Day 32 : Lake Titicaca Islas Day 2: Taquile

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

Day 31 : Lake Titicaca Islas Day 1: Twisting the night away

The second tour I have joined in Puno is a 2 days trip to Lake Titicaca islands. The first day we visit the floating island Uros, which is made by weeds. It´s very interesting actually, people are wearing their traditional clothes singing songs to welcome and farewell us when we arrive and depart. We visit their houses, talk to him personally, and the guide explained why and how they make the floating islands...etc. It may seem touristy, since tourism is probably their biggest income nowadays, but it really isn't bad, and since it´s so unusual, and they are so friendly and welcoming. The whole visit is very interesting.

After Uros, we take a 3 hour boat ride to Isla Amantani, where we will stay for a night with some local families. We have a big group, like 18-20 people, we are splited into groups of 2 or 3 and stays with like 8-9 families. I am staying with 2 Japanese girls: Meya and Mesami. After we settle down, have lunch provided by the family (sorry to say, the lunch is too small for me with potato, potato, potato - different kinds - with rice and salty piece of rubbery thing, no meat, I eat it anyway), we have a hour to rest. I am sitting at their ¨garden¨ where they grow their own food, looking at the lake, and the snow mountains across the Bolivian side, I am thinking maybe this is the simple life. I enjoy that moment a lot, just looking at the lake. The island is very windy, more so than Chicago! Later, we all hike up, like pilgrims, to a football field above a hill. There we are given a lecture about the culture of the islanders. After that we are supposed to hike up to the top of the hill (at 4150 meters) to watch the sunset. That takes a lot of efforts I confess, especially with that wind. I have 4 layers of clothing and still feel cold. Most of us do it, except a few choose to go to a different spot where requires less energy to climb. The view is amazing on the top. The last time I actually watch a sunset might be a few years ago. This reminds of the sunset I watched in Santorini in Greece. The sun is setting behind another island.

Get back to the house, rest for a little bit, I am exhausted and actually fall asleep a little. Get up and go to the dinner, more potato and rice, I start to feel very cold and shaky. I can´t stop my hands from shaking, even though I hold on to the hot cup of tea, and swallow down some hot liquid. I have no appetite, and feel my stomach twisting. I try to eat the rice, with soap to water it down. I know I need the energy. But I start to feel really sick, I tell the girls, I am off to the bed and lay down a little. They say I look really pale. Soon, after I lay down, I know I need to use the bathroom, where have no light, no sitting pan, and no flash, you need to use a buckle to carry some water to flash it yourself. I am hoping that I can hold on long enough till I get back to Puno tomorrow. But no, I need to do it, and need it now. There is a candle, but in the middle of my mission, it goes out, luckily I have my flashlight with me. I try to clean the rim of the bowl and cover it with paper before sitting down but the whole thing is just gross. Anyway, I don´t have a choice really. The stomach starts to twist so badly, I have diarrhea. This isn't good. Get back to my bed, twisting and turning the bed, moaning too. The Japanese girls worry and ask me if I am ok. But we all know that there is no doctor, no any medical facility at this time of the day. I have taken some chinese medicine I brought and put some methanol oil on my stomach. The twisting becomes very intense. They are going to traditional clothes dress up party. I feel bad since I am in no condition to go, but I really want to go, put on their poncho and wear their colorful hat. Anyway, I have to stay.

Go to the bathroom again, the 2nd time, with nobody left in the house, it is so bad that I cannot even clean it before sitting down. My body literally are losing feelings, and feel like I am paralyzed all over my body except my heart, sitting on the bowl, holding my flashlight, my fingers are twisted and I can´t control them. The flashlight falls off my fingers into my pants. I am really scared for a moment, and not sure what to do. Just keep sitting there, tell myself to chill out, breathe deeply. Maybe after 15-20 mins, the feelings starts to come back. I clean myself and get back to bed. I actually feel a little better after that. Stomach still twists every so often, and I need to switch position to make it relax. Over the whole course of night, I have diarrhea 5 times. I feel bad for the Japanese girls, since when I get up in the middle of the night, in the dark, I knock down thing on the table and the door is not exactly quiet when I open it. But I manage to get through the night.

Another thing I planned to do on the island but don´t get a chance is to watch stars. Since the island has no electricity, at night it gets really dark, and you can see many stars. A friend told me that she saw 6 shooting stars when she was on the island. I have my wishes ready, but I have no chances to see one shooting star. When I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I do try to wait for a min or two, just looking up, but it gets very windy at night, and I don´t think I should stay out too long. The starry night is very beautiful though.

The first night on the Lake Titicaca is a bit rough. I get back to bed, trying to listen to music to keep me calm, and help me get through the night.

Photos here: Day 31 (Uros), Day 31 (Amantani)

Day 30 : Sillustani

Today is exactly half way through my journey. I have about 3 and a half weeks more in South America, then a week in Australia before heading back to Hong Kong. I just hope I'll not lose another camera and will not be over-spending too much. That's all I wish. :) Haha.. If I will have as much fun in the 2nd half of my journey as in the 1st half. That would be even better.

I am feeling a bit off color this morning, especially after the breakfast. I feel like something stuck in my chest, going up and down, kind of like a heartburn. I want to vomit but there is really nothing to vomit, just some acids keep coming up my chest. I think it is the coffee with milk, but I don't know. My body is also feeling tired everywhere, and my hands are cold while my neck is warm. Doesn't sound great, does it? I just hope I am not getting 'sick' sick. I do have taken some medicines hoping it prevents my body from getting worst. At lunch, I have no appetite but I try to force myself to eat something, because I need the energy. Get to a local joint, the set menu is 3.5 Soles (US$1.1) including a bowl of soup, a rice dish with chicken. The chicken with rice is so dry, I have to get a bottle of coca cola to water it down. I guess I shouldn't be so cheap when I am not feeling that well. Get a Gatorade, hope it will help getting rid of the acids in my chest. It does help a little. By the late afternoon, I start to feel better.

In the afternoon, I visit Sillustani, the Inka funerary towers, with a tour group. It is located above a small hill on a peninsula in a lake. It's so beautiful: the Inka tower against the dark blue lake with a blue sky too. It's only a 3 hours tour, the travel itself takes 1.5 hours already. So we really only spend 1.5 hours at the site, which is ok, because the site isn't big, the length of time is appropriate actually. After Sillustani, we also stop by a local people home, and learn about their foods and their living. The local people are very friendly, they are waving at you when your bus pass by. I realize that they wouldn't mind you to stop by to visit, partly because they can sell you stuffs, or if not, they would get some tips for welcoming you anyway. Still I think they seem to be very genuine people, living in very simple condition. I pay 5 Soles (which is US$1.6). If it is directly to the local people, I wouldn't mind.

Meet another Chinese girl in the tour, she is from Taiwan, and she has visited all the sites I planned to visit, including Easter Islands, which I am quite surprised. Also the north Chilean desert - Atacama Desert. She says it is really beautiful there, but I am not going there anymore, what's the point?! She is heading to Lima tonight, I wish her luck after the tour. It's interesting how sometimes, you meet people on the road, just a slight collide in that very moment of your life, and you know you are not going to see this person again, so there is no exchange of contact or anything like that. Peaceful and smooth, just touch and go, like dust particles.

Dinner, I have gone to another local joint just around the corner of the hotel, still being cheap, I have ordered a dish called Pollo a la Coca Cola, which is really good actually. Costs me 11 Soles (less than US$4) including the tea. I am planning on eating a really good meal on the last day in Puno. I think that's the game plan, in each city, I will indulge myself with one very good meal, and the others I will try to be conservative with the money.

Tomorrow and the next day I gonna be in the islands, where have no electricity, so I guess I will leave my laptop here in the hotel with my backpack.

Photos here: Day 30