It's Peru, Baby.

Everyone recommends Mate de Coca (Coca leaf tea) to help with soroche - altitude sickness.

Actually, althought we are something like 11, 000ft above sea-level in Cusco it's nowhere near as bad as in Puno (some 1600ft higher) where we all had a headache, shortness of breath and general weirdness.

Here in Cusco it's easy to get puffed walking around, but lashing of Mate de Coca seems to help. At least we don't have to chew it!

We couldn't miss the floating reed islands of Lake Titicaca. We liked it so much we even went native!

The journey by bus cama (a 'bed bus' with reclining seats) to Arequipa from Lima takes a grueling 16 hours. It is mostly along the winding costal road which means it is at times breathtaking - quite literally (Katie!). Tito and I were right at the front, on the right of the bus, on the second floor for this journey. This meant when we woke up we got views like these! I wondered aloud how many buses plunge through the puny 30cm barriers off the cliff onto the rocks below and sink to the bottom of the ocean. "Two" said Tito. "Two? What do you mean? Has this happened?!?". "Yes, two out of three go off the cliffs ." Tito kindly reassured me...

Just thought I´d stop by for a spot of corrective eye surgery whilst in Lima! Ok, Ok, I didn´t really take the decision so lightly - I have been researching it for over two years. When Chika came back from Japan after having had it done inexpensively I started to consider getting it done abroad. The only thing stopping me in the UK was the crazy price (as I have, no , HAD a very strong prescription it would cost over 3000 pounds!).

When we arrived in Lima over three weeks ago Tito´s cousin Julia mentioned she´d had it done, and had such a great doctor, Dr. Miguel Mendoza, that she´d recommended him to family and friends, about 8 of whom had then also gotten the surgery. The cost? About 400 pounds. Same German wavefront technology, a stylish and clean private clinic. So I signed up and got the surgery the day before yesterday. My eyesight still settling and will take a week or two to become perfect but the operation went very well - no pain - and I am able to use the computer already!

I adore Lima and want to do an update (not only here for the surgery - have also been to a water fountain park, smart Miraflores district and the Gold Museum) but don´t want to strain my eyes. We are off to Arequipa tonight on a bed bus. Will try to post more pictures there...