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Hello from Puno!
We really hoped we might be in Bolivia by now seeing as we only have 3 weeks left but there seem to be road blocks and bus strikes left right and centre!
The bus from Cusco to Arequipa was a experience. The bus was tiny with no leg room, it was filled with dust from the road which made it hard to breathe as not all the windows closed and as it was a overnight bus it was soooo cold, there was ice on the windows, and after 3 hours of travelling all the men had to get off to walk across a bridge, quite scared Simon got off only to realise that it was because was not strong enough and very rickety i think i would have preferred to walk instead of stay on the bus! so all in all not the most enjoyable 12 hours of my life! Saying that we arrived at 6am at the hostal to find the other 7 of the group we were with hadnt arrived thinking they must be in another hostal we caught a couple of hours of sleep whe 3 hours later at about 10am they burst into our room. Their bus had taken 24 hours, they had been stuck in road blocks for 7 hours, had protesters put rocks under ther wheels and even one though their window where one of them was sitting. The bridge mentioned earlier had 2 massive holes burnt in to (apparently it had been fixed by the time we crossed it) and their root was blocked by 100s of people. We thought we had a bad journey but all i can say is i think we were lucky! After the journeys we all relaxed and speant a couple of days in Arequipa a really nice city, looked around the town and had some fun nights out!
A group of us decided to do the Colca Canyon trek by oursleves. Unfortionatly we lost a day as the buses left earlier than expected. When we did go we jumnped on a bus to Chivay, 3 hours from Arequipa. THere we stopeed off at the hot springs which were very nice (proably would have been even nicer at the other end of the trip). After lunch we then got on another bus to Cobanacondor. Which was soooooo packed wih locals noone could move and we didnt have a seat for most of it! Getting on the bus was a puch and shove task in itself as queing doesnt seem to exist here! We arrived in Cobanacondor at nightfall. Found a hotel and tryed to plan our route. The next morning we were up and waiting for a local bus at 6.30am which took us to the cruz del condor, after a hour or so of waiting there we saw some Condors. They were actually really cool, massive and so peaceful just gliding through the skiy. Wish i had a better camera. After a couple of hours of condor watching at the tourist hub we jumped back on the local bus to get to the entrance to the canyon. We started hiking about 10am, a bit later if you include waiting for Simon to back track to find his sunglasses. The trek was about 3 hours of downhill. Which sounds easy enough but was hard on the knees. We stayed at a very cheap but nice hostal at the bottom of the canyon and relaxed in the evening enjoying the rest of the sun before it disappeared (we could have kept walking and done the trip a day quicker but it was nice to take it easy and enjoy it.) The next day we were up earlyish to get brekkie and then another 3 hour walk to the Oasis. Which wasnt too hard a bit of up n down, through villages was nice. We arrived at the oasis for lunch, found accomodation which was a reed hut with a bed on stilts (which meant a very very cold night!!!) Had some lunch swam in the fresh water (which we drank with some purifcation tablets as water was soo expensive down there) and sunbathed and played cards. The last day was the hardest. We go up early as we wanted to get bakc for the 11am bus. The walk was said to be 4 hours straight up hill, although we managed it in 2 and a half it wasnt easy, and it was a great relief to get to the top, over 1 vertical km if walking up!. Got on the local bus, it stopped off in Chivay then onto Arequipa by about 6pm. The inital plan was to get straight on a bus to Puno that night, but to be honest we needed a good nights sleep.
The next morning we got on a bus to Puno hoping to get to Copacobana (Bolivia) in the smae day. Unfortioantly the bus left late and took longer so therefore by the time we arrived in Puno it was too late to carry on as the border would be closed. We woke up at 4.30 this morning to get the first collectivo to the border which is 2 1/2 hours away, but guess what starting today 3 days of strikes and no way into Bolivia especially today as there are road blocks... bad news seeing as we are now down to 3 weeks!! We went back to the hostal and decided although the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca is meant to be nicer we dont have time to go there so we will do it from Puno. Today we went on a tour to the floating islands and Isla Taquile. All was very touristy but still enjoyable. The Floating islands are cool in themselves beein made out of reeds, slightly odd to walk on, a but like mulch. ALthough the communites seem to thrive of tourism, selling their handicrafts and doing demonstrations, it was still interesting. Taquille a 2 hour more boat trip was nice too. We met some people who lived there the guide told us about the meaning of their costumes and they did a little dance which we joined in on (touristy again but OK) The men knitted some really cool hats and stuff but it was all quite expensive!
Back at the Hostal tonight going to try again to go to Bolivia tomorrow, hopefully straight to La Paz. I really hope we can get there.. time seems to be ticking away!!
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