Uyuni

Our trip to Uyuni from La Paz where we will see the desert, mud bubbles, salt flats , animals and many other interesting sites was quite a journey to say the least.  We had a private bus and were supposed to be 8 hours.  At hour 4 while pulling into a gas station we got hit by another vehicle , 4 hours later we got a new bus.  Heading into Uyuni just 30 km away we got stuck in a blockade protest.  We waited for quite a while and had to get two 4 by 4 vehicles to come and pick us up and off road us to the hotel. 15 hours later we arrived in Uyuni

La Paz , Bolivia

Leaving Lake Titicaca we were on our way to La Paz , Bolivia.  We followed the lake most of the way and had a border stop to go through.  We met our new guide Julia on the Bolivian side of the border and made our way to La Paz.  This is a huge city in a crater with houses all around the outside.  We were staying a hotel beside the San Pedro jail.  We did a city tour to see the heights , walked the witches market and moon valley site.  This is where we also said good bye to some of our group from Peru including Norma our guide and added a few for Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca - Puno

Our last stop in Peru is Puno which leads onto the very large Lake Titicaca. This is the highest navigable lake in the world. It was huge. We visited three different cultural groups in a meter of two days.

The first were the people that live on floating islands made of reeds. The make their own islands and raise families on them. If you don't like your new ours you simple pull up your an hours and float to a new area. 

The scone was a home stay with a family. We had a great time with our mamas and our families. We played volleyball mainly with the women of the village dressed in their full local clothing. We were served a traditional meal and had to do work with the family. Dianne and I had to help turn over a new field to plant potatoes.
Our last stop was Taquile island which is known as the men's knitting island. All the men on the island knit very intricate hats , scarves, clothing which they give as gifts to family on special occasions.
In Puno we also had a delicious meal with a dancing group to mark the end of our time in Peru. Off to Bolivia.

Modern Cuzco

Once we completed Machu Picchu we returned Cuzco one last time. This time Norma our guide showed a bit of the modern side of Cuzco taking us to a couple of very unique bars. One that served drinks made with agar and liquid nitrogen and the second a very modern art place where the tables were old bathtubs filled with fish.

Machu Picchu

One of the most recognizable sites in South America if not the worl is Machu Picchu an incredible Inca ruins high on a mountain top in the Andes mountains in Peru. It did not disappoint. When you get your first glimpse it is hard to imagine building such a site this high up. It is one of the few sites that was not distorted by the Spanish when they invaded. Although we had rain for a good part of the time we were up there ( the Sun Gate was more like the cloud gate for us ) we still got great photos and an excellent visit at the site.

Ollantaytambo , Cuzco, Aguascalientes (Machu Picchu town)

Dianne and I had chosen not to hike the Inca trail before we left on this trip ( Dianne was out when she heard it involved camping). This meant that we dropped the group off in Ollantaytambo returned to Cuzco then went to Aguascalientes where we would take the rain up to Machu Picchu and meet up with the walkers.
During our three days we visited Inca sites in the Sacred Valley, went by a small area where they were preparing Guinea pig, visited an alpaca sanctuary, got to see more of Cuzco including churches, a parade and a finally a football match.
Aguascalientes is a small town which is where the train stops to drop off people not hiking that trail. Our hotel was literally sandwiched between train tracks and a river.  We were able to walk around this pretty little town and prepared for the highlights that would be Machu Picchu.