All's well that ends well !

Took a six-hour bus ride through the Peruvian desert from Arequipa to Puno on Lake Titicaca. Very interesting was the fact that before departure, the bus company staff went through the bus videotaping everybody on the bus. As I understand, this is for security purposes because sometimes buses are stopped en route by robbers and there is usually an inside guy who has already prepared for the robbery. Also, one time the bus made an unexpected stop - and all the locals on the bus rushed to look out the window of the bus on the side where the luggage was loaded - to make sure the purpose of the stop wasn't to steal their luggage!

Lady in a reed house on a reed island

I met a nice American guy, John, on the bus and we're hanging out together now. It's nice to have someone to help me watch my back. And he speaks Spanish too, so that helps a lot.

Me and my island gals

I also had unbelievably good luck with getting my visa for Bolivia. I actually arrived in town after the Bolivian Consulate had closed, but it being such a small town, they opened up and let me in for a last-minute visa. And they didn't even charge me anything for it. Most significantly, it is Friday afternoon, and if I had not gotten the visa now, I would have had to wait until Monday morning, which I wouldn't have been able to do because I have to be somewhere else then. So things are really off to a good start in this town. Additionally, the people here seem very friendly.

One of the main reasons for me to visit Puno on Lake Titicaca was to visit the floating islands of the Uros people. They are a people who have built islands on Lake Titicaca from the reeds found in the lake. Their islands are not attached to anything and just float around. When they start sinking, they just add more reeds on top. There is one extended family per island, and even their houses are made of reeds, as is their furniture and their boats. (See pictures.)

Me driving the boat on Lake Titicaca

I almost didn't make it there, though, and here's why: The boat that goes there departs after it has 10 passengers. Not being sure of the departure time, I arrived at the docks at 7 a.m. I was the first passenger to board the boat and I began my wait for the other 9 adventuresome souls. Well, it wasn't until 8:15 that the next people arrived: two accountants from Lima who were in Puno on business and wanted to visit the islands before going back home that afternoon.

Nine o'clock came and went without a single other passenger boarding. I then asked the Peruvian pair if we could get a refund if the boat didn't go. When they burst out laughing at my question, I took that to mean "no". A little more time passed before the Peruvians came up with an idea: How about if we three passengers each ponied up another three dollars a head (in addition to the usual fare of three dollars) and we would depart without the need for additional passengers. The captain readily accepted this deal as he could see that his chances of getting enough passengers to make a full load was diminishing by the minute. So off we went - and we had a wonderful time. The results of the excursion can be seen in the attached pictures.

Reed boat

Reed village