12th - 14th October 2008: We arrive in Potosi at 5am and luckily the hostel let us in to watch tv until our rooms are ready. Potosi is a very pretty small city, crumbling at the edges but with it´s own charm. Cerro Rico mountain dominates the local landscape, it is the mountain that made Potosi rich with silver and other minerals - and why the Spanish wanted to keep Bolivia for so long! In the evening we watch a really good film called The Devil´s Miners, a...

10th - 12th October 2008: We leave Puno and head around Lake Titicaca towards Bolivia. The scenery is amazing and we stop for lunch in Copacabana before catching the ferry and another bus. La Paz (literally ´the peace´) is anything but peaceful, we arrive to hoardes of street sellers and crazy traffic. It´s the last night of our tour so we all head out for dinner and drinks, predictably we end up dancing and don´t get home until the small hours of the morn...

8th - 9th October 2008: This morning we head down to the Lake on bike taxis and catch our boat to the island of Taquile. We meet our guide Carlos and he gives us a quick lesson in Aymara, the local dialect. The scenery is stunning and once we get to Taquile we walk to the top for an even better view. On the way we stop for lunch with a local family, we hear about the hats the men wear which distinguish them as single or married, and the traditions surrounding ...

6th - 7th October 2008: Today we leave Cusco for Puno, a day ealier than planned because there is going to be a public transport strike tomorrow which affects our travel plans. Have a last wander round the streets of Cusco, Naledi and I decide to treat ourselves to something to remind us of the amazing time we had on the Inca Trail, so she gets a ring and I get a necklace, both with the southern cross symbol on them. Arrive into Puno late and collapse. This mo...

2nd - 5th October 2008 - THE INCA TRAIL!!! This morning we get picked up by our guide for the Inca Trail, Efrahin (Efra). We head off for the start point at km 82, have a family photograph and get our passports stamped before we start our first day of walking, which will be approximately 11km long. Luckily Efra is a great guide and reminds us to take it easy while being happy to let us set our own pace. We pass our first Inca ruins at Llactapata and luckily our t...