¡Buenos Tardes!

Well I managed to survive the Inca trail...had to pay a porter to carry me in his bag lol. The first day was pretty easy and we couldn´t believe it when we stopped for lunch and there was a big tent set up with tables, stools tablecloths and cuttlery! we all thought we´d be sitiing on the floor eating bread and beans or something but we got two or three course meals every day- the porters were amazing! The second day was the hardest- we climbed about 1900 m uphill all the way to Dead Woman´s Pass at 4215 m above sea level, and then an hr downhill to camp. It took the fastest guy around 3h, me 4h30 and the slowest 6h30! The third day was mostly downhill but it was the worst on your legs...I was walking like a granny on my birthday!haha. That night we had to get up at 3.30 am and have breakfast at 4am...the porters somehow managed to make me a birthday cake and Juan (group leader) decided to stick my head in it lol....tasted good anyway. We had to get up early to queue at the checkpoint to get through to Macchu Picchu...from there it was a 1 hr hike to the sungate and then downhill to Macchu Picchu. We were really lucky because it rained everyday on the hike and the visibility was really bad but when we arrived at Macchu Picchu it was really sunny- it looked amazing! Apparently the lazy ppl who got the train there the day before saw nothing! After a tour from Juan we got the Bus to Agus Calientes and got some food before getting the train back to Cusco. Every1 was really desperate for a shower after 4 days of hiking...nice!

That night we went out for my birthday...a meal in Real McCoys and then out to a salsa club called Mythology where we got to try some dancing and then all the girls got up on the bar for some free drinks haha. It was a really good night. The next morning 9 of the group left for the jungle...I was so glad I didn´t go cos I was sooo tired and when the group came back they said it definitely wasn´t worth the amount of extra money it cost. The rest of us had a few days to relax in Cusco...just visiting the market, eating nice food and generally being really lazy!

On Sunday morning we got up early to leave for Puno but I felt really ill. Managed to get the bus to the bus station but then threw up in front of station...quite funny now but felt like death at the time and had to get a 7 hr bus! We spent one night in Puno...the highest town of its size above sea level..and the next morning got a boat to Lake titikaka, where we had lunch and then moved to Taquile Island for a home stay. We got introduced to our families and then shown where we´d be staying...it was pretty basic...metal shed type door on the room but the beds were ok. You walked outside to get to the toilet which was basically a chamber pot with a hole on a mud floor with a plastic sack on a string for a door..luxury lol. We went down to the school and the guys played football with the boys and we played games with the niños..they were so cute- I nearly kidnapped jullio! We had dinner in our rooms...rice, chips and fried egg and then we were meant to go down to the school in the typical Peruvian dress for a dance but there was a massive thunderstorm (never seen lightning like it...it lit the while sky!) and rain so it was too dangerous to get down the hill...we ended up in bed not long after 8pm lol...sad. At 7am the woman (Margarita) got us into the dress and we walked down to meet the group but it turned out every1 had actually gone to the dance anyway...they even said they´d punish Margarita for not bringing us down but we convinced out tour guide to talk to them and tell them she´d been really nice and it prob would hv been really hard to get down the hill!

We got the boat to the Uros Islands, which are Islands made completely out of reeds by the locals. The reeds are 2m deep and they build houses out of the reeds and even their boats. 6 families were living on the small island we visited but one had recently left cos they weren´t happy. If a family wants to leave they take a saw and cut their portion away and pull it by boat to another island!! We headed back to Puno this afternoon and we leave for La Paz, Bolivia in the morning. Having a big night out in La Paz because 4 of the group are leaving and we get some new ppl and a new leader! Every1s meeting up again in Rio for Carnaval though.

Hope every1s good at home!

Muchos ammores, Caroline xx