Back to Lima for 5 days of R and R after our very busy time in Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. We went back to the bed and breakfast we had stayed at previously called "Tradiciones" in a suburb of Lima called Miraflores. Our host Angelo made us very welcome again and on the second day took us in his car to a very special seafood restaurant, serving traditional Peruvian food, owned by his son. Angelo ordered for us and the meal was superb. We also went out...

We arrived in Lima,Peru after getting glimpses of the snowcapped Andes on the flight from Panama. Our friends from Panama City, Martin and Heike decided to share our transport to our hostel. On the way the taxi ran out of petrol and Avan and Martin had to push it to a service station! Our accommodation was in a house (bed and breakfast style) and our host was a mine of information and suggestions for our time in Lima. Most importantly he frequently made us cocoa ...

 With great excitement we boarded our plane for Cuzco. We would be going from sea level in Lima to 3,326 metres above sea level. On arrival we rested for most of the afternoon (as we had been advised to do) and drank coca tea and mostly felt OK. Some people get very sick with altitude sickness symptoms of vomiting, headaches and vertigo. We could hear people vomiting from our hotel room!!. Cuzco means the "navel of the earth" and was the centre of the Inca Empi...

 From Cuzco we caught a bus to the city of Puno which is on the shores of Lake Titicaca. You may have learnt in geography at school that this lake is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3,820 metres. It is also the largest lake in South America and home to the unique Uros people who live on floating islands. On the bus trip from Cuzco to Puno we rose well above 4,000 metres. The day after arriving we took a full day boat trip from 7.00am to 6.00 pm on t...