I like Argentina already. That is not to say I didn´t like Bolivia. But Bolivia is like the Tyrone senior football team circa 2003 to 2008. It wears you down. It eats at you until you have nothing left to give. I also like Peru, but not after I woke up in Cuzco following a ten hour bus journey through the night from Arequipa. I got off the bus. I zipped open my bag. Camera - gone. Ipod - gone. Money - gone. Bus thieves. I was angry. I was depressed...

And so with a heavy heart I left Pisco Sin Fronteras.On my last week I was lucky enough to work at Cesara's house with Texas Dave, Elisa, Natalie and Amanda. We poured a small concrete floor and put up a bamboo roof. On our last day we had a fiesta with the family. Those volunteers who had worked on Cesara's house previously also came along, Sophie, Pucc and the Wolf. The family cooked us fried chicken and taught us how to make Pisco Sours. We bought a ...

It's all 'para los ninos'. Everything at Pisco Sin Fronteras. Whether it be signing up to a particular project at the morning meeting, shaving your head to raise money for the miracle fund, or buying the 'death-by-chocolate' cake on dessert night in the yard, it is all suffered ´para los ninos´. Or so the running joke goes here. Pisco is what I would describe as a s***hole. The 2007 earthquake was announced as measuring 7.9 on the richt...

On my departure from Ecuador, the country was plunged into chaos. The President, Rafael Correa was physically attacked and trapped in a hospital for several hours on Thursday by Ecuadorian police until the military leadership came out on his side and army troops rescued him in a blaze of gunfire. It is not sure whether the attack was an organised coup attempt or whether it was a protest against spending cuts by the police which spiraled out of control. Eithe...

In my backpack I have two books. One is a guidebook for Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The other is a leather-bound notebook I bought in Madrid airport to write stories, record email addresses, make grocery lists and generally doodle. Neither are recreational reading materials. I made the decision to use hostel book exchanges and to abuse the kindness of other travellers to accumulate my novels. My plan has spectacularly backfired. As a consequence I have now r...