Hi all,

here we are in Cusco, but what have we been up to in the meantime?

Our last entries were from Copacabana, a lovely sleepy town on the border between Bolivia and Peru. We stayed in a really lovely hotel, with Moor-ish architecture, a gorgeous restaurant and fantastic views (including hammocks overlooking the port/beach onto Lake Titicaca. Our friends Becky & Gregor were also there who we´d met in Australia and then travelled with on the Kumuka leg of our tour from Santiago to La Paz. After our exhilarating downhill bike ride we upped the anti to a whole new level....... wait for it......... can you contain your excitement?........ the four of us went out on the Lake in 2 SWAN PEDALOES!!!!! To say it was thrilling doesn´t do it justice..... the adrenaline rush, the thrills, the excitement...... are you picking up on the sarcasm at all? It was fun in its own bizarre way - especially seeing Gregor reduced to pedalling a swan rather than a mountain bike.....oh, how manly he looked! However, it was an authentic Bolivian experience, as we were the only "Gringos" on the Lake - everyone else was S. American!

Later on we did get a bit of exercise though, as we all traipsed up a pilgramage hill that took us past the 14 stations of the cross up a very steep, winding, cobbled path which was nearly 1000 feet. The views were amazing and the sunset stunning. Coming back down in semi darkness was interesting - that was our adrenaline rush for the day!

The next day we headed off for Puno, a "stopping off" place for people between other destinations, crossing the border from Bolivia to Peru! Although there´s not much going for the place, we found an amazing cake shop that also served fantastic "chocolate caliente" - hot chocolate to you and me. We were still stalking Becky & Gregor, and spent most of our time with them there too. They assured us that they were quite happy to have the company, and we really enjoyed spending time with them too on our own mini Kumuka tour!

From Puno we went on an overnight homestay trip to the islands in Lake Titicaca. First stop was the floating islands of Uros, where we were treated to a detailed explanation of how the islands are created and how the people live and work there. Our guide was really informative and it was incredible to think that we were sitting on what was essentially a load of reeds. People have lived on these islands since Inca times.

We then travelled on to our destination for the night, although at one point we thought we´d end up on the lake instead, as we ran out of fuel en route. Somehow they managed to find some more on board (maybe they all emptied their lighters to get us going again!!??). As we arrived on Amanati we were greeted by our hosts for the night. Our hosts were Paulino and Julia, who really looked after us and made us feel very welcome.

Lunch was a local veggie soup and then fried cheese (very like halloumi - lovely) with different potatoes and a local tea called "Muna" tea, a bit like peppermint but much nicer in Linda´s opinion! We then watched the locals play football whilst trying to converse with Paulino in very bad Spanish (thanks to our phrasebook). Penny wanted to take Paulino home ( to add to her "lovely old man" collection, but Linda wouldn´t let her!!).

After dinner in their rustic basic kitchen, our hosts dressed us up in local costume, and yes, we do have embarassing photos to prove it. We then walked up in the dark with just one flashlight between the three of us on a very thin rocky, dusty path up and down and over a stream etc etc wearing our garb, but thankfully Paulino knows the way like the back of his hand. At the village hall we had a "fiesta" where local boys played panpipes, guitars etc and the locals danced with us. It felt very Gringo and touristy, but then we are tourists, so there´s no getting away from it.

Back to our little room and the night candle, no electricity here! After a good night´s sleep we said goodbye to our hosts but then ended up stranded for an hour and a half at the jetty. Amantani is an incredibly peaceful place in the middle of nowhere, but somehow overnight our boat and another tour boat had been broken into, fuel and CDs stolen etc etc. It was unheard of, and the locals were clearly upset that this had happened...... even in the middle of nowhere crime happens, it seems.

Anyway, we eventually got going, and were then taken to another island were legend has it that the men go cross-eyed from knitting woolly hats to woo the women. Although we did see quite a few men knitting, we didn´t spot any who were cross-eyed.... maybe romance is dead?? "Tanquil" was a pretty island and we managed quite a big up hill walk (training for Machu Picchu!) before lunch, and then a descent of 540 steps down to our boat. Our 3 hour journey back to Puno went very quickly, thanks to playing charades with Gregor & Becky.... whilst lots of other people were trying to siesta we were having a laugh instead!

Getting back to our hotel, we discovered that a local strike on the main road from Puno to Cusco meant that the buses weren´t running. We had to put our lovely hot showers on hold and hot foot it down to the bus station to sort things out (in our best pidgeon Spanish!). To cut a long story short we managed to organise a bus that was going via a back route (but Peruvian back routes are a bit different to England).

So, yesterday we endured a hot and bumpy 10 hour local bus journey but at least we managed to get to Cusco (as our trek to Machu Picchu starts soon). Becky & Gregor have headed off to Arequipa, but hopefully we´ll all meet up again here in Cusco next week. Now that we´ve paid in full there´s no turning back (Penny!!) - we´re committed to our 4 day trek to MP - hurrah!

So, next time you hear from us we´ll have returned from our trek, hopefully with lots to tell and some incredible photos..... watch this space. We get back late on the 13th, so don´t worry if you don´t hear from us for a while.

It´s hard to believe that we get home on 23rd July, in just over two weeks. We can´t believe where the time´s gone, and it´s with mixed feelings that we now begin to contemplate our return to blighty!

Til next time, dear bloggettes,

love from Penny & Linda xx