The day after we finished the Inca trail, we caught an overnight bus to Puno. We booked and paid a full cama bus (reclining seats, blankets, dinner, movies, bingo and karaoke (I'm not kidding about the karaoke)), but when we got on the bus at 10pm, it was to discover that we had been had, and it was only a semi-cama. Although the seats did recline slightly, it meant a cold and hungry night! We arrived in Puno at 5am the next morning and made our way to the port for a boat ride to the reed islands on Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is really beautiful - it is also the highest navigable lake in the world. We took a boat out to the reed islands, which are, yes, islands made entirely out of reeds. People used to live there, but it is mainly just a tourist attraction now. After seeing the first one, we had basically seen it all and caught up on some sleep at the rest of the stops (the reeds are really comfortable!). After a lot of engine trouble, we eventually made it back to Puno and caught a bus to Copacabana, which is 10km inside the Bolivian border. Although we knew we needed to get a visa (courtesy of the Green Mamba) at the border, we thought it was around $10, so got a nice surprise when they hit us with $40 each! What made it really fun was that when we got to Copacabana there were no ATM's and we literally did not have $1 between us. Luckily we caught the last money changer packing up her table in the street and she kindly cashed a travellers cheque at an extortionate rate, but at least it meant we could eat!
The next morning we caught a boat out to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), from where the first Inca's were supposed to have originated . We had just enough for our boat fare, but food for the day consisted of 3 banana's and a packet of biscuits - quite ironic when you are in one of the cheapest countries in the world and you cannot afford to eat! Anyway, we did a hike on the island which took a couple of hours. The scenery was beautiful, but although the day was sunny, we could definitely feel the effect of the altitude on the temperature!
All the travelers we have met along the way have been warning us that in Bolivia it is cold, rainy,and its not a question of if you will get sick from the food, its a question of when! We have been really lucky with the weather so far in Peru, every day has been warm, only the nights have been a little chilly. We probably had about 4 hours of rain in total the whole time we were in Peru, so we're a bit nervous about Bolivia!
Thank goodness there was a bank open on the Monday- it was one room with one employee, but guarded by 3 guards with huge shotguns. We spent about 5 minutes persuading them to actually let us in! Funnily enough, the only cash we could obtain was a cash advance on our credit cards..but at least we could afford to pay our hotel bill and get out of there!
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