Hi! I´m writing from Puno which is the town which is the port for Lake Titicaca. Now, I appear to have made the mistake of entering potentially the wrong choice of Internet cafe. I am surrounded by literally about 50 14 yr old boys playing games on the Internet. Very loudly I might add, and the smell is hideous, so apologies if I just give up and cut this blog short at any point. The fumes are pretty unpleasan and I am clutching my belongings for dear life.

Ok so I begin once again where I left off, and there is quite alot to fill in. I am also trying to upload some photos to accompany so it all makes a little more sense. So, Wednesday we took the over night bus from Nazca to Arequipa which wasn´t actually too bad. It was 9 hours in total, and I managed to sleep for a little bit of it. It was very bumpy at points, however, and in the pitch black darkness, I feared for my life at various moments. It definitely seemed like the double decker coach was going to topple over. It was on this bus that I sampled my first Inca Cola. A few of you had warned me about this toxic horrid stuff before I left, but I did not listen. You were right, however, it is VILE. I had to pass mine off. On this bus, I met a couple from London. The guy said he lived in Epsom, and it turns out he lives in Ashtead and went to school with Catharine, one of my best friend´s boyfriends. Crazy small world! Anyway, after about 8 hours, and at about 6am, we arrived in Arequipa. For lunch, I was offered Cuy, but once again I declined... it is Guniea Pig. Others had it though, the guys mainly, and they described it as pretty much skin and bone. I was horrified when it arrived, however, as it still had the claws and teeth in tact. Oh yes, and apparently the ears are the best part... eurgh. In the afternoon we set about exploring Arequipa, the so called ´White City which has a colonial feel to it. Oh yes I should also mention that it is the second biggest city in Peru, and 2335m above sea level. I cannot emphasise enough how much of a difference this altitude has made to all of our healths. We were instantly out of breath on many occasions, suffering constant headaches, and nose bleeds. It is pretty hideous actually, and I have been so drugged up the last few days. I have been at high altitude for nearly a week now, and only beginning to feel better. We are encouraged to drink lots of Coca tea to help, which is what the locals do. Alternatively you can get Coca flavoured sweets, cookies, etc. Or just eat the leaves like the locals do, we all tried this. Stuffing about 20 leaves into your mouth and chewing for 20 mins... horrid is all I can say. But it really does help, the Coca Leaves are the sacred leaves of the Inca civilisation for a reason then. I should probably mention that the reason it works is probably that is has about 0.021% cocaine in it. Anyway, so in the afternoon I went to visit the Museo de Santa Maria to see the famous Ice Maiden. This is a 15 yr old girl who lived 500 yrs ago who was found at the top of the Misti Volcano. As a result of the high altitude, she has been so well preserved! She was a sacrifical victim to the Gods by the Incas, and you can still see the details on her knuckles, skin and nails preserved. Amazing! The young children of the Inca civilisation were groomed for this role and willing to be sacrified to the gods on the mountain side. The Misti Volcano is dormant, and is stunning!

Thursday then, we began to go even higher and stocked up further on Coca products. By this point we were all guzzling Rehydration drinks such as Lucozade, Powerade and Gatorade which I would never up until this point touch! We had an early start, and soon began to spot vicunas, Ilamas and Alpacas. I have been told repeatedly the difference between them all but I still can´t remember. Anyway, many photos were taken. We were heading for Chivay, and the highest point we reached was 4800m above sea level. Insane! The only way I can describe the scenary at this altitude is that I was convinced I had been transported to the moon unaware. Throughout the mountains, there are pyramid shaped stones and rocks which are designed as offerings to the Gods. So we were encouraged to make our own towers out of rock and make a wish. This was done and photographed. We arrived at Chivay in time for lunch. It was a great looking buffet, and without realising it... I ate Alpaca. I assumed the meat in the stir fry was chicken... clearly not. I felt so bad! I had been gushing over them all day... and then I ate one. Awful. I also had the unfortunate experience of eating what I thought was a pepper stuffed with cheese. No... it was stuffed with lots and lots of chilli. Most of you will know how I cope with spicy things... I literally turned purple. People found this pretty amusing! We then went for a short hike to see some more views, and stopped off at some hot natural springs on the way back for some relaxing time. We then got an early night as we had to be up at 5am next morning to spot wild Condors in the Colca Canyon.

Friday was our trip to the Colca Canyon. This is bigger than the Grand Canyon, and has only been discovered, and open to the public in the last 30 yrs. It is amazing! We spotted wild Condors, which are part of the vulture family. We then went on another hike around the Canyon. We then set off again to a small village where we were to be staying with a local family. David and I were paired up with Gobercienda and her 4 children. We set about helping around the house and we all went down to the river and dug up potatos to cook on an earth fire. Oh I should also mention... and the photos do not lie.. We were dressed in traditional Colca dress. We all liooked interesting... For dinner we had Alpaca Stew. I was devestated once more as I could not refuse as it would be rude. So I had my stew and practiced my Spanish with the family. Gobercienda also tried unsuccessfully to get me to knit... it didn´t work. Conversation was pretty limited so set about showing the family home photographs and then I offered the two young boys my Ipod to listen to as they mentioned they like Michael Jackson. They were thrilled, and it was so worth it to see the looks on their faces and how excited they were by the music! There was an awful moment, however, when Gobercienda asked me how much it cost. I tried to bat away the question, but I had an awful moment here when I started to wonder whether I had done the right thing. I lay awake alot of the night thinking about it, and wondered whether it looked like I was showing off what they couldn´t afford etc and whether it would cause problems within the family, but I asked her in the morning and she said that they were just so happy. So, I decided that it was ok.

The following morning on Sat, we bid farewell to our families. Not before I had been served MORE alpaca for breakfast. This time with Rice and Potatoes... carb fest. We then set off for Puno City and looked forward to a shower and bed! I had a gorgeous dinner this first night in Puno. Trout and Kingfish from the Lake, my first real amaazing meal that hasn´t made me feel ill if I´m honest!

This brings me to Sunday, when we woke up early to set off on our excursion on Lake Titicaca. From the port it was a 3 hour boat ride to Taquile Island where we did a little more hiking and took photos of the fab view. Lake Titicaca is beautiful! Half is owned by Peru and the other by Bolivia. I was expecting, however, a little more wildlife. There are 5 types of fish in the lake and 2 birds. Apparently it is just too polluted which is really sad. We had another homestay last night. This time alot more basic, and a real eye opener. Grace and I were paired up and went to visit our families. They had various animals, and as I am v tired aftr lots of typing I shall let the photos explain. But basically, there were 6 wild cats in the kitchen, cockroaches and bugs in the bedroom, and we helped to prepare the dinner which was a mistake as we saw the maggots that were consuming the veg. We were then served this food, and forced ourselves to eat. We were taken fishing, and caught little sardine type fish which we had for breakfast ... so did the cats... Then we went to a traditional dance in traditional dress last night.

So finally... TODAY. Which is Monday. We woke this morning, keen to leave the homestay. Then went to visit the floating Islands on the lake which are just bizarre. So that brings me to here. Off to Cusco tomorrow to begin the Inca Trail. It is a 6 hour bus ride from here. We couldn´t get onto the traditional 4 day hike because of the landslides, so we are doing the hike in 3 days sped up. That means 9 hours a day of hiking instead of 6 or so. ARRRGGGH. Help!

Lots of love,

Em xxxxx