Drawn by a Star

Lake Titicaca is just at the bottom of my road, but I haven't got the energy this morning to go further than the chemists! The sprawling city of Puno at the north end of this famous lake, sits at staggering 12.500 feet above sea level. It's fairly inevitable that at some point in a journey one's body will rebel against all the changes it's having to cope with. This is what is happening right now with mine, today. After a sleepless night, finding it very heard to breath, with two drunks shouting beneath my bedroom window at 2.30 am ( for almost an hour),I read the symptoms on the Internet this morning for altitude sickness. I am not a severe case. Thank God. I am just a poor patient. I don't have much patience with myself when my body is in discomfort, and a wee bit of panic tends to rear it's head. At 3.30am (this morning) I got dressed, went onto my balcony, and asked very nicely if the two ' chicos '( young men) below could do me a grea...

I've been here in Ollantaytambo in the Cusco region of Peru for nine days now. Every day has been jam packed with leaning, love, and challenges ! There is so much to share and as I type so slowly I think I'll just share some 'headings' with you and then see what calls for more sharing. Thank you to all my friends for your messages in Facebook. This is the very first time in all my years of traveling that I've had a laptop with me. WHAT LUXURY. No more searching out grotty cyber cafes in the rain or the heat. Arriving . I arrive in Ollantaytambo to discover my young Peruvian family are in crisis. They have separated. The young father with whom I have set up an aid project here in the mountains, tells me what he wants for his son is that he grows up to be a noble soul, with or without him at his side. His son celebrates his fifth birthday the next day. We meet later the same day having arranged to visit Julia, an old abandoned woman he introduced to me last yea...