I have done lots of random things since I wrote last. Spent a good few days in stunning La Paz:

Caught a local wrestling match between Michaelangelo, the teenage mutant nija turtle, and some skeleton guy. One of the more surreal things I´ve seen on this trip:

Celebrated St Patrick´s Day:

Saw some Dinosaurs and their fossilised footprints, nerdy but very cool:

Experienced the infamous Bolivian roads:

aw some ancient rock paintings:

Experienced a rural hand operated bridge:

Made friends with some shoeshine boys:

Saw Easter march past:

Went down a silver mine:

The previous photos are a fly by account of the last 10 days in Bolivia. The country has a lack of good fast internet places (along with a lack of paved roads). I am now typing in my 10th country, Chile!!! which has both great internet and roads, so I´m catching up on the blog. I spent the last three days in a 4x4 jeep driving across the most spectactular scenery I have ever seen and that I could ever imagine seeing. For that, Bolivia has passed out Guatamala for being my favourite country.

May I introduce the Bolivian desert:

Salt Lake, dry: Salt lake, wet:Cactus island in the middle of a sea of white nothingness:Salt in front and salt behind:Salt house!!!Flamincos at the lunch stop:

My group and jeep:

The pink lake (with more flamincos). It gets really cold in the desert!

Another lake:

Salvidor Dali must have done the same trip as me?Gysers and bubbling earth:Hot springs at dawn:

Bolivian migration:

Bolivian - Chilian border!

xxx r Map updated ... with Chile

After Machu Piccu, I followed the Gringo/Lonely Planet trail and went to Puno, from where you can get a boat to the floating islands in Lake Titicaca. The islands are totally made of reeds, floating on the roots of reeds pulled up from the lake bed. They were made origionally to avoid the waring clans on the main land. Now they are pretty much just a tourist attraction, but 2000 people still live on them.
I´ll be wearing some green fluffy hair bonbons that I got from the ladies on St. Patrick´s Day (tomorrow!) After Puno it was on to Bolivia, 9th country! I crossed the border into my first Bolivian town called Copacabana (not the famous beach in Rio, Brazil... not yet :-)) and I was greeted by a beautiful sight... a shop with giant bags of popcorn and bottles of spirits!!!!
The road to La Paz gave me a glimpse of what the scenary will be like in Bolivia, and I´m excited!
Outskirts of La Paz, (Bolivia has 3 million Llamas)

La Paz, 3660 metres, highest city in the world (Carrantuohill 1038m, Dublin 68m at highest point!)


xxx r Map.. with Bolivia!!!

Georgie, Simon´s half sister, in her first Peruvian alpaca jumper:

Inca Trail

The first thing I{d like to say is how proud I am of my parents for doing this 4 day hike recently. It is not easy and nearly beat a lot of people much younger than them.

There are many ways to get to see the ruins of Machu Piccu, but this hike is the only one you need a permit and a guide for, and there is a limit of 500 people per day, including all porters and guides. The route we took was the origional path the royal and nobal Inca would take form Cusco, their capital, to Machu Piccu, one of their religious centres.

Day 1: The easy one.

At Kilometer 82. I{m not sure why it{s called that but it{s the start of the "Classic Inca Trail". In our group we had 3 Argentinians, 4 Canadians, 6 Americans (one of which was Canadian!!!) 2 English, and me. Plus two guides, 11 porters and one cook.

The trail ahead... and it{s sunny!!!

Me, in front of some ruins we passed. Camp one:Soup!!
Day 2: The hard one.

A porter. The real heros of the trip. They carry very heavy loads of our tents, dining tent, a whole kitchen and it{s contents, a chair for everyone, knives/forks/spoons/tea spoons/ big bowls/little bowls/cups for tea/cups for juice... so much more. And their bundles look awquard and uncomfortable. AND they run past us so as to havbe the tents up and food ready when we arrive to camp. Heros!

The highest point of the Inca Trail, the saddle between two peaks. This was the first time we started to mix with other grops as the pace slowed down to a crall. The altitude really gets the lungs burning!

Me at the highest I{ve been under my own steam. I was wearing shorts and t-shirt on the climb up but once you get to the top and stop, it was freezing!
Day 3: The long one.
Morning one day three. It had been raining and cloudy when we got to camp the evening before, so the view was incredible when we woke up.

Juan Carlos, one of our guides. Again, like the porters, he was great. Full of information, ready to answer any question we threw at him, always looking out for everyone in the gruop. Possibly the best guide I{ve had on my trip so far!

On top of another high pass: View from top:
And then it rained... a lot!
Inca Tunnel: Inca door lock:
And after 3 days... there was a pub! The people who got to camp early waited for the group in the bar, because it was dry inside... of course!
Day 4: The Machu Piccu one.

Wet morning on day 4, but I had beautiful orchids to keep my spirits up!

We finally arrived to the Sun Gate, and our first glimpse on Machu Piccu... only we couldn{t really see it! Everyone was trying to be positive, but I think we were all feeling a bit disappointed as we walked down into the ruins proper.

The start of one tour of the ruins. I could tell you the history, but I{d be here all day... just go yourself! (in the dry season!)
Starting to clear up.
It cleared enough for our first good view of Huayna Piccu, the mountain you see in all the postcard images:
The amazing masonary work:

After our tour, the sun had come out and dried up all the rain, and at last we had beautiful views of the site, surrounding mountains and valleys. Five of us decided to climb Huayna Piccu. At the top, you can see how Machu Piccu has been cleared put of the jungle.

At the top again, looking down at the road you can just drive up... but of course the reward wouldn{t have been so great!
A wild strawberry at the top too!
Last look at Machu Piccu, as the clouds started to roll back in.
Finish the day with a soak in the hotsprings in the bottom of the valley, before getting the train back to Cusco!
xxx r