Hello from La Paz! It´s been a while since my last journal entry and we´ve done so much! The girls went to Machu Picchu and I went quad biking with 4 crazy israelis (they seem to come out here after their service is completed) and an american called Walter. I started ok, if not a bit nervy, and then i took a corner too fast and lept off the road. I had images of the bike landing on me a la ozzy, but instead i just cut my leg. The reaction of the guide at the back was "nice", but after that I went a little slower! The roads were pretty cut up so if you hit a ditch then it wrestles the steering away from you so the whole thing was quite physical. We went for four hours, above Cuzco and playing around in these fields. The Israeli´s were crazy, jumping and going around on two wheels! All a bit much for me, but I got some great photos which will be coming soon!I spent that night with an aussie girl and a guy from Cumbria in a small and relatively expensive (for Peru) aussie bar. The night before I had gone out with two canadians and a brit and met lots of gap year volunteers and travellers. It was strange to see english people again, and even more strange because they were dressed like pirates and dancing on the bar! The day after quad biking charlie and becca came back from Machu Picchu and I went to Pisac market and to watch Cienciano vs Universitario. CC were knackered after beating boca and Universitario were still awful but they scored a flukey goal and so won it! That night we left for Arequipa, but there were no buses so we went to Puno instead.

We arrived early in the morning and booked on a tour of Lake Titicaca, we left at 9 with some argentinians, brits, americans and a Finish girl. We went to the URos, the islands built on floating reeds, and sailed on a reed boat. Then it was about three hours to the island we were staying on. Our host was Maria and her family, we ate traditional meals and slept in their house, it was cool, but they still treated us like guests which was a shame. In the afternoon we climbed a hill for a view of the lake. At the top it was 4,150metres above sea level and the view was stunning, we had a hot chocolate afterwards to warm up and this thing which was basically fried batter with honey all over it, it was perfect. The lake is the highest navigable water in the world and it is stunning, pure blue water and surrounded by hills and mountain ranges. It really does leave you breathless! The view from Amantania (not sure how you spell it) was definately the best one we got. That night, becca stayed in because she felt ill (i´d been suffering a bit from Montezuma´s revenge but was dosed up) and so charlie and I went dancing in the village. Our hosts dressed us up in traditional gear which for me was a poncho and hat, and for charlie was a black skirt, a white top with flower details and a black shawl, and we went and danced with a live band. It was great fun! The next day we visited another island called Taquile. Our guide gave us a talk about how wearing different clothes in different ways meant different things e.g. single and looking, angry, happy, busy. Afterwards we had lunch and took some amazing photos and then headed back to Puno.

That night we slept in Puno bus station because we missed the last bus back, it was kind of cold but a bit of dodgy rum later and we were out cold like tramps on the floor. A lady had leant us some blankets so we weren{t too cold! In the morning we took the bus to Copacabana and booked ourselves on the boat to Isla del Sol where we stayed the night in a small hostel for just over a pound. We had supper with some Canadians and just relaxed and enjoyed the stunning views of the Royal Mountain range. We also had our first warm shower in days! We were now in bolivia! The next morning we walked to some ruins. And in the afternoon took the boat back with a lovely American guy who had started talking to us because he´d seen Nelson. Incidentally Nelson attracted a fair bit of attention! We were offered his price in necklaces but we turned them down! Becca hates having him around but i´m getting a bit attached, he{s almost like an ice-breaker, people seem well-disposed towards us because of him! Anyway we arrived back in Copacabana and had an hour before our bus left. We were going on the dangerous "local bus" which was actually really tame, but we had some time to wait so I checked the football score. Guttingly we had lost. Fingers crossed we can get back into Uefa:( If not i´m blaming Steed! Anyway we caught the bus and arrived in La Paz at about half ten. We were dropped at the cemetery which is notorious for fake taxi drivers and police men. We managed to find one official radio taxi and caught the bus to the Adventure Brew Hostel (See website) where we met charlie who had gone on earlier. The hostel costs 40 a night which is about 3 pounds. We were in a dorm room, had amazing showers, free pancake breakfast and one free beer a night. But it was full with British and Irish people, and when we went for our beer they were all hammered, we{ve met people who{ve left because it was too drunken and british! I was pretty tired so went to bed. The next morning, the hostel kicked us out because they were booked up, but Charlie had her bed reserved so she´s still staying there. Becca and I moved to the Hostal Austria which is much more multi national. Only costs 2 pounds a night and we have our own room. Afterwards I went to play golf about 45 minutes outside of town on the highest golf course in the world. The place was stunning, perfectly kept and really beautiful against the backdrop of the mountains. I played like a dog, but my caddy Pablo helped a lot and I managed a par and a few close bogies by the end. That said I lost two of my three balls in the water on the second and had to make my third last the way round! The scariest whole was the 10th or 11th which was over a gorge, an actual gorge! I landed on the green but if you lost the ball it falls to a river tens of metres down. I got a lift back from a mother of this genius golfer girl who is thirteen and plays in incredibly prestigious tournaments. She invited us to a party tomorrow, so who knows we might go! Anyway I got back and Becca and I went shopping. We bought some food for supper and some rum which we shared around the hostel. Our meal was a bit of a disaster, we put three lemons in and the soy sauce tasted disgusting, so overall it was all a bit inedible. Then we sat around with three aussies, an israeli playing guitar, some german friends Becca and Charlie met at Machu Picchu and two dutch girls and a german girl who were travelling together. It was a really nice atmosphere, and we finally left at about half nine to go to an oxygen bar where I had spearmint oxygen and played playstation, it just made me ache a lot, not sure what the point was, but it was kind of fun. After that we went onto a small bar with live music, and then the german girl and I went back because we both weren´t feeling great. I think I need some time to sort out whatever it is that has been dogging me for the past few days. Anyway today we´re doing some washing and walking around La Paz. It´s all set in a valley so incredibly beautiful but very hard to walk up hills at this altitude! Right, till next time! Probably from back in Peru....