Day 27 - Back to Copacabana and onto Puno, Peru

After a great breakfast overlooking Lake Titicaca we caught the ferry back to Copacabana where Brendan learnt a new card game from the Bolivian guys on the boat. We wandered around the streets of Copacabana, checked out the big old church, watched as locals got small figurines of cars, machinery, brides etc blessed in order to hopefully receive the full size versions in the coming year.

We jumped on our bus to Puno, a few hours later we hopped off and walked across the border to Peru and then hopped back on. A new currency now but nothing else much changed. After a little trouble finding our hostel we finally dropped our gear off and went for a wander through the streets of Puno. Most of the afternoon was spent in internet cafes and restaurants as the heavens opened up and bucketed down rain. "This is the dry season" locals kept telling us. It didn't matter as it gave us a chance to catch up on a few things and for Brendan to get excited at a set menu with free wine for dinner for all of about $6.

Day 28 - Puno to Cusco

We chose to make this leg of the journey on a tourist bus so we could check out some of the archaeological sites along the way. The bus left Puno at 8am and arrived into Cusco at around 5:30pm. We were in a bus that held up to 40 people, yet the grand total for the day was 6. The day was long but filled with some great places and some even better food.

At around mid morning, just when the stomach started to grumble a little, the tour guide and bus driver began explaining that one of the culinary delights of the region we were driving through was roast lamb and potatoes. "would you like to try some roast lamb and potatoes" he asked the 6 of us in the bus. Brendan and I looked at each other and without hesitation said "sure". Immediate images of home-made lamb roast with all the vegetable trimmings and gravy and then self saucing chocolate pudding for dessert came streaming into my head. We pulled over to the side of the road and all jumped out.We met a lady with a large clever knife and a smile. She opened up a very large bag that had a whole lamb, roasted, wrapped in brown paper inside. She hacked off some of its leg and placed it in a bag along with a few roast potatoes. For $5 Sol, about $2 Aussie we had our lamb in a bag. It was DELICIOUS! The meat was so tender and the potatoes were amazing. I asked how much for 2 more potatoes and she kindly gave them to me for free, awesome.There was no pudding to follow but the bus driver had not disappointed, we were content to now move onto the next pre Incan site.We explored places from 4000 b.c, Incan temples and visited the church that is considered the 'Sistine Chapel of the Americas' where we saw some beautiful colonial art. Another full day of history and culture and it was great.

We arrived into Cusco late in the afternoon with enough time to explore the beautiful main square at night. Stone churches and buildings with archways everywhere. People approach you with menus and drink offers, girls with vouchers for massages, men selling treks to anywhere and everywhere, water colour paintings thrust in your face and much more. We were in the heart of Cusco tourism.

We were excited to be in Cusco and have a few days in one place before heading out on our Salkatay trek in a few days time.