Lodging Samana Inn Puno

... s all gravy as they say in the United States.




We decided to spend a few more days in La Paz after our group had disbanded and thought the best spot to do this from would be the biggest party hostel in the city. I had heard about this from some American chaps in Buenos Aires and everyone seems to know about it once you arrive in La Paz. It's called The Wild Rover and used to be the Governor's mansion house and is full of party people and huge ...

... ahead and as the lead guy it's your responsibility to point out any hazards that the riders behind you may not see. i spot a big honking pot hole and point it out with my right hand, slightly looking back to see where the guys are and swerving a bit left to avoid it. before i know it my fat front tire has found an even fatter crevice in the pavement and for a second i'm locked like in a train track before the bike freaks out and i go flying over the front skidding left side and head first ...

... up in the burial chambers being towers. Our guide was very detailed in his descriptions and I think that most of us just wanted to have some free time to wander around and take in the sights. Not to mention that most of us were freezing in the very cold and hard wind that swept across the Altiplano. I was glad I had brought my soft shell jacket, and having travelled with all those warm jackets for 1˝ months now finally seems to pay off. Eventually, we got the free time ...

... altitude cloud-covered sky, the water grows green. We arrive in a swamp-like area, with forests of reeds where hide ducks, seagulls and a great deal of other birds, unknown to me.
We are all tourists apparently, but I'm the only gringo. The forest grows thicker and we see more and more boats of the Uros people, collecting reeds. Then there they are ! The all dryed-reed houses, and the floating islands bellow ! At first it looks like a village, then as our boat goes further ...

This morning we were transferring to another island, Taquille. Breakfast was at 7am, the usual bread, jam, coffee and eggs. We paid our hosts for the accommodation and meals, it was a set price of 25 soles each although we managed to get a discount, just 20 soles for Jody and Niamh, a total of 90 soles. We met up with the other tourists and back down to the shoreline to our waiting boat.

The trip to Taquille was just over an hour. We were led from the shoreline to ...

... helped. The hotel was offering room discounts to 65soles if we took a tour on lake Titicaca with them. It all seemed pretty straightforward so we provisionally reserved our places on the tour and agreed a price which was written on a small piece of paper. It all took a bit of time, about an hour before we dropped our bags off and went looking for food. We found a nearby Pizza restaurant and splashed out about 30 soles on a large Pizza and coffee.

We went back to our room and crashed.

... of meat and potatoes spread out in a communal banquet on the floor. We all felt immensely gratified for the experience and left Puno with a lightness in our step, knowing that we had left people in need with a colorful contribution.

Next stop: Machu Picchu, the Peruvian west coast and Ecuador!

Best to everyone back home, and look out for at least one more update before I reach American soil for the holidays.

Que les vayan bien!

Andrew

... oooooooooooh. Coffee...

We met up with John, Juliana and Broadfoot later that night and hopped a bus bound for Cusco. This time there would be no 6 am charango, though by that time we´d be introduced to Juliana´s Cusquenan aunt, Sonia, and her family-run hostal, that was cheap and lovely in every way. Rock on Hostal Sol del Oro and La Casa de Mi Abuelo!

Mollies notes: TODAY, I am going to go find some good coffee. In about 20 mins.

... detail... and he was really funny!, had lunch together and went back to the boat... and back to puno. met Milo and Jessica for cake and then had dinner, found als lost hat and went back to the hostal.

We checked back into the crazy hotel where there were only kids at the desk, tried to teach one of them how to book our bus ticket... it all went wrong (they made the bus ticket up and got all the details wrong, took me over an hour to get my money back... and then the little ...

... from the dancing! The ladies taught us the traditional dance (lots of spinning and swinging - sorta like square dancing). Also, they did some more complicated traditional dances involving a rope and 3 couples. They guys would whip the rope on the ground near the women´s feet and at times they both had hold of the rope. Lots of fun!

The next day - I woke up with the sunrise! Def not normal for me =) But the view was ...