Hello People,

How are you? What a busy week we have had so far. On Monday we arrived in Puno in Peru which is situated on the shore of Lake Titicaca, which is the worlds highest commercially navigable lake situated at 3821 metres (thank you Andy for all you facts). On Tuesday we headed off on an excursion on Lake Titicaca. Our first stop was a community of islands made from reeds, the Uros Islands, it was totally fascinating (you will see some pics once uploaded), it was definately one of the most strangest things we have ever seen. The islands float, so if you dont like your neigbours you can move your island. They dont have any electricity but they do have solar panals so they have still TV and radio. We were then taken out on boat made completely from reeds, very clever people, for a tour of the different islands and we saw a cat which excited Gayle a lot.

We were then taken to Isla Amantani to be introduced to our Peruvian family for the evening. Rachel, Anne and I all shared the same family. We had a mama, a little sister age 8 and little brother age 5 who were both adorable. Our visit made us appreciate how lucky we are back home. Our family had no electricity so everything was done by candlelight, no shower or bath so the children washed in a small basin outside, an outside toilet in a wee shed in the middle of the field with no flush and a donkey outside, and the cooking was done over the fire. They have very little food supply, so for lunch we were given veggie soup followed by sqeaky cheese, potatoes and some kind of purple vegetable that tastes a little like parsnip. For dinner we got more veggie soup and rice and vegetables. So when we gave them our presents of apples, oranges, pasta and dried milk they were absolutley delighted. They do have a school on the island which delighted us both. In the evening we were dressed up by our Mama in traditional dress (check out the pics very funny) and we headed to the local hall on the island for some traditional dancing. It was a fantastic experience. In the morning our Mama waved us off as we headed back to Puno via Isla Taquile where we learned about the local Quechua community and enjoyed a lunch of fresh trout from the lake.

On Wednesday night we had a group meal out in Puno, I had steak and peppercorn sauce which was one of the best meals I have had so far and Rach had Mango chicken. After our meal we headed to a Rock and Reggie bar for some cocktails and we went on to a club afterwards for a bit of dancing, (Micheal the Peruvians dance moves aidn´t nothing on yours). They played the Proclaimers 500 miles, very bizzare!

Yesterday we said goodbye to Peru and headed to the Bolivian border. We arrived in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world at 3,636 metres in the afternoon. Our tour guide Jamie gave us a quick tour of the city but some of the group were finding it difficult to adjust to the altitude so we headed to Burger King for some met. La Paz seemed rather cosmopolitian at first, lots of smart business people walking around and then a man started to take a wee in front of us on the street, YUCK!!!

We are in La Paz until Sunday morning so we hope to explore the variety of markets tomorrow. Everything is dead cheap so far, which we are loving. We are in Bolivia for a week and should be in Argentina for Rach´s bday which she is most excited about already, there is talk of a fancy dress theme for her bday celebrations.

Thank you again for all your messages, we really do appreciate them a lot. I am also glad that you are enjoying the adventures of Blue Bear. I am about to attempt to upload some more pics for you guys but the computer is a little slow so fingers crossed.

Missing you, Love Gayle, Rach and Blue Bear!

x x x