Another early start, as we left La Paz at 7am. Breakfast was supposed to start at 6am, but when we got there, there was only one very sleepy Bolivian guy setting out the buffet, one item at a time, so there was cereal, but no spoons, or milk. Then there were coffee cups, but no coffee. ..... Oh well, never mind, the view from the dining room, on the top floor, had a wonderful view of the city rooftops, El Alto, and the snow capped peak of Ilimani, Bolivia's highest mountain (6,600m ) beyond.
We headed for the border with Peru, and took a guide with us, as we had a stop off en route. We went to a place called Tiwanaku,  the site of an incredible pre-Inca settlement. The culture lasted for 3,000 years, until the Spanish arrived, and tried to destroy it all. What remains, was buried by local people, in an attempt to preserve this very important piece of their history. The excavations only began in  the 1930's, and because of the lack of overseas investment, has progressed VERY slowly. 
We saw some incredibly detailed carvings and sculptures, beautifully decorated  pots  and bowls, a temple with gigantic stone megaphones, (just massive blocks of stone with a hole in the middle), which work REALLY well, and an enormous portico carved with images representing the seasons , the solstices and the equinoxes. It is thought that the Incas may have been descendants of the Tiwanaku people. 
We had our usual roadside picnic lunch there, after the visit, which was very tranquil, with the usual assortment of dogs, cattle and sheep milling around - including newborn lambs, which is very strange, as its the equivalent of November here! Then suddenly the peace was shattered by the arrival of a very slow moving convoy of about 50 small mini -bus public taxis, all honking their horns and churning up great clouds of dust. It took ages for them all to file past, and for the noise and dust to settle, and we hadn't got a clue what it was all about! The guide said he thought it might be a protest of some sort - they do have lots of protests in Bolivia.
 We set off again, and soon reached the shores of Lake Titicaca, as the lake forms the border between Bolivia and Peru. The vast expanse of water looked beautiful, sparkling in the sunlight, and we all felt quite overwhelmed by it, after weeks of looking at dry and dusty landscapes. Understandably, the land is much more fertile in this area, and we saw lots of people out working in their fields, cutting hay and corn, and digging potatoes.
There were also many more animals, especially Llamas, sheep, pigs and donkeys. The last three were all tethered, and some of them (probably the most persistent escapees), had their legs hobbled as well. 
We eventually reached the border, and this was our fastest ever border crossing, only about 40 minutes for all of us and the truck, and we were in Peru! It was our 6th border crossing since reaching South America, and now we only have Peru / Ecuador left, and that will be by air.
Lake Titicaca is incredible. Not only is it the world's highest navigable lake, at 3,800m, but it is over 2km deep in places, and covers an area of 8,500km sq. It has obvious waves, lapping the shore line, but no inlet or outlet to any river. There are now only 4 kinds of native fish, all the rest were eaten by Brown Trout, introduced from Canada, because some bright spark thought it would be a good idea! Consequently Trout is a popular dish in Copacabana, on the Bolivian side, and Puno, on the Peruvian side of the lake.
It was immediately apparent once we set off for Puno, that Peruvians seem quite happy with tourists driving along in a highly conspicuous yellow monster truck, and we got lots of cheery waves. This contrasted with Bolivia, where on the whole most people didn't take much notice of us, or if they did, it was just to stare.  As we drove out into the countryside, the first thing I noticed was that all the little fields were enclosed by exactly the same style of dry-stone walls that they have in Co. Galway! Looking at those walls, the sparkling waters of the lake, and the mountainous landscape on the other side of the water, it reminded me so much of Galway Bay. When we stopped at a service station though, where there were hens pecking around, and two spotty pigs tethered to rocks in a small roadside ditch, I was quickly reminded that we were in Peru!
When we eventually got to Puno, we both felt a bit travel weary, so decided not to go for the group meal. We went instead to a little pizza restaurant around the corner from our hotel, where they cooked really nice pizzas in a wood burning oven.  The food and service were great, and the only thing that was a bit corny was the name of the place....'Machu Pizza'! Just a reminder that we'll be there in about a week's time. Tomorrow we go out on the lake to visit some islands and have a home stay with an island family, so better get some sleep tonight! ...........Goodnight.