I had originally thought of (thought not planned by any means) flying from Colombia to Rio de Janeiro but having searched high and low for an affordable flight I drew a blank. So a year in South America with no Brazil it is... or is it?

International flights might be expensive but a series of internal flights, connecting boats / buses / whatever are a jolly good deal indeed. So I decided to fly from Cartagena in the north of Colombia to Leticia in the Colombian Amazonas, the tres fronteras area, a three way border between Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Quite a pleasant place, you can visit some indigineous tribes, check out illicit coca farms or . do what I did - just arrange passage into Peru. Or Brazil.

From there into Brazil proper involves a 5 day boat trip dwon the Amazon and I wasn't too keen. While swinging in a hammock on a slow boat down the river appeals to many I am not one of them. And I don't know a word of Portugese. So Peru it was and a different route down than up and at a much quicker pace.

However, I did manage one night in Brazil. The towns of Leticia and Tabatinga, on the Brazilian side are intermerged, so you can walk freely between the two without having to show a passport. I had encountered two hapless Finnish hippies and we decided on a drink in the latter. So I have been to Brazil!

The following morning I boarded a fast boat, destination Iquitos in Peru. Conditions were cramped so the joy of zooming up the Amazon was short lived. And you copuld hardly see the river banks anyway. I was delighted to arrive in Iquitos but.....disaster strikes! A person unknown had my small backpack away containing all my electrical goods....argh!

Iquitos itself is pretty damn cool. It is the worlds largest city inacessable by road, the only way in or out is to fly or take a series of slow boats over the course of days. The city is not particularly large and explorable by foot, some old plantation era architecture and a pleasant stroll on the river detracts oneself from the ubiquitos hippies that have clearly done too much Ayuasca, the hallucinogenic vine leaf derivative. Especially the one who told me that her conciousness had caues the socialist revolution in Bolivia. Oh dear!

Though there are ample opportunties to explore the nearby jungle I was happy with the trip we had made to the jungle in Ecuador and was happy to draw a line uner it. For the timebeing anyway. So after a couple of days greiving my laptop and camera, and floating alongside the Belen market area, I pulled myself together and away on a flight to Lima.

I took a taxi from the airport in Lima to the bus station and travelled overnight to Arequipa, where I stayed one night to break the journey and go to my favourite Arequipan restaurant. The following morning I was bound for Puno on the shores of Lake Titikaka.

I had been to these shores before but only to the Bolivian side of the lake. This time I was here to check out the Peruvian side and the islands for which it is famed. I found an excellent hostel run by a cool Peruvian 50 something who once lived in Salcombe, Devon. He was impressed that I am from Devon and have a vague command of the Spanish language.

The next day it was off to the islands. The first port of call on the small ferry with a top speed of 2 knots or something was the floating reed islands, which are basically a tourist trap but impressive nonetheless. However, the main event here for me was to be a night on Taquile, an unspoilt(ish) island beyond the reach of the majority of daytrippers.

Together with a Dutch couple we were greated on the beach and offered a couple of rooms with a local family. We thought the traditional dress was something of a tourist show but having wandered around the island for the afternoon it became apparent that yes this is actually the way they all dress. The main industry here is textiles and the island is well regarded for the quality of their cloth. But there are no large looms or factories here, everything is hand woven the traditional way and it is quite common to see men standing around doing some kind of knitting. The island works as a cooperative with the end product sold in bulk and the island fed and watered.

That night we had a meal with our family in their one room homestead (the two over rooms were a small adjacent building) and it was quite a humbling experience. The couple were in their late twenties with two super sweet children of five and three. They live their life in the one room with two lights and a radio powerede by solar and a small area for cooking. Judging by the children they could not be happier and we shared stories in broken Spanish about our traditions and way of life. Different world here entirely!