After having successfully finished my diploma thesis I rewarded myself with a trip to South America. I flew to Lima via Miami. First I stayed some days in Lima and discovered the city, also with the help of Humberto. Then I joined a group to do the Inca Trail. First we flew to Cusco and stayed some days to get used to the height and also to discover the city and surroundings. Highlight was of course the 3 nights / 4 days inca trail. Highest point is the Dead Women’s pass at about 4400 m. On the way we saw some Inca ruins, but the best thing was being at the sun gate for sunrise and having the first view of Machu Picchu. I will never forget that in my life. The tour around Machu Picchu was quite hard, it was sunny and warm and everyone was tired (to be at the sungate you had to get up at around 5am)… We took the train and bus back to Cusco. Next destination was the Titicaca Lake. We stayed overnight on one of the Islands. Sadly my stomach turned around and luckily there was NO running water on the Island. It was fun… My stomach got a little better when we reached La Paz in Bolivia. The city is very high up at 4000m. From La Paz I flew back to Miami where I stayed some days at the beach to recover before flying back via London to Stuttgart.