Goodbye Bolivia!

So we left la paz last week, and in all honesty I was quite glad to go as peeved minors havd started rioting and letting off dynamite everywhere. eek. we got the bus to Puno in Peru accross the border without any problems and stayed there 2 nights, where i met back up with Sarah. Its right on the edge of lake titicaca and we got a local boat from the docks to the islas flotanas, floating islands. they were amazing totally constructed from reeds, including houses, boats, and everything. there are 45 islands and even a school, church and hospital. the craftmanship with the reeds was amazing.

Next day we headed off to cusco. It was quite an exciting journey with many hot headed peruvians that kept flying off the handle and having arguements with the police over something or other. Cusco is very lovely, though quite touristy. theres lots of original inca architecture, as it was the inca capital as well as spanish grandeur. there are lots of other backpackers here and the nightlife is very fun.

over the weekend we went to the sacred valley. We took the bus to Pisac where we hiked up to the ince ruins. all the locals were laughing at us as we were the only ones that hiked (everyone else got a cab) and its really steep. plus the altitudes a killer, it doesnt bode well for the ince trail! it was great when we got to the top though! next we caught a bus to ollytatamba, one of the last stands of the inca rebeliion against the spanish. its such a lovely town - the sacred valley is spectacular, steep sided and much greener than other places in peru weve seen. we went up to those ruins too, and they were quite spectacular, plus part of the town preserves the original inca layout.

Now Im back in cusco, preparing for the 4 day hike up to machu picchu tommorow! I think its gonna be hard but really rewarding - theres lots of amazing sites on the way. fingers crossed for having a clear day when we arrive in machu picchu...

Bye

xxx