Hungover Antics and foolish mistakes.....!!!

So, i finally made it back to La Paz (the top of which is shown in the pic here, the view of La Paz as you come down into the valley is wicked.. although this was taken from a moving car so not the best depiction of it!!!)... time is running out for me fast and so having spent a lot of time in La Paz already I didn't want to waste too much more time there.... it was too late to do anything about that by the time I got back that Saturday night so instead i found Emily who was still at El Solario... (once again I'd scored my own room as they had no dorms available and I have to say i was loving.. i think I might be a little over the dorm thing.. for a while at least!!) Anyway... i found Emily and her friend from home, Dan, along with an Aussie girl; Bec who I met in the hostel just after i arrived back and we headed to Olivers (obviously) for some food. I was shattered from the long day so have to admit it wasn' the usual Saturday night La Paz has to offer and my bed won over socialising pretty easily!!

The next day, being Sunday... and me having not got up all that early, it's fair to say, was also a bit of a wash out in terms of organising my escape route from one of Bolivia's capitals and so it was spent wandering round the witches market.. attempting to meet a hungover Chris (the aussie) for lunch but being met with a note rescheduling... written at 8am that morning, whilst still in the pub... knowing he was about to go home to bed and not by any stretch of the imagination make it back out of bed in time to meet me for lunch... hey, at least this Chris left a note eh!! ;0) Anyway... we met for dinner instead although I actually read his note wrong and it was really only by chance that he bumped into me... oops!! The night did what La Paz does best and sucks you in, not letting you leave until the morning... along with Bec, the Aussie girl from the hostel, we stayed at Olivers til late then moved onto to La Luna for some more drinks then back to Oli's house (owner of Olivers Travels) for a few more.. before we knew it, it was 0730 in the morning and we were only just getting home...just as Em was getting up to go do Death Road!! When will I learn.. and how many times have i said that since I've been in South America.. oops! Pic here is me and Em at the Halloween party.... don't ask re the Christmas hat... random I know!!

This was where i should've known just to stay in bed and not attempt to do anything sensible... but oh no... here I was hangover from hell, and hell bent on booking my flight out of here asap!!! As if i was going to make a practical, sane decision having had about 2 hours sleep!! I had a couple of thoughts up my sleeve as to my route from here on... they involved Argentina mostly. And my 2 decided options were fly to either Iguazu or Buenos Aires with the intention of going to Iguazu from there. Now, normally speaking the obvious thing to do would be to fly to Iguazu then go to Buenos Aires from there.

For the record I didn't really want to fly anywhere but thanks to my ticket home being about to expire and STA/Qantas/BA not being at all flexible and allowing me to extend it I had no choice... honestly, anyone would think I'd been away for a year and was just getting greedy!! ;0)

Anyway... long story short, the agent I was speaking to could get me a ticket to Iguazu for $400 or a ticket to Buenos Aires for $338... she kept going on about how pricey it was to Iguazu, which prob jst meant she earnt more commision from the BA flight but hungover Flooze here didn't quite have the brain power to compute that so just went ahead and agreed with her and booked the Buenos Aires flight!!! Dumbass!!!!

Anyway.... we'll come back to that later when I explain how I rectified that once i took the flight... for now... La Paz.... the rest of the day was pretty much a write off. I managed a small amount of shopping and internet time and 2 meals at the same place... Luna Coffee.... when the guy in there said it was nice to see me again I realised maybe I'd been dining alone in the same place a little too much!! ;0) but bless him... he was very friendly! I actually ended up having 2 dinners that night as when I got back to the hostel Em had just got back from surviving Death Road (although she did take a little tumble poor thing!) and enticed me into going for Tapas with them. It was a yum meal but I have to say I was rubbish company and didn't last long before the thought of my bed won and I headed home to sleep.... it was bliss!!!

The next day was Halloween.... although I had wanted to be getting on my way it was quite a good day to be in La Paz... there was a fancy dress party being held at Olivers that night. After lunch (at Coffee Luna... again!!) the afternoon was spent at the Witches market with Em, shopping to our hearts content, bartering with all the ladies on the stalls and getting that Christmas shopping done.... it's not like I'm going to be able to afford to buy anyone anything when I get home so Bolivian prices are your only hope of pressies from me people!! ;0) (Pic on the left here is Chris (aussie) and I at the Halloween party! He clearly had done the dressing up thing.. at least I hope that's why he had eyeliner on!!! Below from left to right is Dan, me, Em, Andrea and her boyf... they were a lovely couple we met both living in La Paz).
Once I'd exhausted the shopping options and relieved the market of pretty much half their stock I headed back to pack before hitting Oliver's with the others.... I didn't dress up as had to leave for my flight at 4am. I had fully intended to go home at 11ish and get some sleep but that young Emily is a bad influence ... heehee... and somehow 11ish became 3ish and i never made it to bed...!!! oops! The day that followed was hell thanks to that but the party was fun and it was a good send off from my time in La Paz!! It had been fun and La Paz and Bolivia as a whole are wicked... I still hadn't managed to do all the things I wanted to do there, I didn't get to Sucre or Potosi or the Jungle which is a shame but hey, it's on the list of places to come back to so one day.... xx

The 'Cool' White Shirt Gang and Evil Mozzies!!

Our flight to Rurrenbarque wasn't til 4pm so a leisurely morning was on the agenda...... until I got a call at half 9am from America Tours who we'd booked the flights through to tell us our flight time had been changed and we were now leaving at 1330... so had to be at the airport by 12... and i was yet to pack and had to get hold of Dawn and Johnny at their friends house to let them know... eventually I managed to get in touch with them and they came to pick me up from the hostel at half 11... just packed and ready in time! Phew!! Despite the unexpected rush we were all happy to actually be on our way. Flights from La Paz to Rurrenbarque are notoriously unreliable.. in fact the hostel wouldn't let me book a room for my return purely cos that's where i was flying in from!!

We got to the airport within plenty of time but check in took longer than actually getting there... thanks to Amazonas wanting to leave someones luggage behind until the next day... not really ideal when everyone's booked on some kind of tour for the day after they get there! Anyway, eventually it got resolved and the luggage in question got put on the plane. The aircraft was small and the ride was shaping up to be bumpy... all fine for me, given I'm not a nervous flyer it doesn't really bother me... the English girl sat behind me however, not quite sharing my views! Her first (of many) announcements to the entire passenger body was 'My dad's a pilot and he's never get on a plane like this. It's a death wish.. we're all going to die!'.... or words to that effect anyway... All i could say was 'hmm.. loving the positivity there Girlie!!' I don't think her or her boyf were overly amused when I calmly managed to sleep through the entire flight!! oops!

Anyway, safely back on the ground we arrived in the intensely hot and humid Rurrenbarque.. I'd managed to forget that as we'd be descending from altitude it wouldn't be quite as dry, crisp and cool as La Paz and packed accordingly... oops!!! Clearly my 3 jumpers and the tracky bottoms I'd bought for those chilly nights were not going to be needed for the next few days!

Once in town we confirmed our tour for the following day... I only had time to do either the Jungle or the Pampas, not both unfortunately and had opted for the Pampas, a decision made purely on the wildlife you'd see there... I so wanted to get to the Jungle too but it wasn't to be, this time anyway! Then we found ourselves a hostel, the hostel Asis where we were hoping for a cool shower but as someone was doing their washing that wasn't to be.. apparently you can't do both at once in these parts!! So, we settled for a wander down to the river and around town and then a cool drink at the Moskkito Bar... seemingly the meeting place for all backpackers in this town! It was a nice atmosphere in there though, with some decent pool tables and a good DJ.. Marco, who became our friend very quickly, not least cos Johnny's a DJ too and they got stuck into the music talk (yes yes Panda and Pucas.. which I obvioulsly knew nothing about!!!!!!)

After a few drinks we headed back for a shower (finally) and to cover ourselves in deet before heading back to Moskkito for dinner and a few cheeky happy hour ######### and a few games of pool (I have clearly forgotten all the lads taught me in Thailand and am utter rubbish once again... although did manage not to pot the black this time you'll be impressed to know Lotty, Graham and Adam.. after my performance with you guys in Queenstown!! As we were to be up early for our tour the next day we were sensible and didn't stay out too late!

We squeezed in a lush breakfast of Banana bread before our tour the next morning... something i'd been missing since becoming a tad addicted to it in Sydney... then off we set to conquer the Pampas. First up for our 3 day tour was a bumpy 3 hour jeep ride to the banks of the Beni River with a little flat tyre incident along the way, a shed load of dust, a few sightings of crocs and a lot of heat... not that we were complaining you understand!!! Once we reached the river we had a short ride in a dug out canoe up to the lodge that we'd be staying in for the next few days.. and there we met our fellow Pampas bods.... an Irish girl, a German girl and an American Mother and Daughter... once again Johnny being a male was in the minority on a tour, just as was so on the Inca trek.. with Chris as his saving grace!! Luckily Johnny handles this kind of situation well..... training from his time with Dawn and her friends.. and so became an honourary member of the Girl Gang for the duration... heehee... sorry Johnny... couldn't resist describing it as so!!! ;0)

Talking of Gangs though... we think everyone was jealous of us really, even though they didn't show it.... Dawn, Johnny and I, having no light weight long sleeved clothes to fend off the mozzies has purchased a fetching white school/work style shirt each in Rurre the previous day, for all of a pound each.... and my.... did we look gorgeous in them!! After lunch and a siesta at the lodge we donned them with price, buttoned up to the very top might I add and made our way to the canoe ready for our 3 hour wildlife spotting boat trip down the Beni. As you can see from the pic above, I wasn't joking about how attractive we all looked in them!!!! I'm ever so sorry too, I know it was a bargain but I may have 'accidentally' left my special shirt in Rurre when I left!! oops!! Oh yeah, and given the honorary girl thing... just so you know... Johnny's the one on the left in the pic of the 3 of us!! heehee!!

Anyway... the afternoon boat ride was cool... well actually no, it was ridiculously hot and the mozzie's were out feeling vicious and ready for the kill..... it seems they like my blood and went to work on my legs, through my trousers, with no shame at all!! Sorry Mum but I have to say it.... Little Bastards! (actually what am I saying, you'd probably call them worse yourself Ma!!) However, the boat ride and all te wildlife we spotted was pretty damn awesome.. .there was all sorts, Caimans, Alligators, Herons etc etc... these little fellas on the left here are pretty cool too, I can't remember the name of them but they're really tame and just stand stock still like you see in the picture here no matter how close you get to them. Now, on another note, I know I should say the wildlife was the best bit of it but check out this sunset below..... it really was stunning!! After dinner that night we went on a nocturnal boat ride too...... I was sat at the front on my own... and the guide kept nudging the boat up front first right close to the shore where several Caimans had just been woken by us and I'm guessing weren't feeling too enamoured by us!!!!! Not my least scared moment of all time.. good fun though!!

It was straight to bed after the night boat ride.. we were all exhausted from the heat and long day and happy to have a shower and tuck ourselves tightly in under our mozzie nets for the night. I still seemed to have more bites the next morning and they were driving me mad but hey... I'm tough me... i can handle it... now where are those damn antihistamines!!!!!

We had a 4 hour boat ride the next morning, taking us the other way round the river, with the option of swimming with the Pink Dolphins found in these waters. I was considering this and did have my bathers on just in case but after spotting several million Caiman lining the banks, as much as I dream of swimming with Dolphins and was gutted i didn't get to fulfil that dream in NZ.. swimming with them in murky Caiman infested waters wasn't quite what I had in mind and quite honestly, i think the 2 peeps that did give it a try (they wren't playful at all btw so pretty pointless anyway) were utterly insane.. but they were American so understandable I guess!! Heehee!! ;0) Just kidding Girls!! Anyway... the boat ride this morning was more impressive in the animal spotting stakes than the day before... the things we saw were wicked, lots of monkeys, herons, eagles, caimans, alligators, dolphins, turtles and other things I can't remember... a few pics here show you some of the things we got to see.

We headed back to the lodge for lunch... a welcome break from the sun and mozzie's by this point I can tell you. After lunch we just chilled out at the lodge for a while... my body was taking a while to adjust to the heat, which I know is unusual for me... so all I was really capable of was lying on my bed reading, trying to keep as cool as possible! The afternoon's activities were to be Pirahna fishing.... I was tempted to opt out.... but Johnny played it perfectly and said... Just think in a few weeks time you'll be back in the cold English Winter wondering why you didn't take the opportuntity when you had it... he clearly knows how to convince me to do something.... damn it.. so off I went, deet and white shirt in place, back to the canoe..... funnily enough.. all but Johnny managed to catch something... although I have to say once I'd hooked one through the eye I felt incredibly guilty and didn't catch any more!!! I know Im a wus but it looked painful for the poor thing!! It was a fun afternoon though and I'm glad I opted to do it!! There are no pics as I forgot to take my camera but I believe Dawn and Johnny have one of me with my catch so maybe it'll make it on to here at some stage!!! but for now... here's another Caiman!!

That evening after dinner, at which the company gave us some red wine... yum... there was a little drama before bed... in the guise of an apparently extremely venemous snake... not so far away from our bedrooms, which weren't exactly snake proof shall we say! I think we were all a little on edge in our beds that night... although Jennifer had kindly given me an antihistamine for my bites so it didn't take me long to drift off (does it ever mind you!?!)

Our final day dawned and we were up early again to head off for a walk in search of an Anaconda... as you do! We said goodbye to Jennifer and Julie (the Americans) as they had to hotfoot it back to Rurre for thier flight but the rest of us ventured off into the Pampas beyond the river.. it's unexpectedly very flat and floods an awful lot apparently. Our guide knew where an Anaconda had been living for a while so it didn't take us long to find the not-so-little thing... as you can see from the pic.. not sure you'd really want to get too close or on the wrong side of this dude!!!!!!!!!

After the walk it was back to the lodge for an early lunch before waving goodbye to the Pampas and heading back on the 3 hour return jeep journey... luckily this time with no flat tyre incident. I have to admit I wasn't sorry to be leaving the Pampas... not because i hadn't enjoyed my time there, I definetly did, it's an awesome place but really just because of the Mozzies, they were feasting on me and doing my head in! It was definetely worth it though... an amazing experience!

We were staying in Rurre again that night... or rather I was only staying one night, Dawn and Johnny were staying longer to do a Jungle tour so this was my last night with them. We had a bit of a mission finding a hostel (the hostel Asis, the owner turned into a bit of a nutcase so we opted not to stay there this time) and ended up athe Hostel Beni... a nice place in town with a decen shower.... bliss!! Although once we'd checked in we were told there'd be no hot water for at least another hour as they were cleaning the tank!! Oh joy... just what we wanted to hear!!! So, we sat and continued to be smelly and horrible for another hour chatting and eating chocolate (the banana bread missionary man had run out... how rude!!) Eventually we got a shower, cleaned ourselves up and headed out for dinner and a few drinks in honour of our last evening travelling together! Dinner was ok... excpet for Dawn who's veggie lasagne was possibly the worst ever made but we shared ours with her and all was well. Then it was to Moskkitos for a few drinks, some pool and for Johnny to spin some tunes with Marco the DJ (pictured here on the left.. Johnny DJing in the pic on the right) for the rest of the evening.

It was a fun evening and ended up being a fairly late one... I had to be up early for my flight so managed not to drink too much somehow and we headed back to the hostel in a fairly decent state. Dawn and Johnny made me promise to wake them in the morning so the goodbyes were saved til then.. which came all too soon for my liking and I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower.. expecting to be back in La Paz by Midday... oh how wrong I was!! I went and said bye to Dawn and Johnny though.. i was sad to be leaving them, it had been fun travelling with them, they're a great couple. Guys, I hope you're having fun on your travels since I left you.... keep in touch and have a fab fab wedding back in Auckland... I'll be over to see you DJ for real at some point Johnny and you guys are always welcome at mine if you're ever back in England!! Thanks for being fab travelling buddies (obviously that's them shown in the pic below for those that hadn't twigged)... I've had a ball, You Rock!!! ;0)

Back to the day though..... it didn't turn out quite as planned... I thought I'd be back in La Paz by lunch time and book my flight out of there for the next day or Monday at the latest... oh no.... there was a delay... apparently cos of the clouds (!?!) Luckily I was saved from a few hours of boredom sat at the Amazonas office in town as Marco turned up and kept me company at breakfast and while I waited for the bus to the airport. Once we were taken to the airport we thought all would be ok but nope... there was no plane awaiting us and we sat for the rest of the day in the very small, hut like airport waiting for our flight... technically i guess we should count ourselves lucky.. we left at about half 3 that afternoon, instead of the 0955 departure we were meant to have... but ours was the only flight that didn't get cancelled that day so we couldn't really complain!! It had been fun in Rurre and I'm so glad I went even if I didn't get to do it properly.. It was nice to be down from altitude for a bit too.. I was apprehensive about whether my nose bleeds would return when I got back to La Paz but i was quite glad to be going back to the cooler climate there... never thought I'd hear myself say that!!! xx

La Paz... Take 2!

After having a much appreciated lie in and leisurely mooch round town the next morning, taking in the Car Blessing ceremony... where the priest's bless the car's by decorating them as you see in the pic here, saying some kind of prayer and toasting with what appeared to just be Cervesa (that's Beer to you and me!) .. and accidentally gatecrashing a wedding...we caught our bus to La Paz early afternoon... after a particularly quiet bus ride with the exception of having to disembark to let the bus be put on a makeshift 'ferry' to cross the lake while all the passengers got on a boat to the other shore...there was skeptism about whether we or the bus would make it to the other side.. but we did and arrived in La Paz around 5ish... Dawn and Johnny were staying at a friends place in La Paz and Chris was being Chris and had decided to venture off to 'heavily chill' on his own so I headed back to El Solario where Katy and I had stayed when we got to La Paz the last time. I will admit I was a little daunted to finally be on my own in South America... my spanish skills having not improved massive amounts. I did find they'd improved enough for me to sort myself out a room and get my laundry put in... and the alone thing didn't last too long either.... I hopped on the internet not long after arriving to find Luke online.... I was feeling a tad subdued after recent events.. details not relevant but suffice to say, I needed to hear some friendly banter..... I miss Luke lots obviously and so it was fab to catch up with him... he was just about to leave home again and make his way back to Sydney.... he told me some stories from home that made me laugh.. a lot.. and I was smiling again!! See, even on the other side of the world, he manages to still be there for me... not bad for a guy who by his own admission had no idea how to deal with a neurotic/distraught woman before he met me!! That's meant to paint you in a good light btw Pukas!! haha!! I have to mention also that Nick, my friend from bouncing, was also online that day and did a good job of cheering me up too!! Thanks matey!

Anyway, half way through said conversation with Luke... who do I turn round to see grinning at me but Chris and Emily of Isla del Sol appearance. They were staying at El Solario too so after signing off from Luke we all headed to Olivers (an English pub) for dinner and drinks.... as is unsuprising where these 2 are concerned.... the evening didn't end there.. infact, it didn't end at all, not until 6am anyway... oops!! A friend of theirs, Finbar, a cheeky Irish lad who'd also worked at Loki while I was there, was also out with us and the 4 of us ended up checking out the delights of La Paz's nightlife.... there were a couple of bars, Sol Y Luna, Mungo's and some other place... when will I learn I'm too old for All Nighters??!! It was fun though... the hangover the next day, not so much fun but we were all highly amused that Fin managed to miss his bus to Cusco thanks to the later night/early morning... given he didn't make it to bed until 2 hours before the bus was leaving, can't say we were exactly suprised!!!

Although Sunday morning had already dawned by the time I made it to bed that night, I had to force myself up again far too soon as I'd arranged to met Dawn and Johnny for lunch and some sightseeing... I managed the lunch and a visit to a couple of travel agents to check out Pampas and Jungle tours but after that it was all I could do to get myself back to the hostel and into my bed. I'd lucked out with my own double room at the hostel as they had no dorms available when I checked in and had given me my own room discounted ... never had I been more grateful for that than today.... the room was noisy and I've slept in nicer beds but it was the most inviting thing in the world to be right then!! See... told you I was too old for this out all night malarky!! ;0)
After chilling out for a few hours though, i found myself enticed back to Olivers by Fin, Em and Chris... as well as another girl, Sarah who'd arrived from Cucso that day too... funnily enough it turned into another late night... although not quite so bad, just 2am this time... something tells me this lot are a bad influence on me. It turned into a pretty comical night.... although started with good intentions and me just drinking tea and vanilla milkshakes.. that didn't last too long and by the end of the evening there was dancing on tables by among others, the barmaid who we'd got to know given that we seemed to spend far too much of our time in there, and lots of other amusing antics while chilling out on the comfy leather sofa's in there.

Thankfully I was feeling slightly more human the next morning when I met Dawn and Johnny to sort out our activities for the next few days. We'd decided to head to Rurrenebarque the next day and do Pampas/Jungle tours so were booking it that morning. Chris (Aussie) came too although then decided it was too pricey for him... and after getting all the info on the trips bumped into Chris (American) who'd done Death Road the previous day and was aching a little... but was still in one piece we were relieved to see! We all went for some brekkie so we could decide which trips we wanted to do then headed back to book... with a cheeky stop at Burger King afterwards. Now, I'm not a big fan of fast food and have tried to avoid it as much as I can on this trip.. and I've done pretty well I think but i decided to treat myself today... only they don't believe in veggie options here so chips it was!! The pic here is a demonstration of some kind that we got caught up in on our way to meet Dawn and Johnny!

Anyway... I'm talking rubbish... once we'd booked our flights and tours we decided to head to the infamous San Pedro prison.... Bolivia's notorious prison where the conditions are entirely dependant on how much money you have, if you're wealthy it's like living in a hotel I'm told and where families live in there with you... kids growing up inside a prison!!! We wanted to go in but to do so you have to visit the embassy and find out the name of an inmate you want to visit from your country... or I'm assuming you could probably bribe the guards but we were a little scared of doing that so opted to just have a look from the outside. It's a pretty unopposing building and intrigues me a lot.. I've not read Marching Powder yet, written by an inmate there, but i'm told it's a good read so I'll put that on the list. This is the only picture i was able to get of the prison.. it's ths entrance, you can see the inmates all crowding round by the door.. as we were ushered away and told not to take pics, Johnny even had to delete his (luckily he'd managed to get 2).

Anyway, it was our last day in La Paz, if all went according to plan so after the prison we headed to the Coca museum... La Paz's museum all about Cocaine and it's history and uses through the years... there were some amazing facts in there and it's a pretty cool museum... did you know, a percentage of Cocaine was still used to makde Coca-cola up until 1985!!!!! After we'd filled our minds with Cocaine facts we did a little shopping and headed for a quick drink... i was sadly quite excited to find somewhere that would do hot milk for me.... child that I am!! ;0)

I'd arranged to meet Chris (American) for dinner early evening as he was leaving at 8ish for Uyuni so it'd be the last time we could catch up... luckily I'd arranged to meet him in Olivers, where by now i was recognised and quite happy to sit at the bar chatting to Bonnie (the barmaid) .... which given that Chris didn't show turned out to be a good thing!! Yes, that's right the young man stood me up...... it's ok though... some apologetic emails and a decent explanation was received so I think I'll let you off my moody, irate young american dude.... you've been bloody hard work Mr, you're worse than a girl sometimes but its been 'interesting' and even fun at times!! Enjoy the rest of your travels and keep in touch.

The evening wasn't over there though, I bumped into a Canadian guy that had been on the boat over to Isla del Sol with us and he had a few drinks with us (Chris, Em and Sarah had joined me) before we headed to Sol Y Luna for dinner. We were all a bit shattered and I had a flight to catch the next day so the evening was an early one for a change... just what my body was crying out for though so definetly a good thing!! La Paz the second time around had been fun but I was ready for another adventure... Bring on Rurrenbarque.... plus I'd be back in La Paz briefly afterwards so it was exciting to be going off on another tour.... xx

Lake Titicaca... the Bolivian side.. and Dead Ants!!

Our bus to Copacabana wasn't until 1430 so we had a lie in, although I found myself awake at 8am and watching the last ever episode of Dawson's Creek... there's a blast from the past! Yep, I cried again!! Chris returned (he's a ridiculously early riser and had been up and off somewhere for ages already) to find me a tad bleary eyed.. he laughed alot!!

Anyway, we spent the morning catching up on the internet and Chris finally bought some new pants ... that's trousers to you and I... after only having one pair which he'd worn since the Inca trek and not washed.... boys are sooooo minging!!! After a not so quick lunch that nearly resulted in us missing the bus, we were on our way.... again, a pretty uneventful bus ride... I tried to badger Chris into testing me on my Spanish but being male and irate, he didn't really excel himself as a teacher... Dawn however came to the rescue and I did manage to take in a few more things. I also made them all promise to force me to ask things and try speaking Spanish sometimes instead of relying on Dawn and Chris, as I'll never improve if I hide behind them.

We got to Copacabana just in time for sunset and watched it at our gorgeous hostel... La Cupula... (our room is the one with the light on in the pic here... the sunset shown above is the view from our room) it was prob a little pricey for a backpacker but it was only $10 each for a twin room with our own bathroom so we decided to treat ourselves... or rather, that was everyone else's norm.. i was just treating myself!!! We had a little wander round town, decided we all really liked it there, although weren't too impressed with the no ATM machine's thing, esp as Chris and I had both been unprepared for that. oops! Then headed back to the hostel restuarant... well reviewed in the Lonely Liar.. for dinner. We were up early for the boat over to Isla del Sol the next morning so it was early nights for the 4 of us again... we had trekking ahead! and this time we'd chosen to do it independently!!! hmm... interesting!!!

So, brekkie eaten, packed lunch packed off we set for Isla del Sol.... and what followed was a horrendous few hours on board the most uncomfortable boat in the world where i wasn't allowed to sit outside incase the weight at the back was too much for the boat to handle and so I spent the entire time lying uncomfortably on the hard seats trying to pretend I didn't feel like I was about to throw up everywhere!! I somehow managed to survive the ordeal and we arrived into the North of the island 2 and a half hours later!! We'd decided our route would be to start in the North of the island in Cha'llapampa (shown above) and walk from there to the Chincana Inca ruins right at the northern point of the island, back to Cha'llapampa for a rest stop before trekking south to Challa, where we'd spend the night then continue on the next day to Yumani, in the South of the island, spend the night there then get a boat to the mainland from there and trek back to Copacabana from there on day 3!! All sounded like hard work to me but I'm used to that now and actually quite like the challenge... the feeling when you've done it is great! But right now, we were at the beginning... and it was hot!!

The trek to the Chincana ruins took an hour or so each way and it was beautiful scenery... the Lake is certainly more picturesque on the Bolivian side, although the Peruvian side does seem to offer more tradition and culture. The sun was beating down on us the entire way and foolishly, forgetting the altitude I ended up with rosy coloured shoulders... but the walk was gorgeous and brought us beautiful views, random donkeys and some pretty damn cool ruins at the end of it... Isla del Sol is where the Inca's believe the birth of the Sun was, hence the name and there's apparently God's footsteps there too, although Dawn and i are skeptical that what we found were meant to be them... not to mention the sacrifice table you see below.... there are pics of me on the table but this one of Johnny amuses me more.... not least for one reason and there's a certain group of people that will know exactly what I'm on about... Nat, Jen and all of Nat's girlie's... I've 2 words for you; DEAD ANTS!!! Ring any Bells girls???!!!! oh the memories.. one of our finer moments I do believe!!
Anyway, back to the island of the sun... Once back at Cha'llapampa we were all ready for a little refreshment stop before hopping back onto our trekking feet so stopped for a little not so cold Sprite and then set off again, this time heading south... we were a little unclear of our route but managed to find our way to Challa... a tiny settlement described by the Lonely Liar as reminiscent of the Greek Islands..... hmm.... not so much!!! It turned out to be a tiny settlement on the shores of the lake, with very very little there, although it is home to the islands only Secondary school, infact i think it might be the only school at all.. so not really sure what the kids do for Primary school. It was very pretty though and although we were surprised by the lack of anything at all there as what we'd read had not given us that impression at all but we pressed on to the Posada del Inca Hostel.... it was deserted. But hanging around long enough meant the owner found her way to us.. word must get round quickly in this village... there were Newbies in town!!
We ended up checking in for 10bs each for the night (plus 15bs for dinner.. it still amazes me how you pay more for a meal here than you do for your accommodation)... our rooms were boxes with mattresses on the floor, no locks on the door, no running water and a toilet block with just the mountain face as pretty ineffective 'doors'.. but the views of the lake from our rooms were fantastic and we were paying less than a pound each for it!!! Can't really complain eh!!!

Once we'd checked in we did however venture a little further down the beach to find a brand new hostel perched on the hill that looked like it had a lot more creature comforts... oops! But in the end, we were actually quite glad to be staying where we were... we figured the family running our place were far more in need of our 100bs than the other people and the had the cutest little boy, who was soo grateful and excited when Johnny and I gave him soem colouring pencils as a present when we left.. he's the kid in the pic above btw). As the nightlife wasn't up to much we decided some cards (no boys, I didn't cheat, it's not my fault a girl can beat you both so easily!! ;0) dinner and bed where the order for the evening!! I do have to admit though, Dawn and I were both a little scared given we had no locks on our doors, all the locals knew exactly where we were and the owner of the hostel had gone off up the mountain to her ouwn house for the night leaving us all alone.... there was only one thing for it.... I don't know about Johnny but Chris had to push his mattress up by the door and sleep against it, astanley knife at the ready... just in case!!! Have to admit, I was pretty damn glad to be sharing with a guy that night!! Thanks matey!!

Obviously our fears were obsolete and we awoke the next morning safe and sound in our beds, with the sun streaming in and the lake outside, it wasn't a bad place to find yourself of a morning. The owners cooked us breakfast before we set off on that days trek... destination Yumani.. the islands major town in the south which is where most visitors come for the day. It was a 2 hour hike from Challa to Yumani, most of it was fairly flat but there was a little uphill and the whole altitude thing stil makes me utterly breathless going uphill.. I had also awoken to find my shoulders sore and red thanks to my stupidity the day before and also without a decent t-shirt to cover them up... so I had to borrow one of Dawn's to save my poor skin.. thanks hun!

We reached Yumani by about midday and once again the island had come up trumps with its impressive scenery... once there we managed to find a lovely little hostel; Las Islas. There were 3 rooms on the top floor of the hostel with a massive balcony that overlooked the lake and Isla Luna, the small Island of the Moon, just off shore of Isla del Sol (this is the view from our balcony in the pic here). Unfortunately the sun sets on the opposite side of the island but it was still beautiful. we headed off in search of food... we searched everywhere but for some reason all the restaurants were closed... there wasn't that many people around either and so it seems the restuarants close until the boat from the mainland arrives with more tourists.. so we headed back to our hostel and ordered from the restuarant there, sitting in the sun overlooking the lake... it was gorgeous... certainly nothing to grumble about. Once again.. it made me think how lucky i was to be on this trip, doing and seeing all these things!!

After lunch we all adjourned up to our balcony, my idea being to sit and chill with my book taking in the view... a bit later when we'd all napped, read, showered etc... we were joined by 2 peeps who were taking the 3rd room up there. Turned out they were people we knew from Cusco.... Emily (an English girl) and Chris (and Aussie lad) .. Emily had been working at Loki while I was there, although I hadn't really known her that well and both Chris' had met on a night out in Cusco too. We all ended up sitting on the balcony for hours chatting, drinking beer, mate de coca and eating biscuits then ventured down to the church, where both Chris' ended up playing football with the locals (not an easy task at altitude!) Dawn and Johnny had gone for a wander and Em and I found ourselves back on the balcony doing what we do best.. chatting..before heading off for dinner.... this time to a proper restaurant. The food was pretty good although mostly what I remember is the delicious chocolate coverd banana and Bolivian red wine.. which despite being told it's disappointing I was actually pleasantly surprised by.

and a little aside... yep, it seems, that regardless of my life long dislike of red wine, South America has in 2 short months managed to pretty much convert me... I am now addicted to the stuff!! Mat.. you can stop despairing of me not liking it!!!

but... back to the island... the rest of the evening was spent in Chris and Emily's room playing cards and oops, drinking more wine.... that 4 hour trek tomorrow was going to hurt!!

We'd decided an early start was in order as walking in the midday sun wouldn't be ideal and didn't want to make it back to Copacabana too late so were up and about at 0830... Chris and Em impressively dragged themselves out of bed and joined us for brekkie.. although the lucky sods got to go straight back to bed afterwards unlike us!! But we had a plan to complete so off we went, packs on our backs... we'd arranged for a boat to pick us up from the other ruins on the island... it was only a short walk to them so we allowed an hour and a half to get there and check them out before hopping over to the mainland to start the walk. As it turned out we didn't need quite so long.. the ruins.. hmm, not so impressive and didn't really take long. Chris didn't even bother looking at them but Dawn, Johnny and I figured we were there we might as well... it had started to look a little threatening weather wise too and rain a little.. none of us fancied a repeat of day 2 of our Inca trek so we considering our options but they were pretty limited so when the motor boat turned up we got in it! (Usually these trips to the mainland are done in a row boat but that would've been impossible in the wind that day so we'd had to pay more for a motor boat).

Luckily once we'd made it back to the mainland, the skies were kind to us and the sun came out for our walk back. Most people do this walk the other way round so we met a lot of people going the opposite way, with varied responses to our 'how far is Copacabana?' questions!! We passed through villages and cut over an ancient Inca road, almost totally obliterated now, saw a monument wher apparently miracles occured and finally rounded a corner to find Copacabana in view in the distance... we didn't realise then how long it would take us to reach it!! It was like a mirage... always there but never getting any closer and although the walk was flat it was soooo exhausting in the sun with your destination seemingly so near and yet so far! I think that was probably the hardest part of the whole 3 days trekking, forget the hills and the breathlessness.... it was this relentless, endless flat walk at the end that killed us all... we made it evntually though and I think we all did damn well... good work guys!!

As soon as we made it to town, Chris and I were finally able to get money out from the bank then we collapsed at a restaurant for much needed food.. it was 4pm!!! Ouch... but quite proud of myself I have to say! None of us were capable of much that evening it's safe to say, we all had much appreciated long hot showers, chilled out, caught up online and had a tasy mexican meal...... then bed.... bliss!!! It had been a wicked 3 days though, Isla del Sol is beautiful and I'm so glad I took the time to se it properly. i was worried about it eating into the time I had left but I've realised that there was no way I was going to fit everything that i wanted to see in, in a mere 2 months here so its best to not rush everything but just do less things and do them properly... anyone gets the opportunity to come here, I definetly recommend it, it's beautiful! xx

Lake Titicaca.... the Peruvian side and Guinea Pigs!!

So... we left Cucso at 0830 on the Saturday morning, despite Chris' worries I was on time picking him up... infact may have even been a little early.... yes, really!!! Our destination... Puno... the reason... Lake Titicaca; apparently the world's highest navigational lake.. although that's according to what we've now affectionally named 'The Lonely Liar' and there is some debate!!

Anyway, it was a 6 hour bus journey and passed pretty uneventfully... we reached Puno mid afternoon and set about getting ourselves to a hostel (Don Julio was the chosen place and pretty decent at that) eating (always high on the boys' list) and sorting out our Lake Titicaca plans for the next few days. Puno isn't the nicest of towns and is really only on everyone's route as it's the gateway to the Peruvian side of the lake... namely the Floating Islands and other islands on the lake. We got our tour sorted for the next day and then went for dinner and drinks.... dinner venue was chosen by the lads as they wanted to try..... of all things... the local delicasey..... Guinea Pig!!!!!!! Hmmmmm... lurvely!!!! The restuarant, Kintu, was actually very nice... Dawn and I didn't indulge in the Guinea Pig unsurprisingly... but here's a pic of the proud pair with theirs!!! They said they enjoyed it but hmm... skepitcal, me??!! Never!!

We were up early for our pick up the next day... Chris nearly missing breakfast which wouldn't have put him in a good mood... god forbid, a man should miss a meal!! ;0) and then we were off. We'd opted for just a one night stay on the islands... first stop the floating islands, which are amazing islands all made of reed, depsite explanations from the guides I really have no idea how they manage to make these islands from scratch.. and apparently the oldest one isn't even floating anymore, it's rooted itself!! Random!

Anyway, we spent a few hours there, looking around, going from one to another on a reed boat (the type of which you see in the pics here) and generally being amazed that people can live on them. It's all well and good in decent weather but imagine the winter, as you can imagine it wouldn't be the life for me.. I don't deal with the cold well in England let alone at altitude on a reed island in nothing but a reed teepee!!!! Fair play to those locals is all i can say!!

After we left the floating islands, we set off on a 3 hour boat journey to the island of Amantani, where we were due to spend the night with a local family. Luckily the 4 of us managed to get placed in the same house, usually they only put 2 in each but they have one with a few rooms so were able to accommodate us all together. The family we stayed with were lovely, they had several children and it was mainly the young girls that prepared our meals for us. The pic on the left here is the house we stayed in.

About 3pm we all set off on a walk up to the highest point of the island to watch the sunset, it was a bit cold and I'd not really come prepared for the walk so was a bit chilly but the sunset was beautiful and it was a good walk. The photo here is Chris and I having just reached the top... and the 2 below are obviously the sunset with the centre one being us at dinner with 2 of the girls from our host family!

We were all ready for dinner by the time we got back to the house though... more Quinoa soup, as you tend to get with every meal over here but I'm quite a fan so wasn't complaining. They also don't really eat meat on the island so it was perfect for me!!

After dinner.... the family had a little treat for us.... out came the traditional dress... the boys were given poncho's and hats while Dawn and I were trussed up in the traditional skirts and tops and headresses.... then it was off to the local Fiesta.. where all the other people on the tour had recieved the same treatment!! It was classic... dancing ensued much to our amusement and everyone's host families made sure we all danced with them. A classic evening, loads of fun!

The next morning we were up early to catch the boat to the second island; Taquile... this is the one that most people visit and it's somewhat more commercial. We had about an hours walk to the main square and there happened to be some kind of election demonstration going on so there was all sorts of people around and we got caught up in the crowds. It was good to see it all going on though. We only had a few hours on this island though so after a tour and lunch, with more Quinoa soup, we headed back to the boat for the long journey back to Puno. It was short and sweet but it had been fun and eye opening being there. The islands are beautiful and the people are lovely. Apparently they're still very traditional and only marry people from the same or neighbouring islands.... with a population of something like 4,000 on the largest island, that's not much of a choice.. at least considering some of us have trouble with the whole world out there!!

As we got back to Puno late afternoon we'd decided to stay overnight there and leave the next day, so we had a leisurely dinner and chilled out in front of Mr Deeds before bed. From Puno we were heading to Copacabana, a popular little town on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, I was looking forward to seeing how the Bolivian side compared to the Peruvian side. So far, i had been impressed! xx