Ich bin dann mal weg - off we go - doei doei

Hello again! I've been offline a bit, so before getting into the details of my new adventure, let me catch you up with what has happened since I'm back from Peru. I definitely took my time to relax :-) After a few days in Rotterdam and finishing my 'after holiday to do list', I drove home for Christmas. On the way I was lucky to have a beautiful reunion evening with Eef. Christmas back home was great, spending quality time with the family, eating good food, meet friends and again, relax ;-) For new years eve I had planned something special this time. I went with 3 friends to the first hut that I stayed during the Munich Venice hike. It was a great time, we met some nice people, did a great hike up the Benediktenwand, had some wine at the peak and an amazing sky full of stars at midnight. After a couple more relaxing days with family and friends I made my way back to Rotterdam. There I had a perfect farewell evening with lots of my friends and Feuerzangenbowle at my pla...

Wow, only 2 weeks travel left? Crazy how time flies. But hey, there is at least one more highlight to come: Machu Picchu. I have booked a one week trip to do this in a small group. But until this I still have around a week. So I decided to follow the standard touristic route to Lake Titicaca. On the Peruvian side that means Puno. I have decided against going to the Bolivian side, which is meant to be nicer. But I need to be in Cusco in a week, and when I do Bolivia I'd rather do it all (the salt flats in the South look amazing). Arequipa to Puno is only a 6 hour bus, so I take a day bus. It is a beautiful drive, I somehow hadn't known that the lake is actually a mountain lake at 3800m altitude. Once arrived at the hostel I tried to arrange a tour to the lake for the next day. I didn't want to do the standard tour, but couldn't find an agency that offered a less standard/touristy version (and was open). So I booked the standard 2 nights homestay from my hostel. I had...