Here is the complete itinerary of our trip to Peru and Bolivia, which included Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and La Paz.

May 14, 2009 (LA)

• Departed Los Angeles at 2.20am (TACA)
• Arrived at Lima International Airport at 3pm
• Overnight at Pay Purix Backpackers Hostal; picked-up from airport. Checked in, walked to store about a mile away for food. Took local bus back.

May 15, 2009 (Lima, Cusco, Ollant & Aguas Calientes)

• Arrived at airport for Cusco departure at 5.30am. Flight was delayed until 9:15 due to fog.
• Departed for Cusco around 9:30am; Arrived at 10.30am (LAN)
• Things to do in Cusco:
  1. Took bags to Hostal Amaru and dropped them off

When traveling I often find myself in a state of "ponderment". This could be described as staring off into space analyzing my surroundings in the moment. Since there is already so much written on La Paz and all the things to do there, I thought in this post I might just share some of this ponderment with you.

And so it goes...

Pachamama
Have you ever seen a city that was built in a canyon? It is artistic genious, but practically insane. One end of the city rises up the canyon walls, a patchwork of brick houses inching their way to the edge, leaving no natural ground in their path. Looking up from the bottom you're left speechless, an endless blanket abrubtly turning to blue. The other end scatters down into what was once the bed of the once great Choqueyapu river winding its way back and forth across the valley floor carving ridges in its wake. Now little more than an oversized drain the Choqueyapu flows beneath percariously perched buildings, yet even the highest ridge with the tallest building is forever dwarfed by the ever imposing site of Illimani, which seems to look down on La Paz and its people with a mix of protection and disdain.

There are two types of people who visit Puno. People who go there to see the lake and then go right back where they came from, and people who go there on their way to Bolivia. As such, getting from Puno to La Paz is fairly simple and well traveled. It's also not completely safe and everyone is advised to do some homework and keeps their wits about. Think you're too smart a traveler to get into any trouble? Seen it all before? Hell I took a mini-bus in the Middle East and nothing happened to me! Well, tell that to people who were abducted on the road to La Paz. There was even a movie about it on Lifetime, we saw it 2 days after we got back!