Gaspin'
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2009
1
55
73
Trip End
Sep 13, 2009
Puno, Peru
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Holy shite and fook and God of almighty. The big two week excursion around Peru starts at - wait for it - 3.15am. As much as I might complain, the two poor australians arrived at the hotel at 1.00 am in the morning only 2 hours before departure due to a serious of unfortunate flight mishaps. They ended up getting here via LA!! They are together but not a couple - indeed even after their ordeal and the need for them to get up and go they are in great spirits and fun and witty - so the group is turning out to be just fine.
Turbulence
We board the flight with mimimun of fuss and make for Juliaca in the plane
Puno and Lake Titicaca - Vista
. This requires flying over the Andes which are magnificent - we fly over them from the air and in spite of considerable turbulence, there is nothing like the vista of a snow topped mountain range - shivers down the spine moment as we land in Cusco - the layover where most people get off the place - we go back to Cusco later in the trip. Juliaca is an old commercial centre for every piece of contraband you could want - you've got e-pods, soni, calvin klvin etc. We are only 300km from Bolivia in La Paz. So it's an important route for the black market. It is also the first glimpse of the high Andean senoras in their traditional dress with sun weathered faces and red rosy cheeks. They all look in their late 70s but are probably only a couple of days passed their 21st birthdays.One hour bus journey later and we arrive in Puno which sits on the edges of Lake Titicaca the highest negotiable lake in the world. The minute I stepped of the plane the altitude hit me like a rocket. We are 3,800m up in the sky on a huge plateau in the Andes. I stupidly aid the driver in unloading the baggage - 30 seconds of labour at most and I'm gasping for breath. It is the most unusual sensation. We get to the hostel which is amazingly clean and comfy. We arrange to all meet for lunch at 1.30 which gives 3 hours of well deserved sleep. I get off eventually for a two hour kip in spite of the constant gasping for breath
Perú's Next Top Model - and some auld doll
. It will apparently take a while to acclimatise - some people never manage to.Market Day
We're advised to eat a light lunch as our stomachsare under pressure in altitude and we shouldn't make ourselves sick. Gillian, god love her, barfs up in the bathroom before we even manage to get our Quina Soups - delicious local barley with vegetables. We also down a mojre tea - coca leaves mixed with honey and lemon - delicious. My headache disappears after that and it looks like I'm one of the lucky ones who'll not fall victim to altitude sickness.
Tomorrow we'll head out on the lake and visit three islands and doa homestay with a traditional Quechan Andean family. We are asked not to give them money but to provide provisions. We go to the local market to stock up. The walk to the market and the market itself are something else. The traditional clad senoras sit behing stalls stock full of cheese, meat counters (unrefrigerated), fruit stalls and other stalls built of with all sorts of general provisions. My lucky family will get some cacoa tea, rice, porridge and fruit as well as som pencils and colouring books for the bambinos
Lima Street - Puno
.The others are back resting up in the hostel before we reconvene for dinner and more of Cynthia's entertaining stories. Apparently we're premitted a more substantial meal tonight and I'm in the mood for some chiva again. I've spent the afternoon walking around - slowly - trying to acclimatise, taking some pics which hopefully I'll be able to upload somewhere other than this net cafe - just not wokring here.
So far Peru has astounded me. And all I've seen are the less visited Lima downtown and the magnificent lakeside town of Puno. This place is truly wonderful. I'm even doing well at the lingo thanks to a trusty spanish language "e-pod" application.
On my "ePod"
American Idiot - Green Day
Comments
Bat Mobile
Oh my God I love the bat mobiles.