Machu Picchu

So in no order a very vibrant and incredible memory going back some years now was a four day sign up to a hike to the famous Machu Picchu for sunrise, the end destination a panoramic look out point over Machu Picchu before any tourists are aloud in. I done this adventure with my travel buddy Tom, and I remember the first day we rocked up “believe it or not” being in two minds if we wanted to do it. Which was crazy because Iit was the most amazing mind opening experience ever. Me being me, had bought a big heavy pair of walking boots not really thinking about what was ahead of us with “crazy step declines” for miles down the mountains to huge steep inclines where “oxygen hardly existed” and I threw away my hardcore walking boots on the first day not even starting the trial in favour of just doing the hike in nike air flat bottom trainers “which the tour guide could not stop laughing at me about”. Which to be fair for the first few days prevented me getting blisters like a lot of people and were light on the foot, which helped, but because of the flat bottom the last day I could hardly walk and looked like a shit myself walking through the town where we were going to stay on the last day and it was pretty painful muscle cramps. The diversity of the hike is something that blew my mind with descending into jungle like type environments full of moisture in the air to almost baron desert like landscapes. We passed old ancient town townruins in the mountains’s built out of stone to huge complex theatre type settlements where rituals were performed to crowds, to narrow pathways running along side mountains’s that took long winding routes down where you could see your camp miles away. Each night we would end up at another camp and they would provide us with beautiful home cooked meals, mostly soups and breads, herbal teas. We were always recommended coco leaves to prevent altitude sickness and if you munch enough you do get a cocain hit out of it. Apparently I went through two ton of leaves!, I really can’t remember I was too high all the time. The general daily hikes of around five miles were not too bad, what was really intense and the only part that makes you struggle is the decent on the big stone steps down on declines that can go on and on. It puts lots of pressure on your back and me and Tom were the only ones in the team not to hand over our backpacks to the runners “male egos”. It was the most detoxing experience i’ve had away from any chemical foods and it is to not sound cliché a life changing perspective. The runners bless their souls are worked to the bone and run ahead hours in front to set the next camp up carrying all the tents and hardware to cook. Absolute respect to these people but i’m sure they don’t benefit from it in the end body wise. You see so many spectacular ruins on route that the end is obviously breath taking but I think the journey is far better. It quite funny because you’ve been away in the wild with a small group, some with belly upsets and some not so funny stories, to suddenly ending up at the most touristy filled location you’ve even seen and you feel alien. people ask you did you do the hike as their huge tour buses turn up in the dozens to fill the complex. It’s very surreal because it wasn’t basic camping, sub zero temperatures at night to very hot days no showers or glamours facilities, but I wouldn’t of had it any other way. I highly recommend it but get the best pair of light hiking boots money can buy and just think about blisters and non rubbing clothing you can get. I think the hardest part about writing these particular memories was I literally had only just started photography and really didn’t know what I was doing and never saved all the raw files to any hard drive. I posted all the photos only to Facebook and low quality with crap “all in one” presets so non retrievable to edit and remaster in a professional understanding and we seen some of the most photogenic light and scenes you can get.

Uyuni Salt Flats Bolivia

Uyuni Salt Flats from La Paz by bus was by far the most memorable journey traveling South America. I have to be honest with you the bus journey to Uyuni was probably the worst travel experience of my life though. We were not in what you would view as a normal civilian bus, we were in a off road modified truck with seats. These buses had different spring systems, tyres, double axles and brakes and this was because there were no road by the very definition of what us western folk view as a “road”. There was no tarmac, it was stones, mud, dust and streams. Now this felt like the longest bus journey i’ve ever been on and I can’t sleep on a train, plane or bus and this was an over night ride, nine hour off road scramble. You can’t sleep, you can’t pee from the motion, they don’t stop much if at all and the heating was one setting, “boiling”. The seats were unbearable and small and both me and Tom suffered tremendously with bad backs at the time so it was pretty unrelaxing. Dust would just come through the windows, you would pass many broken down buses with their wheels ripped off, or stuck on verges. I actually by the grace of god about five hours in found a spare are at the back were I could sit with stretched legs on the floor which gave Tom more space. Im pretty sure Bolivian people have smaller frames so the seating wasn’t designed for us. Anyway now I have got that part out the way it’s incredibly funny looking back and just an experience but I do expect they are probably more modern and fitted out now. So we get to Uyuni town and it was amazingly remote, wild and calm and we went for the three days two nights tour which in my opinion is suffienct time and long enough in a 4x4 to see so much . The Salt flat tour began with a meet up, many off road trucks for the tour small groups of five. We visited an old train rail depot rusted out with many old locomotives, machinery, train tracks leading everywhere in an unreal desert scene. We then made our way out into the middle of nowhere to pre set up marques for breakfast and got introduced into teams for the next couple days. It was mind blowing the vastness and remoteness, the heat but got very cold at night. There were a few baron mountain rocks we traveled to to climb for a panoramic view of the landscape with huge cactus everywhere. It was like the scenes of the old mad max movie in real life. Uyuni Salt Flats would create all types of illusions because of horizon heat waves and it was as described, so flat for hundreds of miles and at some points of the year flood for them reflective scenes, our first night after a long day of unreal scenes was hostel Del Sal built out of salt rock, Isla Incahuasi, Red Lagoon, Chiguana were all stops lined up the next day. We traveled past the red rocks and red water lakes created by algae where flamingos famously live and breed. What a surreal sight. We visited the Arbol del Piedra, one of them most intriguing rock formations scapes I have even seen. We also witnessed one of the the most colourfully decorated toilets i’ve ever seen, predominantly the colour brown and up all four walls “I won’t post the picture”. Second night we stayed in Hostel Efames, no power or running water and the toilets are holes in the ground it's not glamour and not for the faint hearted but outside were natural hot springs you could swim in and we spent an evening under the stars and i’ve never seen the Milky Way so vivid, Again I wasn’t doing photography professionally although I had a nice Canon 650d with me at this point but I believe I would have had the best astro shots of my life there. You can view the Milky Way like you’ve never seen it without any equipment.. There is a tremendous amount of driving but it’s relaxing with lots of stops and the diversity of landscape is mind blowing. You will need to get used to going to the toilet in holes on this trip. I hope to go back one day and do it all again with all my gear thats the dream, in the months the salt beds flood. Our tour droves as far as the the Chile boarder and back.

This was a pure adrenaline fuelled day again not for the faint hearted on down hill bikes and it was epic. We had a large group hosted by a German fella that was very good. This is the famous 60 km long down hill track featured on Top Gear where parts have vertical drops feet away from your bike track. It took a a few hours to get to the bottom and remember being covered in sweat exhausted to then hit the bar and I don’t think it agreed with me and I did puke out the bus window on the way home to the city La Paz. I blame it on the altitude, but then there is no certified percentage on booze out there so maybe one too many after a day of fitness. I do recommend this for any type of rider it’s not a race unless like my mate you turn into one. You can do this at your own pace and the Top Gear feature is a little misleading, unless you're a donkey you won't ride off the edge. Having said that i’m sure people have. Book this with high end bikes and reviewed guid it’s worth the money to have decent down hill bikes and just drink tons of water, because you will hit the booze after with everyone and it takes a lot of energy.

Youngas Road “ Death Road” Bolivia

Isla Holbox Mexico

Traveling across Mexico a few years after South America with a friend for four weeks is a very memorable adventure. The stand out location for me was Hotbox Island, the clearest blue water you’ve ever seen, no cars only scooters and push bikes and a very positive and close nit community. Probably the most peaceful place i’ve ever been , we spent three days there and I think that was enough. It has fantastic in door and outdoor night life and has that twenty four seven buzz with people having bars on the street converted out from their homes. Its another place I would love to think I return to one day. While we were there a film was being shot in one area the we got involved in as background noise in a bar scene. It felt very safe there as much of the entire trip across Mexico accept for one night in Cancun where my mate went for a piss and a armed police unit hit us with a flood light asking for cash. Other than that we felt no problems and everyone were really friendly. A beautiful thing about Mexico is everyone eats out and sits in the streets at night.

Huacachina Lagoon is a remote location straight out of a fantasy film set ringed by palm trees and thought to have therapeutic properties. The lagoon's shores are dotted with bars and clubs. Dune buggies run across the high, rolling sand dunes surrounding the village. It was extremely hot by midday and I once again got really sun burnt but you had to visit this place. When we were there is wasn’t overrun by tourists and very peaceful. Again I wasn’t in photography in a seriousness at the time but would have had serious astro shots from this location. It’s so chilled there and a great place to get lost in inspiration. The highlight is climbing the tallest dune you can find and watch the sunset and all the village lights come on and so beautiful. The daytime dune buggy tours are amazing and plenty places to drink at night. We did go down with some food poisoning one night that which was pretty intense but your going to get it at some point.

Huacachina Peru

I would definitely recommend Mexico City as far as cities go it’s a fascinating place and worth a few days. Mexico City is now one of the world's largest and most densely populated cities and to get an idea and scope of the scale of the place you have to visit Torre Latino at night and get a panoramic view. It’s a pretty mind blowing scene. The city transport system is much the same as London and pretty good to get around except in rush hours and can be dangerous, I got stuck on one train and couldn’t get off for three stops because I couldn’t get out and the stampedes can be very brutal, just avoid rush hours and use taxi. The city is built on muddy marshlands on unstable ground, surrounded by volcanoes, sitting on an earthquake fault line so what makes this place unique is the unbelievable sinking architecture. You have to visit Iglesia de Nuestra Cathedral and see the leaning floors and building. It makes you feel unsettled and there is pendulum hanging so you can see to what degree at which it sinks. The night life is very cool there and Mezcal Beverage is a must here. We ended up one night meeting some random people and went very far out the city centre to a club that had live music and a real Mexicanos vibe. While we there a lot of police presence because of big protest taking place but again I didn’t ever feel unsafe there but again we were city centre tourists doing tourist things.

Mexico City

This was really my first real travel experience and I started late it wasn’t until I was twenty eight that I actually got out to see the world. The was an adventure with two friends from my home town Lostwithiel in Cornwall. We decided to got to Thailand for three weeks, then live in Queenstown for a year working and then finish off the trip with two weeks in America to a return home to Cornwall. It was such a crazy time and memory, Queenstown is like a make believe location. So cool and so much going on with extreme sports and tours. The night life is next level and I think I drunk more there than I ever have and it didn’t go particularly smoothly at all. I rocked up practically spending all my budget in Asia and had to get working fast. I managed to get working but it was a struggle always being on minimum wage working at a rental camper company with some class people but very much living on the edge the entire time. I ended up living in a tent for three weeks to save money and get back on top of things in a back garden of house share. I was situated right at the back of Queenstown facing the deep woods and for a joke one of the lads living in the house share put possum food around my tent and i’ve never shit myself so badly in my life “no joke”. They scream and make crazy nosies and are not scared of humans until you really chase them off, I could not get them to leave and could hear them running around all night. Me and my mate ended up living in a hostel for the first three months practically kicked out buy the end of it. I was always eating the free food and the hostel was expensive but somehow I managed to get though it. I needed to have my tools sent over if I was going to make a proper go at New Zealand with my trade. The people are amazing and the most chilled place ever. I managed to see Auckland on North Island, stayed in Christchurch for a month working at the end of the trip doing my trade and earned good money with a van and fuel allowance it was actually a position I could have really pursed. I seen Dunedin so had a good go at it and done loads of the tours on South Island. New Zealand is another bucket list location now for photography and have a friend that went back and lives there now. I remember when we went out there and the exchange rate was double in 2009. Now I believe it’s very expensive and expanded greatly.

New Zealand Queenstown

Chiang Mai Thailand

So I decided to put together a plan and save up for a serious adventure in 2019 “solo” backpacking across Thailand and Vietnam for nine weeks. At this point I was well into my photography so it was predominately a photography trip. I have to say once again I learnt a few life lessons along the way and I will get into that later, but another adventure that had great results to further my photography. So I started off flying to Bangkok and made my way South, then flew over to South Vietnam “Ho Chi Minh City” which was a serious eye opener then traveled up north to then fly back over to north Thailand to finish the trip and one stop was Chiang Mai which I have to say, was one of my favourite areas of the trip because the traffic was nothing like Vietnam and South Thailand and a lot easier to get out into the countryside. I got around the entire trip hiring out scooters but I have to say is not for the faint hearted especially in Vietnam. I didn’t even attempt it In Ho Chi Minh it was hard enough simply walking around the city and not being hit. While in Chiang Mai I visited the incredible Doi Inthanon National Park and temple at the very top and the view was mind blowing, very big tip if going by scooter to this location is get a decent bike, the more expensive with bigger brakes because its a big journey, the the incline to the top is huge, and decline is massively wearing on the breaks. The area is full of waterfalls, farm land and wildlife. The problem I had was it being burning season were they literally light the old crops up and let them burn. I think one of the worst they have had for air pollution so some days very tolling on your health and vision. I remember one day being in forest and the sky went red with smoke through the sun and could feel the pressure on my lungs. This area of Thailand is so beautiful and I highly recommend Chiang Rai its popular neighbour. So one evening I went out a had done a few days intensive photography with massive bike journeys leaving at 4am so I decided to spend a couple days chilling and drinking. I went to the local market where I met a few people, it got late and they decided to go back hostel. Me being me stayed out drunk and jumped on the back of a motorbike taxi and asked to take me to a club on my own, as you know tourists drunk are just “rabbits in the headlights” for the Thai locals to take advantage of, they dropped me to what I thought was a club, but its more a paying hookup venue. I went in, girls were talking to me, I was getting more and more drinks being offered more drink until I realised the bill was for me and the girl to get drunk. Kicked off at the bill had a load of girls slap me and threaten to call the local cops if I didn’t pay a ridiculous bill, I was so drunk got angry and then it dawned on me heavily, this was really a serious situation, payed the bill, I think two hundred quid, to be able to leave and went back hostel with a couple cuts on my face but the owner of the hostel said I got off lightly, usually the cops come and really beat you up bad. Anyway lesson learned being on your own drunk in Thailand isn’t a good idea even though a similar event happened in south Thailand at the start of the trip on a beach for me. However the people of midday crowd were lovely, the vibe was so chilled and sun rise at Phu Chi Fa “which is on the boarder of Laos” was out of this world. Again a five hour scooter ride there and back so pretty intense and I went there twice but highly recommend.

I would return to North Thailand one day but not so much south Vietnam, there was too much traffic and very dangerous on the roads.