Hotel Ferrocarril Puno

... inquisitively through windows, it was their entertainment too. For 2 hours we danced, sometimes independently, twirling dizzily, and sometimes in a large hand holding circle. I danced once with Niamh and later she said she needed to dance with people her own age. Was it my dancing I thought? The altitude certainly made the dancing very exhaustive and we had had enough before the fun was over about 10pm. We retired to our room, washed in the moonlight and fell quickly into sleep.

... scams in Puno. We said we would return tomorrow at 7-45am, if we were going to go ahead. We wanted to checkout some alternatives. This we did when we returned to our hotel. There was a tour operator opposite our hotel and we checked prices there, they were similar but a little dearer. Our own hotel manager also offered something similar, but we decided we would go with Santiago and would hike down to the port tomorrow morning.<br><br>We went for an early ...

... we played a few hands until dinner was ready. At that time, we joined the father, mother and 4 children upstairs for a meal of rice and a stew made from potatoes, green beans, carrots and probably a chicken base. It was hard to tell, but we were hungry and we ate as much as we could.<br><br>After dinner, we were dressed up in local garb (for the men, this meant a black felt brimmed hat, a brown wool or alpaca poncho, and a side bag adorned with colourful ...

... and about 3kgs of fruit to give to the children, so it was a real struggle for me. Luckily Isabella understood and stopped frequently. Isabella lived with her two young daughters, Pisarra who is 4yrs and a girl of 8yrs whose name I couldn´t pronounce. Lunch was quinoa soup, cheese and two different types of potatoes... I can see why they were glad to receive the fruit!!<br><br>After lunch we headed up to the town square for a game of ...

... in sensible mode conserving money, so she didn't get a decent sale out of me. She did make me look like something from a traveling freak show though, so i guess we're even.<br><br>From there we went on to Amantani Island, for our overnight with a local family. Now this is where things really started to get interesting. They speak a local dialect on this island so our ...

... all swallowed up by the government organistaions on the mainland, while they are left to fend for themselves. Only the people from the floating islands sell their wares on the mainland as otherwise it costs too much to transport them across. It was sad stuff to hear and touched a nerve within me.<br><br>Later that night, after a leg burning trip to the top of the hill to see the sun go down, we sat in candlelight having our dinner of rice and fried vegetables whilst Aunt Selma ...

... a reed boat to the next island along, paddled by a native islander, and from here we picked up our community tour boat and travelled on to Taquile, another island (a real one this time) out in the middle of the Lake.<br> Taquile is like stepping back in time slightly, they've only, in the last few years, received solar panels to provide electricity, and they don't have mbiles and other such modernities. Their customs were really interesting too. The ...

... kom tilbage. Da de kom tilbage gik turen tilbage til Puno, hvilket tog ca. 3 timer. <br>Da vi kom tilbage til hostlet gik vi ud for at finde et busselskab, der kunne tage os til La Paz naeste dag. Og nu er vi saa i La Paz og har vaeret her de sidste 2 dage. Vi bor paa et rigtig fedt hostel lige nu med massere af unge mennesker og fest hver aften. I morgen regner vi med at tage videre til Uyuni for at til Salar de Uyuni, salt oerkenen. <br>

... flat plain between two Andean ridges. At the highest marked point we reach 4338 metres, the bike is breathless but I am managing OK without coca.<br>The sky is crystal clear a dark blue overhead with a broad band of light blue fading to almost white on the horizon.<br>We expected it to be cold up here but it is very pleasant in the bright sunshine. <br>A railroad ...

... the hotel, downloading pictures, enjoying a well deserved glass of wine and getting warm again!!<br>Tonight, as I had to explain to our tour manager we were not satisfied with service, he is offering a comp diner at traditional restaurant :)<br>Bearing in mind we are dead, I guess we will stay here....which is better cause I will be faster available on the net :)<br><br>Mmmmm wine is making his softening effect!!<br>Time to download the pics<br><br><br>