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Hola!Currently in the Bolivian capital of Sucre on a bright and sunny day. It's been an eventful week or however long (can't really keep track of time) since Puno and I've been keeping myself busy. To begin, Puno!Puno was cool town full of churches and monasteries. Like all other South America cities encountered so far, it had a main square/plaza. We got there in the late afternoon and walked around a bit. After a tiring journey from Cusco, we decided to chill for most of the afternoon before we all got dinner and watched a movie in my room. I was really lucky to have gotten a huge room to myself with a Queensize bed. I wasn't complaining!The next day we were off to the largest lake in the world also known as Lake Titicaca. We boarded a boat and headed to Taquile Island for lunch in a local restaurant. We also browsed the local weaving cooperatives before heading to Amantani where we spent the night with a local family. That was defnitely a highlight of the entire trip. Groups of two and three of us from my group tour were allocated a "mummy" for the night. Katherine, Regina and I were with a lady of 21 years-old called Aleha. In her house lived her mother, her 14 year-old brother and her Dad, though he was in Puno at the time of our stay. We arrived there and met the family before then heading up a hill (remember that we're already at high altitude) to play a game of footy with a bunch of welsh tourists. It was one of the most physically tiring games being at such a height, but once I got going I was fine. We had a very enjoyable game before heading back to have dinner with our local families. Afterwards, we then gave presents se had bought for the families. Regina, Katherine and I collectively presented the family with clothes, rice and bread. They were so grateful an excited that it really hit us how little they have to their lives. Aleha pretty much spends all day knitting clothes from Sheep or Alpaca wool. It takes 2 weeks to make a jumper and that's when she spends pretty muc all day doing it! All the local ladies simply gather around town and sit, knit and chat together. It's such a simple life and amazing to get an insight to.After dinner and the giving of the presents, we were dressing up to go dancing local style. We went to a local dance hall (me in a Poncho and hat whilst Kat and Regina were sporting a huge dress and head scarf!) and began dancing to local music with a live band (starring Aleha's 14-year old brother, Wilson). It was a very tiresome but very exciting night of festivities before we headed back to sleep. The next morning we went to visit the floating islands of Uros. We met the local community and took a few pictures before heading back to Puno. Next we said goodbye to Peru as we were on our way to the Bolivian city of La Paz - the highest capital city in the world (though Sucre is known as the official capital). It was a long journey with a very busy border crossing, but we made it into the capital by the evening. A busy modern city, with its centre at the base of a canyon 5 km wide and sprawling impromptu housing all the way up the surrounding hillsides. The city is at nearly 4000 m above sea level, so we had to be prepared for cool evenings and mornings. It was the ending city for the first half of the tour and a few people left (two couples and one single traveller) whilst two solo women travellers and a trainee tour guide joined us. On our second day in La Paz, Regina, Clare, Robyn and I decided to do Death Road. Yep, the road renowned for taking many lives pretty much every month from cycling accidents. Oddly enough, we were informed that Israelis seem to be in the highest number of fatalities. We took the road carefully and pushed our bikes and our bodies to the limits as we spent hours racing the track (well, at least I was racing it!). It was a lot of fun and so worth it. The feeling of accomplishment at the end was immense and I'd definitely do it again. a mus-do for all who visit La Paz!
The next day we were out of La Paz and heading to the infamous Salt Flats of Bolivia. Travelling by bus and train to Uyuni, we spent the next three days exploring the stunning landscapes between the Salar de Uyuni and Chile's Atacama desert (though never crossing into Chile). It was absolutely freezing during the nights and even during the days when there was a strong wind. We survived however and it was all made worth it when on the third day we witnessed the piercing blue skies contrast with blinding white salt as we drove across the flat lakebed. The area's unusual landscape of mountains, active volcanoes, and geysers was like nowhere I'd ever seen. We had a lot of fun taking photos from a mountain top and on the flats after a pancake breakfast.
After the Salt Flats we headed to our hotel in Uyuni. It was excellent just to get the first warm shower in days!
Next morning came and we headed to Potosi. It was a plesant little town with a good layout. The streets were lined with markets and our second day there saw the streets jam-packed with people celebrating the festival of St Anthony. It's only when you see the sheer number of people on the streets, the age range of the people and the extravagance of the celebrations that you realise just how close to religion the people are. It was last Saturday and people were simply spending their day sitting on the sidewalk as bands marched and hundreds of children in colourful dress danced on the streets with choreographers before them. It was an amazing sight though it did demand much more vigilance for tourists due to pick-pockets!
After Potosi we headed here - Sucre. As the official capital, we knew that this would be the first place to properly party since Cusco in Peru. Although not as atmospheric a city, it has everything we need. A great bar/cafe popular among tourists and locals alike, a beautiful main square with palm trees, and a posh hotel! We went out the first night and it was quite an eventful evening! We all had had a bit to drink and just had fun before heading back to our hotel. The next day we spent chilling out and today is pretty much the same. I'm going to browse a few of the local markets with the trainee tour guide (Jose) in a bit because the middle-of-the-day Siesta should be over soon. Then we'll probably just chill out ahead of a busy few days of travelling to Santa Cruz and then to Brazil! The next update will most probably be from Brazil. Hope you enjoyed the read. Take it easy and have fun everyone!Darryl
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