Hi All,

Well when I last left off we were getting our bus to Puno where there was an old man at the bus station who was reeking of pee and actually peed in front of us and I just thought he was a beggar but it turned out he was on our bus and guess who he was sitting in front of?!! Yes, us! The bus was meant to take about 6-7 hours so when it got to 4am and she came up and shouted something Craig went and asked her and she said it was Puno so we tried to wake up and get all our stuff together and then we got off and the luggage man said it was somewhere else and then the attendant said it was 2 hours to Puno, we were well annoyed, we had been fast asleep and it was 4am and freezing!! We eventually got a view about 50 minutes later of Puno and it looked lovely all wee houses built into the side of the valley and of course Lake Titicaca on the edge. When we got off there was a guy trying to get us to buy a tour asking us if we want to go to the Lake, I was like “Eh not right now” its 5am!! We got to our hotel and they gave us a room to sleep in and when we woke up we went out to find some food so we found a set menu place an it turned out to be a total con the soup was cup-a-soup and the omelette was burnt!! After we went to find the supermercado lol and it was all just stalls of meat and stuff, not eating that so we got biscuits lol! At night we ordered a pizza and Craig went to get change for the delivery but reception had none and then the pizza came and the guy from the hotel said he would pay it and we gave him the money then when he came back he said it was 35, which is extortionate so went down and asked him in my limited Spanish if he was having a laugh so then he changed it to 30 and then later he he brought up our change it had changed to 25 so he was obviously going to skim 10 for himself which kind of sets the tone for the next few days.

Next day we got up and were going to go to the Isles Flotantes which are islands in the Lake made of reeds but they are supposedly over run with tourists now and we couldn’t really be bothered with all the haggling and I didn’t feel very well so we just had a walk around the lake and then a ride on a wee bike thing that kind of acts as a taxi. We are not very keen on Puno at all, it is really dirty and smells awful all the lake looks horrible and polluted with rubbish all over the place which isn’t very good as its one of their biggest tourist spots! We just went back to the hotel and made use of the wireless to upload photos and I caught Emma on msn so that was good for a chat. At night we went out for tea which was hilarious, we had chicken soup and noodles, the soup was so funny it was greasy water, with a chicken leg in it, half a boiled egg and a potato lol!!

The next day we got up at 5am to get our bus to La Paz in Bolivia and we have to say this turned out to be the worst day of our trip so far and hopefully in total. We bought our tickets in Cusco so we had them in advance and when we got to the station the bus we had bought did not have an office there so basically we had been sold a ticket for a bus that didnt exist as the woman obviously knew we couldn’t complain as we were already away from her. We managed to get another bus and paid $20 so not only were we conned on the non-existent bus but we had actually paid $50 for it!! I was also not feeling well and had a dodgy stomach again probably from my weird soup the night before. At first we were told we would get there at midday then 3.30pm, we had to pay exit tax and then we had like 3 hours on the bus then we had to get off and stamp out of Peru then walk up the road and stamp into Bolivia, then we drove 10 minutes and had to get off for an hour and a half in Cocacabana to wait on the bus we were to swap to for La Paz, you have to pay to even enter this town. We had some lunch and went back and then had to get a minibus to another bus which was ancient and didn’t look like it would make it but you don’t see that at the end where you pay for it obviously. So we got on that and then drove for like an hour before we were told to get off and the bus was taken over the lake on a wooden platform thing and we paid to get a wee boat across, the lake is absolutely stunning from this side a lot prettier. Then we had another hour and a pee stop, by this point I think I had spent a days wages on public loos. Here was the best part of the day when I fed a packet of old Ritz biscuits to a stray dog, it was so cute. When we finally got to La Paz an hour later it was an amazing sight, it is like a huge metropolis in a big bowl of a valley surrounded by mountains it is huge, it looks so cool, too hard to explain but you can see the photos. La Paz was full of traffic so instead of taking us to the bus station the driver just gave up on the middle of the street and we all got off thinking it was nearby then we asked the tourist police where the bus station was which resulted in a 20 minute taxi ride and then tried to find somewhere to book our next bus to Uyuni, the woman was saying 130 bolivianos about £13 which is like double the normal price and she would not budge but then we got talking to a Dutch girl and she had one for 90 which doesn’t have a bathroom but we took it anyway just to hack her off! We also went to the company that conned us and they called around and that the refund will come on the bus tomorrow so we will get that on Saturday when we go to Uyuni. After we got a taxi to our hotel and I was so glad to finally be there after the long day as it was now 7pm!! We got there and they had no rooms despite my booking it two days ago on the net. So there was a place next door which was a bit too expensive but we didn’t know where we were and it was pitch black and we knew that its quite a dangerous city so we just stayed there even though it was about £25 a night! As soon as we got in our room I heard gun fire but Craig assure me it was blanks, like celebratory gunfire. We went out for Burger King as that was the only thing near and then got our minging clothes off and made use of the hot water and watched Friends!

Yesterday we got up and went for a walk to find somewhere to eat, we fund a little café but it was a bit off putting that homeless people constantly came in begging. Also here at the zebra crossings they have people dressed as zebras who stop the traffic so you can cross, so funny. We couldn’t find anywhere to do laundry so we are just going to smell a wee bit longer. While we were out some teenager shouted “Go home” to us, really pleasant, to be honest the people here are very rude, everyone is constantly barging into you etc. After buying 4 sweets for £2 we went back to the hotel, conned again! I also had a massive nose bleed with blood clots it was really gross lol! At night we went out to find something to eat and didn’t want any of the fast food around the hotel so ended up walking for 2 hours still not finding anything and we had a look in this centre and they had a cinema so we went to have a look and a security guard told us we were not allowed to go as we speak English! So fed up of the people here, you are good enough for them when they are taking your money! We eventually ended up at a café place that didn’t do any of the things on their menu so we left and ended up getting a take away pizza room the place practically next door, and when we got back to the room with it, they had used ketchup and loads of it and the topping all just fell off so had a kitkat for tea instead, not impressed! Also tonight we actually heard real gun fire, quite scary. Its quite funny when they play songs they blur out the word gun but at the same time people are shooting them outside your window lol!!

Today we got up and made use of the breakfast which was a roll and jam and went for a walk around the city to see the main square and the markets, it was all just stalls selling the same kind of stuff and some awfully smelly places, who knows what they were cooking. There was also this young lad with a box with about 4 wee puppies in it, like tiny, I wanted one!! They looked like Cocker Spaniels so so so cute!! We have now just come to a wee backstreet café for some lunch and use of the wireless and Jon Secada was playing!!!

Tonight we get the bus to Uyuni to hopefully go to the salt flats, we were going to do a 4 day tour but we are running out of time, we have only about 3 weeks left so think we will just do one day as we are fed up of being conned and the altitude is a killer, its like being ill constantly and i don’t want to give another penny to these people!! After Uyuni we are going to head down into Chile and we cant wait!!

Hope all is well back home, we cant believe our big adventure will be over in less than 4 weeks!!

Lots of Love

Eva and Craig xxx

PS. Congrats Gemma and Mark on the arrival of baby Chloe!!