A few weeks back I had a few old cans lying around, so I made an attempt at a soda can stove, in truth only to see how it would work. For anyone not sure what a soda can stove is, Wikipedia give a good definition… A beverage-can stove (or pop-can stove) is a homemade, [...]

Day 217 – Monday 24th April 2006 I think it was a 4.30am get up as we needed to catch our train to Machu Picchu at 5.30am. Staggering half asleep through the streets of Cusco as they were just beginning to fill with people we found the train station easily, aware that for the past [...]

Day 139 – Sunday 5th February 2006 The late nights and not being able to sleep cauht up with me on Sunday, and I didn’t have the energy to do much. Therefore I didn’t. I just lazed around my hostel reading and sleeping.

Day 51 – Wednesday 9th November 2005 After spending much of the previous evening planning the coming week, I woke up early ready to take a boat trip through the Canon del Sumidero. I went to a tour company who quoted me $160 Pesos but I would have to wait until the next day, so [...]

Day 37 – Wednesday 26th October 2005 I wasn’t really in the mood for doing much, but one thing I wanted to see was the Museum of the Mummies. Mexicans have a strange fascination with death, and this museum only serves to intensify that fascination. The original mummies were discovered in 1865, when due to [...]

Day 36 – Tuesday 25th October 2005 After a night in the hostel (this didn’t rank as good one – see previous entry!) I woke up with 18 mosquito bites on my arms and back. To take my mind off the itching I wanted to get out and see why this city came recommended so [...]

Days 31, 32 & 33 – Thursday 20th, Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd October 2005 I had originally planned to spend only two nights in Zacatecas but I was having a really good time just hanging around and doing not much. Also Tuesday and Wednesday had been let downs in terms of nights out, and [...]

Day 30 – Wednesday 19th October 2005 It was 1548 when the Spaniards founded a settlement in Zacatecas. They promptly started mining operations, extracting silver from the mountainside that dominates the skyline above the city. Once extracted, the silver was sent in caravan loads to Mexico City. This trade inevitably made the owners of the [...]

Day 29 – Tuesday 18th October 2005 I had heard good things about the colonial city of Zacatecas, and it has a name that rolls right off the tongue, so I got on yet another bus journey and arrived mid afternoon. After not really having any contact with any other travellers for a few days [...]

Day 23 – Thursday 13th October 2005 I had been offered a lift down to Puerto Vallarta by the two Americans I had met the previous evening, Byron and Alex. We set off from the island at half ten, as that was the time the colectivo lancha left. We actually arrived at the departure point [...]