Hello Australia - believe it or not, this is the first time I have been in South America. The closest I've come previously was a trip through the Panama Canal - and the less said about that, the better...

I'm in a place called Puno, in Peru, waiting for the Compass Expeditions tour I'm going to join for the next couple of weeks. We're going to ride some amazing roads up here in the Andes and see places I've long wanted to look at, including Macchu Picchu and the Nazca lines.

I must admit that I was a little worried about he trip over here, flying from Sydney to Auckland, Santiago, Lima and then Juliaca, just up the road from here. It turned out to involve 4 hours sleep in 44 hours' travel, but somehow I was still human when I got off the plane. That's when the altitude sickness got me. It gets higher a bit later on the trip, but it's high enough even here to make you feel like a very tired kitten. I'm on Sorojchi Pills which contain mostly aspirin, but promise to be la solucion contra el mal d'attitude. I've only just taken my first pill after a full day here, because I thought I could tough it out. Seems I can't; it's like flu with a couple more symptoms, like sleeplessness...

I did have a wander through the narrow and exotic streets of Puno, and discovered that they really do serve guinea pig. Should I try it? I've eaten most other things, even though I was fooled in to tasting dog by a Chinese guide who insisted that it was pork.

The Compass tour will arrive here this afternoon from La Paz, and I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow riders. When Mick from Compass invited me along on one of their trips I kept moaning about how I didn't have time, so he's made this as time-effective as possible. I'll be eternally grateful to him for building in a couple of days to acclimatise to the altitude, though!

From what I've seen of the country so far - from the air and then the three-quarter hour drive from Juliaca - it's very dry and very hilly. The road seemed pretty good out in the country, but absolutely appalling in towns. I have no idea how the spindly three-wheeled motorcycle taxis manage it without breaking into several pieces.

The prestige bike here is a 125 Honda; most of the others seem to be Chinese, although I've never seen most of the brands before - even in China! I'm pleased to say that I'll be riding a BMW F650GS, one of my favourite dual purpose bikes. Not sure how I'd go on a Chinese 125, even if it was hand painted in several clashing colours, as many of them here are.

Not sure if there's a helmet law, but if there is it's only the flash riders on their near-new Honda's who bother to obey. Among the others, the Inca trilby is popular.

I think it's time for me have a bit of a lie-down again.

Catch you soon.

Greetings from Lake Titticaca,

The Bear