26 September, 2010
Peru, Chile & Bolivia Gallery
A gallery of some of my favourite in-camera images from Peru, Chile and Bolivia a few weeks ago. They’re not necessarily strong photos or selected as such – just photos I myself enjoy. I have more, but they either need tweaking (straightening horizons, etc) or some real work to bring out the best. I’ll post […]
12 September, 2010
Dogs of San Pedro
I had an afternoon to kill, prior to heading back towards Arica. So what’s a boy to do? Well in my case I wondered around the village taking pictures of anything that caught my fancy. But one possible theme leapt out at me – the many dogs around the streets would make a lovely topic […]
11 September, 2010
A Better Type of Criminal
Arica is a relative crime free city, but as with anywhere it pays to be attentive. Most crime in Chile is opportunistic in nature, as opposed to the occassional strangle muggings and minor ATM kidnappings you have to be wary of in Bolivia and Peru. So I heard this story, of an eminent British archaelogist* […]
9 September, 2010
Border Crossings and Empty Airports
I’m sitting in the emptiest airport I’ve ever experienced. I suspect they only operate a couple of flights a day from Tacna. Consequently my only company appears to be a bored check-in attendant for a different airline and a barman who’s mopping the floor. And I’ve finished all my books. I have little else to […]
8 September, 2010
Extreme Landscapes
I’m now back in Arica following my trip to San Pedro de Atacama and Bolivia. I have a couple of things to deal with here before heading back to Lima for my flight home. I’ve been foiled by this computer in the hotel from getting a decent image gallery up from the last eight days […]
6 September, 2010
Laguna Colorada, Bolivia
We’re about 120km from the nearest town, so zero connectivity here. This will be posted on my return. We’re at around 4900m up in a small hostel near Laguna Colorada. By Bolivian standards it’s comfortable but the altitude is really hard work and I’ve learned to be careful not to stand up too quickly. It’s […]
2 September, 2010
San Pedro de Atacama revisited.
I remember San Pedro as being quite sleepy, with little accommodation available, but also with plenty of tourists and bars. It was sunny, warm, and pleasant. This time around it’s somewhat less sleepy, a lot bigger (perhaps 2x? 3x?)…however, it’s the off-season and that means few tourists compared to the number of restaurants, so dining […]
1 September, 2010
F%@*!?g Hell
I’ve done Arica > San Pedro before, albeit with a change at Calama. Thing is, I just remembered one of the more annoying bits… Chile has concerns over various food pests and as a consequence you not only get checked for fruit, cheese etc on boarding the bus, there are also occassional checkpoints. So at […]
31 August, 2010
Off to San Pedro
Just about to start packing for San Pedro de Atacama. I’ve been there before, so it’s a relatively familiar spot, though I didn’t spend long in the town. So this time I’m going to explore the locality a little more. I’m even thinking of sticking with it for a week or so and treating as […]
Dad´s Headstone
Had my father’s headstone delivered and installed yesterday. It was a fairly sombre moment, and my last goodbye to him. I won’t go back soon. Unfortunately the computer I’m trying to upload my photos to won’t play ball, so no pictures for the moment. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow when I get to San Pedro de Atacama. […]
30 August, 2010
Un Techo Para Chile
I struggled to find somewhere to eat this evening, and in the end decided that some more bad food would have to do. I have at least found a source of decent fruit at the market, so I’m getting vitamins and fibre now. Woo! The smells of Telepizza were calling me in, and I succumbed. […]
29 August, 2010
Pictures of Arica
Just a quick gallery showing pictures I’ve taken over the past few days in Arica. My only disappointment is that I’m still failing to get focus perfect on wide apertures and autofocus gets itself mixed up – so some otherwise great pictures aren’t usable at large sizes. I’ve just discovered that you can get a […]
Itinerary Options
I’m still trying to decide what to do next, but I think I’m forming a plan. I did debate staying here for all the time I have, teaching some web stuff maybe, for free. But nobody seemed that interested when I mentioned it, so I think it’s worth heading off. I’ve already been to San […]
Quiet Weekend in Arica
I’m staying put while I wait for the headstone to be finished and fitted, and consequently got to see an Arican weekend. There’s not a lot for me to do in many ways, so yesterday I spent some time going through all of my father’s papers and notebooks. I found evidence of one email address […]
Food!
Oh seriously, sometimes, when you travel the food is amazing. Sometimes, it looks like it might be a danger to your health…
28 August, 2010
Arrangements, part dos
Anyone who’s experienced the death of someone close to them will know that there is often a lot to do. No exceptions here, plus the added pressure of limited time. However, I’m not entirely unhappy about the time thing… makes me get things done. Cementaria Parque de Arica So, following the funeral I went yesterday […]
6 August, 2010
Differential Pricing with Airlines
The traveller on a budget faces the very real problem that airlines employ differential pricing depending on where you are. Here’s my example – the next post will explain whether I got the lower price or not!
5 August, 2010
Lima, again.
A smidge under five years ago I created my first blog post as I started preparations for travel to South America. Today I’m preparing to travel to more or less the same destinations…but for sadder reasons. Two weeks ago my father died. A week ago a police officer knocked on my door to tell me […]
12 November, 2008
Cuzco by Night
Cuzco is one of those places – full of foreigners who got there and thought “hey… let’s stop a while longer” and then don’t leave for years. It’s vibrant, beautiful, friendly and prosperous. See it while it’s still relatively unspoilt. If you like this shot, you may wish to check out my photoblog, which I’m […]
3 April, 2008
Santa Catalina Convent, Arequipa
The water looks dirty, but isn’t. You can see the goldfish clearly enough after all. The Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa is an astonishing city within a city. In spite of the noise and bustle of the city outside, it manages to maintain a quiet calm. The nuns who lived here (and a small number […]
Road to Bolivia
This photo is on the main road from North Chile to Bolivia as it heads through Chile’s Lauca National Park. This is the nice and easy part – it seems that once in Bolivia the road deteriorates significantly in quality and safety. Just a few weeks after I took this picture a minibus full of […]
2 April, 2008
Valle de la Luna
Ok, first shot to go up on the photoblog*. I’ve decided to leave it up even though it’s a relatively poor quality re-size. However, I feel it still illustrates the beauty and scale of this location. Here we are, perhaps 1000m above the valley floor below. Priscilla, who I’d just met on this part of […]