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Well, we've made it to Bolivia.
Before we left Peru we spent a few days on Lake Titicaca. We got to the port in rickshaws, which was good fun especially as it was downhill all the way! We then took a very slow 3 hour boat trip to the first island where our local guide told us about their traditions including how the most eligible men were those that could knit the best! The test was if the hats that they made were able to carry water without letting too much come through.
The second island was where we were to stay the night with a local family in their home. After being introduced to our 'mama', Beatrix and shown where we were going to sleep and where the bathroom was (a tin hut outside with a toilet that flushed when you poured a bucket of water down) we were taken to the nearby football pitch to play 6 aside agianst some of the locals. You might notice that in the photos that we are all wearing beanies, these were made by our 'families' and given to us to help them recognise us whilst we were staying with them. The football was going quite well and most of us had a go - Kate even had a not too shameful five minute stint - but it was hard going at altitude. Unfortunately, Colin, one of our group managed to damage his knee and is at this minute on his way home to New Zealand as he has been told he needs an operation but he did manage to enjoy the ride back down the boat in a wheel barrow!
After the football we gave the family the gifts of food we had brought and had a dinner of potato, vegetable and noodle soup followed by tomatoes, fried cheese and ocre(?) a type of potato. We were then dressed up in traditional costume and taken down to the local 'disco'. As you can see from the pictures it was great fun and Damian took a liking to his poncho! We had a really good night's sleep despite the really cold temperatures - Kate wore her beanie in bed - and then had a breakfast of pancakes before saying goodbye.
We then went to visit the floating reed islands where they explained how they were made. They have to work very hard to keep them intact and have to replace the reeds on the surface every few months. We also found out that if the group of people that live on one particular island fall out they can either go and build their own island or cut the island in half and tow it to another part of the lake!
We have now crossed the border into Bolivia. To do this we had to take a bus around the lake to Bolivia, get off the bus on the Peru side and go to two imigration offices there, then walk across the border to Bolivia and visit another office there. After that we carried on to Copacabana (not the Barry Manilow one) changed buses, got off the bus again so that the bus could go over part of the lake on its own raft whilst we were crammed onto a tiny boat and then finally we got to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world.
We have had a very relaxing couple of days staying in a very nice hotel (we even got shampoo!). The tour ended for six people, eight including Colin and Vic, his grilfriend, and five more have joined, a couple about our age, and two sisters and a daughter of one of them, all from Australia - good job we hold the Ashes at the moment!
We are now off to Olivers, the 5th best bar in La Paz (so they themselves say) for food and football. It is run by an eccentric English man which you would need to be to stay and open a business in La Paz as it´s not the prettiest city. We went on a city tour just to see if there were any interesting parts to the city, but as one of the main attractions pointed out to us was the local swimming pool, you can see that there weren´t that many. It did however, get exciting at one point when were visiting the square next to the government bulidings. There was quite a big police presence as there had been demonstrations by teachers demanding more pay. We soon found out that the Bolivian strain of teachers must be more millitant than at home as the police let off C S gas to disperse the crowds which was not very pleasant but did briefly clear Kate's blocked sinuses!
Our next stop is Sucre tommorow morning which we will get to after a 14 hour bus journey overnight. Looking forward to that - not!
K & D X
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