
So...where have we been? After a final relaxing day in Cusco we made our way (with plenty of time to spare) to the railway station to catch our 'First Class' train to Puno. On arrival by taxi the gates were closed and we were informed that the train had in fact left early due to a strike taking place later that day. We were ushered into the station office and told that we would be refunded our money and have to catch a bus to Puno. Bearing in mind the thought that had gone into our decision to blow our budget and book the trip on the Andean Explorer and the fact that the rail company had our hotel contact details and made no effort to let us know about the change to the train time, we were a little upset to say the least. After a heated discussion in broken English/Spanish with the poor woman who was on duty we managed to get her to arrange for the train to wait for us (and the other stranded passengers) at the next station, a mere 50km away! She called a taxi for us (although they refused to pay the extra cost - by this time we just wanted to make it on board and realised that any further arguing was not going t

As the train pulled slowly in to Puno we were afforded our first view of Lake Titicaca on whose shores the town sits. Puno is a small town and, the main street aside, quite run down. We stayed in a nice little hostal though and met up with a few friends whom we'd met on the Inca Trail (we were all following a similar itinerary for the few days after leaving Cusco). Our short stay in Puno was actually a lot of fun, catching moto and cycle taxis, visiting the islands of Lake Titicaca during the day and spending the evening playing Jenga in a local bar with new friends.
Rather than over spending on a tourist sightseeing boat, we decided to head down to the port early in the morning and hop on a local boat for our trip to the lake's islands. Local boats offer cheaper transport as they deliver food and people to the floating Isla Los Uros and Tequile. The floating island

The following day we caught a bus to Arequipa (where we are now) with our new friends, David and Anne-Marie from Quebec, Canada. Here we've visited the beautiful Monasterio Santa Catalina and the incredible museum housing Juanita the sacrificial Incan ice mummy (along with other similar mummies) found on mountain peaks in Peru. Feeling a little under the weather for the past couple of days, it's been great to be in such an easy city.
Tomorrow we head out for a 3 day 2 night trek in the Colca Canyon where we hope to see Condors and mountain peaks. We also get the chance to visit hot springs and spend the night in the canyon itself. After that our plans have changed yet again and we have decided to make our way into northern Chile (rather than Bolivia) but I'll write more about that later as the plans unfold a little more.
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