Puno and Lake Titicaca

Our hotel in Puno was so nice, they had coca tea in the foyer and free internet and the service was incredible.
The beds were the most comfortable yet, and the pillows were fluffy and the best they could be.
We went for pizza for lunch and waited an hour and a half before they bought it out. it wasnt worth the wait. Then we just wandered around for the afternoon. For dinner we went to a place called Incabar. the food was really nice and there were brightly coloured couches.

We left early on tooktooks for the port ,it was a nice sunny race through town. We bought gifts for our homestay families from a little stay on the waterfront, then headed off to the floating islands, Uros.

OUr guide Lucho told us the story of the inca creation; the people lived at the bottom of the mountains, they started fighting and incest... so god flooded the area. No one couldclimb fastenough, save for one Puma, who leaped up and out and sat on the mountain top. He watches over the people with his shinning eyes. There was no sun, only darkness for 500years.
The people who live in the area thought they were the best of all people because their blood ran black... this is due to all the Haemaglobin.
The Incas conquered the area, then the spanish came...the people didnt want to be ´happy slaves´ so they sailed across the lake and livedon floating islands made of reeds.
When people came on motorboats in the 60s the natives thought it was thespanish returning so the people were running scared.
The people moved their islands closer to Puno so tourists can stop off for an hour on their way to other islands.

Once at the floating islands we sat for education time once again. We were told about the way they live and some more history. I dont remember much of it now.
The men were sitting around fixing a reed seat, and the women acted out the local trading ways by laying out all sorts of veggies on the ground and pretending to be in a market. We were shown some of the native fish in a bowl and we ate some reed root...tasted like nothing. Trout and Kingfish were introduced at one point into the lake and took over so now the native fish species are all in trouble. The kingfish swim at depth so theyr hard to catch..theres a little pond where the people farm fish in the middle of their island.
One of the women showed nicky andi through her house. It was a small reed room with a bed and all their clothes on hooks on one side and a painting of fruit by her husband on the other. She then proceeded to try to sell us her handicraft blankets but we had no money.

After our look around their littleisland we went for a ride on a reed boat. It was very elaborate, there were pumafaceson the front. It was obviously made for tourists...why not make a quick buk on the side.
We then hopped back on our boat and headed for Amantaní island. I slept the whole way,about three hours...i didnt feel well by the end of it. Once on the island we met our homestay papa and walked up the hill to his house. It took us a while because all three of us , natalie, patty and i werent feeling our best, and the altitude made it harder. Papa must have loved us! :P
Such a beautul island, the water was so blue and the little houses were surrounded by feilds of various crops and sheep and donkeys.
Papas house was so cute! there was a gate made of branches and after walking past the kitchen the pathway opens onto a courtyard from which all the rooms are. Our room was coozy, a bed each with about 20 blankets because its so cold there. We had a quick lay down to try to get over our nuasea then had lunch with mama. Soup made from potato and quenua, then boiled veggies and an omlete. Twas delicous.
We met the rest of the group at the football feild at 4 and went for a hike up the hill to see the sunset. It was slow going because Natalie injured her hip on the inca trail. Her and i stopped at a lower level and layed in a feild for a while. There were prickles but it was totally worth it.
There were heaps of lavender plants and moer crops that i didnt recognise. We decided we would walk to the top and made our way slowly up. On the footpath there were archways made from odd shaped stones that looked as though they were about to topple. At the top we watch the sunset behind some clouds so we were slightly dissappointed we didnt get to see it set over the lake. On the way back down we bought donuts from a stall...they didnt have cinamon sugar.
We walked down then went to a local shop and the girls got hotchocolate with baileys.

Papa picked us up from the shop and walked us home. It was super cold. we had dinner with mum and our brother,whose name i cannot remember... potato soup and curried veggies. With mooña tea (mint). it was really nice, although the others were sick of potato. I dont get sick of potato.
After dinner Mama dressed us in the local peruvian dress and we headed back down the hill for a feista at the school hall. We danced and took lots of photos, and our brother was playing guitar in the band, they were all wearing matching ponchos and swayed at the same time.
I bought a coke and the entire roomof people danced around in a big circle holding hands.Mama was really excitedand kept coming over and asking us to dance with her. We made papa dance for one song too.
We went home after about an hour and a half. Papa folded all the clothes and packedthem away for Mama.

7th April
Slept badly because of the weight of all the blankets. The donkeys sounded their morning alarm at 5.30am and the chickens didnt kick in until 7.25am. Breakfast was pancakes made by papa, they were so deliscous but one is never enough.
We talked a while about the climates at home and when i said new zealand can be cold he said...mucho queso (lots of milk)..and i said yes! how did he know! Y mucho Leché . i said yup muchos vacas ( cow. the one spanish word i learnt in Panama from our crazy taxi driver, Mark Antony. )
Someone in the valley was practicing trumpet...i thought it was a bit early for that. We got ready and headed to the port. Walking down the path we saw all the other tourists saying goodbye to their families and joining the convoy to the port. When we were saying goodbye to Papa at the dock he spoke in spanish to our guide so she could translate. He said goodluck with our travels and studies and life and everything and that we have to go back and visit with our boyfriends someday. Oh Papa. hes so sweet.

We got on the boat and reminisced . When we pulled away Papa waved until he was out of our sight.
The entire boatride back Claire, Nicky, Katrina and I sung various hits from the 90s.

Back in Puno we searched for pizza for lunch...apparently noone makes it beacuse it takes so long to light the pizza oven. we settled for Incabar again..i had mashed potatoes they were amazing. I wrote some postcards, had a nap and went for an early dinner...or second lunch with Natalie and Patty ..we found pizza.. but the guy lit the fire for us and he was a real amature... it took hiim about 1hour 15minutes to start it then we had to wait for the pizza to cook. It wasnt worth it. The lady came in after about 30minutes of our waiting with spaghitti she had bought from the shop for patty´s chicken noodle soup.
We met the group and went for dinner at 6.30 to a place called colours. I just had dessert...fondue for one. It was so deliscous and made everyone jealous because they had chozen the brownie over sharing fondue with me . muahahahaha.



ok so now im more up to date than i was...im getting there.