La Carretera Alta, Part 12 – The Pilgrimage to Mecca
It was our first day in El Chalten. We’d just finished a short hike to a scenic lookout, and having rounded the final corner on return to the visitor centre, [Read More]
Category: La Carretera Alta
La Carretera Alta, Part 11 – The Nefarious Villains of South America
If you’re planning a trip to South America, you’ll be repeatedly warned of the multitudinous perils that await hapless tourists there. The infallible accuracy of Common Wisdom would have you [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 10 – Full Brazilian
Brazil had been left off our original itinerary for no other reason than mere geography. Most of our South American destinations follow an inherently logical path, like links in a [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 9 – Hope Springs Eternal
Hark, all ye would-be overlanders! Heed my warning most dire – when purchasing Compulsory Third Party Insurance for Argentina, ensure you organise the purchase at least two weeks in advance. [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 8 – And then I saw an Armadillo…
At Desaguadero, a dishevelled border town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, we were given a classic Peruvian farewell – an unofficial toll. We’d encountered such highly spurious enterprises on [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 7 – Strikes and Gutters
As I vomited into the snow for perhaps the fifth or sixth time, I came to the realisation that we would not climb Alpamayo. Instead, we conducted an inglorious retreat [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 6 – A Tale of Two Valleys
Though profoundly beautiful and deeply interesting, Bolivia is a challenging country to travel through. Among the myriad difficulties one can reasonably expect to encounter are police corruption, unauthorised toll scams, [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 5 – The Shake Down
We were just outside Nazca, on the edge of the desert, when the cops pulled us over. Just a routine checkpoint, I thought. Nothing unusual. We’d been pulled over maybe [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 4 – South American Efficiency
Given that the industry has been kicking around for the better part of 3000 years, shipping is a bizarre, clandestine enterprise. As an outsider, I was bewildered by the complex [Read More]
La Carretera Alta, Part 3 – Margaritas and Multipitches
Imagine, if you will, the following scene… Having spent the entire day climbing Mexican limestone, you rest your weary body on a tattered boulder pad, surrounded by monolithic walls awash [Read More]