The lake town of Copacabana on the shore of Isla del Sol is for most travellers a stop off point before reaching the island. Hailed in Lonely Planet as a little too tourist-ready we weren't particularly excited about spending too much time there. However after walking past the beautiful cathedral to get to our hostal, finding out that cars were to be blessed the next day and knowing we would soon be leaving the amazingly cheap land that is Bolivia we decided to spend the day there.

As the sun shone down on us with its glorious rays we headed to the cathedral early to get a peek inside and wait for the car blessings. Outside there was a heap of stalls selling all imaginable religious tat, which 'the other' Emily and I took great joy in purchasing. Also available were good luck charms and witches trinkets, (everything I love about Bolivia) ready to bless the cars. As each new car drive past they were adorned with flowers and petals and bottles of champagne were cracked on their hoods giving luck to the driver.

After this exciting feast for the eyes and after I'd haggled down the price of a stuffed armadillo we headed up the mountain to the hilltop cemetery to enjoy fabulous views of he city. Being the wuss I am with heights and with a general inability to not slip and fall I found both the walk up and down less than satisfying but the view over the crystal clear lake and the beautifully adorned candle lit graves were worth it.

SURVIVAL TIP: Don't always listen to the guide, don't get me wrong Lonely Planet had good things to say about Copacabana but that one line put me off when it shouldn't have. Get a feel for the place and if you want to stay and can afford the time, stay! You probably won't be coming back in a while.

On arriving in La Paz there was one thing we were all in agreement we had to do, Cholitas Wresling. The women of Bolivia wear a traditional dress that every gringo is trying to get a sneaky secret shot of. The idea of watching these traditionally turned out women throw down in the ring was intriguing.
We were picked up by the shuttle bus and driven high up to the peaks of La Paz (with views to die for) before reaching our desination, what appeared to be an old basketball court with a ring set up in the middle.
After collecting our free empanadas and washing them down with a coke the show got underway. We noticed how the Bolivians were all sat high up on the concrete steps but assumed the front row seats were for gringos only, little did we know...
It started calmly enough with male wrestlers walking out to comedy music and throwing themselves off the rings. There was always an underdog and the ref was a sly old fox. However 20 minutes in I'd seen one wrestler catch fire and had been frantically dodging half eaten empanadas and eggs by the bucket load that were being pelted at the ring. As the first Cholita came out the crowd roared but me and my friends glanced awkwardly at each other between hysterical laughter as we witnessed Texas chainsaw massacre man choke a Cholita by her pigtails.
No worry, before long it was all girl on girl action and the crowd managed to forget any pity they had once felt and continued to hurl half eaten snacks into the ring. As we were ushered back onto the bus I felt the urge to stay longer but the free Cholitas keying made up for it!

SURVIVAL TIP:
Wear layers, it gets cold and a raincoat to protect you from egg splatterings!

Isla del Sol is located in the southern part of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. According to Incan mythology it is here that the sun god and the Incan religion was born.
We took a boat across the lake to the island from copacabana and spent a night on the north shore which was quiet and peaceful and full of beach piggies! Aaaaaaah!

There are apparently over 80 ruins on the island, mostly all dating back to Inca times. We got up early on our second day ready to hike to the main tourist attraction and set off with our guide. The views were spectacular and we looked out to the island of the moon, where virgins were sacrificed and to the point in the lake where a lost city is meant to be hidden, rich in Incan gold. We learnt about the mysterious legends of the Inca's, seeing the holes in the rock where the sun and moon were born from and the marks on the earth where they took their first steps. We gazed at the natural rock formations of puma head and frog which all tied together the beautiful story of creation. We sat round the sacrifice table with its 12 seats to mark the months and 4 larger seats pointing north, south, east and west. It was fabulous to learn before we embarked towards Peru and Macchu Picchu.

We then took a boat to the southern part of the island for our last night. Our hostel hung perilously on the cliffs edge and as I stepped out of the shower that morning I was greeted by the great abyss of the lake and the rolling mountains. We went for a walk to meet llamas an had a dinner of freshly caught trout before retiring. Amazing.

I love dinosaurs. I've been hooked since The Land Before Time. I watched the making of Jurassic Park when I was little and got so terrified my Mom wouldn't let me see it at the cinema, a trauma I still carry with me today.
40 minutes out of the city of Sucre lies El Parque Cretavcio where you can see over 5000 real life dinosaur tracks fossilised in the earth. They were discovered by a cement factory which still functions nearby.
The park itself mounted high on a hill overlooks the wall of prints which would have been the marshland of the dinosaurs. Dinosaur sculptures are accompanied by the sounds of the beasts transporting the child in you back in time. There is also a museum and play area and the park boasts one of the worlds largest sculptures, a replica of Titanosaurus. It is also the largest paleontological site in the world.
Fellow backpackers told me they found it boring and it is true you could do the whole park in 20 minutes, but with Walking with Dinosaurs playing on a loop (in English!) in the cinema and plastic models to mount I could have stayed there all day!
The dinosaur phone booths dotted around town got us pretty excited too!

After a hellish journey, a late bus resulting in a missed connection we found ourselves stranded in Calama, the hotels full of miners. After teaming up with another lost backpacker we finally found a room and instead of wasting a day got up early to check out the mines.
Chiquicamata in Antofogasta is the world's largest open pit copper mine and the world's second largest producer of copper, and boy was it big!
A bus took us to the abandoned town which all residents had to leave and the mine grew in size and the fumes became hazardous. The town had an eery stillness, something I personally love, having a guilty pleasure for anything slightly macabre. I would have liked to explore more but after the short explanation about the process of mining copper it was off to see the mine itself.
Looking down into the never ending pit it was astounding to imagine mans power over nature, something I am becoming more concerned about as I travel longer. Saying that it was pretty cool to see 5metre tall trucks look like burrowing ants miles into the depths of the earth.
Dry and hot it was hard dangerous work for the miners who luckily get paid reasonably well for their efforts but under bad conditions.
The derelict factories and out houses added to the lost in time aura of the place and even though I saw men driving the trucks it seemed like a secret operation controlled by a workforce of robots built in the 50s and forgotten about.

SURVIVAL TIP:
Dont lose time! The thought of losing a day in a nowhere town was pretty annoying but a trip to the mine and a little walk around the small non-touristy towns made us glad we'd missed our connecting bus and seemed like a surprise treat!

We arrived in Mendoza eager for one thing and one thing only, to taste some wine! Amongst a limited other activities in the area, this is the main draw. After checking out the city, which we had envisaged as a small, quaint affair and finding it to be in fact quite large, we returned to the hostel and started collecting advice.

After the 24 hour bus ride from Rio to Iguassu my Danish friends and I weren't up for taking another hefty bus trip straight to Buenos Aires. With two promising towns on the way, and only losing a little in extra journey fares we decided to take our time and stop off in Santa Fe and Rosario along the way.

SANTA FE
Santa Fe was a charming little town with not much to do and an extremely long siesta break! The crumbling colonial buildings set a beautiful backdrop to the lazy city. We went to a couple of museums which had some interesting local artefacts but nothing to write home about and decided to set off to Rosario after a couple of nights.

ROSARIO
On arrival in Rosario it was definately my favourite city so far. Wide open pedestrian streets and beautiful old buildings were abundant with beautiful people lining the pavements. Shopping was the main past-time which none of us had the money for and so we opted to spend our days sipping coffee and people watching either in the main streets or down by the river. Rosario is situated along a stretch of river and boasts beautiful river beaches where you can kayak and paddle. The water seemed a little too brown for our liking, however sat at a restaurant in the sun, with some sand between our toes and reading our books was a lovely was to pass a sunny afternoon in the 'city'. Rosario got a thumbs up from me.

Buenos Aires had to be my favourite city on my trip so far. Rough around the edges but with all the beautiful european architecture as promised I fell in love with the city. My hostel room had a balcony which enabled me to sit out and watch the world go by, I even witnessed a taxi crash from my perch!
With street art everywhere and an array of parks in the Palermo district it was clear to see why I loved the city and known as the city that never sleeps the nightlife didn't disappoint.

On the days I made it up and out for sightseeing I went to the Evita museum which taught me a wealth of information about a woman I previously knew very little about. After meeting up with Gemma (my friend from the plane) who had been in BA for some time she then took me to the main square and to see Evita's balcony.

On one particular day Gemma and I headed back to the main square to see the women march for their lost children, something they still do every week. After finding out it was National Women's Day we were unsurprised to see a large amount of people and banners surrounding the square. However after a small nap we opened our eyes surrounded by feet and found ourselves in the middle of a full on protest, the first of many during our time in South America. Regardless of day or time South Americans love a protest! Turns out the event of Women's Day was enough to ensure a congregation of all different demonstrations in the square of which we were in the middle. Crazy but fun! We soon left as we had no idea what was going on and with everyone around us wearing football shirts we weren't sure what may or may not happen!

La Boca was probably my favourite tourist attraction in the city. The multi coloured houses, artists stalls and street performers provided a lovely chilled afternoon and the nearby La Boca stadium rising out of the delapatated back streets was a fantastic juxtoposition of architecture. 

Buesnos Aires is famous for its Sunday market. A sprawling affair and covering everything from clothes, souvenirs and antiques it was one of the most interesting markets I've been to and you could spend all day meandering and bargaining. Probably more expensive than smaller cities or towns, however there's certainly a lot to choose from and you can sit in the bordering cafes and watch the world go by. My favourite aspect of the market was the numerous street performers including puppeteers, dancers, musicians and mime artists meaning you were never short of entertainment.

Second to La Boca, and following on from earlier 'Evita Day' was La Recoleta cemetery, the final resting place of Evita. She does not sleep alone however and the cemetery houses hundreds of elaborate graves. Somewhat like a city within a city I strolled leisurely through the crypts, peering in at the coffins in awe. Shining white marble stood next to rotten decrepid wood and their was an eery yet calming sense in the air which made me feel restful. A perfect antitode to the wild crazy nights!

TOP TIP:
There's a lot to see and do in Buenos Aires, both for the day and night. Dont let yourseld sleep in all day however much you might want to, you'll definately live to regret it!

After arriving in Rio and sorting out the financial woes of having all of my bank cards cancelled I settled in to my hostel dorm and made a mental list of thethings I had to check of the bucket list.
My first inclination was to get the tourist hotspots done so that I could enjoy my time in Rio and try to settle in to the travelling lifestyle.

CHRIST THE REDEEMER & SUGARLOAF
At approximately the same price for each it would be fair to see why some people only choose to do one of these two biggies. Personally however I would disagree. Cristo was my least favourite of the two, however there was no way I was going to miss it. Swarming with tourists (probably more so than usual because of Carnaval) it was almost impossible to get the obligatory Christ shot and the view, though amazing from such a height was more of an overview than a sit back, relax and enjoy affair. That said I just had to go and do it. Sugarloaf on the other hand was much more pleasant, and you could sit for as long as you wished taking in the view and relaxing in the sunshine.

CENTRO - A cultural stop at Museo del Arte.
Centro is a great commercial area housing some beautiful and historical buildings the Art Museum was a nice chance to get out of the heat and soak up some culture. They had a large collection of Brazilian and South American art ranging from the 17th century to modern art.

SANTA THERESA & LAPA
By far my favourite area of the city, Santa Theresa is a series of cobbled streets covered in art, with a charming mix of mismatched houses and ageing mansions. Myself and my new friend Gudrun decided to walk from Lapa Arches to the top, which we later found out was a journey most people did by bus. After finding ourselves at almost the same height as Cristo (I promise I only exaggerate slightly!) and having not seen a tourist for about 30 minutes we decided to head back. Gasping for agua we desperately tried to communicate "bus?" to an elderly shop keeper to no avail when a delightful lady named Sylvia came to our rescue. A Brazilian married to a Brit she wrote everything we needed to know in my handy notebook and began to talk with joy about the british countryside before giving me her address, email and phone number and inviting me to stay at her house any time. Similarly to a few days before in Banco de Brasil (when I first realised my bank card dilemma) a charming lady had practically pinned me down to tell me about the year she'd spent in the UK studying at the age of 18. With perhaps 0.1% of Rio's inhabitants able to speak english (or at least admitting so!) it was nice to try and communicate with some lovely locals.

Making our way down we headed to the Lapa steps, a beautiful stairway covered in mosaic tiles which was used by Snoop Dogg and Pharrel in their music video 'Beautiful'. After sitting on the steps, posing and taking in the chilled out favela style vibe in the middle of the city we had a cocktail down a sidestreet. In the day Lapa looks like an abandoned city, with burnt out doorways and graffiti covered walls. However at night, and on Fridays especially, Lapa is the place to party! Thousands of locals & tourists alike spill under the arches for a crazy party.

TOP TIP
Dont take your valuables to Lapa at night - just a stash of cash in your shoe! It gets pretty crazy!