Goodbye Peru, hello Bolivia

We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
Can you still recall the time we tried
To break on through to the other side
Break On Through by The Doors

Hello from Bolivia

A week has past since I last wrote, we said goodbye to Craig, had a cracking couple of nights out in Cusco, visited floating islands on Lake Titicaca and crossed the border into Bolivia, our 16th country.

Wednesday April 2nd
We started the day with a fry up at The Real McCoy pub and then Craig and I went to watch the Arsenal 1 v 1 Liverpool game. It was a good game with both teams really up for it. After relaxing afternoon we went to the Hierasbuenos Bar for a few beers and a Connect 4 tournament before heading to the Pacha Paca restaurant at 8pm. We had pre-ordered Guinea Pig the night before and we were determined to try what is a delicacy in Peru, despite the fact my sister would not approve as she had 2 Guinea Pigs when she was younger.

The Guinea Pig was tasty, but it was pretty hard to eat, there was not a lot of meat and you had to use your fingers. Still, we enjoyed it and we went back to Hierasbuenos for a few more beers and games of Connect 4 before heading to bed at 11pm.

Thursday April 3rd
We had booked to go on a Sacred Valley tour with www.ecotrekperu.com the company that we booked our Inca Trail hike through. The company is run by a Scottish girl called Fiona Cameron and her Peruvian boyfriend David. Fiona is the sister of Lynn{s hairdresser back in Glasgow, small world!

David met us at 7am and we drove out of Cusco to the twon of Chinchero. We then headed to Ollantaytambo to visit a fantastic Inca site nestled on the hill. After that we visited a traditional Peruvian house complete with Guinea Pigs running around the floor. After lunch we visited a site in Pisac. The site was huge and we spent a good hour wandering around while David explained the history and beliefs of the Incas.

After a small snooze when we got back to Cusco we met David and Fiona in Los Perros for some food and beer, before heading to a club called Uptown to meet Chris, our fellow Inca Trail hiker. The music was blasting and there were a few people dancing, incredibly well, samba style. The music changed to pop and rock with crowd favourites including Queens I Want To Break Free and Aerosmiths Walk This Way. At one point Craig and I got up on stage to dance but I cant remember what song was being played! Lynn and I left at 1.30am and Craig rolled in at 3am.

Friday April 4th
We ended up back in The Real McCoy for another slap up breakfast to ease our sore heads. The afternoon was spent sorting out stuff to send home - rugs, material for curtains, hats, socks, etc etc.

At night we had a few beers and decided to go to the Cienciano v Sport Ancash game at the Estadio Garcilazode la Vega. Craig and I had bought football tops and were interviewed in our appalling Spanish live on TV. We kissed the badges and shouted for Cusco as we had forgotten the name of the team! We then stopped off in a dodgy wee bar next to the stadium for a beer and saw a guy being bottled by one of his friends! We left shortly after! For only 20 soles we had seats in the directors box! The game wasnt the best and finished 3-1 to Cusco.

We got a cab back into town and headed to a funky little club called 7 Angelitos that was advertising a live funk band. The band were excellent and we bumped into a Scottish guy called Barry and his girlfriend Sonia from NZ. The drinks flowed and we danced to the music. I left at 3.30am, determined to get some sleep before our 8.30am bus to Puno the next day, leaving Craig and Lynn still partying hard.

Saturday April 5th
I woke at 7.30am to find that Lynn was still out! She had said that she was determined to party until the sun came up! Lynn and Craig bounced in at 7.50am. They had left the funk club to go to Mama Africas and from there had somehow found an illegal all hours drinking den/club. Trust Craig!

We somehow got our stuff together, checked out and caught a cab just after 8am. Craig had seemingly learned Spanish overnight and attempted a conversation with the driver about the previous nights football game. We jumped on the bus and crashed out, arriving in Puno at 3pm and checking into Hostel Don Julio.

We booked on a 2 day/1 night trip round Lake Titicaca and the floating islands for nly 60 soles each and then went for food. Craig and I had lovely cerviche - Kingfish and Trout while Lynn went for chicken and chips that came very nicely presented. We crashed out early after 2 late nights in Cusco.

Sunday April 6th
We got picked up for our tour at 7.45am, leaving our big bags at the hostel. We got on our boat and sailed for 30 minutes out to the floating islands. We stopped at one island called Jiska Chaulla and got to wander around and then sit down to have the history explained bu our guide. The islands are remarkable, made from reeds and supporting several communities. The islands have a life of around 15 years, but a new island takes around 3 years to build. Words cant really descrive them. Do a google search or check our flickr site when we update it.

We then sailed for 2.5 hours to Amanti Island, a natural island, where we were met by our community leader and found out that Craig, Lynn and I would be spending the night with him and his family! Allexandro, Sonia and their sons Fernando and Ronald. We had lunch in their humble aboad and then had an hours snooze before heading to the islands football pitch to meet the rest of our group.

The pitch was set on a hill with Lake Titicaca shining and shimmering in the background. Some local kids were playing so Craig and I enjoyed a kickabout with them for 20 minutes before we all started climbing the hill to watch the sunset.

The sunset was lovely and we climbed back down to go for dinner at our hosts before meeting up with the rest of our group later for a fiesta. Lynn was dressed in traditional clothes and Craig and I got ponchos for the occassion. We danced and had a beer for an hour or so and then collapsed into our beds at 10pm after a long day.

Monday April 7th
We got up for breakfast at 7am and then said goodbye to our hosts, leaving them a little tip, some colouring books and pencils for the kids. We sailed for an hour to another island called Tequile and climbed for 45 minutes to the main square. We were told about the history of the island and then wentto a restaurnt overlooking the Lake for lunch before beginning the journey back to the mainland.

At night we had cerviche and steak for dinner before wisely deciding on an early night as Craig was leaving to return to Scotland in the morning and he had a long journey ahead of him.

Tuesday April 8th
The alarm went off at 6am. Craig was getting taxi to the airport at 7am with a Canadian couple wemet on our tour and Lynn and I had a bus to Copacabana, across the border for 7.30am. It was great to spend two weeks with Craig, we had such a laugh and he is a top friend.

Our bus arrived in Copacabana at 11.30am after rather shambolic border crossing that involved us changing buses. We checked into the Colonial Inn Hostel and then headed down the street for some food. We opted for Piza to stisfy our hunger and soon wished we hadnt!

We got back to our nice room with views out to the lake and settled down to watch the 2nd leg of the Liverpool v Arsenal game on ESPN. It was a cracking game. I thought Arsenal were going through after equalising to make it 2-2 with 5 minutes to go, but Liverpool scored 2 late on to go through.

Shortly after the game Lynn was sick, then I was sick. This pattern continued for a few hours and we can only asusme it was the Pizza. This went on for a while until we collapsed exhaused.

Wednesday April 9th
We woke feeling weak after getting rid of everything in our system through one way or another. I will not go into details. We eventually ventured out at 1pm and had a light lunch before returning to the room for the Manchester United v Roma 2nd leg. Unfortunately ESPN was showing the Barca v Schalke game, so we snoozed and woke at the end to catch the United highlights, United winning 1-0 to go through to face Barca in the semis. Liverpool play Chelsea in the other semi. 2 mouthwatering games, with the prospect of United playing Liverpool in the final a real possibility. We had a light dinner at night, making sure our stomachs were back to normal before having an early night.

Thursday April 10th
We both feel a lot better and managed breakfast with no problems. We intend to have a lazy day to fully recuperate and decide whether to do an Isla del Sol tour tomorrow or just head to La Paz.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx