Suzanne here... On the bus journey from Puno to Copacabana we finally started to get some idea of the scale of Lake Titicaca. The trip was about four and a half hours long, and still we followed the lakeshore. The border crossing was easy. Stamp out of Peru, short walk, stamp into Bolivia. There was a slightly dodgy moment when we were asked for a two boliviano or soles fee to enter the city. We'd used up all our soles and didn't yet have bolivianos. The fact they gave up easily when we told them this makes me wonder how official the fee is. Copacabana gave us a much more favorable first impression than Puno. Lake Titicaca looked stunning. This is what we'd expected in Puno, but there we'd been disapointed. Here was just what we'd ... read more

Suzanne here... More lovely scenery made the five hour journey from Cabanaconde pass quickly, and we saw loads of wild vicunas (much like llamas). However as we neared Ariquipa the landscape changed. Suddenly everything was more built-up and industrial. I could quite easily have fled back to Colca. We arrived at Terminal Terrestre, inconveniently out of town. But at least it meant we could buy our onward bus tickets to Puno. Once this was achieved we agreed a price of 10 soles with a taxi driver (the colectivos all looked rammed) and despite the terrible traffic we were soon at our hotel. Hotel Bubamara was a plain, locked door with a small sign to indicate we were in the right place. We rang the bell and were welcomed inside. It was actually much roomier than we ... read more

Suzanne here... The colectivo from Chivay dropped us off in Yanque's Plaza de Armes at about 10am. It was a bit early to check into our B&B. Yanque is tiny, but luckily we found one cafe, Coca, near the church. It was a nice place so we stayed for a couple of cappuccino's each. By the time we'd finished it was a more reasonable check in time and we got to Miskiwasi B&B at 11.30am. First impressions were good - a lovely garden and nice resturant area. Our room wasn't quite ready but after a bit of rushing around we were shown inside. We'd been given the family room, which had a massive bed on the ground floor as well as a second level with two more double beds. Not much use to us, but nice ... read more

David here... We arrived back into Cusco around 12:30 at a bus station a 10 minute walk away from Net House B&B. It took us a while to find it as the doorway only had a little card on it and it was shared with another B&B. Once inside we found a clean, small, friendly and pleasant place, with a nice room and access to a shared kitchen. We had plans for the afternoon so dumped our bags and headed out. Our first stop was the Qorikancha site, which was small but pretty good. Some interesting Inca and pre-Inca artifacts on display including skulls that had been purposely deformed from infancy to show status, and others with trepanation holes. This, and all the sights and museums we would be visiting while in Cusco, were included on ... read more

Suzanne here... Originally we'd planned to do the Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu. But the more we looked into it, the more we went off the idea. It seemed like hard work, and very basic accommodation. Yes, we had the same thing on the Inle trek in Burma. But there the trek itself was the whole point. Whereas here, visiting Machu Picchu was the main event. In the end we decided that a visit to MP after a decent nights sleep in a hotel sounded nicer than visiting after a three day trek. The train journey from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes was stunning. Expensive though, at £85 each for a 60k round trip (our last journey of a similar distance had cost £2.50). We'd read that the Vistadome train was worth the extra money, but ... read more