I got up and walked down to Trottomundos Cafe on the Plaza de Armas. I chatted with Milu for a few hours, we had a greasy breakfast to soak up the alcohol from the night before. Milu chatted to me the whole time in Spanish (as she hates speaking English) which was good but really tiring. She told me she is directly related to one of the conquistadors who pillaged Cusco which she found traumatic as she loves the Incan culture and has to tell her students about the awful deeds Gamboa did (her surname is Gamboa). We then walked around the city in the sunshine and had lunch in a chicken restaurant. It was great, I was given half a chicken marinated in some tasty sauce. Milu talked to me relentlessly about reincarnation etc in Spanish as she's into all that and I found that really tiring(as in almost about to fall asleep). We walked into some shops and Milu saw a silver Incan cross, she bought it and told me to put it on my chain next to my Celtic cross. It was a really thoughtful and kind gesture. I said farewell to Milu and then walked back to my hostel and had a power nap. I then bought some food for my bus ride and jumped in a taxi to the bus terminal. I made my way through the congested bus terminal to the Pony Express (that's my bus company) counter. I got my ticket stamped and waited with a Swedish girl called Beata from Lund. She's going to Copacabana too. A Chinese guy came over and introduced himself. He doesn't know any Spanish and was hoping we could buy his hotel in Puno for him. Both myself and Beata obliged and bought him his ticket. He's the first Chinese tourist I've met in South America. Before we could enter the platform area we had to get a sticker put on our ticket which gave us entry and cost 1 sol. The bureacracy here is ridiculous. We waited at the cold outside platform and around 10pm our bus showed up. It looked really good; comfortable, modern and even luxurious. It was none of these descriptions, inside it was cold, uncomfortable and definitely not luxurious! I sat in my "panoramic" seat at the front on the second deck. The bus was meant to leave at 10.15pm but we sat for 45 minutes and then left Cusco...I'm getting used to the South American way of things but it's still frustrating! We finally left Cusco through the horrible suburbs (the Cusco no tourist ever gets to see). It was awful; stray dogs, derelict buildings and rotting refuse by the side of the road. It's a shocking contrast to the beautiful colonial architecture, cobbled streets and impressive plazas. Our bus picked up some randoms from a squalid village and we continued on through the dark Andean mountains. I drank my water and ate my Milky Way bar (which is actually a Mars bar here). The windows of the bus firstly steamed up with condensation and then froze into ice. It was so...cold! I was not prepared for the sub zero temperatures and sat shaking, I couldn't feel my feet. The Bolivian next to me started talking to me and offered me some of his alpaca blanket to put over my legs. We got chatting and he told me his name was Homer (like Los Simpsons) and he lives in Cochabamba(the place I'm going to continue studying Spanish at). We chatted for hours and it helped us forget how cold we were. I got to try out my Spanish swear words: "me cago de frio". We eventually fell asleep around 5am. Our bus reached Puno at 7am and I stumbled out into the sunshine, pretty dazed. Homer gave me his number and scribbled it on my bus ticket if I wanted to hang out with Bolivians in Cochabamba. I entered the bus terminal with Beata and 2 Norwegians. We waited on our next bus to Copacabana and I handed over my bus ticket which was stamped and duly put away. I realised later that was the ticket with Homer's number..oh well. Puno is ugly with few redeeming features other than the fantastic location on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Ok it's that time: BEST BITS Getting really drunk in Mamma Africa's nightclub getting down to Reggaeton! Exploring the beautiful city of Cusco, walking through the pretty plazas and cobbled alleys. Learning Spanish at the fun San Blas school with my two teachers Adriana and Carla. Completing the Inca Trail with my dad and "Team Ireland" (ok we never did the Sun Gate) after a gruelling 3 days and then actually walking around Machu Picchu (didn't feel real). Hanging out with Peruvian girls Vanessa, Milagro and Milu. Staying at the sister's house in the countryside. Chilling out in Muse Cafe sipping mochas and banana smoothies while listening to great mus-ic! The 80's party at Loki Hostel! Buying cheap CDs and DVDs in the Molino market. The friendly nature of the Peruvian people. My generalesque moment booking myself into a luxury hotel! WORST BITS Feeling the effects of the altitude; headaches and general malaise. Constant harrassment from streetkids to buy f%cking finger puppets and postcards.