We arrived in Guatemala city and headed straight down to Antigua. Antigua is a beautiful colonial town with vibrant colours and cobbled streets. It's also quite touristy and expensive! We spent our first evening exploring the city and getting our bearings. On Sunday afternoon we went on a hike up to the Pachaya Volcano - one of the area's active volcanos. We walked up a fair distance - the weather was very misty so we couldn't see much of the scenery along the wa...

Panama land of many different peoples - Indian (originals), Spanish (the usual!) and African Carribean (Panama canal).  Arriving in Panama city at night we were amazed at how developed it was and American.  It has 2 big malls complete with all the usual fast food (McD etc.) and designer clothing stores.  We watched the Simpsons movie one night at the Multiplex mall.  There were loads of the usual up market hotels - Raddisson etc. etc.&nbs...

The drive was a long one and we were delayed by a few road blocks along the way. About an hour from Arequipa we smelled burning rubber, followed by a loud bang. We all got off the truck as smoke was billowing and saw that one of the tyres had blown and our truck was on fire! As we were all watching a second tyre burst!!! We spent the next 2 hours waiting to be fixed while we cooked spaghetti bolognaise on the side of the road! We got to Arequipa in one piece but ...

After seeing the Inca Ruins just outside La Paz, we arrived at the Peru/Bolivia border and did the usual thing through immigration. The official took a little longer with Matt´s visa as it was issued in London, but finally we were back on our Big Yellow Truck and having lunch over looking the amazing Lake Titicaca. It´s hard to believe that this is a lake and not the ocean! We then continued on to Puno, where we met the rest of our tour group.On Frida...

La Paz sprawling city located in 2 valleys slightly underlying the altiplano comprising about 750k mainly Aymara originated locals.  We found them to be quite different to the Argentinians and Peruvian in that they seemed to be very closed and not as friendly.  This I think is linked to their determination to keep their local traditions and as such there were many women walking around in bowler hats and very traditional long skirts.  The ...