Proxima para; Peru

From one side of Lake Titicaca to the other, from Copacabana I crossed into Peru to the nothing-to-write-home-about town of Puno. Of more interest here than the town itself are the unique and unbelievable floating islands, still inhabitated by what looks to be the final generation of the Quecha speaking fisherman culture, now entirely reliant on tourism to survive. A trip to the islands is worth the feeling of exploitation however, just to see with your own eyes that the impossible sounding engineering actually works-everything in the village, even the 'land' upon which it's built is artfully constructed using the reeds at Lake Titicaca. But you wouldn't want to be in a hurry for the toilet, which is on a separate island a 10 minute boat trip away!!

The feeling of exploitation continued a little when a guy at the bus station messed me around with my bus to Cuzco, resulting in me paying money for services I didn't actually get (we were meant to stop at some interesting places along the way but my new ticket didn't include the entry costs because he switched my voucher for a ticket on his company instead of the one I booked!!). But it's funny how things work out, and I ended up meeting an Aussie girl who I spent the next week or so with in Cuzco where we had such a blast!! There are some places that attract hoards of backpackers and Cuzco +Loki hostel is definitely one of them! On a hill overlooking the beautiful city of Cuzco with it's Inka walls and terracotta rooves, the puffing climb up the hill to Loki was well worth it, and after about a week there I found myself seriously tempted to take up their offer requesting workers. I don't know if it was the people, the place or a maybe a bit of both but it was a really fun week-- not to mention the activities around Cuzco outside bar-hours!

From Cuzco stretches the Sacred Valley, right up to the pinnacle of Inka ruins-Machu Picchu of course. But before seeing the main event, it's nice to take in some of the lesser known places such as Sachsaywaman {'sexy woman' to the tourists!} and the churches around Cuzco which were built by the Spanish on sacred Inkan sites, but still contain elements of the Inkan constructions and beliefs cleverly incorporated by the slaves the Spanish used for their construction. But wandering around looking at ruins can get a bit dull after a while, so for a different view I decided to take to the air and signed up for paragliding with Linda. Let me tell you, I don't think there is a better way to see the Sacred Valley than sitting up there taking in the view of snow capped peaks rooted in a lush green valley dotted with towns and surrounded by ruins of ancient times past. It was totally chevre {cool}!!

So the anticipation was building to see Machu Picchu, and the talk at the hostel is all about "have you been? When are you going? What trek are you taking?". So it was time to get going, and the next day we were picked up at 7 to start the journey to the most impressive Inkan ruins around....