It's been ages since I last wrote, we've now been in Peru for two weeks! On Tuesday 29th June we met our new leader Shiry in La Paz and the couple of girls who were joining us. First impressions were really bad, she was moody and didn't seem interested in getting to know us and going for dinner all together, so it meant we really didn't want Leon to leave us! We went and found him and went to a restaurant bar with him for dinner and drinks to say goodbye. It was a really fun evening and we learnt a bit of salsa but it was so sad saying goodbye, he'd been amazing!

On Wednesday 30th we got a bus to Peru, stopping at Copacabama on the edge of lake Titicaca on the way. We then drove to Puno after crossing the boarder and checked in to the hotel there. We wandered around the town which was quite nice and then Teresa, Chris, Jo, Joe, Tim and I went for a drink in the sun before meeting everyone else for dinner..Shiry came too. She seemed much happier today so she must have just had an off day, which was exaggerated compared to Leon's hyper self!

On Thursday 1st July we got up early and left for our day on lake Titicaca. It was so beautiful and serene, and really strange being at cloud level almost. It's the highest lake in the world! We stopped at an island and walked for 20 minutes uphill to the top of the island where the community's main square was. There were quite a few tourists there so it was busy and bustling. The men of the islnad make all the tapestries and the women make the alpaca hats, gloves, socks etc. They had lots of traditions which they still upheld. We had fresh trout for lunch, which was amazing, overlooking the lake and mountains and then walked down the other side to our boat. We were in the boat for another hour until we got to Amantani island where we stayed the night with the local families. Jo and I met our 'papa' David, and he took us back to his house where we met his wife Rebecca and their two children Brian who was 4 and Brenda who was 7 months old! David then took us up to the main meeting area of the island where everyone else was and we watched the local children play football and volleyball whilst drinking chocolate caliente y Bailey's! Chris, Joe and Tim walked up to the top of the island to watch the sunset and when they were back we found our mamas and papas and went back to their houses to have dinner. Jo and I helped Rebecca prepare some of the dinner and then played with the children for a bit. The little kitchen was a really small stone building with a stone stove in one corner but no chimney so it was so smokey. Rebecca made us potato and vegetable soup and then we had rice with a potato, pasta and vegetable mix...carb overload! It was really nice though, and we had coca tea afterwards. We felt really bad though as we sat at the table and they sat on little stools on the floor. They were o welcoming and friendly! After dinner Rebecca dressed us in their traditional dress and we went to their village hall and met the others. The local men were playing instruments and we all danced in our costumes and then went back by torch light to their house. The room we stayed in was quite big but very basic, they have people staying almost every night.

On the 2nd we were woken by Rebecca with a bowl of hot water to wash with and then she made us pancakes for breakfast with maple syrup, not what we were expecting at all! We said goodbye to them and David walked us down to the little port where we met the others and got on our boat back to Puno. On the way back we stopped at some floating markets which were made from reeds. It was a tourist thing though and they all say they live on the islands, but they actually live in Puno and go to the islands every day, so it was a bit of a farce. We had lunch there and then got back to Puno mid-afternoon. Teresa, Chris, Jo, Joe, Tim and I went for another drink in the sun before dinner which was really nice.

On Saturday 3rd we got a bus to Cusco which took 6 hours so we were on the bus for most of the day. Shiry lives in Cusco so once we'd checked in to the hotel she took us to a little cafe overlooking the main square for lunch. She then took us to a local market where alpaca things are really cheap so I bought some presents. We then sat in the little garden at the hotel for a while and played cards until we met for dinner. Shiry took us to a pizza restaurant which ended up making me ill! I was ill in the night and woke up on Sunday 4th still feeling ill so I didn't do that much. We went for dinner and I had chicken soup but still didn't feel great!

On Monday 5th we went to a little bakery for breakfast which made proper bakey bread! I went on skype and then we all went for lunch at a little place Shiry knew that did really good guinea pig aparently. I didn't order it but some people did and they said it wasn't very nice. Peruvians eat pretty much the whole thing, so Shiry was eating the brain ad bones which she said were really nice lol! We did a bit more shopping at the market and then went to an English pub in the evening for a pub quiz which was really good. Last Tuesday we had the day in Cusco, Teresa, Jo and I went to the Inca museum in the morning and then went back to the English pub for lunch. They did marmite on toast and apple crumble which was so nice! We had a meeting about the Inca trail before dinner and we all packed and got ready for it before dinner.

Last Wednesday we began our Inca trail adventure! We got a bus to Ollytaytambo stopping in a little community and the Sacred Valley on the way. The highlight of the little communtity was two llamas having sex for 20 minutes, it was really funny! The Sacred Valley was really beautiful, it's the beginning of the valley that leads to Machu Picchu. When we got to Ollytaytambo we went for lunch and watch Germany get knocked out of the world cup woo, and then went to explore some Inca ruins. They never finished building as the Spanish invaded and killed them all, it's actually really sad learning about it all.

On Thursday we got up really early and Jo, Joe, Teresa, Chris and I met the other 10 people that were to join us on the Inca trail. We got a bus to where the trail starts and met our guides, Manwell, Odillio and Neptally. The porters took all of our bags and packed all the food, tents etc. They each have to carry 30kg which is incredible, I seriously don't know how they managed it. They almost run ahead of you up steep hills etc and set everything up for when we all get there! The first day's walking wasn't too bad. It was such a sunny day so I got a bit of a tan but it made walking in it really hot! There were some steep parts but it was relatively flat as we followed the river all the way to our first campsite. We had lunch which was really nice and then spent the afternoon in the sun. We had tea time at 5pm and as it was someone's birthday, the cooks had made a huge cake which was amazing, I still don't know how they made it without an oven!! We had dinner at 7pm and then got a really early night in preparation for dead woman's pass!

Friday was definitely the hardest day! There were 4 sections to the trail that day. The first was ok, not too steep but the second was so hard. It was steep steps for and hour and a half, but we were following Neptally and he set a really good pace that meant we could do it. We stopped and had a good break and some chocolate and an energy drink and then started dead woman's pass. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. We climbed 1700metres in a few hours but the last part to get to the top of the pass was just so difficult. We walked at a slow and steady pace and I had to keep motivating myself to do it! It was amazing when we got to the top though, we were above the clouds and the view was incredible! We then had a 2 hour climb down the other side to the second campsite. As soon as we got there we washed in hot water and then had a nap and played cards before dinner. We were all so exhausted we had another early night!

On Saturday we had to get up early to start to 16km we had to walk tht day. After doing 24km in the previous 2 days,m it was really tiring! Chocolate and skittles kept us going though! We had a 2 hour climb up the next mountain and then an hour decent. We walked around some Inca ruins and then started the more gradual climb up the next mountain! The view was just incredble, we were in the middle of the Andes, at the beggining of the Andean jungle and so high that we were above the clouds! We had lunch at the top and then had a 2 and a half hour decent to the final camp. It was really hard on my knee so I found it quite difficult as it was steps the whole way and they were really uneven. We finally made it to the last camp, which was huge as it's where everyone stays before visiting Machu Picchu the next day. Some of us went for a drink at the restaurant there which overlooked Machu Picchu mountain! We had dinner and then got some sleep. We got up at 3.30am on Sunday so that the porters could pack everything and catch their train back. We waited until 5.30am when the trail to Machu Pichhu opened and walked for an hour and a half to the sun-gate and watched the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We were above the clouds so the view wasn't great but it was still so fantastic. We walked for an hour down until we reached the site of Machu Pichhu, took a lot of photos and then met Shiry to check out of the Inca trail. We then had a 2 hour tour around the Inca ruins which was really cool and we sat in the sun for a bit before going to get to bus to the town at the base of the mountain to meet everyone for lunch. We were just so exhausted but it was good to be able to see most of the world cup final! We got the train back to Cuzco which took 3 hours and all collapsed in bed when we got there! It was such an incredible thing to have done, and walking 40km over 3 mountains to get to Machu Picchu was definitely worth it in the end!

On Monday we went to another English run place in Cusco for breakfast and then got a flight to Arequipa at 2pm. We checked in to the 'haunted' hotel and then layed in the sun for a couple of hours before going to the hot springs. They were more like a collection of swimming pools but were 39 degrees so was amazing! We stayed in them for a couple of hours and had hot chocolate and then went for dinner. I was too scared to sleep in our room so Jo and I moved our matresses and slept in Joe and Tim's room. Joe throw a glass at the wall when we were falling asleep to scare me and they acted so well that I didn't know they'd done it. Tim and I ran to get Shiry and she's really scared of ghosts so she was then scared to stay in her room so she joined us in the boys room lol! Her taps turned on by themselves as well so she was crying, it was all very dramatic!

On Wednesday we went to the Colca canyon which was a bit of a let down but we saw some condor birds which are the biggest in the world! We drive back to Arequipa and went for a nice dinner. We had the day today around Arequipa so Shriry took Teresa, Chris, Jo, Tim and I to the shopping mall, we had lunch and then came back to sit on the rook terrace all afternoon and played some cards. We're bbqing this evenign before our night bus to Nazca! I can't believe there is only a week until we fly home. South America has been so so amazing, I'm really going to miss it! I'll write again when we get to Lima :)!