Karys & Marian in South America

So my mum and her boyfriend came over to visit and invited me for a 2 week roundtrip through Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. We met in Quito from where we left for the town of Otavalo at the foot of the volcano Imbabura. From here we went on to Papallacta, a town with thermal springs in the middle of the Cayamba Coca ecological reserve. Our route lead us to the famous volcano Cotopaxi and the city of Riobamba. We left the western mountain range through cacao and banana plantations down to the beautiful city of Cuenca. The last stop on the mainland was Guayaquil from where we went over to the Galapagos. Meine Mutter und ihr Freund kamen mich also besuchen und luden mich auf eine 2 woechige Rundreise durch Ecuador und die Galapagos Inseln ein. Wir trafen uns in Quito von wo aus wir wieter nach Otavalo, gelegen am Fusse des Vulkans Imbabura, fuhren. Weiter ging es nach Papallacta im Nationalpark Cayamba Coca. Von hioer aus stoppten wir am beruehmten Vulkan Cotopaxi und fuhren weiter...

Having spent a lot of time in the mountains recently, I fancied a bit of a change of scenery and decided to go to the biggest city that can't be reached by car but solely by boat or plane. Iquitos in the peruvian Amazon.  I went to Pucallpa to journey to Iquitos on a freighter that has 2 decks for goods and 2 decks for people. The principle is simple. You pay for your ticket, hang up your hammock on the deck and slowely cruise the Amazon for 5 days before arriving in Iquitos. There are 3 meals a day and you just need a tupperware container and a spoon and fork. The kitchen crew's on these ships are traditionally gay/transgender and I got to know the cook of my boat. Together with 2 guys from Iquitos and another brazilian we had a good time sipping beers and smoking cigarettes on board. I introduced some of my ship mates to my Reballdo boxing training device which fascinated all of them and helped killing the days on the cruise.  Iquitos itself is a crazy place. It...

After months of a wonderful time travelling together, seeing places and meeting people, real life caught up with us and it was time for Karys to go home... We spent our last days together in Lima eating nice dinners and drinkig beers while the unevitable goodbye accompanied by tears came closer and closer. After spending this much time so closely together and having this much fun together being without Karys now feels like loosing an arm... After saying goodbye I went off to the beautiful located city of Huaraz in the Cordillera Blanca. From here I left early to the Cordillera Huayhuash. The Cordillera stretches about 30 km north to south and about 15 km east to west. Enclosed in this small area are 6 peaks over 6000 m and several smaller ones. The hike therefore is considered one of the most beautiful of the continent regarding alpine ranges and at the same time one of the toughest as the majority of hiking takes place between 4000 and 5000 m altitude. A circumstance one definetl...