As much as I loved Cusco and the group I had met, it was time to go before I got sucked into more partying and frankly my liver couldn't handle it!
So that night I headed to the bus station to catch the bus across the border to Bolivia. The first bus went without a hitch and I arrived in Puno (where I needed to change buses) at 5am. Puno is at around 3500m and it was soooo cold waiting for the next bus. I was shivering all over, even though I was wearing as many layers as possible, including the new llama number!
At 7.30am, I got onto my connecting bus and it wasn't a moment too soon. But after we had been travelling for about 2 hours, the bus got a flat tyre (of course). I swear I am cursed with any journey that I take...
Most people began to file off the bus in search of water and a toilet, as we knew it would take a while to fix. I stupidly left my mini backpack on the bus which had $200 in cash stashed in lots of different pockets. I did this because it seemed like the driver was directing everyone to get off the bus so that they could change the tire. BIG MISTAKE as in the end not everyone did get off. I'm sure you can guess what's coming... When I checked my bag later on that day, I found it empty of every dollar I had in there! Arghhh, I was so angry and upset especially due to the state of my bank balance anyway.
But every cloud has a silver lining and mine was that randomly and out of sheer luck I found Alice sitting on the same bus and we were over the moon to be reunited!
We crossed the border together and set off towards Copacabana, which is a little town set on the edge of Lake Titicaca - the worlds highest altitude lake.
xxx
