First time you see one of these mannequins in a fashion store, you will probably laugh. They are heavenly disproportional with huge tits and round gravity defying apple butts. First thought is that they must have been made by a dirty-minded male sculptor, but then you realise that some Colombian women are created like that. And then you stop looking at the mannequins.

The 15 meters high mud cone at El Totumo is not just a pile mud, but a real volcano. Instead of spewing lava, it just bobbles mud up. You can climb to the top by wooden stairs and take a mud bath right in the crater. Well, that is the reason to come here in the first place. Besides the whole wellness feeling it is also a very strange sensation descending into the bottomless pit full of mud (and just for the record you do not sink).

The old part of Popayan is not just another pretty Colombian whitewashed colonial town. It is very much alive, and not turned into a groomed tourist attraction. On special occasions the towns many churches are light up in the night like giant Christmas decorations. The biggest church is San Sebastian, which distinct itself from the other churches by having a morbid hidden attraction. During the big earthquake in 1983 the church building got serious damaged, but out of the cracked walls felt two mummified monks. These are now displayed up under the church roof and can be viewed if you ask. It is very low key affair and can be extended with tour on the church roof (if you ask the guard nicely) with splendid views over the town.

How cool is it to cross equator?... Well, not very much for you will hardly noticed it. Luckily Ecuador has a handful of monuments that will remind you of the fact that Equator goes through the country. Most of the monuments does not actually lies on the Equator, which of course have only given risen to disrepute and contempt from the ones that actually does. The Cayamba Solar Clock does actually lies right on the Equator line (we checked with GPS) and you can even observe the fact that twice a year, when the sun is vertical over equator, with their orange solar clock. Interesting there exists an ancient Equator monument on Catequilla mountain, which is precisely on the Equator line... way better than the most famous monument, "Mitad del Mundo", which is off by several hundred meters.

This fairly weird town in the middle of nowhere are home to some of Paraguay's religious minorities. It was founded by fleeing Mennonites from Europe in the 1930s, who receive this dusty land on the great wide Chaco from the Government of Paraguay (nobody asked the Indians who lived here before). Here the white folk have made their own little white picket fence heaven with churches and own schools, where the language is Plattdeutsch (a German dialect). A strange pocket of colonial history that is very much alive… or as lively as it gets in Filadelfia.

Take a ride on the wild side with one of the many old beat up American Cadillacs that still roam the streets as shared taxis, so-called "por puesto". Since petrol is cheaper than water in Venezuela (kid you not.. 5 cents a litre), there is no reason to go eco. Every non-essential part in the cars are either broken, bended, repaired or just missing. The original color is often hardly recognizable from fading and never ending panel beating. Noise and serious bad condition is the standard and it is a wonder that they keep rolling. Take a joy ride in one of these miracles boxes and see neighbourhoods that you wouldn't have cruised otherwise. It is cheap, fun and a great way to mingle with the locals.

Venezuela is known for its repeating victories in Miss contests, but though the average Venezuelan women might not be a beauty queen, they surely dress like one. Wobbling breasts and gravity-defying butts are put to show in tight clothes (on some women maybe even too tight). Beauty is something that is taken seriously and they do with what they have. This straight-in-your-face is even taken to the next level, where male travellers can experiencing frisk offers from local latinas. Female travellers shouldn't get too jealous, for any Venezuelan man can salsa their panties off.