Puno´s Titicaca

Another night bus!!! No hotel fees. The bus from Cusco to Puno was most likely the most interesting bus ride so far. The bus departed around 8:30 at night for a seven and a half hour ride. We were trying to get the 10:30pm so that we wouldn´t arive in the middle of the night but due to a national Peruvian road strike we ended up taking the last bus which left at 8:30pm. Jill and I checked our large bags under the bus and brought our book bags on as carry ons. Within a hour of the trip both of us had on every single article of clothing we had brought on. The bus must of been about 40 degrees. It was so cold. Anyway, as we are crusing though the frost covered mountain roads I noticed lights up head. The bus slows and we are able to see large rocks lined across the road and several men with tourches and a rather large fire going. It didn´t take long to realize that the road block was in effect. Fortunately, our bus driver was able to talk his way through the block and the converstation was uneventful (I think i saw the bus driver hand something to one of the strikers but Im not a 100% sure) Although nothing drastic happened it was still an unnerving situation. Anyway, we contuinued on to the bus station were we arrived at 4 in the morning. By far, the next two hours was Jill´s least favorite part of the trip. Due to the time we decided to wait out the night in the saftey of the bus station. The stations was located at 12,000 feet altitude, in the middle of winter - obviously, not the ideal place to wait for the sun to rise. It was near freezing if not freezing with no heat. It was a long two hours.

As the sun rose and melted away the bad vibes from our bus trip, we made our way down to the docks of Lake Titicaca ( the highest lake in the world). At the docks we met Albert. Albert, the captain of a 25 footer, sold us a round trip ticket plus housing and food to an island located 3 hours way by boat.

We boarded the boat and began our 4 hour jouney. The boat stopped at two islands adding an hour to our trip but it was worth it. The two island we stopped at were reed islands. The local people cut down the reeds and pile them in staggered formations to create ¨floating islands¨. This method is used because during certain times of the year the reeds are completely covered by water. The new man made islands have the ability to rise and fall with the water level. It was so interesting - two of our pictures are of the islands. Everything on the island was made of reeds. The houses, boats, beds, lookout towers, and somehow the fire place. It was a very fascinating way of living. Most of the islands maintain the life style for tourism sake but of the 30, two are completley independent of tourism and uphold the traditional way of life. Absolutely wild stuff.

So the skipper herds the tourists back on the boat and we begin our 3 hour tour. ( ha) The island was 3 hours away but to translate it was actually probably about 5 miles away. During the trip, we rounded the point and saw the island and so so so slowly putted our way toward the island. It was so slow that I tried to convince my Big Ten swimming partner to let me ride on her back as we she swam to save time but she didn´t want to get her bag wet. Anyway we met some cool americans on the boat which helped pass the time.

Fyi - the road stike is still going on so I have time to just ramble and ramble because we are stuck in this town.

We finnally arrive to the the island. It was a nice trip - I just wanted you to understand how slow the boat was. It´s not like were pressed for time anyway. When parking, Alberto glides our boat into port but has trouble. I couldn´t bare to watch the man struggle so I grabbed a long pole and helped guide it in. The entire time he is barking orders at me. ha. I don´t speak spanish so I had no idea what he said but we still managed a semiprofessional park job. We left the boat at about 3 and met our island host family. Coolest part of the trip. It was like stepping off the boat right into the 16th century. The house we stayed at cooked by fire, and had a candle for light in our room. We had to end our island hike before dark because otherwise we would have no light to find our way home. We did find some old Inca ruins on the island, explored them, watched the sunset and luckily had a full moon to find our way home. There were 6 blankets on the beds (just enough to keep us warm).

Albert is a busy man so we had to be at the dock at 7:30 in the morning to leave. Jill and I got to the dock on time and the boat left at 7:30 Peruvian time (8:30). We stop at a 4th island in the way back to main land Puno. Jill and I hike most of the island in the 2 and a half hours we have. Unfortunately ( now you are gonna hear me complain) this is a tourist island. We stop to get lunch and the gringos are just flocking to the island. Meals are now 15 soles ( 5 american). Not acceptable considering we got lunch the day before for 1.50 soles (50 cents American). Dang Gringos make prices go up everywhere and Jill and I will not play that game. Instead, we bought crackers for 1 sole and boycot the tourist trap. It was understandable why people came though. The view of the lake with the Bolivian snow capped moutains in the background was beautiful. Jill and I found a rock overlooking it all and enjoyed our year and half anniversary with crackers. (we had the best view on the island!)

Then, we went back on the boat to Puno. We had to spend the night here because of the strike. We are still stuck in this small town but we just got bus tickets for 2:30 this afternoon. Thanks for reading!

Oh Jill made me go for a run this morning which really means one more cold shower than necessary. I stuck it to her by just not showering. I think we all lost that one.