"Please look after this bear. Thank you."

There are better places to spend Easter Sunday than at a Peruvian checkpoint.

Getting into Peru was accompanied with much the same palaver as getting into most countries (with the exception of Chile). There's always the long queue and the customs officials with the disdainful looks. This border crossing had the added delight of the officials telling the gringos to "shut-up" whilst waiting in line.

However, the crossing was not without its cheap thrills - exchanging Bolivianos into Peruvian soles at one of the roadside money-changers was not a complete rip-off! Almost no commission (UK Post office eat your heart out). Unexpected bonus.

We took the gringo bus into Peru, which despite the grumpy and argumentative gringos and being in a hermetically-sealed tourist bubble, is definitely preferably to the buses / mobile toilets of Bolivia.

On first gaze Peru seems a lot like Bolivia - there's the women in the boaters / bowler hats and colourful Andean clothing, the unfinished red brick buildings and the large expanses of uninhabited plateaus and mountains. However, Puno feels a little more "developed" compared with Bolivia. For starters, the food is better and I could swear that the shower water smells slightly chlorinated (does this mean no Peruvian stomach bug? We'll see.) There is also a notable absence of backpackers - rather the more well-to-do tourist who can splash the cash a little more freely exists here.

It's refreshing to enter a new country. Interested to see what Peru has in store - home to Paddington Bear.