Goodbye Bolivia - Hello Peru!!!

After all the excitment of the jungle we thought we would spend a few days in La Paz recovering and reaclimatising ourselves back to altitude...but relaxing is not in our vocabulary so biking the 64km most dangerous road in Bolivia seemed a great thing to do. What a day, it was exhilirating and absolutely worth doing. The dangerous road is still open to traffic but there has just recently been a new road opened so not as many large trucks zip by you which is a relief! Most of it was downhill mountain biking and the majority is on a dirt road with many bumps and stones to negotiate...all part of the fun.

It was hard to leave La Paz as it was such an interesting city with tons to do. We couldnt leave without taking a local minibus up to the lookout so we could look back over the amazing city which is set in a huge basin, we have never seen anything like it. The photo doesnt do it justice but you get the idea.

After La Paz we headed up to Copacabana which is a gorgeous little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It was a perfect place to catch our breath (literally in altitude!). We went on a couple of walks, one around the outskirts of Copacabana and then the following day a trip to Isla Del Sol which looked like a greek island but the water was definitely not warm like the Medetteranian!! You can see the island from the mainland and we thought it would be a short boat ride there but honestly the engine on the boat didnt stagger past an idle and it took over 2 hours...it was like torture seeing the destination and crawling our way there no faster than a turtle stampeding through peanut butter. Well worth it of course, with ruins to see and photos with Alpacas to be taken...Chris was quite fond of spit roasting the little one for dinner. On our last morning in Copacabana we rented a motorbike so we could have a look around...was great fun but dont think the roads suit a cracked rib to be honest.

Copacabana was our last stop in Bolivia, we crossed the border in Peru and headed towards Puno so we could visit the floating reed islands. The islands are still on Lake Titicaca as the lake is HUGE but the port wasnt as picturesque as Copacana with green sludge greeting you. The floating islands themselves were fantastic, but VERY touristy unfortunately. Still worth the visit as it is amazing how they live on reeds compacted down so much that it is like being on land.

We are now in Cusco in a desperate attempt to relax for a few days before heading off on our 4 day Inca Trail trek. Chris is not feeling the best today so is recovering in bed, hopefully whatever he has disappears in time for the trek as he is supposed to be carrying our gear...hee hee. If he isnt good tomorrow I will have to visit a pharmacy as you can get ANYTHING here, it is just describing what you want which is the hardest part.

See you on the blog after the trek readers!!