So it was bye bye Peru and hello Bolivia. Its been a while since we had to undergo the fun experience that are land border crossings and we were bracing ourselves for the usual chaos and madness that this involves.

But when we arrived at the Peru/Bolivia border all was nice and quiet, a very pleasent experience and no border guards trying to con us out of money. A first for us!

So here we are in the lovely lake side town of Copacabana. Situated between nice green mountains on the shore of the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca. The famous beach with the same name in Brazil is named after this town, and this place is well known for its excellent Lake Titicaca trout which is very nice indeeeeed.

We are now living at our highest elevation so far. Now at just under 3900m which has taken its toll, mainly the strong sun which is increadibly harsh at this altitude. You get burnt very quickly here.

We arrived at our new hostel and it was a surprise. A lovely complex of beautiful white mediterranean buildings arranged around leafy courtyards and gardens with hammocks and children play areas overlooking the lake. Our room is more like an apartment with nice dining area and lovely balcony for great lake views. Also the hostel has a resident dog and three tiny kittens which are great fun.

Once settled in we headed off to explore the town and climbed up the two mountains either side. One that is a religous pilgrimage and was surprising steep but great views (the photo is from the top of this mountain) The other we were told contained a pre-inca observatory but after a good hour of scrambling up the mountain in the baking heat we found nothing, but the view was nice!

Inline with our South America experience thus far we have been struck down with more illnesses. This time Dave paid the price for having a pork dinner on the beachfront and ended up with food posioning. So a fun long night of throwing up commenced and a further day of lying around in bed which meant delaying our planned trip to the local islands. Hopefully we can still fit that in before we head off to La Paz on Tuesday.

Some more positive news, it is very hot and sunny here, lots of birds singing and very laid back and peaceful. Not a bad place to be ill really!

So we are here for a few more days (illness permitting) and then off to La Paz for a few days before heading south to spend Christmas in the university town of Sucre.

It is hard to believe that it is a week before Christmas as it is so sunny and hot, the cold English winter seems a long way from here!