Waking up at 6am, feeling much better, though still have stomach ache and diarrhea, but the intensity is definitely not as much as yesterday. I tell the family that yo estoy enfermo and no desayuno (I am sick and not gonna have breakfast). They make me some herbal tea (call muña or something like that), it supposes to help with stomach problem, and it tastes very good actually. I drink that, and we are leaving isla Amantani for another island an hour away, called isla Taquile (sound like tak-key-nay).
The wave is high this morning, for that hour of boat ride to Taquile, a few people get sea sick, including Mesami, who stayed with me in the same room last night. When we port, she just lays down on the floor and cannot move. At the end, she skips the island, and just stay at the port to wait for us. We hike up to the main town, which takes about an hour. It is a much easier hike though. My stomach does not ache as much, but I still have diarrhea a couple times. As long as they are toilets around, I am ok, they don´t usually have toilet paper though. I almost finish all the tissue packs I brought over. Anyway, get to the main square, waiting for everyone. We have a beautiful lake view, and many arches (like door entrance). 95% of the Taquile islanders stay on the islands and they marry to their own people too. So, they preserve their culture quite well. Many are wearing some unique clothing and hats that you can tell whether he is married, his social states..etc. Woman also wear red if they are married, and white if they are not. Their products are all handmade locally and sold quite expensively, it seems.
We have a lunch at a local restaurant, where there is only one dish - fish from the Lake - I think it´s trout, if I remember correctly. It tastes really good and fresh. I am also glad that I have appetite again. At least I finish all the fish, and french fries, leave some rice on the plate because they are so dry. So far, the meal is good. It costs 15 Soles (US$5). After lunch, we hike back down to the other side of the hill and take the same boat heading back to Puno. It´s a 3 hour boat ride again, in much calmer water, I sleep for the whole time pretty much, the diarrhea drains off all my energy. Make plan to have dinner with a girl from the same tour at 7:00pm, who strangely studied at the same Spanish school with me at the same period but we didn't bump into each other. She is from Bermuda, how unusual I think, their population is 60000, on an island smaller than isla Amantani. She is heading to Bolivia tomorrow, while I am heading to Arequipa, so called the White City.
After the dinner, just go back to the hotel to rest. The diarrhea has drained off all my energy. Hopefully, I will feel better in Arequipa.
Photos here: Day 32
