On Fri 26th Jo flew home whilst I flew up to tarapoto in the north of peru to see Rachel from uni who is working up there as part of bristish council. Rach and Chelo her Peruvian boyfriend were there to meet me and we got back to her place on her lil motorbike! So I arrived pretty late so after a quick catch up I fell straight to sleep. Her flat is cute but it didn't have any glass in the windows as it's not needed so it lets loads of cool air in all the time which is so needed as it's jungle area so v v hot!! Next day we went to a waterfall and had a nice swim in the freezing cold water but after you get in it was ok but so so cold!! Refreshing though!! At the waterfall a guy from Lima insisted on having his photo taken with Rach even though she didn't know him then later on at the restaurant next to the falls he sat with us and gave us his business card in Lima - such a weird guy - and his mum kept on saying oh no tiene novia which means he has no girlfriend and we were like yeah we can see why!! That night we went to a dance show that the uni was putting on as some of Rach's students were doing dances in it. It was really cool to see as all the students even the guys were really into their dances something you would never see in a British uni so it made a nice change. After that we headed out in a motorcar to the baby shower of a couple that Rachel knew. Now this baby shower was one of the most funniest and weirdest things I've ever seen in my life. They dressed the dad to be (a teacher at the uni where rachel teaches) in a nappy, bib and bonnet then they did loads of games. The hostess did some singing and made people give speeches on the fact that they are having a baby. Then there were games which we joined in on and had a free drink and some food - so not too bad at all! The present giving is anonymous which we thought just encourages people to give a s***ty present! So we left the shower then headed to the pub called "stonewasi" where I had a couple of vodkas before calling it a night. On Sunday we went to the market stall area where we had some beakfast juice and a sandwich all for about 60p!! Then we went to parrilada bbq thing to raise money to restore some old urns they found in Chelo's home town. So I met loads of people and had some beer with some locals - they had some cultural dances on and some people gave speeches - it was so hot that we came back for a siesta! The next few days Rachel was working so it meant I could go and visit some areas around or stay in town - now i took this opportunity of being able to do nothing and enjoyed reading my book whilst laying in her hammock! Went to see a band practice one night which Rach sings in which was cool to see even when the speaker front fell onto my head! Had some really nice meals out and on my last night we went to the pub again! The town of tarapoto is lovely - everyone is so friendly and welcoming so I can see why she likes it so much. But anyway, I left on wed night to head back to lima again!!! Had a really lovely time in Tarapoto it was nice to see a place that not many tourists get to visit and not to be in a hostel!! anyway, thats all from me for the moment! love nikki xx