I think I fell in love a little bit with Cusco...well I don´t know f it was love as we were only there for a few days, but I definitely did not want to leave! It was such a fun place to be and there was so much to do and see. Our next stop was Copacabana in Bolivia and the buses left at night so we had another whole day in Cusco to spend. We went to the market and saw whole dead pigs and sheep...not my favourite things; oh and the smell, ughh! Then we tried to find the entrance to a site there in Cusco that had a church build on top of it. We could see it from the outside, but couln't find a way in, but that's ok they all kind of look the same here. After that we decided to visit the giant Jesus on top of the hill. We took a taxi up and got an amazing view of the city...its actually a lot bigger than I thought. We also saw a site up there as well which was an unexpected surprise. Then we walked back down about a million stairs to the town...so glad we decided to take a taxi up!!
We were walking back to the hostel to waste some time when we bumped into the guys we met in Arequipa out the front of an Irish pub, so we went in to have a drink to catch up. Theres actually a funny story that I failed to mention before about these guys. It turned out that one of the guys had the exact same birthday as Amy and when we were in Arequipa we had decided to meet up in the plaza in Cuzo the next day to celebrate. But we didnt really want to meet up the next day because there was a party planned at the hostel for the other guys birthday and we wanted to stay there. So when we saw them at the pub they asked why we stood them up and we told a little white lie and said we went straight to Machu Picchu and we couldn´t call. But like mummy always told me....never tell lies; we were caught out because the day after Amys birthday the 2 guys saw a Norwegian couple and a French guy that were staying at our hostel and they outed us and said that they were partying with us that night. Oopsy!! We apoligzed and they were ok with it, but it was really good to catch up with them and Amy even scored a necklace out of it...its really cool, I want one! Since they were on holidays too they asked us where we were headded next and we told them Copacabana and they wanted meet up in the plaza again. We somehow managed to avoid making that date...they´re nice guys but I don´t know if we want to see them in every place we go to.
We went back to the hostel to waste about an hour before we went to the bus station and I watched transformers in Spanish....they absolutely love that movie here! I do have to say that everyone at the hostel was amazingly nice and friendly. It was the funnest place to stay and I hope that other places are like that! We didn´t book any bus tickets because the stupid bus company didn´t pick up the phone. So we randomy turned up at the bus station and bought a ticket to Puno then onto Copacabana. We were tossing up between going to the floating Islands in Puno, but every single person we have spoken to said it was crap so we skipped it....good decision! The boarder crossing was really simple, but some people managed to screw it up. There were 2 offices on the Peru side then you had to walk about 300m to the Bolivian border and get stamped in there. But some people only went to one office on the Peru side and then had to walk all the way back again.
We arrived in Copacabana about 1pm and found a really cute hostel right on the water front. And I cant believe how cheap it is here...our room is only $6 a night and its literally right on the water...the view is amazing! We had a little wander around the town and booked a tour for the Isla del Sol the next day. The island of the sun is supposed to be the birthplace of the Inca and there are a few temples and sacred rocks there. The next morning when we first arrived on the island I thought it was going to be a long day...but that all soon changed. We couldn´t find an english speaking guide so we set off ourselves on the walk that took us to the north side....it was a little hard because it was up a hill and we could really feel the altitude, but the site of Gum trees everywhere was really nice. Aparently the French bought them over when they arrived inthis area and they help stabilize the hills from landslides and stuff. The site was cute...tiny little doorways curved around in a maze of structures built on the side of a cliff. Then there was the option of walking down to the south part (3 hours) or walking back to the port and taking the boat. We decided to follow the map and walk part of the trail that lead to the south then brach off and go back to the port to get the boat.....but it seems that as we were walking there was no path that lead back to the port. There was some random guy in a little hut selling stuff along the way so I asked him which way back to the port and he just said straight down the hill...off road. So off we went, bush basking our way down the side of a cliff until we got to a massive drop off. By that stage we could see the town so at least we knew which way we were meant to go, but the rock face looked very steep! It was at this point that I began to love the Isla del Sol...it was so much fun scaling the cliff....bue I could have used some safety equipment. Amy suggested that they set up some kind of abseiling activities to make some good money!! Anyways we got back on the boat and visited the southern part of the island then on the way back we also got to see a floating island (definitely glad we didnt waste a day in Puno!). We had an early night that night in Copacabana and slept really well....really comfy beds! The next morning was not so good for me....as we were leaving the hostel with our bags I stacked it down the stairs and hit my head and my knee on the stone ground. Amy said it looked like I hit my head really hard....actually I think I did, it´s still sore now! So to show for it I have a nice egg on my head and a sore knee making it hard to walk anywhere...luckily we´ve already done Machu Picchu! I tried to take a photo of my head, but it didnt really turn out so I cant show you all how stupid I look.
