Titicaca and Colca

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We arrived at the cemetery bus station in La Paz finally after a puncture en route in the taxi and the bus was just about to leave. This meant the only remaining space was in the front with the driver, George basically sitting on the engine. It was a fairly hair-raising journey, as all of them have been, but this was slightly more scary because we could see everything we were about to crash into. We checked into a hostal in Copacabana, had supper and nodded off. In the morning we decided to go down to the lakeside and do something vaguely aquatic. In the end we chose fishing and were promptly rented a rowing boat and two rods and pointed in the direction of where there might be some 'truchas' (trout). George rowed out there while Charlie sunbathed on the highest big navigable lake in the world without a cloud in the sky - quite pleasant to be honest.

Needless to say we didn't catch any truchas despite using plenty of live, juicy, delicious-looking worms, and Charlie rowed back after an hour and a quarter. Then we had some nachos for lunch and watched the City - United game before climbing the hill next to Copacabana for sunset, and absolutely stunning sight. We'd booked a boat to Isla del Sol, the mythical birthplace of the Incas, that day and ventured off the next morning. We checked into a place in the north of the island and did a circuit, taking in some more spectacular views and some ruins, including the sacred rock where the first Inca appeared (apparently) and the Inca stairway. We had a delicious supper in Challa'pampa, where we were staying, before going to sleep.

The boat back was chilly on the top deck, and might have been even colder for Charlie had his camera landed in the water when he dropped it, rather than right on the edge of the boat. We watched some more football, Chelsea - Newcastle, in Copacabana, before catching a bus to Arequipa via Puno, getting through our final border crossing in the process. Needless to say the bus arrived at three in the morning rather than the advertised and slightly more civilised time of five, so we found a hostal and grabbed a few more hours sleep.

One of the attractions in the Arequipa area is Colca Canyon, supposedly over 3000 metres deep (the actual canyon is 'only' about 1000 though), so we sought out the best way of doing it, eventually deciding on DIY-ing it and catching a six hour bus to Cabanaconde, which sits on the edge of it. Unfortunately we experienced our first (anbd hopefully last) bit of thievery at the bus station and George's bag went missing along with his iPhone, trousers and various other things. We couldn't do much about then because we had to catch the bus, and got into Cabanaconde that evening, checking into a hostel that we'd decided on mostly because they did wood-fired pizzas. The pizzas didn't disappoint and were probably the best of the trip so far, no mean feat seeing as we'd had our fair share already.

We set off into the canyon the following morning after breakfast, attempting to do the whole circuit in a day, an 'impossible' task according to the lady we'd bought a map off in Arequipa. it started with a 1000 metre descent into the canyon and along the way we saw the majestic sight of two Andean condors up close and personal, surely the best bird of the trip so far (just about beats the toucan!). The scenery in the early morning sun was breathtaking, and it had got quite hot by the time we'd reached the bottom (enough to make us regret not bringing sun cream or hats - you'd have thought we might have learnt our lesson by now, wouldn't you?). We walked up the other side through a few villages and enjoyed a refreshing Powerade in one of them, before working our way back to the river further along. We stopped for lunch and a refreshing swim just the other side of the river in Sangalle, bracing ourselves for the 1000 metre climb coming up. We waited for the sun to go down in the canyon and it was thirsty work, but we made it to the top just as the sun was setting there and took some nice piccies along the way. Another pizza (our motivation throughout the day) awaited us at the hostel, and we went to sleep early aware that we were catching the 6:30 bus back to Arequipa in the morning.

We got back to Arequipa at lunch time and checked into Wild Rover hostel before spending a thrilling hour at the tourist police station reporting the crime of two days before. The evening was spent in and around the dazzling white main plaza and the market (George needed some new trousers) before going out in Arequipa until the early hours of this morning. And we've kind of just woken up.

We head to Cusco tomorrow evening on the overnight bus, so in the next blog you'll probably hear about how amazing Machu Picchu is. Forgive us for being clichéd. Please.

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