Day 33 : Cruz del Sur : Puno to Arequipa

Today is on the road. Wake up around 7am, have breakfast, upload photos, blog entries for a couple hours in my hotel room. Then, go out for lunch. My stomach is till not a 100%, so I want to eat something not as adventurous. Go back to the same restaurant I ate with the Bermuda girl last night. Their lunch menu set for the day looks pretty decent, with a potato appetizer, soup, a chicken with rice, and some kind of lemonade drink. I have a cup of coca tea too. It's really pretty good for 8 Soles. I need a big lunch anyway, since my bus to Arequipa is for 3:30pm - 9:00pm, after checking in the hotel, I don't think I would go out and eat again. I pass by some bakery shops and get two pastries in case I am hungry on the bus.

Still get an hour before heading to the bus stop, so I Visit the coca & custom museum, where I watch a quite interesting video about their fiesta dances, with different names and costumes. Learn more about the coca leaves - the sacred plants for the Andeans. Then, I head to the bus stop. What do I know? I bump into the french couple who was on the same islands tour with me, we also bumped into each other at dinner last night. Today, we are the same bus again, the third time. If I see them again, I think they are stalking me.

The bus is really fancy actually, I am sitting upstairs in the front, with the big window in front of me, but I close the blind most of them anyway because of the late afternoon sun, and I am watching the movies on the TV next to my feet. They play 3 movies for the 5 and a half journey, and I watch them all. The first one is called Dreamer, oh god, almost get tears in my eyes. It's about a girl, a horse, a dream, I guess. It's a good movie, but I hate to watch this kind of movie on a plane, bus or in a public place where I have to hold my tears back. At some point of the movie, I have to look outside the window, and hold my tears back, chill, don't come out. Silly. The other two are Little Man (kind of a stupid movie), and Red Eye (kind of a intense thriller). I want to write my blog during they play Little Man, they have wi-fi on the bus too, I am amazed. But I don't want to block of the view for the girl next to me, so I close my computer and watch the movie as well. The road is bumpy on and off anyway.

I am really impressed with this deluxe bus company Cruz del Sur, there are also a dinner box with a sandwiches and cake, and drink in the middle of the ride, it's almost like a plane ride, better than United at least. After 6:30pm, it gets pretty dark outside. There is no light in the highway, we are driving down from some Andean mountain areas to a lower altitude areas, I mean without seeing what both sides of the road are, just pitch dark and with the bus flying. I can't allow myself to imagine further. If I can, I will not take another bus. It's also a pain to bargain for taxi with a huge backpack on your back at night. The french asks me if I want to take the taxi together to the main plaza. My hotel is just a few blocks off the plaza anyway. It's Halloween, turns out the Peruvians take Halloween much more serious than we do. Or at least they love to party. Traffic is horrible everywhere, taxi raises their price, everyone on the street are masked or painted on the face, there are even fireworks!? I see from afar just before the bus arrives at the station.

Anyway, get the hotel safely around 10:00pm. The hotel looks really cute, I have to share some pictures on my photo albums. The room is good side for one person, with cable TV, wi-fi, a dresser I can walk in, some nice painting on the wall. The outside is pretty handsome too. It's slightly more expensive, US$28 a night, more than my planned range: US$15-25. But oh well, I come all the way down there, might as well enjoy it. Watch another horror movie on TV before heading to bed, my 4th movie of the day!

Photos here: Day 33

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

Day 29 : Inka Express : Cuzco to Puno

House mom Alicia insists to make me breakfast this morning, even though I must leave so early. She even tries to get me a cab too, but we can't find one in the quiet residential street. So I just give her a hug, put the backpack on my shoulders, and walk to the main street to find myself a taxi. Get to the bus station around 7:00am, I am one of first few to arrive. I find that my seat is an aisle seat, right in the middle of the vehicle, next to the exit door and where the drinks are. It is my fault probably, since I ask the ticket girl to give me the "best" seat on the vehicle. I guess everyone has a different standard what the best seat is. I did say I want a window seat though. So, I don't know. Maybe she mistakened me. Anyway, I ask the Señor at the station whether I can switch to a window seat if available. At the end, they put me to the end row, where the guide and the service lady sits. It is actually not a bad seat at all, I have the side windows and also the back windows, so I have taken a lot of pictures on the 9 hour bus journey.

The bus company is Inka Express. It's a good ride, I would say. Not too tiring, since we stop every 45 to 90 mins for visiting some sites along the way, the ticket also includes beverages, lunch buffet, and a tour guide. Apparently there are two types of tickets: one includes all the entrance fees for all the sightseeing points, one does not. If you want to visit the sites we stop at, you must pay some 21 Soles extra. I paid US$40 for this ride, and it is including all the fees. I think the price is reasonable, since it does have some interesting tours, such as the Raqchi ruins.

A brief rundown of the tours: We first visited Andahuaylillas village, where there is a 400 years old church, which is worth a visit, although I already visited there on another tour 2 weeks ago. The 2nd stop is Raqchi ruin, which is excellent, beautiful ruins and there is a very picturesque church. We have a lunch buffet at Sicuani, which is ok, nothing's too special. La Raya at 4335 meters, the highest point of the journey. There are some beautiful landscapes, we stop there for a few minutes to take pictures. The next stop is Pukara, where we visited an archaeological museum, which is ok. I haven't paid much attention to it. We also pass by some alpaca farms, some half dry river with flamingos. Arrive at Puno by 5:00pm.

Take a taxi to my hostel - Julio Cesar Hoteles, which is quite centrally located, it has cable TV, wi-fi, private bathroom with hot shower, and American breakfast. In my room, there is an extra bed too. I did ask for a student discount, even though they haven't checked my ID when I check in. I wonder if anyone can do that too. It costs 50 Soles (US$16.5) a night. Not the cheapest, but I am more than happy about this choice.

Quickly go to a travel agent All Ways Travel (recommended by Lonely Planet) and book my trips for the next few days, I am going to visit Sillustani, and 2 days islands tour on Lake Titicaca, will stay overnight on Isla Amantani too. Book the bus to Arequipa for coming Saturday. Then I go for dinner, which is kind of scary, because in the middle of the dinner, literally I just put a small piece pizza in my mouth, the whole street's lights go out all in a sudden. There is a blackout on my first night in Puno. I freak a little bit, and hold on to my backpack tight. In my head, I am thinking what I should do, how can I get back to the hotel in the dark. The waiters light up some candles and put on each table. I finish my pizza. I have another order of a garlic bread, I am ready to have it takeout and see what outside is like. But maybe about 10 mins later, the light comes back. Thanks god.

Photos here: Day 29 (Andahuaylillas y Raqchi), Day 29 (La Raya y Pukara)

Footnote: Another bus option is Turismo Mer