Days not Homeless: 5 Years, 21 Days ...and loving every second of this alpine adventure!
We hoped that leaving La Paz on a Wednesday night for the three hour micro-bus ride to Copacabana was a good idea and that the internet at our fancy accommodation would work for Andrea! We had chosen Hostal Las Olas for its unique suites overlooking Lake Titicaca, and...
La Paz, sitting in a bowl at an altitude between 3.200 and 4.100 meters, is the highest capital city in the world surrounded by the high mountains of the altiplano, specifically triple-peaked Illimani. Behind Santa Cruz de la Sierra, it is Bolivia’s second largest...
Our final destination in the La Paz region was Chulumani. It was spent with drunks, downpours and delays and it certainly did not go the way we anticipated, but it ended up being much more fun than we ever imagined! We planned to head to Chulumani the weekend of...
From the moment we arrived in La Paz and being able to see Illimani from our apartment window, I wanted to hit the hills again – it's been six years since I summited Huascaran in Peru with some friends and I was hungry to get back into thin air. Illimani, at 6.438...
It's already our second weekend in La Paz and time for an adventure! The North Yungas Road, suitably titled “Worlds Most Dangerous Road” or WMDR for short, is a renowned downhill mountain bike ride and formerly the only road through the mountains from La Paz to...
One of the top activities to do while visiting Sucre, Bolivia is the trek to the Maragua crater with a visit to the dinosaur footprints. We decided to use Condor Trekkers, a non-profit organization that distributes its profits back to the community and relies heavily...
Thankfully it didn't eat the ones that toured the Candelaria mine in Cerro Rico recently! Cerro Rico, meaning ‘Rich Mountain’ in Spanish and looming above Potosi in Bolivia, is the primary reason most tourists visit the highest city in the world at 4.067 meters above...
Not sure why we came here, something to do with visiting a friend and it being half way between La Paz and our next stop, Sucre. Rumors abounded of the city being unsafe with very few tourist attractions so what better time to arrive than 11.30pm and your...
The town of Rurrenabaque, known as the gateway for all Bolivian Amazon adventures was a last minute decision, preferred over heading to Chiles San Pedro de Atacama for a week. Andrea was still on vacation from work for another six days and we knew our destination, the...
Hopefully you’re still reading this blog and we haven't bored you yet! We have seen so much on this tour and are so lucky to have spent it with a great group of like-minded travellers. The number one thing Andrea wanted to do in South America was the Salt Flats and...
We thought we had found the number one adventure in South America, the 5 day “W” Circuit hike in Chile, but we’re thinking the Salt Flats, beginning in Tupiza, Bolivia and ending in Uyuni is by far the best. Sitting in a 4WD for 8-10 hours a day and sleeping on slabs...
I’ve learned at least one thing on this trip – I prefer to be in smaller towns than in big cities. Before leaving for South America, I was begging Wayne to let us have at least 4 weeks in Buenos Aires. The thought of being in a big city with so much to do was very...
If it hadn’t been for the suicide drivers and the bamboo scaffolding I would have been mistaken for thinking I was back in England. From the moment we arrived at 3am on Sunday morning to our departure 5 days later we never got a glimpse of blue sky, nor did we get to...
South America borders are not the cheapest places for Americans due to Visas and reciprocity fees and without prior planning they are also not the easiest to cross. We've already been hit with $160 for a Brazilian Visa, $160 reciprocity fee for Argentina, and more...
No idea why it had taken us so long to make it to Egypt but we're already raring to go back! This occasion was just a week long vacation to get us away from the cold of the Alps and for me to enjoy (if there is any enjoyment!) recovering from hip replacement surgery....
After what felt like an eternity it was a random email from a good friend in the US that prompted a plan of attack for the remaining 8 state highpoints. Unfortunately they were spread far and wide and included four that required some level of technique and multiple...
Our Route des Grandes Alpes map from Cluses to MentonCol d'Izoard DescentCol de Turini DescentSt Martin VésubieValbergArvieuxRoute des Grandes Alpes Day 1: Cluses to Le Grand-Bornand to Beaufort-sur-Doron Col de Romme, Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col des...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
Unable to take a rental car into Albania on a prior roadtrip through Europe we made it a mission to discover what would turn out to be a gem, and not one of those expensive gems! EasyJet supplied the direct flight from Geneva to Tirana, public transport was dirt...
Not quite what we had planned regarding a big Swedish adventure, our 3 week Kungsleden hike turning into a city break in Stockholm. Oh well, it was still fun, and we got to explore another scenic European city. With EasyJet flying the dirt cheap route directly from...
The thought of travelling for two days to visit family in New Zealand without adding on a South Pacific island trip was now only a thought! After spending a little over a week in Niue on our previous trip where would we go this time? Whilst my mum had already been to...
With a few hundred Euros in TAP Portugal credit and no real idea of where to go that didn't involve connections and long flights we decided to just head somewhere warm and that we'd never been to before. The Algarve sounded like that destination. Unfortunately the...
Approaching Greenland ice shelf from the air was humbling, the size of the glaciers tumbling into the sea, the iceberg’s with their turquoise underwater colours, the sheer expanse… and we were barely north of Greenland's narrowest point - there was a hell of a lot...
So here it is, time for another fairly long bike-packing adventure following the length of the mighty Rhine river. The other getaways I was toying with were either a north south traverse of Iceland on foot or a photography shoot in the Faroe Islands - for both it was...
Over eighty days of skiing under my belt, it was time for Andrea and I to head to warmer climates. We had spent some time in the French island of Corsica a couple of years ago and now it was time for the Italian island of Sardinia. We had zero plans; just the desire...
Not what we had initially planned but more than happy that crap high mountain reports ruined our early spring 4000m peak bagging adventure! What was a loosely organised Monte Rosa trip, overnight turned into a well oiled Haute Route ski tour (thanks for demanding a...
Andrea heading home to visit family for a little over 3 weeks made the perfect excuse to make my third trip to Nepal. This time would be kind of strange as it wouldn't involve the Icefall, the Lhotse Face, nor the summit of Everest! I had to find something different...
Not entirely hopeful that we would have time to attempt a second Dolomites high route we hadn't planned or reserved anything for Alta Via 1. Having a copy of the GPX route downloaded to Gaia and a list of the more popular refuges was the extent of it. Whilst winging...
Planning a long hike during Covid was not as easy as we anticipated. Our, or at least my first option of the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland was pretty much closed - we needed a plan B. We had never really thought too much about the Dolomites but after reading...
Outside of Cape Epic in South Africa the Swiss Epic in Graubünden, Switzerland, is probably the big destination mountain bike race of the Epic series. Being one of the qualifiers for the Cape Epic, the two-person-team five day event is hugely competitive, packed with...
With the forecast calling for rain to fall for multiple days on Chamonix yet again it was time to search out another European city. Having recently got back from Nimes in the south of France it was the turn of Italy. We toyed with a return to Venice, then thought that...
Whilst Mont Blanc comes in at the highest mountain in western Europe its normal "Goûter" route is one of the easiest in the Alps. The 4810m snow covered summit looms over Chamonix, the lower glaciers of Bossons and Taconnaz winding their way down from the upper...
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