I am currently in an internet cafe that smells like gasoline. I slept 12 hours last night and Monday was my month mark for being in Peru. Last weekend I went to Puno and Lake Titicaca with four of my friends, three from New York and one from Brazil. We left at 9:30 pm Friday night on a bus and got in the next morning at 4:30am. Our travel agency sucked and we ended up waiting two hours at the Puno bus station until someone came to get us. About 20 minutes after we arrived, the electricity went out and we were left standing in the dark which was a bit creepy, but after another twenty minutes or so the sun came up and it was ok. We took a taxi to the port and had another hour to kill before our boat left. 
There were about 30 other people on the boat and we napped for a while until we got to the floating islands, which are man made out of reeds. They also eat the reeds, which are very watery and taste a bit like cucumber. The islands were neat to see I guess, but I felt a bit awkward being there on a account of them being small and there wasn´t really anything to do. 
After seeing two different floating islands we went to a larger one called Amantani, where we stayed the night with a host family. The island was gorgeous, especially at night. I have never seen so many stars in the sky. Our family prepared us vegetarian meals including really strong tasting fried cheese and pancakes for breakfast. At night they gave us traditional clothing to wear and took us dancing. 
We did a bit of exploring during the day and went to the main plaza and sat in a little shop and had drinks and candy, but the walk back up to the house was uphill the entire way and exhausting. We left Amantani early the next morning for another island called Tequile but the water is really rough in the morning because it was so windy and I was horribly seasick the entire ride. I sat out on the back of boat with my head between my knees, trying not to throw up. We finally made it to Tequile and had more uphill climbing to do, which I did not appreciate very much after an hour of being sea sick. It hailed for about two minutes. There was not too much to the island, though there were a lot of great views. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get back to Puno by boat, though it´s actually only a really short distance. We sat on the roof of the boat and sunbathed for a while which was really nice. When we got back to the city, we headed downtown to check out the first day of the festival of the virgin of Candeleria. There were tons of groups of traditional dancers parading through the streets and everyone was very drunk. 
We ate dinner and were supposed to catch a bus back to Cusco that night, but we all decided that none of us really wanted to go back just yet so we changed our bus tickets for the next day. The festival ended around midnight, and surprisingly, the whole city went home after. We went to a bar and club but there were very few people there. The boys and I ate anticuchos from a vender off the street (beef and potato kebabs) which were yummy. We stayed in a ridiculously cheap hostel (about $3 per person per night) that actually wasn´t bad at all besides being extremely bright and loud in the morning because our room opened up on to a main street. That day we took a tour of some ruins called Sillustani which have pre-Incan and Incan tombs. 
Last week, I went to some sites about an hour outside of Cusco called Moray and Salineras. Moray is a site where the Incas probably did crop testing on circular terraced landscaping
and Salineras are salt flats located in this mountain valley, surrounded by tall cliffs. They were both really neat places to see. I don´t think I´ll ever get tired of all of the views here. Everywhere you look the landscape is really perfect. 
Today I went to the San Pedro market near my friend Patrick´s house and saw some really distrubing things such as a pile of cow´s mouths. It all smelled pretty foul, but I bought myself some fresh fruit. I think that is all for now. I am going to go buy a cake for my housemate Liz who is leaving tomorrow and then we are going out for Indian food.
Nos vemos,
Ashley
There were about 30 other people on the boat and we napped for a while until we got to the floating islands, which are man made out of reeds. They also eat the reeds, which are very watery and taste a bit like cucumber. The islands were neat to see I guess, but I felt a bit awkward being there on a account of them being small and there wasn´t really anything to do. 
After seeing two different floating islands we went to a larger one called Amantani, where we stayed the night with a host family. The island was gorgeous, especially at night. I have never seen so many stars in the sky. Our family prepared us vegetarian meals including really strong tasting fried cheese and pancakes for breakfast. At night they gave us traditional clothing to wear and took us dancing. 
We did a bit of exploring during the day and went to the main plaza and sat in a little shop and had drinks and candy, but the walk back up to the house was uphill the entire way and exhausting. We left Amantani early the next morning for another island called Tequile but the water is really rough in the morning because it was so windy and I was horribly seasick the entire ride. I sat out on the back of boat with my head between my knees, trying not to throw up. We finally made it to Tequile and had more uphill climbing to do, which I did not appreciate very much after an hour of being sea sick. It hailed for about two minutes. There was not too much to the island, though there were a lot of great views. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get back to Puno by boat, though it´s actually only a really short distance. We sat on the roof of the boat and sunbathed for a while which was really nice. When we got back to the city, we headed downtown to check out the first day of the festival of the virgin of Candeleria. There were tons of groups of traditional dancers parading through the streets and everyone was very drunk. 
We ate dinner and were supposed to catch a bus back to Cusco that night, but we all decided that none of us really wanted to go back just yet so we changed our bus tickets for the next day. The festival ended around midnight, and surprisingly, the whole city went home after. We went to a bar and club but there were very few people there. The boys and I ate anticuchos from a vender off the street (beef and potato kebabs) which were yummy. We stayed in a ridiculously cheap hostel (about $3 per person per night) that actually wasn´t bad at all besides being extremely bright and loud in the morning because our room opened up on to a main street. That day we took a tour of some ruins called Sillustani which have pre-Incan and Incan tombs. 
Last week, I went to some sites about an hour outside of Cusco called Moray and Salineras. Moray is a site where the Incas probably did crop testing on circular terraced landscaping
and Salineras are salt flats located in this mountain valley, surrounded by tall cliffs. They were both really neat places to see. I don´t think I´ll ever get tired of all of the views here. Everywhere you look the landscape is really perfect. 
Today I went to the San Pedro market near my friend Patrick´s house and saw some really distrubing things such as a pile of cow´s mouths. It all smelled pretty foul, but I bought myself some fresh fruit. I think that is all for now. I am going to go buy a cake for my housemate Liz who is leaving tomorrow and then we are going out for Indian food.
Nos vemos,
Ashley
Sounds amazing, dude! Sorry about the sea sickness... the exhaust at the back of the boat makes it so much worse as well. Glad to read that you're having such a fabulous time.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are ridiculously cool. I especially love that tiered-farming one.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a good time.
--Bobby