It's all over

Well, we have now come to the end of our 21 day tour. In some ways it has felt like we have been on tour for ages and in other ways it has just flown - I guess it means more of my holidays have gone and I really want them to last forever.

As with the last few e-mails things have been busy. From Puno we did an overnight trip to Lake Titicaca - the highest navigable lake in the world. There are a number of islands on the lake and we visited one called Taquile Island, where traditionally the men sit and do all the knitting of hats, gloves etc and the women spin all the wool.

We then took our boat to the island of Amantani, where we stayed with a local family. It was a very interesting insight to their lives and it is the one time so far I really wished I had spoken more Spanish to try and communicate more, but with their bit of English and Spanish and my pathetic Spanish we managed a few conversations. As well as dining with the family, we also got dressed up in the local clothing - for girls 2 skirts, a colourful top and a belt like corset that made it very difficult to breathe while getting to the dance hall.

We are now in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, and the city is not really what I expected but it is certainly a very busy and thriving place – and luckily it’s very cheap so I have been doing a bit of shopping!!! We are here for another 4 days and will just chill out a bit before we head back to Santiago.

Take care & I will try and send an update from Santiago.

Keep on smiling!

Cathy

I survived the Inca Trail!

Well, after 4 days of the most physically challenging walk I’ve done I am still in one piece and I actually even enjoyed myself - though I am not going to tell my body this as it’s still quite sore!!!

The Inca Trail is one the steepest walks I’ve done. It’s either straight up small narrow steps, or it’s down them at the same pitch. Our most challenging day was the second when we walked to a pass called ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ at a height of around 4,200 meters above sea level. During the first part of the day, we were walking through some lovely surrounds – forests and trees with steams running through and I saw some humming birds in the wild as well. The second part of the day’s walk was just plain hard work! It was steep, dusty and the altitude made walking very hard - it was almost like you could only walk 2 steps and then you had to stop to catch your breath!

The third day was a long day – we covered 16 kilometres, but the walk was very scenic with a number of stops at Inca ruins. Again we were able to see some stunning surrounds with beautiful flowers, orchids, mosses and views. The entire time we were on the walk it felt as though we were on the top of the world, as we were near the top of the Andes with snow-capped mountains all around us. Needless to say it was bloody cold!

The highlight, of course, was yesterday morning when after rising at 3.30am we arrived at the sun gate over looking Machu Picchu. It had rained during the night and the valley was covered in fog, but by 8am it had all cleared away and we had the most stunning views of the ruins. Our guide gave us a 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu and then Coly and I still managed to spend another few hours walking around.

We are now in Puno - the jumping off point for lake Titicaca with an overnight stay at a local family’s home. I will let you all know about it when I get back…

Keep on smiling!

Cathy