We decided to book tickets with a company called Peru hop which would take us from Arequipa to La Paz in Bolivia. It is a hop on hop off bus so you can adjust the itinerary to suit your travel plans. We also booked tickets with them as they help you cross the border between Peru and Bolivia which can be difficult, especially if you are American. There was one American girl on our tour and she had to had to pay $160, show proof of her accommodation, travel plans and 6 months worth of bank statements! We only had to show our passports, receive a entry stamp and we were in.

We decided to stop in Puno for two nights to break up the long journey. Puno is a small town which sits on the edge of Lake Titicaca. It is also famous for the Uros floating islands. The Uro people live on a 120 floating islands that are all made from Totora reeds. They have even made their homes and boats out of the reeds and also eat the reeds as a snack. We joined a tour to visit these islands and it was fascinating to hear how the people live and how tourism is now a major source of income for the people. They dont speak english and hardly speak spanish but our tour guide spoke their language translated everything.

During our tour we ran into an Irish and Australian couple who we originally met in Colombia but have also bumped into in Ecuador and Peru. It was great to spend longer with them and we ended up going out for dinner together that night. They even changed their plans and joined us in La Paz and on our Salt Flat tour.