Another day, another border crossing...

Hola from Peru! Yep, after a quick two week sprint through Bolivia I am currently in Puno, just enjoyed a lovely hostel dinner with two other solo traveling California ladies (first Californians I have hung out with in the past 3 months of travel!)and tomorrow morning I am off on an all day bus tour to Cuzco! I am really excited to get to Cuzco where I will first be meeting up with my friend Suzie who I met in Buenos Aires and then on the 10th one of my SF besties Erin will be flying to meet me. Two days later we set off on a 5 day alternative Inca Trail Trek, the Salkantay route. Ahhhh, so ready for this epic adventure! Climbing, camping, and craziness to come...

Bolivia is a beautiful country and although I only spent 2 weeks I am happy with what I was able to see... salt flats, desert, charming cities, amazing lush/jungle scenery on a bike ride down "the most dangerous road", and a gorgeous lake. The past 3 days were spent on Lake Titicaca, which is an amazing body of water. Copacabana was an ok little town to hang out in for a few days - the actual waterfront is not the nicest but amazing views from up on the mountain and yesterday I took a boat ride to Isla del Sol, an island in the middle of the lake which was the supposed birthplace of the Incan sun god. The island itself is home to villages and farming communities and many ruins, which I spent the day exploring. I really enjoyed the stunning landscapes from high atop the hills, and a really great 3 hour hike from the north of the island to the south.











The two highlights of my time in La Paz were conquering the "Death Road" bike ride, and funny enough, celebrating Holland's Queens Day. Our traveling circus of 8 led by Eric and Tom, our Dutch cultural guides, went out all out to celebrate April 30th. I am determined to get to Holland for it next year because it was that fun. Everyone in orange, cheesy Dutch pop songs, streamers and confetti, face painting of the Dutch flag, Heineken, and great dancing. I was unofficially voted "Best fake Dutchgirl" because I was just loving it...my ode to all the fabulous Dutch I have met during my travels.




As for the "World's Most Dangerous Road", I'll go ahead and let wikipedia fill you in with the deets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Road

One of the must-do's for South American backpackers, beautiful, exhilarating, and insanely dramatic cliffs. I definitely had some trepidations about doing it but at the last minute I went for it - and SO glad I did. We set out early in the morning in a van carrying our bikes and gear up to the top of the mountain and it was POURING and freezing, to add another special element to the precarious route. Within seconds of starting out on our bikes my shoes were filled with water and I was drenched with water and mud. At first there was a fog layer present that made it so you couldn't see just how ridiculous the cliffs were, which was possibly a good thing for me, but eventually the rain stopped, fog lifted, and WOW. There I was coasting down the smallest, steepest road in existence. I was literally laughing out loud about how crazy/beautiful it all was, as I bumped along the gravel, conquering my fear of falling from high places. I never felt scared, or like I was going to lose control and fly off the cliff because the bikes are excellent and you can go as slow or fast as you want in order to make it down the mountain. The company that took 6 of us up for the downhill adventure was great as well. It was a really special, adrenaline-filled day. I didn't take pics but here are some I stole from others and stay tuned for the photos from the CD we were given with shots that the guides took of us and the scenery. I am the helmeted one on the right, and the one making all flagrant gestures...