Hmm, Peru. We have mixed emotions about this place, some good (Machu Piccu trek and gorgeous views ), some frustrated (money grabbing Peruvians ) and some not so fun (Cheryl´s poorly stint in hospital ) let us explain.....

We crossed the border to Peru in the usual Liz and Cheryl style and with our last pennies (no bank until the next big town) caught a local bus to Puno. We love local buses because crammed in a small space with lots of indiginous folk you are so undeniably ´travelling´. In Puno the way to get around is on bikes with seats at the back, driven by scrawny, underfed men. We had to get from the bus station uphill to the town centre. Compared to the locals we are quite heavy and with our big backpacks even heavier. We were mortified clambering onto the back of that bike and watching that poor man suffer with every turn of the pedal but we had no choice, he even had to get off the bike and push at one point, we wanted to curl up and hide but unfortunately our embarrassing ordeal was not over. We had no money to pay him with so Cheryl stayed with the bike and the bags while Liz (bad delegation) went to look for a bank. Finding the bank was not a problem (she had been given helpful directions), getting back from the bank was another story! The bank was situated on crossroads and for Liz an option of 4 roads is never a good thing. A long while later, more embarrased than ever we finally paid the man (who now knows all English girls are retarded heffers) and left.

The real reason for visiting Puno (located on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca) was the floating islands made entirely of reeds. To get to these you catch a boat (obviously) so we headed to the quay with our breakfast. Narrowly escaping the ploys of some naughty, scheming Peruvian men attempting to charge us triple the actual price we got on a local boat and waited. To be fair it was very early in the morning (darned time differences always confusing things) and we had to wait for the boat to have 7 passengers before it left. They then changed the number to 8, then 9 etc....after 2 hours of waiting and 10 frustrated passengers yelling ´Vamos!´at the driver we finally set off. The floating islands are indeed made entirely of reeds, with reed chairs, houses, boats, lookouts, they feel like giant bouncy castles to walk on and people actually live there and go to school there but sadly now they are also one big tourist trap - good to see though.

Another bus trip (foiling the antics of the greedy ticket vendor - you have to be constantly on your guard with these people) we arrived in Cusco. This was very, very exciting. When planning South America the one thing we both wanted to do most was trek to the ancient ruins of Machu Piccu. We all know that organisation is not either of our fortes so we hadn´t booked the real Inca Trail months in advance as we were supposed to, instead we rocked up and weighed up our options. The 4 day Inca trail was out, we aren´t ´take a day trip in the train´ type people so the hard core 5 day trek via Salkantay Mountain it was. It was AMAZING!!!!

The first day we walked for 5 hours but it was warm, the distant views of the snow capped Salkantay peak were stunning, we were chatting to our new group of 11 fellow trekers, all getting to know eachother so the time passed quickly. We arrived at our first camp, a wooden hut in a field at the foot of the mountain where our porters were putting up our tents (on the comfy floor of rocks!). Amusingly, to one side, behind a wooden plank was a fully functioning, plumbed toilet! (disgusting though it was). The temperature dropped fast with the sunset so soon we were huddled together in the hut wearing absolutely everything we could find to consume the yumminess our smiling chef, Surgio had whipped up. That night was SOOO cold! Liz ended up chasing Cheryl across the tent in an attempt to huddle and keep warm, our friendship has to have some limits though and Liz was on the verge of crossing them! 

To be continued, the beach (no sun though) beckons......