Day 97: Final word

Three months, six countries, one rucksack. And it's all over.

Like having a baby, backpacking can be a life-changing experience. And the sleep deprivation, dent to the bank balance and weeks spent carrying what you hold most dear, mean the parallels don't end there. Heading back to a country gripped by election fever and swooning for Nick Clegg, perhaps it will take me a little longer to fully absorb all these new experiences. But there's no doubt that travel renews your appetite for life.

Adios.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
We live on a beautiful planet, but home is home

All my pics are HERE

Day 96: Top five moments

1. Ian boarding the wrong plane in Sao Paulo
2. Asking in Buenos Aires football shops if they had any England 1966 souvenir shirts
3. Hang-gliding over Rio and pointing out the city landmarks to my instructor
4. Getting soaked with water at a wrestling match in La Paz, by a dwarf and a female Daddy Haystacks dressed in a skirt
5. Staring at a huge blue glacier in Patagonia, and the guide saying it was not really blue

Day 95: Machu Picchu

My penultimate day in South America was spent on its most famous spot. And against my expectations, Machu Picchu lived up to the hype. It simply took my breath away.

The picture postcards just don´t do it justice. Perched on a hilltop and surrounded by majestic Andean peaks, the Inca city strikes a spiritual chord within you. Even if there was no city, it would still be an amazing setting.

Walking around its ruins you get a sense of this civilisation's great geometrical and architectural skills, but it is not until you climb the mountain most commonly seen in the photos, Huaynu Picchu, that you see the city in its glorious context.

The clouds add to the mystery - how did they build it, why did they abandon it - and as they part beneath you to reveal the city, you cannot fail to be utterly moved.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. You can do Machu Picchu at any age
2. And even in knee-high boots
3. Climbing Huaynu Pucchi is very good for the glutes
4. Annoying ringtones happen everywhere

More Machu Picchu pics HERE

Day 94: Guinness and Roy Keane

"There are two things about Ireland I love," said my Peruvian hostel manager when I gave him my passport. "Guinness and Roy Keane."

Dark, strong in character, slightly mysterious and the ability to reinvigorate the spirit. And a bitter aftertaste.

I can see the similarities.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY

In Hebrew, the term for candy floss is "grandmother's hair"

Day 93: Steve, you're big in Argentina

Gutted to discover that my four-day trek to Machu Picchu has been cancelled. But my day improved when, flicking through my Spanish textbook, I saw the face of one of my BBC colleagues, Steve Hawkes, being used to illustrate a passage about driving while using a phone.

If anyone from work is reading this, can they tell Steve he is famous in Buenos Aires. Someone at my language school must have nicked the image from the BBC website when they compiled the book. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
People have sex in hostel dormitories

Day 92: Lost city

Cuzco was the capital of the Inca Empire, which once covered parts of what today we regard as Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia. Huge.

Who knows what the city looked like when the Spanish arrived, because much of it was destroyed and the Europeans built a beautiful new city, but the Inca foundations remain - a symbol that the older civilisation could not be eradicated.

Historians believe that if Cuzco was excavated, the remains of the Inca capital would be found underneath.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. The Inca language of Quechua is still widely spoken today
2. Although the Incas did not have a writing system, they recorded events using a knots system called quipu
3. But the Spanish destroyed much of their census material so much remains unknown

Day 91: Paddington's home

Paddington's creator Michael Bond once said in an interview (I'm too modest to say who it was with) that he chose Darkest Peru as the bear's home because it sounded so far away.

Given the events of my bus journey into Peru, I would say very far away indeed. Imagine the following happening on the National Express to Manchester:

- the driver taking a detour into dodgy-looking backstreets in order to drop off a package
- people hailing the coach on the street and begging the driver to be let on
- three burly blokes getting on and confiscating some suspicious-looking boxes stashed at the back
- a fight ensuing between the woman who owned them and the men. Guess who won

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
Don't try and get some sleep on a bus in Peru

Day 90: Island of the Sun

The Isla de Sol in Lake Titicaca was a sacred place for the Incas because this is where they believe their founding parents emerged from the waters, at the call of the Sun God.

Today it resembles a Greek island like Santorini, rather than Bolivia, and provided me with a pleasant walk, accompanied by Swiss pal Sandor (bottom pic). Top guy.

The lake, which Bolivia shares with Peru, is vast and stretches as far as the eye can see.





THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. There is a fourth official language in Switzerland (after German, French and Italian) called Rumantsch
2. Swiss email addresses end in "ch", which stands for "confederation helvetica"
3. All Swiss men must complete a year of military service, although some do it in instalments
4. A Swiss university, the Federal Inst of Tech, rewards good degrees with a cash sum of 2,000 euros to spend on foreign travel

More pics of Isle of the Sun HERE

Day 89: ´Very hard to succeed´

My journey north to Lake Titicaca gives me time to reflect on the words of an esteemed Israeli scholar (he was in the other jeep to mine), who often says; "It is very hard to succeed in Bolivia." (copyright Eli Cohen)

It´s a neat way of saying there are lots of frustrations for the traveller, such as dangerous roads, ill-informed guides who drop litter, a lack of hot water, poor food and painfully slow internet connections. And most bizarrely of all, the keys on the keyboards not actually typing what they say they type.

So although the rewards in Bolivia are rich indeed - amazing scenery and history - you need to earn them. But if it was a country where everything worked, with high-speed rail links, fibre optic broadband and gourmet restaurants, it would be Germany. Now I love Germany, but it´s not somewhere you go for adventure.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
On some Bolivian keyboards, to type @ you need to press SHIFT, then 6 and then 4

Day 88: Tag teams

Surely one of the most bizarre spectacles I´ve witnessed. Bolivians love their wrestling, but this is a far cry from Big Daddy on World of Sport. Women fight each other dressed in their traditional garb, men are dressed up like super heroes and dwarves provide the love interest. Spectators exchange blows with the competitors and express their dislike of the "bad guy" by throwing food into the ring.

As if that wasn´t weird enough, the distinct tones of Rick Astley could be heard on the loudspeakers.

Day 77: Bike challenge

It´s a bike ride like no other. On one side of the road, you have a 600-metre drop off a cliff. On the other, a vertical rock. No wonder its unofficial title is the world´s most dangerous road. It is unpaved and on its upper reaches the clouds hug the cliff edge. The scenery, if you dare take your eyes off the road, is breathtaking. But the crosses that line the route remind you that not everyone gets to the other end, most recently an Israeli backpacker, just last week.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. About 200 people on average died every year on this road, before a new road was constructed in 2006
2. Cars drive on the left, not the usual right, so that drivers going downhill can see the cliff edge
3. Eighteen cyclists, mostly backpackers have been killed going over the edge

Day 76: A lazy Saturday

To my surprise, I found a shopping centre in the city. Obviously beyond the means of most locals, it was very empty apart from the odd wealthy Bolivian family doing their Saturday clothes shopping.

Huge pictures of David Beckham and Ewen McGregor were in shop windows. And the sports pages of the national paper carried a story about Wayne Rooney being sought by Real Madrid.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
No country can escape the influence of Western culture

Day 75: Shouting buses

Another feature of La Paz is the shouting buses. The streets are full of vans that pick people up on every corner. Although they usually have a sign showing their destination, there is one person whose job it is to hang out the door, shouting out the names of the neighbourhoods ahead. Sometimes this person is a child of about 10, sometimes it is a woman holding a baby.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Bolivia used to have a coastline but lost it in a war with Chile
2. It has also ceded territory to Brazil
3. Ecuador´s currency is US dollars

Day 74: Shoeshine boys

I´m very much a trainer person, but I wish I´d brought a pair of shoes with me, because shoe shiners can be found on every corner, and I bet they are real characters.

Some wear rather sinister masks. At first I thought this was to preserve their lungs but I was told it was because they were ashamed of having what is considered an undignified job.

Those with the full shoeshine stall seem to have a higher standing.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Eight million Bolivian miners, mostly indigenous people, are thought to have died in the tin and silver mines of Potosi in the 17th and 18th Century
2. Some spent six months underground
3. Today 5,000 are working there, with a life expectancy of 40

Day 73: Fancy dress

Everything in this city is for sale in the street. It is one big marketplace. You will find a stall for staplers, one for toilet rolls and one, of course, for chicken skeletons.

Women set up shop on the pavement, dressed in traditional costume, complete with thick socks, skirt and bowler hat, carrying their wares in a big multicoloured shawl.

I have asked taxi drivers why it is that women dress traditionally but not men. One suggested it was because men in La Paz were more likely to have jobs that required shirt and trousers.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. The bowler hat worn by women was adopted from the British
2. And their skirt was once a symbol of Spanish oppression, but has now become a badge of pride in being indigenous
3. Even their traditional middle parting was imposed by the Spanish, and is still followed today

Day 72: Loving La Paz

Like crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time, or seeing Rio de Janeiro from Table Mountain, the first glimpse of La Paz, approaching by bus, is quite spectacular, sitting as it does in a bowl surrounded by Andean peaks.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. La Paz´s setting is unexpectedly "Wow"
2. Three-hour bus journeys cost only one pound
3. But so does a Snickers bar. Go figure

Day 71: Here comes the sun

Up at 4am to watch my first 360-degree sunrise, on the salt plain. There was a shimmering red on the horizon in every direction.

Passed a memorial to 14 people killed two years ago when two jeeps collided on the salt flats. It´s a reminder that safety standards are not always applied here. A few hours later, another backpacker told me his jeep driver had turned up drunk.

The tour finished in the small town of Uyuni, which has a graveyard of disused locomotives. Hope that´s not my train to La Paz.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY
1. Bolivian kids are the cutest (sorry China)
2. Harry Enfield´s Kevin and Perry Go Mad In Ibiza was quite big in Israel

Day 70: Want salt with that?

El Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world, covering more than 10,000 square kilometres and 10 metres deep. It is perhaps more famously the place where backpackers take funny pictures.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. In Israel there are restaurants just for humus
2. Israelis learn Arabic at school
3. My teeth look really white in good lighting

More funny (and beautiful) photos of the salt flats HERE

This is the lovely Anna, who is Dutch. Outnumbered by eight Israelis, we both finished the tour fluent in Hebrew. (Thanks for the pic, Hagai)

Day 69: Altitude and Israelis

Hardly slept, because my head feels like it is in a vice, my heart is pounding and I´m ready to vomit. So this is what altitude sickness feels like. Everyone is feeling a bit ropey. And tonight we´ll be even higher.

But nothing can detract from what is around me. Bolivia is a country that looks like it´s been Photoshopped. So vivid are the colours that you are rubbing your eyes, wondering if they´ve been digitally enhanced. Spectacular.


Sharing a jeep with four Israelis means that while my eyes are feasting on the beauty of Bolivia, my ears are learning much about Israel. One of them joked that on leaving military service, all Israelis are handed a Lonely Planet guidebook and a map of South America (joke copyright Eli Cohen).

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. About 60% of Israel is desert
2. Everyone must do military service, but girls do less than boys (two years, not three)
3. Israelis eat a lot

More pics of the desert HERE

Day 68: The Big Tour

INGREDIENTS: Two jeeps, two drivers, one cook, eight Israelis, one Dutch, one Brit

RECIPE: Drive for 1,000 kilometres through the Bolivian Andes, up to 5,000 metres above sea level, passing volcanos, mountains, lakes and remote villages

SERVING SUGGESTION: Take plenty of coca leaves for altitude sickness, no showers, 4am starts

After nearly a full day of driving, and seeing no signs of settlement, only stunning views, we stopped off at the tiny village of Santa Pablo, where the houses were made of clay and the only living to be made is rearing llamas for their meat and fur. Equipped with a bag of lollipops, I spoke to a few boys aged between 12 and 16. They had never been to the nearest town and had never heard of England, but were interested to know how far it was.

We stopped for the night at another village. At 4,200m high, the simple act of taking my rucksack out of the van is enough to leave me panting for air. The bad news is that tomorrow we go even higher.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. People with nothing can still be happy
2. Altitude makes you as breathless as people say it does

More pics of Santa Pablo HERE

Day 67: Hola, Bolivia

My first glimpse of Bolivia was an old-fashioned typewriter at the border crossing. A sign of things to come. After several hours of queueing, I´m in Villazon. Border towns are never a reliable guide to a new country but looking at the native costumes and poor state of the roads, it feels like I´ve gone back in time.

The first English football shirt I see is Arsenal, which will please Tom Armstrong, if he´s reading this, although this only reinforces my feeling of time travel (sorry mate, cheap gag).

After a pleasant train ride to Tupiza, I sign up for what I expect to be one of the highlights of my trip, a four-day tour of the wilderness in a jeep full of strangers, leaving tomorrow. The woman explaining the itinerary breaks off from Spanish to give me two English words about the accommodation.

"Very basic."

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. The capital of Bolivia is Sucre, not La Paz
2. Bolivia is the size of France and Spain combined
3. It is the poorest country in Latin America
4. The currency is called Bolivian Bolivianos

Day 66: Train to the clouds

My last day in Argentina is a special one, on board one of the only surviving train rides in the country. It´s a six-hour ride from Salta, climbing to 4,000m above sea level and crossing the world´s highest viaduct before returning home.

With a sense of expectation as I boarded at 7am, the following announcement came as a surprise: "Can all passengers please pull down the shutters as we depart because some locals have been throwing rocks at the train."

Safely outside Salta, the shutters came up and the next 12 hours was a glorious ride through the northern Argentinian Andes.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Argentina shut down nearly all its railways about 12 years ago because they weren´t profitable
2. Chewing coca leaves helps combat altitude sickness

More pics of the train ride HERE

Day 65: The (other) importance of 20 February

I was surprised to see my birthday plastered over street signs in Salta, so I asked a policeman why it was a significant date.

It turns out it was the day in 1813 when the Spanish were defeated at the Battle of Salta, giving the Argentines control of the north of the country.

And I thought it was just a personal welcome...

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Other important things happened on 20 February

MORE PICS OF SALTA HERE AND PICS OF NW ARGENTINA HERE

Day 64: Hostel life

Should a 37-year-old man be living in a room that looks like this?

On the whole, I have found hostels to be great, especially as a solo traveller. They're sociable and also act as up-to-date, verbal travel guides, because everyone is talking about where they've just been and where they're heading.

But this time, in Salta, I drew the short straw in room mates, and I'm not talking about the messy room. All through the night, about every hour, one of them would come back drunk and make loads of noise, on one occasion even playing with their phone ring tones.

No prizes for guessing what nationality they were?

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
English backpackers make the most noise

Day 63: The Wild West

Loving the scenery around Salta. Reminds me of the Wild West.

And I think I have found my calling - as a llama farmer.






THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Llama's spit smells
2. Donkeys can be found in the wild





MORE PICS OF NW ARGENTINA HERE

Day 62: Remember when...

Salta is predominantly inhabited by descendants of the indigenous people, so it feels very different from southern Argentina, which is very white. It´s a reminder of the pre-European America.

What a different country Argentina would be if all the natives in the south had not been systematically slaughtered in the 19th Century.

THING I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY: The killing of thousands of natives was carried out in the 1870s by Army general Julio Roca, later president of Argentina

MORE PICS OF SALTA HERE

Day 61: Hola, Salta

How does a rucksack get soaking wet when it´s in the hold of a coach? And how can you dry clothes in a youth hostel dormitory, an environment in which all previously acknowledged rules about personal space are suddenly non-applicable?

More on hostel life later, because I´ve arrived in Salta and it´s far more pretty than I expected. Made it in time for the Easter Vigil Mass in the beautiful Basilica Cathedral (right).

Three points to note about the Mass, which make it different from any I have experienced in the UK or Ireland.

1. It was THREE hours long and hundreds of people were standing, it was so packed.

2. A nun sitting near the front took photos of the candlelit procession. Is that appropriate?

3. There was a stray dog wandering through the congregation.

THINGS I DIDN´T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
1. Some dogs are Catholic
2. The "modern tango" capital is considered to be Berlin

Day 60: Parting thoughts

A 20-hour overnight bus journey to Salta in northern Argentina offers plenty of time to reflect on what I´ve made of Buenos Aires in such a short time.

As its reputation suggests, it´s very civilised and beautiful, brimming with architectural delights, fountains, squares, parks, cafes and bookshops. But what is less well known is that it´s also dirty and impoverished, with about half the national population officially poor and kids aged about six working the streets and trains.

The city´s inhabitants are even more fascinating. They have a reputation among Latin American countries for being rather aloof but I met many that were lots of fun.

One oft-quoted stat is that they have a higher proportion of people seeing shrinks than anywhere else, even Manhattan. One of my teachers put this down to a fundamental identity crisis between being Latin and European.

Who knows, but they certainly struck me as deep thinkers. They devour newspapers and have a very healthy curiosity about the world, especially British culture. I´ve been asked questions about figures as diverse as John Le Carre, Luke Chadwick and Black Sabbath.

But it saddens me that the friends I have made here - among them architects, accountants, teachers and students - will probably never be able to explore the faraway places that so fascinate them, because the economy is in such a perpetual mess.

PICS OF BUENOS AIRES PEOPLE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623654501997/show/

AND SIGHTS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623567979582/show/

Day 59: Packing up

Adios studio flat,

I forgive you for giving me such a bad wi-fi connection that I had to stand in the corridor holding my laptop high above my head, just to load a webpage or send an email. At least it meant that I met all my neighbours.

The last thing I packed was this white card I got from Dan before I left England. A constant reminder of London, complete with Big Ben, The Eye and other landmarks. Genius.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
In 2003, more than half of Argentinians lived below the poverty line

Day 58: Last day in BA

Spent my final full day in Buenos Aires escaping it, in Tigre with my pal Hector. It's the Henley of Argentina, a small town just outside the city, on the banks of a tributary of the Rio de la Plata, full of rowing clubs and bowling greens. All very Home Counties. That's because at the start of the 19th Century, it provided a tranquil escape for the rich, many of whom were English.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Argentinians play bowls

Day 57: Adios, taxistas

I cherish my last few taxi rides because I'm going to miss the crazy drivers, although our relationship got off to a rocky start. On arrival, Ian and I waited an hour at the airport and for the first few days they obstinately refused to understand me saying my address, because I said it with a Spanish, rather than Argentinian, pronunciation. But I've come to enjoy their surly demeanour, which usually breaks after a few minutes of my poor Spanish and inane observations about football. The two words "Carlos" and "Tevez" are usually enough to get them excited.

WHAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO HEAR IN A TAXI:
1. Status Quo
2. Tears for Fears
3. Moans about Paraguayans

WHAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO SEE:
1. A blur
2. Other taxis having accidents

THING I DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Buskers in Buenos Aires DO play Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

Day 56: Things I will miss

As I enter my final few days in Buenos Aires, the goodbyes (and the late nights that inevitably accompany every "adios") have made me all reflective about my month here.

THINGS I LOVE:
1. That buskers on trains get warm applause
2. That nearly everyone reads newspapers
3. That there are bookshops on every street
4. That waiters dress smart, no matter how crap the café
5. That you always get a glass of water with your coffee
6. The Water Board building (pictured) and red post boxes
7. That straight men of all ages greet each other with a kiss
8. People sweeping steps and polishing intercom systems every morning
9. Football on telly every night
10. My Argentinian friends

THINGS I DON'T:
1. Queuing to pay for a drink and then queuing to be served it
2. Everyone standing on descending escalators
3. Spanish verbs

Day 55: General Belgrano

In the UK, his name is forever associated with the most controversial act in the Falklands War, the sinking of the Argentinian warship with the loss of 323 lives. But the real Manuel Belgrano had an even greater significance, as one of the founding fathers of Argentina (he helped kick the Spanish out 200 years ago). With some irony, given what happened in 1982, he also repelled two British invasions shortly after that. His statue can be found in the city‘s most important square.

THING: General Belgrano designed the Argentinian flag

Day 54: No change

There is an acute shortage of coins and small change here, which means a panic grips you when you get into a taxi and realise you only have a 100 peso note. When Ian was here, his driver became so incensed that he threw him out of the cab, effectively giving him a free ride. If you get on a bus without the right money, they don’t let you on. Shops sometimes can’t accept your custom because they can’t change your note. The reason is that there is a racket in which criminals hoard the change, restrict supply and sell it at a rate of nine pesos for 10.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
Lionel Messi may be regarded the best footballer on the planet, but in his home country, the people don't really rate him. Instead they revere Carlos Tevez. Weird, huh? There are three reasons for this - he produces his best football for Barcelona, he never played club football here and ordinary Argentines can't relate to his middle class upbringing

Day 52: Brazil comes to town

Returned to Buenos Aires for a great weekend showing Gary and Kleverson, visiting from Sao Paulo, around town. I saw the city through fresh eyes and it really brought home what a great place it is. This photo is at Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron has one of the most understated graves there.

THING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE TODAY:
The George Clooney film Up In The Air is called Love Without Boundaries, in order to appeal to the romantic nature of Argentina (Brokeback Mountain was called Secret of the Mountain, which I think makes it sound a bit too sinister)

MORE PICS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14099398@N00/sets/72157623737448042/