also good value, a trip out to Kicker Rock to snorkel (where we swam with sharks) and snorkeling at Isla Lobos; we could not land there, as we did not have a Park Guide with us. This trip cost $40 each. As well as being better value, if you are not a good sailor, day trips make a lot more sense.

The problems with Day trips is you have to be flexible. Trips to certain islands only go on certain days of the week and if you want to a particular island and the boat in going next Friday, you will have to wait until then. Often the day trips are booked up by tour groups (we went to Plaza Sur with a group of elderly Germans off a cruise ship) and they will only have a few places for independent travelers, so make sure you go to an agency who will pick up the phone and ring the various boats to find the spaces. You may have to wait a while if you want to go to a particular place. In San Cristobal it is much easier as the local agencies, which are usually Dive shops run the tours themselves, so they will go to a particular place if they can get enough people. If it’s possible, and I don’t know if it is, try and book the Day trips in Quito. You can see a lot in 5 – 6 days, especially if you move between the islands. It’s not all wildlife either, there are great beaches, diving is great if you are into it and there is a small community of surfers on San Cristobal.

A comment on the Animals. What was a real surprise is how they seemed to be everywhere and how tame they were. After a few days, seeing Iguanas and Sea Lions will seem normal as very often you can see them just walking down the street in places like Pto Ayora. We are interested in Natural History and had bought the Michael H.Jackson guide with us. We managed to see almost everything that we wanted to see, with some ‘extras’ like Minke Whales and Dolphins. You don’t need an elaborate tour or a qualified guide to see the wildlife; it’s all around you if you look for it.

Some notes on the main islands and places.

Pto Ayora and Isla Santa Cruz. We stayed at Hotel España, which had large, clean rooms and a nice sitting out area. There is also the use of a kitchen. Price $10 p.p.p night. The best places to eat are on Charles Binford, great ceviche at good prices. If you want to go up to the Highlands, just get the local bus and get out when you want to. The two large sinkholes at the top of the Highlands are worth looking at. Then just hitch a lift on a collectivo back to town.

Isla Isabela. We went here on the inter island motorboat (a Fibra) which goes once a day from the jetty at Pto Ayora. Always buy boat tickets the day before (cost $30 pp) at the jetty, not from an agency, as they will charge you an extra $5 for the privilege. We spent six days on Isabela which is great place, very quiet and laid back with lovely beaches which you will share only with the massive Marine Iguanas, animals everywhere and well marked trails to take you to some lovely places. We also did a trip on horseback up to Sierra Negra, which is very worthwhile. We did it ourselves but it a lot easier to go on a tour as you have to have a guide to get close to the mountain, and there is a police post to make sure you have one. Another worthwhile trip is to the Los Tiburones, a small group of islands (the largest one has a trail on it) which is just outside the port. Lots to see here and you can get very close the animals; we saw penguins here amongst other things. Go in the mornings if you want to see the white tipped sharks. Just go down to the jetty and negotiate with a water taxi, it should cost about $10 - $15 for the trip.

We stayed at the Hostel Flamencos, next to the Flamingo pool. Big, clean rooms with either fan or aircon. Price $10 pp. Avoid the Hotel San Vincente as they cater for the small tour group market to the island, so they give independent travelers the duff rooms.

We took the Fibra back to Santa Cruz then after a day or so took another one to San Cristobal. Again there is a lot to see around the main town. Good trails head out from the interpretive centre, and there is a nice swimming beach close to it. Again we went into the interior to the Crater Lake, El Junco. Just negotiate with a cab, then hitch a collectivo back. We stayed in the Hotel San Francisco on the ‘front’ at PBM (with earshot of the sea lion colony). The rooms at the front are good, prices from $5 to $8 pp.

Flying with TAME ALWAYS confirm the flight back. We did this at their office in PMB to discover that we were no longer on the passenger list. Luckily the helpful guy there sorted it all out. Even though the plane leaves at 1245, the check in opens at 0900, and the locals start queuing before that. It seems that the flights are often overbooked and those who get there first get the seats. We got there at 0800 and were first in the queue. Once you’ve checked in you can go back to town for breakfast.

There are two airports in Galapagos that handle flights to the mainland, one on Baltra and the other on San Cristobal. You can fly into one and fly out of the other with no problems or surcharge, which is what we did. Just arrange it when you book the ticket. You can also have an open ticket where you can book the return flight while you are there but after our experiences with Tame I wouldn’t advise it.

In total our extra travel expenses for the Galapagos, including all boat trips, horse hire and day trips came to $490 for both of us; we don’t think there was much that we missed much at least as seeing endemic animals is concerned and we probably saw as much or more than the people who do longer tours. So we were very satisfied that we used our time and money in the Galapagos to our best advantage. We were surprised by the number of people we met who seemed to be in the Galapagos just to ‘tick the box’, and who didn’t really have any idea of what there was to see there or why the place the unique. We heard loads of conversations on how much each tour cost and where everyone went, but not a word about the animals they went there to see.

The Galapagos is a wonderful place and totally unique, if you love nature you will have a great time.

This article was orginally posted on Lonely Planets Thorn Tree site and has drawn a big response including updates from travellers who have followed our advice and seen the Galapagos inderpendently. To see the Thread click on this link.

A three day trek in the Parque Nacional Natural de Los Nevados, Colombia

will — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 13:58:00 GMT

We did this trek in January 2006 and it is a good introduction to trekking in the High Andes. The route takes you from the wonderful Wax Palm valley of Cocora, through the Cloud forest and up to the unique Andean mountain environment of the Paramo. Following the route is very straightforward as the paths are well waymarked with direction signs and marker posts to tell you where you are. In addition there is also an excellent 1:40.000 map, “Reserva Natural Zona Alta Rio Quindio y el Parque Nacional Natural de Los Nevados” which you can buy in Salento or borrow from Tim at the Plantation House Hostel in Salento. You don´t need a guide for this trek.

Overview

We did this trek over three days breaking the journey at Estella de Agua on the first day. On the map it may look as if you can get to Primivera in one day and I´m sure it´s possible but it will be nine hours on constant uphill walking (1300 meters of climb) in often difficult conditions. Do not under estimate the effects of altitude which will slow down your progress. Breaking the trek at either Estella de Agua or Acime will help you acclimatize and make the whole trip easier.

What to take. Firstly there is no electricity anywhere on this trek so one essential is a torch. Primavera is at 3680 meters so it is cold most of the time but especially as soon as the sun sets. You will need to have some warm clothing, a fleece jacket and a wooly hat at least. Don´t forget a change of dry clothes for the evening. If you have a sleeping bag – take it. The Paramo is a high level wet land which means that the going underfoot is always wet and the state of the paths (depending on how much rain there’s been) range from muddy to swamp A good pair of boots are essential. If you only have a pair of trainers you may want to reconsider this trek.. Some of the Colombian trekkers do this trip in Wellington Boots which you can pick up quite cheaply. They are uncomfortable to wear for long periods and give little ankle support. At the end of the day you are just as likely to end up with wet feet.

Food. Most of the Fincas will provide some simple meals, which are very cheap. Anything else you want to eat, lunches, snacks etc you will have to carry yourself as there is nothing for sale up there. You should also take food for at least one main meal in the evening (Pasta for example) as you can not guarantee that food will be available.

Accomodation. This is very simple, in dorms with communal washrooms. As there is no power don’t expect to be up late. You will get blankets but no sheets. The night we spent at Primavera there were nine of us in one room which including two guys who had pitched their tent in the corner. It will really help if you speak some Spanish, as none of the people in the Fincas speak English.

Security. Check with Tim on the security situation before setting off. Both the Army and FARC patrol this region and you may meet both, but unless the security situation changes drastically this should not deter you. This trek is very popular with Colombians who would not go up there if it was not safe.

Route Descriptions

Heights are given in meters (3456m). The heights are always given on the marker posts and are described as POST. Walking Times are as we covered them on the ground (20 mins). The map also has an outline route description with walking times. A lot depends on the conditions on the day, when we did this trek it was at a particularly rainy time, so you may cover some legs faster than we did. On the map some points are marked with numbers in grey inside a circle. These relate to numbers on marker posts put there by CRQ (the local state authority). These numbers are on a white background and have CRQ on them. Many of them are missing so we only list them where they are obvious. They are indicated in the text as (23).

The Trek up to Primavera – Day One

Salento to Corocora. You need to take a Jeep from the Parque Central in Salento to the start of the trek in the Corocora valley. The first one goes at 0730, get there early or you won´t get a seat and will have to hang off the back the whole way. The journey takes about 40mins and costs 4500 pesos.

Corocora. (2390m) There is collection of restaurants here, some of which are open for breakfast. The trek starts just after the main group of restaurants on the right hand side of the road (as the jeep lets you off). There is a large board with local information just as you go through the gate. The track goes steeply downhill, beside the trout farm, to a stream with a bridge crossing it.

Corocora to Acaime. The route now goes up Rio Qundio river valley, you should be looking up the valley towards the forest. The Wax Palms are scattered on the hillsides around you. It is 45mins walking through farmland until you reach the edge of the Cloud forest. As you head upwards you will cross the river five times on bridges in varying states of sturdiness. The path then climbs up to a junction (one path continues up to the Finca of La Montaña, and a road); you turn right and follow the signs to Acaime. The route crosses the river one more time. Follow the yellow signs to Acaima, which should bring you in below the main house. Time from the Forest edge to Acaima, One hour.

Acaime. (2770m) For 2000 pesos you can get a drink here. Try the Drinking Chocolate, you also get a lump of home made cheese with it. They have a couple of hummingbird feeders which provide great entertainment. There and back makes a good day walk. They do have some accommodation here but we have no details, check with Tim.

Acaime to Estrella de Agua. Ask for directions to get back on the path. The path now climbs steeply for one hour to path junction (leading to the Finca of Las Mirlas) where there is a GATE (3140m). At one point there is a junction with a signpost to a Mirador. Unless you want to visit the Mirador, turn right and continue up the hill. From the gate, the path contours along the side of the river valley, undulating as it goes. At one point you will have to detour around a landslide. The forest gives way to meadow land as you approach Estrella. Time from the GATE to Estrella, One hour and 15mins.

Estrella de Agua. (3170m) This rather futuristic building (picture on the front of the map) is a Biological Research Station, but it’s possible for trekkers to stay here. They have 25 beds in dorm rooms at cost of 10000 pesos per person, blankets provided. There is no electricity but there is gas for cooking and a kitchen, which is equipped with (massive) pots and plates, so you can cook food for dinner. The caretakers house is behind the main building, and he will have to open up for you. He can also provide a simple breakfast for the morning (cost 3000 pesos), arrange the night before. There is also a simple building behind the caretakers house where you can ‘camp’ if you have your own kit. This is a good place to stop on the first day.

Estrella de Agua to Primavera – Day Two

Estrella de Agua to the Paramo Romerales. From behind the caretaker’s house the path crosses a stream, on the other side there is a path junction, you are taking the right hand path leading up the hill. After 10mins you should reach a bridge that crosses the river. From here the path climbs steeply on a muddy path (cut up by horses) until you come to a junction. POST (3330m) (11). Time from the bridge to the Post, 35mins. Turn left uphill. The path here is less muddy. You should also notice a change in the vegetation as the forest becomes more scrub like with fewer large trees. After one hour of climbing from the junction you will reach a distinct Vegetation boundary, the start of the Paramo. Here there is a POST, Paramo Romerales (3590m) and information on boards about the ecosystem.

The Espeletia.

The tree like plants you can see scattered across the landscape belong to a group of 100 species called Espeletia, which are part of the Sunflower family. They range from the tree like plants you can see, to shrubs, to very small plants that are lying at your feet and they have all adapted to living in a tropical mountain environment. This group only lives in the Northern Andes Mountains, and are not found south of central Ecuador. The largest examples can grow up to 5 meters tall and live for almost 100 years. They have adapted to cope with frequent frosts and high levels of solar radiation, the dead leaves on the stems provide insulation, while the dense hairs on the leaves may help keep the plant warm as well as protect against UV. The large rosette arrangement of leaves of top of the stem is a form of planet design that has developed independently in other high mountain habitats around the world, from Africa to Hawaii. If a model works for one environment, nature uses it again.

The Paramo Romerales to Primavera. Follow the path uphill for 10mins until you come to a junction. POST (3630m) (13). Go right, signposted to Lag. El Enconto. The going now is very hard and muddy, after 30mins you should reach a saddle where there is a Paramos signboard. From here is another muddy 20mins walk to a POST (3700m) (14), which is the boundary marker between the two regions of Quindio and Tolima. The path now heads into a valley, 20mins hard and muddy walking brings you to a simple bridge across a stream, the Puenta de la Tierra. A short distance on you will find the bridges market POST (3690m) (15). From here the path becomes a little indistinct and there are wooden arrow posts in the ground to show you the way. Basically you are heading uphill, up the stream valley and staying on it´s left side as you look uphill. Near the head of the valley the path curves around to the right. You are heading for a POST which is at the bottom of a distinctive hill you can see over to your right. The POST (3800m) (16) is at a major path junction. Walking time from the Bridge post to here is 30 mins.

Turn right, the path will seem like a motorway compared to what you have seen before . Follow it down for 30mins, passing some fences on the way, to Primavera.

Primavera. (3680m) This is a simple Finca and a working farm, you will be sharing the place with dogs, pigs and chickens. Sticklers for hygiene take note. Accommodation is in double bunks and blankets are provided. The family provide simple (but very good) meals on their wood fired hearth. A bed costs 5000 pesos, while dinner and breakfast are 4000 each. Arrange the meals when you arrive. There is no power and no phone. Beds are allocated on a first come first served basis, but it is the sort of place where they will squeeze you in somewhere. Its cold up here and some people hang out in the kitchen for most of their stay. All the water is cold of course but this is not the sort of place where you will be wanting to take a shower. You can use Primavera to explore further, walking to Laguna el Enconto for example or even to the top of Nevado del Tolima (5221m), although you would need a very early start and be well equipped and acclimatized to do that.

The Return.

The easiest way to get back to Cocora is to retrace your steps are return the way you came, it´s mainly downhill and you should get back in six or seven hours hard walking, so make an early start. Those of you with a taste for adventure may like to do what we did and return down the Quebradas Cardenas valley via El Bosque. This is a difficult route with a lot of mud and a couple of river crossings but you do pass through some lovely countryside, the cloud forest especially. In Spanish a Quebradas means a gorge or stream, on this route, river would be a more realistic description.

Primavera to Cocora via El Bosque – Day Three

Primavera to El Bosque. Follow the path you arrived on, back to the POST (3800m) (16) at the path junction under the distinctive hill. This will take you 40mins as it´s mostly uphill. From here follow the path through some boggy ground for 15mins until you reach a POST (3760m) above Lag. La Virgin, which you can see in a hollow to the south. From here the path become indistinct but you should be able to follow it to the edge of a crest where the path is very wide. Here is descends steeply and is very muddy before heading off across swampy ground. Keep a close eye on the most worn parts of the trail as the route becomes indistinct in places. You will be doing a lot of hopping from dry patch to dry patch. After 50mins from leaving Lag. La Virgin the path enters a small canyon/gully on the edge of the Vegetation boundary between the Paramo and the scrub like forest. 15mins further on you should reach a POST (3540m) (19). The route descends steeply on a very muddy path which makes for slow going. After 1hour 30mins you should reach El Bosque.

El Bosque. (3190m) This is a Finca where you can get a hot drink. It also has accommodation and although we didn’t stay there, it looked very clean and welcoming and had a pleasant aspect. If you’ve had enough already it would be a nice place to stop.

El Bosque to the Quebradas Cardenas river crossing. Ask directions at El Bosque to rejoin the path which now descends down to a small river which you cross on a simple bridge. On the other side you now climb steeply through meadows to a POST (3190m) (22) signed posted to Cocora 7.4km. From El Bosque to the Post takes 40mins. From here the path is easier although somewhat undulating and passing through some lovely countryside before it descends steeply (muddy) into a reentrant. Here you will have to cross the Quebradas La Mina which feeds into the Q.Cardenas in the valley below. There is no bridge here and you will have to wade through. The stream is not wide but the water is fast moving so get across as quick as you can. The day we did it a group of walkers were roping themselves up as a safety measure and we did the same. From the Post to the stream crossing takes 1hour 15mins.

From the crossing the path climbs up to a POST (2910m) at a path junction. 20mins. From here it is a slow descent – more mud, 40mins, to a GATE and a POST (2700m) which is signposted to Cocora 3km. 20min more descent brings you to the next river crossing.

Quebradas Cardenas River Crossing to Cocora. The Q. Cardenas is wide here and there is no bridge so again you will have to wade it. There are a couple of logs across half the river but they are not wide enough to walk across with safety, although you may try crawling. The way to tackle this obstacle is to wade in, face upstream, then edge across using the logs as a brace against the force of the water. In the middle is an ‘island’ of rocks and vegetation where you can take a breather. The second half of the river is fairly shallow and the water is not moving as fast as on the first stretch so you should have no problems wading across. The day we did was after heavy rain and the river was a torrent, so it should be easier when you attempt it.

Across the river you have a 5min walk uphill to a POST (2610m) . From here you have a fairly easy 30mins walk through forest as the path gradually descents back to the Q. Cardenas.

You have to cross the river again here but this time there is a bridge. However it has no handrail and is slippery. It is also very high above the river which at this point is fast flowing over rocks, so the consequences of a slip are bad. For this reason we recommend you do as we did and crawl across. To add to the delights the bridge is held together with barbed wire, so watch your hands and knees. On the other side you will have a bit of a scramble before reaching flat ground. After a short distance you will reach a road which crosses the road at a FORD. Don’t worry, you don’t have to wade across again, as just downstream and hidden by trees, is a very serviceable bridge which you can just walk across. Head up the road and over a rise and you are back in the Cocora valley with just an easy walk back to the village with the Wax Palms all around you. Time from the ‘crawling’ bridge to the centre of Cocora (2390m) 20mins. Have a nice meal, drink lots of beer, you’ve earned it.

Trekking in the Sierra Norte, Mexico

will — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:10:00 GMT

The Sierra Norte is a range of mountains just to the North of Oaxaca which contain a network of trekking and mountain biking routes through spectacular pine forests. The ancient pathways connect eight villages ( the pueblos mancomunados) which work together communally to provide tourist accommodation and guides to help people discover the area. The landscape and flora are spectacular, and being at 3000 meters and with very few roads, it is always fresh and peaceful. A few days walking up here is the perfect escape from the pressures of traveling.

Bookings for accommodation can be made in Oaxaca at Expediciones Sierra Norte at M.Bravo 210 – 1 (9/514 8271). It really helps if you can speak some Spanish, as the people here and up in the hills don’t speak much English. Accommodation is in dormitories or cabins, which are very comfortable and clean and have hot water. Each of the eight villages has accommodation, and you can just turn up and hope there’s space. If there is room, you are usually “upgraded” to a cabin, even if you have only paid for a dorm.

Expediciones Sierra Norte sells a very useful map of the area, which has the walking routes marked on them. Buying this is highly recommended (50 pesos), as it’s difficult to work out where to go and where to stay without it. They will also press you to hire a guide to accompany you on your trek. This is not necessary, as the routes are well way marked, but if you’re Spanish is good, having a guide will give you a broader insight into this unique area.

There is also an entrance fee of 50 pesos per person. The tourist office in Oaxaca has useful fact sheets on the villages.

The villages run on Mountain Time, which is 1 hour behind Oaxaca time, so always clarify what time is being quoted, particularly important for buses.

At 3,000m, it gets very cold at night and may also rain anytime, so pack that fleece and raincoat.

What you get to eat depends on the size of the village you are in. Most of the larger places have a couple of eating places, but in smaller places, you may be eating a meal with a family. The food is simple, but they will often try to accommodate you if you give the cook some warning. All the villages have at least one simple shop.

Getting there .Buses run five times a day to Cuajimoloyas, the main village on the southern edge of the community area. These buses run from the second-class bus station in Oaxaca from gate no. 37. There are also buses three times a week to Benito Juarez, which run from a wood yard on the edge of Oaxaca; ask at Expediciones Sierra Norte for the exact location and times.

The routes are all numbered and are shown on the Pueblos Mancomunados map. The map also gives the distances and gradients for each route so you can plan your trip. Most walkers walk the routes between Benito Juarez, Cuajimoloyas, and Llano Grande on the southern edge of the area, as these are on the bus routes, so it is easier to walk between them and get the bus back. The Trek Mexico-type groups only walk between these villages.

If you use a guide, you’ll have no problems finding the way. If you don’t, then you will have to rely on the markings, which are generally very good. There are markers (and usually a seat) at the start of each route, and there are regular Zapotec markers (see photo) along the walk, with a larger one at each kilometer, givin the distance you have gone. A compass is often useful, though.

Recommended Routes (of the ones I have personal experience with)

Route 7 – Loma de Cucharilla

This is a great ridge walk through forest, taking you from an area of tracks and trout farms onto paths high on a ridge. Although the route is way marked, not many locals come this way anymore, and the time I did it, the path looked like it had not been walked on for months. The farther you go, the more primeval the forest becomes. The one problem is that the turn-off the ridge to descend to the river valley is not signposted. If anyone wants advice on this, they can contact me directly.

Route 3 – Camino Real

This is one of the easier routes and one of the best. The walk follows the ancient Royal Road of the Zapotecs up a river valley, and some of the original flagstones are still in place. What makes this walk so wonderful is the huge variety of flora, which changes along the way as you gain height. You may also see deer. Towards the end, the path rises above a gorge where the trees are draped in lichen, with spectacular views. It is an outstanding trek.

I have done other routes, but these are the highlights, and you can contact me if you want more information.

An added dimension to visiting this area is that the community of villages, the pueblos mancomunados, or joint villages, are run like, for all intensive purposes, a communist state.

All the land is owned communally by the whole village and is allocated to individuals to work, with the proceeds being shared by everyone. When a young person comes of age, they are given a year to decide whether they wish to become part of the commune or want to leave. Some do leave, with the USA and Mexico City being the main destinations. If they decide to stay, they are allocated land, but also have to give one year in three to the community. Jobs are also divided up between the villages, with individuals being elected to particular roles. These include running the tourist facilities or running the village shop. Smaller jobs, liking cleaning the cabins or being a guide, are also divided up, but you may find that your guide may also have another job, such as police chief! The villages also organize business, like timber extraction or running trout farms, which you are likely to see on your treks. Everyone has a stake in the system and in making it work, particularly the tourist business. For this reason, being among these people is a delight, as they are very open and friendly, making it a particularly relaxing place to spend time.

Climbing on Mt Psiloritis and the White Mountains, Crete, Greece.

will — Sat, 4 Jun 2005 15:18:00 GMT

I spent April and May of 2005 in Crete, one of my favourite places and one where I’ve spent alot of time over the years, mainly walking and climbing. These short items were written as guide book updates.

Ascent of Mt Psiloritis from Fourfouras

Head out of Fourfouras on the road to Kouroutes. After a short walk there is a yellow E4 sign on the left hand side of the road pointing up a track. Follow the E4 signs on the track as it heads up towards the mountain. After 50 minutes the signs point off the track (just after a concrete water cistern). There is an E4 sign on a post by a fenced off area. This has a redumentary gate in it. Go through it and follow the path, you will soon pick up E4 signs, poles and yellow/black paint marks that lead up the and along a ridge, then up though an area of Holm Oak woodland until you meet a dirt road (3 ½ hours). The E4 signs disappear here. Walk along the road for only 50 meters (passing an open space to your left) then turn half left into semi open woodland. You should pick up the E4 signs again which are fixed to trees.

These will lead to the Prinos (EOS) mountain hut (4 hours) Behind the hut is a fenced off cistern where you can refill your water bottles. Most maps show the route as heading due east from Prinos, this is not correct, the route is NE (040^o). The path is not well marked here, you are heading to the right of a small valley you can see leading up the mountain. There is a path from the cistern follow it and you should pick up the E4 paint marks and poles again. The path leads around a small plain, then climbs steeply upwards. In Spring you will have to cross snow fields. The way marking leads to a col (6 hours) where there is the remains of a notice board, you should by now be able to see the Timios Stauros chapel at the top of Psiloitis, which is on your left. At the col turn left and head up to the chapel (6 ½ hours). To return on the same route takes approximately 4 hours.

The White Mountains.

Those walkers thinking of venturing into the heart of the White Mountains should be aware of the particular risks of this area. Basically it is a high altitude desert, with no water apart from what can be extracted from melting snow, and although there are (a few) water points you cannot rely on finding them. Navigation is difficult (particularly on 1/100 000 maps) as there are areas of limestone pinnacles that look pretty much the same. The E4 way marking cannot be relied upon as although some legs are very well marked there are parts where the poles are kilometres apart, binoculars are useful for locating them. Few people venture here, it is a true wilderness and you may go days without seeing anyone. Do not go here alone and do inform someone of your route, if you have an accident and cannot summon help, the vultures will find you first. To cap it all the going is hard, and the rock is hard crystalline limestone that will cut your books to pieces. Crossing snow fields without the right equipment is also treacherous. This is not an area for the inexperienced or physically unfit. Walkers wanting a different experience of the Samaria Gorge should consider walking up it. A boat from Sfakia will get you to Agra Rommili at 11.00. You will meet the bulk of the people coming down in the first half of the walk, after Samaria village you will have the place pretty much to yourself. We saw quite a lot of wildlife when we did it. From the top you can walk or hitch (easy) to Omalos. Again not for the unfit, the toughest part is at the end of the day.