New York

From Cusco we got another freezing cold overnight bus to Puno, on the shores of lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. We arrived at about 5 am and were hassled by a guy offering accommodation in the town. We were too tired to argue and just went with it. The accommodation turned out to be nice and cheap which was a surprise. Unsurprisingly the guy who kindly took us there had his own motives......selling tours on the lake. At 5 am, having had no sleep and absolutely freezing, I wasn't in any mood to be going on an overpriced tour that started at 7am. The guy was very persistent, standing in the doorway, eventually we told him that he should come back later (meaning never). Jenny opted to wear all her clothes in bed to deal with the cold. Puno is so cold. Even more so seeing as I got fed up of my Nicaraguan hairdo and opted for an army issue one. Bad timing given the climate.

We got up the next afternoon and had a look around the town. It didn't really have very much to offer, other than tours on the lake. We decided to just go down to the port and get on a boat there, rather than taking an organised tour. We ended up waiting for about an hour on a rickety old boat until the captain, who was a pirate with one eye and a big scar on his face, had the requisite 7 people. Fortunately some more tourists pitched up, just before we were about to tell him to stuff it. We got underway, and set off onto the lake....very very slowly. Turns out the engine (outboard motor of sorts) was homemade by the pirate captain and consisted of a big mess of metal with a tube leading from it into a can of petrol on the boat with a pump that he squeezed by hand. When the engine died (which it did several times) the pirate would put his mouth over a piece of metal protruding from the engine and blow/suck into it, which made a gurgling sound which seemed to do the trick. All very strange, but we did only pay about 2 pounds so can't complain too much.

The purpose of the trip was to visit the Uros people, who live on floating islands on the lake. This was quite interesting. The islands are made entirely from reeds, as are the Uros houses and boats. You could feel the ground moving underneath, which was quite strange.

All in all we went to 3 of the islands and then returned to Puno, very slowly. We had been told that the Uros actually probably wouldn't still be living on the lake, were it not for tourism, and that was pretty clear form the fact that they spent most of their time whilst we were on the islands trying to sell stuff. We were even sceptical as to whether it was things they had made, as on one of the islands they seemed to be buying souvenirs to sell from a guy from the mainland. Or maybe I'm a bit cynical. Anyway, the tour was interesting all the same and the children running to get into any photos being taken,for a small price, were entertaining.

Lake Titicaca itself is pretty amazing as it's so so blue, and massive. It's full of trout, and I became a bit addicted to trout soup which only costs about a pound per cauldron. From Puno we headed further round the lake and accross the border into Bolivia. Crossing the border was relatively simple for a change. You feel the difference between Peru and Bolivia instantly......in the wallet. Bolivia is ridiculously cheap. It's great. It's also a very poor place though, and there are lots of children working, and begging which is not so great.

We ended up in a place called Copacabana on the shores of lake titicaca, and spent a few nights here. We met up with Moanie Peter and Sally and a few of their mates here and had a heavy night out with them which was fun, until the whole place closed at 12am, and huge packs of dogs came sniffing about us, as we were trying to sniff out some more drink. This Copacabana was very different to the one that Barry Manilow sang about. So so cold, and a bit of a dump, apart from the shore of the lake which was nice.

From Copa we got another bus to La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. This was an interesting experience. About half way there we had to get off the bus and get on a boat across a short stretch of the lake to the other side where we were reunited with our bus, which had travelled on its own boat across.

All very surreal. We made it safely to La Paz and have spent the last 4 days here.

La Paz is an interesting city. Really busy with street sellers. There are lots of Chola's, traditionally dressed woman, selling their goods on the pavements. We are staying in a hotel right next to the famous witches market which is a very strange place. It consists of the same Chola women with stalls, except they sell really weird and disgusting things in the name of magic/medicine.

Llama foetuses, bear claws, bird heads, dried baby llamas, dried frogs, stuffed armadillos and cats. All a bit creepy. Jenny is horrified by the Jaguar furs of which we have spotted a few, and she hasn't been shy about her disgust. I've told her to be careful though or she might end up a dried frog in one of their baskets.

Other than this we've just been wandering about, as there is plenty to see here. We have plucked up the courage to book ourselves on a mountain biking tour down the world's most dangerous road tomorrow. It is a 50km road descending from 5000m to 1100m lined by a cliff which has 500m sheer drops at some points. It has gained its reputation from the statistics which detail that 100 or so deaths occur on the road a year from cars etc plummeting over the edge. The road is a dirt track most of the way and can get as narrow as 10 feet at points. This would be ok were it not for the buses and trucks that still use the road. Going to take it very easy I think. After completing this we intend to head into the jungle to the amazon for a tour to catch some anacondas. All very exciting.....