I may have had a swollen eye but thanks to the Ibuprofen I was feeling much better in myself. It was only twenty minutes' drive to the Bolivia / Peru border and getting our passport stamps was relatively straight forward. They didn't even check any of our baggage, another border crossing where you could smuggle anything across in fact if you wanted to you could walk from Bolivia to Peru or vice a versa with no problem whatsoever without getting any passport stamp it as incredibly lax. We switched tour guides after that we said goodbye to Sayid and said hello to Elmer who would take us the rest of the way to Cusco. First up though was a stop in Puno where we would visit some floating islands on Lake Titicaca. Earl and I decided to join the English couple on going on a local tour we reasoned that the money would go straight to the people and not the tour guide and we would also get it cheaper than the tour was offering. The fact that it wasn't in English was not a problem. The floating island was nothing what I expected the island just been folded over reeds, some footsteps you took even felt like you might fall into the 2400 meter deep lake with the trout. The tour was interesting the highlight was the traditional boat we went on and was rowed by two Peruvian Chilotas, the downside however these beefcake women were demanding money off us after the short trip, unfortunately we hadn't been able to use an ATM or change our Bolivians so we were unable to give them anything making them slightly angry. Elder had gave us the time of 5.45 to meet back at the bus and we thought we had turned up late thanks to two guys ordering food at one of the floating island restaurants and eating this casually holding the whole trip up. However, it appeared we were early thanks to the fact that we did not realise we had gone into a different tie zone. So we waited for the other tour group to get back and then headed to a restaurant for some food - A very respectful 15 Peruvians for a three course meal which I chose Guacamole tequaqitas (excuse the spelling) the alpaca with mash which was delicious and then rounded this off with a slice of chocolate cake. By the end I was stuffed and feeling like the meds were about to wear off so when Elmer offered us the chance to play pool downstairs I wasn't too enthusiastic, although I did take a 2-0 victory over Earl and a 1-0 victory over Elmer despite being heavily bogged down by illness. It was 10pm when we set off for Cusco, I thought I would fall asleep straight away, instead I had one of the worse night's sleep of the trip tossing and turning, not being able to get comfy, I wold have killed for some vallium. It appeared the sickness bug was catching too as the Dutch girl managed to chunder down the stairs leading to the toilet creating a nice aroma around the bus. We arrived in Cusco at 6.30am, far too early if you ask me. But luckily we were able to check into the Loki hostel and get a bed straight away. Brilliant! So I took myself straight to bed and didn't awake again until mid-afternoon. I already decided that today I wold just rest and hopefully get myself back on the mend. A plan which went well, once I was up showered and refreshed I went to the bar and got a fresh orange juice and a cracking full English, I updated my blogs, and replied to messages I was meant to about a week ago, it was very productive so I rewarded myself with a little siesta which would hopefully keep me fresh for the nights antics, as the Loki hostel looked like a pretty party hostel. Well it wasn't much of a siesta as I decided to watch the film A Million Ways to Die in the West which was pretty decent. We then decided to book our Machu Pichu trip a two day event which would see us travel to a new town to the first time by train. Then I treated myself to a Lasagne in the hostel, after this and being joined by Earl I once again started to feel ill so I took myself for a lie down, the next thing I know it was the next morning and I had missed a pretty decent night out where Earl partied with the people from our bus in a bar called temple bar leaving me pretty gutted.

I didn't want to miss the next party and feel better so I took myself to the pharmacy to get some more Ibuprofen which would hopefully sort me out, a trip to the supermarket to get some fruit and juice followed and I also researched the Peruvian League and found that there would be a game in Cusco the day after we returned to Cusco. A plan was forming and I was feeling the best I had done in ages but maybe this was just the Ibuprofen working its magic. The next port of call of the day was doing the free walking tour which the Loki hostel provides. The tour was decent we got to see impressive views, find out about the town's history and visit San Pedro market where we got some delicious and very cheap food - the food consisted of rice, sausage, egg, veggies and chips all for only 3.50 Peruvian Solas. After the tour had ended we headed back to the bar at Loki where all the members of a tour got a free Pisco Sour. Pisco Sour is a very traditional South American drink. The drink's name comes from Pisco, which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term sour, in reference to sour citrus juice and sweetener components. Allegedly according to Peruvians Chile claim to have invented Pisco and even named a town after the liquor but Peruvians claim it is theirs and theirs is the best and a quick Wikipedia search seems to confirm this. With Earl sorting his washing out at the nearby laundrette I was left to enjoy my cocktail with a girl from Northampton called Bryony who had not been in Cusco all too long. She was a nice girl and we chatted travel plans, what she did back in Northampton all the usual bull-s*** but then I had to go as I had a briefing for our Machu Picchu trip the next day. It took forever for our briefing to start there was so many different trips happening Machu Picchu multi-sport, Machu Picchu by bus for one, for two days, Machu Picchu with the sacred valley and finally last but by no means least us Machu Picchu by train for two days. We just go told the usual information pick-up times -a very respectable 9.15am, what to take and all that sort of jazz. With that all sorted and our bags ready for the off we decided to venture into town for some dinner. A Peruvian PR sold us quite the swanky restaurant with its 18 Peruvian Solas three course tourist menu. As the Peruvian PR said it was like a Christmas present. The food was ok; I had Potatoes in hot sauce to start, trout for man and ice cream for dessert. It was nothing on the three course feast we had in Puno but it was still decent enough and you can't grumble for just about four quid. With our food and free homemade lemonade polished off we made our way back to the hostel, it was karaoke night at the bar and everyone was in high spirits. With us being up early next day for a tour we decided to sneak away for an early night and feel fresh for our tour and our way out we ran into a bloke called Sam, from Leeds who we had met at Route 36 in La Paz, Bolivia. He tried to get us to stay out and even told us of another bar in Cusco which is like Route 36 but better - according to Sam but we were having none of it and off we went to our beds to be bright and breezy for adventure to Machu Picchu the next day.

So until next time stay safe and take care

Adi

xx