Shit happens!

We flew back to La Paz from Amazonas with the same cute mini plane. From there we took a bus to Copacabana and another one straight from Copacapana to Puno. Puno is what we would call a "very ugly city". :) When we arrived there we were super happy that we didn't have to stay there for long! The reason why we came to Puno was to see the Los Uros islands, which are made of reed and the Taquile island. The Los Uros islands were a bit disappointing. They were very touristic and it didn't feel genuine at all. The islands were originally built as a defense against inca attacks. The islands are very small, and about 4-7 families live on one island. When you stand on the island you can feel how it sinks a little, and the islands also sway with the waves. The islands have to be repaired all the time or otherwise they would sink as the reed rots.

Los Uros islands



The home of an old woman on Los Uros islands

Lili on Los Uros islands




"Mercedes Bentz"

Taquile Island has been inhabitet for many thousands of years. The people on the island speak Quechua, and have their own laws and rules. The people wear knitted hats in different colours, the colour depending on if they are married or single. (Red for married, white & red for single) it was also against their laws to have any dogs on the island. The main village is located at the highest point of the island, we had to climb 540 steps to get there!

View from the Taquile island

Katja on Taquile island

From Puno we took a bus to Arequipa. This city is also called the white city, apparently because of the many white buildings, but we have an own theory that it has more to do with the cocaine trade than the buildings :) It was also advised to not go outside during 3 am to 6 am, because at that time the police are not working at all so the criminality is high. Arequipa is a beautiful city, we only spent there two days because we went on a day trip to see the Colca Canyons. Colca Canyon is the world's deepest canyon at 3191 m. We spent the day here enjoying the breathtaking sights and the great condors.



View on the way to Colca Canyon



Katja at the Colca Canyon

Active volcano, Hualca Hualca

Condor

View from the "best" viewpoint on the way back to Arequipa

We took a nightbus from Arequipa to Cusco, it was a 10 hour bus ride, in a great bus that even had a bus attendant who served snacks and drinks. We even had to give our fingerprints before boarding the bus! :)Unfortunately we could not really enjoy the busride because 10 minutes after we left Lili threw up, and
the throwing up part continued for 10 hours straight, at some point developing into a diarrhea as well. So Lili spent most of the bus ride in the toilet, or flying out of the toilet because of the curvy roads. And when she had to give up the toilet to let other people use it as well, she was lying on the floor of the bus like the bolivians did :) While Lili was suffering with her stomach problems, Katja was either worried that Lili had passed out in the toilet or worrying about her own stomach problems, which thank god, were not as severe as Lili's, or otherwise we would have been totally screwed! :) So When we finally arrived to Cusco we went to our hostel, but Lili didn't seem to get better, so we had to call a doctor. The doctor was a really nice english speaking woman who after examinig Lili concluded "Oh, your stomach is really upset!" and said that Lili has to be taken to a hospital. This made Lili a bit worried because we had no idea what the hospital would be like. But no worries, it was great! Lili had her own room the first night, and Katja got to sleep over as well. She had four nurses all talking very fast in spanish and smiling all the time. The second night a girl from Wales shared the room with her. While Lili had to stay 2 nights at the hospital Katja was running around arranging everything for the inca trail we were supposed to go on. In the end only Katja went, because Lili was too weak to even consider it. So this was our first time apart in one month, and it felt weird not beeing together all the time. :)


Lili in the hospital :( (suffering from salmonella and a parasite)




Arequipa with the snowcap mountains in the background