Machu Picchu Overview We visited Machu Picchu February 11, 2007 — more than two years ago. Time flies. It is quite unbelievable that I still have not finished post-processing the photos from our South America trip — but I am working on it and can promise more amazing photos soon. Machu Picchu, that most hyped [...]

Oh, the wonders of civilization. If you’ve never missed them, you don’t even know what they’re worth. But, let me assure you, they’re worth a lot: Warm showers — you don’t know what you’re talking about unless you’ve ever showered in freezing cold mountain water pumped directly to your shower from above 4,000m (~13,000 ft) [...]

In Germany, we are used to super-fast bullet trains taking us from A to B efficiently and (though most Germans will not agree with this) mostly punctually, often being not much slower than the equivalent flight. In South America, if there are trains at all, they do not quite work like that. Most of the [...]

It can be quite funny, travelling around South America: you find yourself in a Spanish-speaking country, speaking to a local whose level of Spanish is barely enough to negotiate the letting of a hotel room. In these Andean countries we are traveling right now (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia), many still speak their native indigenous tongue — [...]