Day 44 - We took a 6 hour bus to Bolivia (country # 37 and 36) and eventually got to Copacabana after an inconvenient parade at the border delayed us by an hour or two. We ate quickly at a rubbish restaurant and Mel got a burger to go as it took so long. She ate it a couple of hours later. Got the boat across lake Titicaca again. The boat had a reassuring sticker showing us it passed an inspection in 1999. After a few more hours driving we came to La Paz, along a high road which gives a great view of the city stretching across the valley below. We were staying at Eva Palace hotel and we went out for our last supper at ? Tried to go to a bar called Under Construction but it was smelly and empty so we chose against it. This marked the end of our 24 day intrepid tour. Overall we had a great time and packed in a lot. It was also very nice to have all the accommodation and travel booked for us and a guide to tell us what to do. We met some very nice people and learned an awful lot about the places we’d been. Time to start booking up accommodation again!

Day 45 - we went to the Witches Market and I’m not sure why it’s so popular really as it sells the same sort of tat that we’d seen everywhere else along our travels. Maybe we missed something! After our hectic tour we needed a relaxed day so we decided to go for a Mini bar crawl in Sopa Cochi down Av 20 Octubre. Started in a little cafe before moving on to an Irish bar, then back up to another bar for happy hour and a meal which took forever to come. We ended up at Diesel bar which looked quite good but was empty - not every night is Saturday night except for travellers! When we got back to the hotel it looked like it had been closed down - the shutters were down and the door was bordered up. Rather then trying to knock to see whether that was the case or not we decided to go for another drink back where we had dinner the previous night and some impressive Bolivian guitarists were the live music for the night. 

Day 43 - the next day we got up early (20 mins earlier than the rest of the group who were staying closer to the water, much to Mel’s displeasure) to get to the boat Taquille Island.  This is an island in Lake Titicaca which reminded me a lot of a typical Greek Island.  We had a very odd guide who impressed upon us his own beliefs of the inca culture. He took us to an ancient Inca site of worship high up on a hill and gave us a ‘Da Vinci code’ type of explanation for how pretty much everything in life stemmed from the Incas.  He drew the sign that represents Incas in the ground and explained in great detail exactly what each part of it meant. Unfortunately what he said all day made absolutely no sense but he seemed very satisfied with his own explanation – “Everything in life is ‘duality’ 1 - 2, sun - moon, square – circle” was pretty much the basis for his theory on how the Incas invented everything from the southern cross star formation to the Internet (probably). “Pacha mama… Pa – cha” he kept saying over and over again but it didn’t clear anything up for me.  After his he said that we should meditate for a while as the site was very important for Incan culture but all I could do was wonder how much money we’d actually spent to listen him spout a load of *#$&*.

Day 42 Continued

We then took the slow boat to our home stay area on the mainland in a town called Llancho. This is a very remote village made of sparsely located mud-brick houses right on the bank of lake Titicaca. Upon arrival we met up with some of the locals and were introduced to Matilda, our host for the night. We left the rest of the group in their home stays near the water and Matilda walked us to her house in silence. It was about 20 minutes up a steep hill (much to Mel’s displeasure) in land where we met her mum and her 3 very well-behaved children. We had our own comfortable mud-brick room and outside toilet, which Matilda showed us how to flush by pouring water down it. She served us some nice potato soup followed by a selection of boiled potatoes with fried cheese. Mel couldnt finish her potatoes so put one about the size of my fist in my bowl, not exactly what I needed after about 8 other potatoes. To make up for all the potatoes we’d eaten we then went and sowed some potato seeds in a small field. It was a bit of a token gesture and I don’t think we did a very good job of it but I guess we helped out a bit. Then we walked back down to the shore to do some fishing. In the absence of Mathilda’s husband, her 7 year old son accompanied us on the walk down. We laid some nets in the sea but I dont think they were going to catch any fish when they pulled them in the next day judging by the state of the net. I also got the feeling that Mathilda was no fisherwoman as we run aground when a small storm whipped up. Another token exercise really which probably was a waste of Mathilda’s time but the idea of giving back to the community seems to be right. Afterwards we played volley ball and most people were shown up by a 7 year old girl who probably could play for Peru if she was taller. Despite her abilities we recorded a 2-1 victory for the Gringos!
We went back to the mud house and Mathilda and her now present husband dressed us up in their best attire - green poncho and hat for me and an orange skirt, white blouse and hat for Mel. We had organised to cook dinner for the locals that night and Mel stepped up to take charge of cooking two pasta dishes for about 17 people. In this case I think it was a much better gesture and Mel’s food went down a storm. That night was clear and cold but the lake was lit by the moon and the stars and it looked amazing.

Day 42 - Norma told us our local limousines were waiting for us outside our hotels to take us to the boat terminal - the limousines turned out to be tuk-tuk style push bikes and Mel and I (and the cyclist of course) won the race that ensued. On the boat Sarah (who was with us on the Galapagos tour) was waiting for us to join back up with our tour to our surprise! We caught the slowest motor boat in Peru (I could have rowed there faster!) to Uros also known as Las Islas Flotillas. Loads of brightly dressed locals were standing on them waving us to come over. We docked at one about the size of the centre circle of a football pitch. We jumped off the boat and it moved so it really was a floating island! Pretty much everything was made from grassy reeds including the island itself and 6 or seven huts where people live. They even eat the reeds and they gave us a sample. I thought it was quite nice! The ‘president’ of the island ‘El Nestor’ gave us a comical demonstration using small figures of how the islands are built on floating roots of reeds and tied down to stop them floating away. The entire island needs to be replaced every 20 years or so and every couple of months they have to lay more reeds on top of the island to stop it sinking. Afterwards the locals showed us their homes and then brought out loads of tacky looking souvenirs that we had seen everywhere else in Peru and didn’t really want to buy but felt obliged to. They then took us for a brief ride in a big boat made from more reeds, round a couple of the islands before we left for our home-stay back on the mainland at Llancho. The floating islands were very different and it was interesting to see how people have been living their simple lives on them for generations. However when we visited it felt like they now depend on visits from tourists so much that they would probably look for another life on land if the tourism stopped. I guess there’s no shortage of tourists and probably won’t be for sometime so their livelihood is probably safe.

Day 40 - Free day in Cusco finally! Lie in plus checking emails, and uploading loads of photos of tortoises and stones on the hotel computer. Having spent 2 weeks listening to tour guides and taking photos we were quite happy to do nothing. That evening we met up with Norma again for dinner at Marcelo Batata (121 Palacios St, 2nd floor) . Mel had a really nice alpaca steak and I had mango and shrimp salad which was really nice as well. We would highly recommend this place as the food was great and the service fantastic. Afterwards we went salsa dancing and I was easily the best person in the club. Definitely.
Day 41 - we took a comfortable public bus (Tour Peru) to Puno - a scenic drive through endless yellow/brown plains and small villages high up in the Andes, in fact up to 4335 metres above sea level at one stop. We ran over a dog and after about 6 hours travelling we checked into the hotel and went to Colors (without the U) for an early dinner. It’s a very ‘gringo’ place but the food was decent and its safe to eat. We did an intrepid pub quiz to raise money for a local charity that evening. We won of course and shared the winning bottle of wine between us.

Day 39 - 4.30 am wake up call. We got up, packed again and after breakfast we boarded the bus to Aguascalientes, which is the closest town to the lost city of Machu Picchu. After half an hour of driving uphill we arrived at the entrance. There were scores of tourists all queueing up - apparently around 2500 people a day visit. All those people can take its toll on a 600 year old city so it’s easy to why the government are considering restricting the amount of visitors or even stopping it completely! The city is pretty amazing. Apparently it was abandoned when the Spanish arrived and left as a secret so that they wouldn’t destroy it, although no one’s really certain about that. What they do know though is that an American called Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1911 and Yale university later funded the restoration. Anyway it’s clear the Incas knew what to do with a few stones! Mel and I split up to see some different things but unfortunately she had my passport and bus ticket and after hiking up half way to the sun gate, came charging back to look for me. However I was looking at the Inca bridge, which is accessed by a narrow path along a cliff face with a sheer drop of around 500 metres in parts. After eventually finding Mel I later went all the way to the sun gate for a better view of the city, while she went off to the bridge from whence I came.
We came back to Aguascalientes for lunch in the hot springs restaurant and caught our train back to Ollayantambo - to get a bus back to Cusco. That night we went for an intrepid pub quiz, which we won!

More photos from the last day of the Inca Quarry trek

Day 38 - last day of trekking, headed back down to Ollayantambo. Weather was amazing and we were able to see for miles down into the valley to Ollayantambo all the way down. We stopped at one of the quarries and saw some tombs containing human bones and learned a lot about how the Incas built their towns. This was actually my favourite day’s trekking, partly because of the weather and partly because the views were incredible - when you’re going downhill you’re constantly looking at them. Got the train to Aguascalientes, which is the closest train station to Machu Picchu.  It was a really scenic train ride following the river through the valleys between the mountains. I fell asleep but what I saw looked nice. At Machu Picchu train station a large market selling all kinds of Peruvian souvenirs indicates the how many gringos visit this place. We checked into the creatively named hostel Machu Picchu, which overlooks the river. Shortly after we arrived the heavens opened and let down a torrential downpour so our plans to visit the hot springs changed slightly to drinking alcohol and playing cards at the hostel. We were glad at this point that we weren´t still trekking up to Machu Picchu!  A couple of hours layer we went for dinner two doors down with Wilbur and Norma. I ordered a large beer and got a litre bottle of Cusquena which was nice! Shortly after and a bit tipsy we hit the sack in preparation for tomorrow’s early start to see Machu Picchu.

Day 37 - woke up at 6 to a bright blue sky. A huge breakfast was laid on by the chefs but I think the altitude got to me a bit and I wasn’t hungry or thirsty really. We walked for around 4 hours uphill from 3500m to 4400m before stopping at a very scenic spot for some lunch. The porters and horsemen had overtaken us and set up a table with a great view of the valley below and served up a delicious, hot pumpkin soup with garlic bread. We then ploughed on to an altitude of 4450m and descended down to the next campsite, getting the ponchos out when the wind and rain battered us. The walking sticks we’d hired really came in useful here as the gravelly paths were quite slippery but the horsemen and chefs still overtook us even carrying all the equipment. We arrived at the campsite and not everything was set up so we all pitched in to help set up our accommodation for the night. It got quite cold that evening and still not feeling the best I had to pass on most of the food. Richard had carried a bottle of scotch and brought it out that night. He generously insisted that each one of our ‘entourage’ help themselves and they all necked a big helping in one, pouring a couple of drops on the ground for ‘mother earth’ to prevent the rain from getting us the next day. If only they’d done that the previous night!

More photos from day one of the Inca Quarry trek