We’ve been staying in Lanquin for a few nights now, after a 9 hour journey by ancient minibus from Flores, involving us crossing a river on a makeshift ferry (see pic below) and a 40 minute delay while we waited for half the village to help another ancient minibus out of the roadside ditch opposite. We’re staying in a nice place called Retiro, right by the Cahabon river, full of other travellers and they do a big buffet-style dinner every evening for £4 /£5 depending on whether you have the veggie option (I did the first night, as the “meat”…

We’ve been in Antigua for the last few days, which used to be the capital of Central America. It’s a very pretty town, with a lovely central park and it reminded us of San Cristobal de las casas in Mexico. We spent a day wandering around the shops and the ruins of the cathedral (3q/25p entrance fee), which has been destroyed twice by earthquakes. The contrast of the shafts of sunshine and shadows and the plants growing in amongst the columns and cracked walls made it look just as beautiful as a well preserved, lavishly gilded cathedral. Under the font…

We’re now in Panama after travelling via chicken and Tica bus to Panama, crossing 5 borders in 3 days (check out The Gool’s new route map – top right, if your knowledge of Central American countries is as bad as mine was before this trip)! The last border crossing took over 3 hours and was particularly stressful, as a group of old Panamanic ladies kept trying to queue-jump, which especially upset the disgruntled Brits who’d been in line for hours already. Here’s a brief summary of some of the road rules and transport we’ve experienced in Central America… The most…

We spent most of the last week of August in Panama City and were lucky enough to meet a really lovely ex-pat couple – John and Lorna – on our first night there (in an Indian restaurant – typical). John very kindly offered to take us around Panama City and we were only too pleased to have a local English guide – thank you John! John took us first to the old City of Panama, which is mostly crumbling ruins, apart from a tower that you can walk up to get great views over the new city and all the…

We’ve spent the last week aboard the Windseeker, a pretty little boat owned by chain-smoking Aussie Captain Mike (Mr Birdseye-on-Slimfast on the left below), being fed extremely well (lots of yummy pasta) by Maurizio (on the right) – a half Scottish, half Italian (and all mental) chef who could well have been Mario and Luigi’s long-lost brother, given his stereo-typical facial hair and the fact that he used to be a plumber! I was the only girl aboard the boat, but luckily the other boys were fully house-trained. As well as Captain Mike, Mauri the chef, me & Ise, there…

We’ve been in Cartagena since last Sunday – it’s incredibly hot and humid and it took us a few days just to aclimatise and work up some energy. We were staying in the roughest area of the city, where all the drug dealers and pimps hang out, but they didn’t cause us any trouble when we told them “no gracias” to whatever they were selling. The old town, inside the city walls is very cute – old buildings, lots of metal sculptures and statues, horse-drawn carriages and people selling hats, necklaces and artwork on the street – great for people…

We’ve been in Bogota for almost a week and have come across an increasing amount of an addictive white powder that can be found on every street corner, in the “panaderias”, sold by kindly ladies with white coats and hairnets. It’s called icing sugar, it covers the delicious pastries and cakes that are made here in Bogota and we’re hooked! We generally have just one “proper” meal a day (i.e. something with meat and vegetables) and otherwise survive on coffee (Ise), chocolate caliente (me) and various tarts, flans, croissants, cheesecakes, crepes, ice-creams and sponges. We are now cake addicts. We’re…

We’re now in Peru, birthplace of Paddington Bear, after having flown from Bogota to Lima and then straight to Cuzco last Friday. We’re staying in a nice hacienda-style place called Quorichaska. When we arrived, the lady at reception made us coca tea to alleviate altitude sickness and neither of us has suffered with it at all. On Saturday we took a couple of minibuses to Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley and then a train called the Vistadome to Aguas Calientes, which is the closest town to Machupicchu. The train was a great experience and far nicer than I can imagine…

We’ve been in Bolivia since last Friday. teamGoolTM travelled from Cusco to Copacabana (commonly known as “Copa”, at Lake Titicaca) by bus and had one of the smoothest border crossings so far. We’re now on country number 12 of the Big Trip and I had been a bit apprehensive about Bolivia after having been told (by other travellers) that the food was terrible and that we were bound to get ill. So far, however, Bolivia has been pretty good – cheap, interesting and mostly dry, with some good food! The women here dress traditionally, with Laurel and Hardy style bowler…