We took the one hour flight from Cusco to the Puerto Maldonado, and I'm not sure that everyone on the plane appreciated my rendition of "In the jungle the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight". The humidity was striking as soon as we got off the plane. Whilst waiting at the baggage carousel, some people were covering themselves head to toe in insect spray . I wasn't as enthusiastic with the insect repellent, and I only got bit once, and even then, it ...

This was the day that we were about to come up against the all mighty world renowned Inca Trail. 5 of us from our tour were doing this trail, whilst the other five were doing the Lares Trek (pronounced Larris). We all said our goodbyes in Ollantaytambo and Vanessa said to me "stay safe Richie, I want you back in one piece" HA. We would all then meet again in a few days anyway, probably alot more weary and jaded than we were at that present moment. One o...

The constant blockades in Peru meant that our travel plans were always subject to change. We were told on the morning of leaving La Paz that we may have to either stay in Bolivia for one more night or get an eight hour boat across the water. Not something I wanted to hear as I seem to suffer from severe sea-sickness. Luckily we were told that the road from the border to Puno was ok-ish, so everyone boarded the bus as planned. We had to stop a fair few times due t...

So, the most glamorous city in the world was upon me, and how ironic that before eyeing up the runway at Rio De Janeiro international, I flew over the not so glamorous, but notorious favelas. Not exactly the glamorous welcome that you expect. There are two main beaches in Rio, the Copacabana and Ipanema. people say Ipenema is more chilled and attracts a better crowd. I ended up staying in accommodation at both. First I stayed in Copacabana, and the hostel wasn't ...

It is no secret that this part of the world is pretty high up. I never expected to have a problem with the altitude, but it appeared I did. I couldn't even whistle half the time due to the altitude. I was constantly out of breath, and I am a fairly fit person (well I was 7 months ago anyway). I must have eaten something rather dodgy during my time in La Paz as from 3am to around 10am, the toilet was my home. I must have woken the others up in my dorm from constan...