Day 15/16/17

Hello dear ones, how are you? I just woke up from a good night’s sleep and wanted to share how my day went. On day 15, I basically did nothing but wait for the evening, as my bus to Puno was scheduled to leave at 9:00 PM. Well, I visited the pharmacy again... Diarrhea... I had cooked a meal the previous evening with ground meat, and because of my habit of always tasting the meat, I ended up doing it again here. Lost in thought as I often am. I knew immediately what was going to happen. And indeed. I was lucky; it could have been worse. So off to the pharmacy, got some miracle medicine, and spent the whole day chilling and reading. It was a celebration :)

I then set off around 5:00 PM to Plaza de Armas. I wanted to have dinner and thought I had enough time to see if everything was okay. I ate pasta at an Italian restaurant. Pasta is supposed to be good; it tasted good, and everything was fine in my stomach. Now I had to wait another 2 hours for the driver who was supposed to take me to the bus station. And I was freezing; it was so cold. The driver even arrived 30 minutes early. I appreciated that. We then had to pick up two girls, Lea and Juliette. They had booked the same tour. We instantly got along. Lea from Germany and Juliette from Holland. Then to the bus, which left at 10:00 PM. It was my first time sitting on the top deck, which was whatever. Unfortunately, the Peruvians have this habit of playing music loudly from their phones. The woman behind me snored so loudly that I couldn’t even fall asleep. And then it got so warm up there; I ended up just sitting in my t-shirt. Overall, I might have slept for about 3 hours.

We arrived in Puno at 5:00 AM. We were taken to a hostel where we could shower and change. At first glance in the dark, it didn’t seem very inviting. Breakfast was at 6:20 AM, and we were picked up again at 7:20 AM. So first, we killed time on a couch that was probably from before 1960. The breakfast was great; they were genuinely trying hard, I must say, super friendly.

Then we were picked up and brought to the port, where our guide, whose name I unfortunately forgot again, took over. Everything was in English and Spanish since there were Spaniards in our group as well. I talked a lot with them and was a bit proud of how well it went. First, we met the Uros people, also known as the floating peoples. I had been here 20 years ago; I didn’t realize there were so many floating islands. In my opinion, it wasn’t like that before. Everything felt much more authentic. But marketing and making money doesn’t pass by the Uros either.

Still, it was impressive. Then we headed to Tacile Island, where the men's task is to knit and weave. Twenty years ago, the knitting men would walk through the fields with their animals. Not anymore; you had to pay an entrance fee to get to the island. It’s really beautiful there. A place to linger. They also had excellent food; I chose fish. There was another demonstration. That’s unfortunately not really my thing, although it was nice, no doubt, but I miss the authenticity; it feels so unnatural. But even here, marketing has made its way in. It should be that way; they need to earn money. And progress doesn’t stop just because Ines is coming :) But it was truly recommendable. Anyone who hasn’t experienced it yet is simply amazed.

Then it was back on the boat and back to the port. There we were brought back to the hotel, pickup in 4 hours… Well, we could have gone into town, but we were so tired that we didn’t feel like it. So we passed the time reading and playing.

Finally back on the bus; I think I was already asleep in my seat on the way there :)) I think this time I could showcase my snoring skills ;) I slept until we arrived in Cusco at 5:00 AM.

Our driver César was already waiting for us, dropping me off right in front of my doorstep. I said goodbye to Lea and Juliette; thank you for letting me meet you. I went upstairs to my accommodation and slept again. Today is day 17; I will just lounge around. Maybe help Harly clean out his bar. We want to take it to his house in the countryside tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that. A bit of shopping, and that’s it for today. And what can I say? I’m excited for tomorrow :)