*** Bolivia isn’t known for the fastest wifi so the fact that I’m getting this posted is a small miracle. But getting photos uploaded is asking too much so they’ll just have to be added later. Hopefully before I get home.***

Avianca got me to Cusco in the morning of Oct 6th, but the 5hr layover in Lima airport, where there is nowhere to sleep, was a worse way to spend the night than any night bus I’ve been on. So with just 2 hours sleep, I faced navigating Cusco’s bus system at rush hour on a Monday morning. Several buses just ignored me altogether (fair enough. I am a commute nightmare with all my luggage) but eventually I got one and escaped the many many ‘taxis’ (read: private cars with handwritten taxi signs) offering semi-good deals into town (not as good as a s./0.70 bus though). Early check-in is becoming a bit rare so when I got to my hostel, my backpack went into storage and I went into Cusco’s centro histórico and eventually joined a free walking tour which turned out, once more, to be totally awesome. It didn’t go to the main sites but instead to some much quirkier areas of town, through San Blas, to a music shop where we got an impressive demonstration and finished off with a pisco sour. Randomly, someone from my hostel in Mancora was on the same walking tour (we knew we were starting the Inca trail on the same date but with different agencies so figured we’d run into each other somewhere on the trek. Which we also did) and even more randomly, I ran into the 4 lovely Swiss people I crossed the Ecuador/Peru border with (their walking tour came out of the music shop as mine was going in) so we arranged to catch up for dinner later.

In the afternoon, I went by SAS’ office to finalise my inca trail payment and they kept quoting me prices in dollars which was immensely confusing but I got a sleeping rented and they got my day’s s./ budget in return. Dollars suck, everything is more expensive in dollars. We went for awesome veggie food at a place called Prasada for dinner – cheap, healthy but above all tasty! I was expecting the altitude side-effects to hit me at some point but aside from getting ridiculously quickly out of breath when walking up the steep streets of San Blas, I actually felt completely fine despite having spent the previous week at sea-level. The next day I started to feel a cold coming on so I decided (probably too late) to go super healthy – I bought fruit at the market and had carrot juice and even went to another veggie restaurant for a soy burger for dinner. If anyone has read my Inca trail post, please note the complete fucking irony of all this. At 7pm, we had our official trek-briefing where I met the rest of my Inca trail group, all of whom seemed lovely which was nice as I was the only one on my own. Afterwards, the skies opened up and unleashed a massive rainstorm on Cusco so I ran through the pouring rain back to my hostel to pick up essential laundry and pack, hoping Peru was just getting rid of the rain before I had to spend 5 days walking through the Andes and 4 nights sleeping in a tent.

Back in Cusco 5 days later, after the slowest train ride known to man from Aguas Calientes to Poroy at the end of the day we climbed Huayna Picchu, I relocated hostel and tried to get back to normal (relatively at least) health-wise. I had planned to head to the sacred valley for a few days that week but I couldn’t quite face having to lug around my big backpack on local combis so instead I did very little. I went to the markets, had nearly-good cafe con leche, consumed my bodyweight in fruit smoothies, chilled in the sunshine in San Blas and wondered how awesome Cusco would be if there were just slightly fewer tourists. After 3 days, I was ready to leave the camping shops, travel agents, constant offers of ‘massage, lady?’ and hordes of tourists behind and got on an overnight bus south to Arequipa.

And that turned out to be quite the swanky bus, with so much space I hardly knew what to do with it. It was probably the most solid nightbus-sleep I’ve had so maybe you do get what you pay for on Peruvian buses (I paid s./ 50, the ones without toilets go for 30) or I was maybe just still so tired I could have slept well anywhere. On arrival in Arequipa I soon realised that just because there are a thousand taxis, that doesn’t mean any if them will give you a decent deal. So after 15min of trying that, I found a transit police woman and asked where the buses into town went from (because they surely had to exist somewhere). And in no time I’d found the correct combi and was quickly on the way towards Plaza de Armas. I’ve been on combis twice in rush hour with luggage now and at least 5 times just to get somewhere and they are probably my favourite means of transport since Guatemala’s chicken buses. People on them are so helpful, put up with all my clumsiness with all my bags and even though I never know exactly where I’ll need to get off, I have made it to all my destinations without any issues. And for s./ 0.50, you don’t get much better value.

Arequipa turned out to be a lovely little place. Loads going on but its centro historico a manageable size. And no one trying to pawn massages or city bus tours on you everywhere you go. Instead, the locals just let you get on with whatever touristy or non-touristy activity you fancy. I spent a day wandering around town, getting my bearings and then booked a 2-day trek to Valle de Colca with a 3am pickup. That was a slightly painful early start but had to be done as its a 3 hour drive to Chivay from where the canyon is accessed. We had breakfast the whole group together (typical triangular white rolls with jam and the worlds smallest portion of scrambled eggs – how happy was I about my granola bar stash in my backpack) before heading off to Cruz del Condor where we got to see no condors at all. I have such awesome luck with animals this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Once we got to the start of the trek, they split us into those doing it in 2 days/1 night and those doing it in 3 days/2 nights. And we were only 4 doing it in 2 days (me and 3 Germans) so we set off down the hill into the canyon ahead of the others. The nature of this trek was a little different than others I’ve done – you start by going down, descending about 1.5km over 8km walking and know that there is only one way back – up the hill you are descending. So not a lot of surprises await in the effort stakes. We had lunch at the bottom of the canyon, at the lodge where the 3d/2n group would stay overnight but after eating we set off on another 2 1/2 hr walk to get to the next set of lodges where we would spent the night before the 3 hr trek up the hill the next morning. There were some beautiful views of the valley in the afternoon light and once we made it to the campsite, we got in a swim in the pool before chilling in the last bit of sun as it set behind the mountains surrounding us. Dinner was at 7.30 and afterwards we were all pretty knackered so it was an early night in preparation of our 5am departure.

A lot of people set off at the same time the next morning so there were quite a few moments of having to hang back and wait for places to overtake as we made our way up the mountainside. I was happy that I’d been forewarned that they serve you breakfast after you get to the top because that meant I had bananas and granola bars at the ready. We had quite a few breaks on the way up but still made it in 2 1/2 hours which we were pretty pleased about. We had been lucky on day 1 not to see many other trekkers but at the top, there were loads. It’s understandable that they run tours like this but you do end up feeling like you are being herded around. After a well-earned breakfast (just the 4 of us), we got combined with another group in their minivan and a day of tourist herding began. First stop was in a small village where we could spend 10min getting photographs with dressed up llamas and buy souvenirs. I sat on the edge of the square reading my book. I just don’t like places where everything is so set up for tourists to snap a quick photo and then drive off again. Do we actually bring any benefit to the local community that way? Next stop was what was billed as ‘natural hot springs’ which really was a swimming pool covered with taupauling next to the river, but with no views thereof. I went down the hill next to these ‘hot springs’ and sat on the grass next to the river with a lovely view and read my book. For free. Then it was lunchtime at an overpriced buffet. Apparently my lunch was included which actually pissed me off because it meant I must have paid for that ridiculously overpriced meal in my overall ticket price. So I ate 2 portions and hoped that would mean I wouldn’t be hungry at dinner time. We got back to Arequipa at 6pm and I bid my German trekking buddies goodbye and checked back in at my hostel and tried to wash all the dust out of my hair. That was a mission. It took about 30min just to get it brushed and I lost a good few handfuls of it in the process. I might not have any left by the end if this trip at this rate which sucks because I don’t think I can pull off bald.

On my final day in Arequipa I went to the monastery. And what a gem of a place that turned out to be. Like a city within the city, they have done an amazing job preserving the various architectural features as the buildings have been modified after several damaging earthquakes since it was established in the 1500s. I walked around there for nearly 3 hours, taking excessive amounts of photos.

That evening, I headed back to the bus station (2 Belgian girls from my hostel were going too so I kind of invited myself along in their taxi – cheaper for all of us. But especially me) and bought a ticket on the 10.45 overnight bus to Puno on Lake Titicaca. I had a 2 1/2 hour wait at the bus station, during which someone decided I was a tourist destination and waltzed up to have his photo taken next to me without even asking. Bet he was disappointed when he realised how un-photogenic I am! I got to Puno at 5am and walked to the other bus terminal (piece of advice if anyone ever finds themselves there; don’t follow the instructions in the Lonely Planet, they send you in the exact opposite direction which thankfully I avoided because, for the first time ever on this continent, they had helpfully put up a map up in the Terminal Terrestre that showed where the other terminal was) where I caught a colectivo to the border town of Yunguyo. I was the last person on so no waiting time. Yay! We arrived 2 hours later and once there, the driver directed me 3 blocks along the road to the church where I caught a mototaxi to the border. The border crossing went fine, I got my exit stamp and walked up the hill and under the arch to Bolivia where I unfortunately arrived just after a bus-load of tourists going into Bolivia and one leaving so I was caught at the back of a 30min queue. Once I got my entry stamp, I had to wait about 10min for the colectivo to arrive and fill up but it was a quick 8km ride so by 11 local time (I lost an hour due to the time difference), I was safely in Copacabana, Bolivia.

I’m struggling to find the right description to encompass Peru. Because I did a lot, saw a lot, learned a lot about its people and history. I tried surfing, which I loved, and I saw Machu Picchu which I’ve always wanted to but I’m still left a little unfulfilled by Peru. I feel like I never got to see or experience or know the real Peru, like Peru kept me at arm’s length and never let me get close, never let me see its true self. Chachapoyas and Huanchaco felt most authentic to me but I can’t help but feel like there is so much more to this country than the standard tourist stops let you see. And it’s a shame because people there were genuinely lovely so it had all the potential in the world. I know I was pushed for time pre-Inca trail so maybe that just played against Peru but its making me more determined not to get stuck on the standard path through Bolivia. I’ve heard awesome things about this country so Bolivia, please don’t shut me out!

Today I’m listening to: Arctic Monkeys – ‘Arabella’