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Retun to Ecuador 1999

Bus trip to Puno and tour of Lake Titicaca

Monday, April 17th
The van from SAS travel picks us up at our hotel and takes us to the bus station. We had decided to go on a tourist bus rather then a local bus because we were told it would be quicker. We will be stopping at some towns and for our dinner, which is included in the price of the ticket. There is a lady tour guide going with us.

We stop at some ruins which some of the people went in to see. Ellen and I had been to enough ruins for now and waited at the bus. Luckily one of the passengers noticed that a tire was flat on the bus. The other bus driver came and helped our driver get it fixed and we were soon on our way again.

The stop for lunch which I could not eat as I was still having cramps was long and most of the passengers were getting restless to get going. The television in the restaurant was playing a Spanish soap opera. It was very loud.

About a half hour after leaving the restaurant one of the passengers confesses he has left his camera in the restaurant and asks the other passengers if it is OK with them for the bus to return and get it. Everyone agrees and we turn around and go back.

Back going the right way we are traveling along a high dessert and stop at the highest point. It is very barren but vast and beautiful too.

The houses in the towns we go through are all constructed of reddish bricks made from clay and straw. Many of the houses look empty. Everything is the same color, the land and the buildings. Off in the distance we can see some low buildings where peasants must live.

Herds of Alpacas are grazing beside the road with a few people looking out for them. The highway is very good. It does not look as if it ever rains up here. There must be a source of water for people to be able to live here.

We arrive in Juliaca where the airport is. The streets are alive with all kinds of conveyances. Trucks, bicycles and bicycle richshaws especially. We are astounded as we had expected a more modern city.

It is getting late and we still have a long way to go to Puno. We realize now it will be dark when we arrive. We are a bit concerned as we do not have a reservation for a hotel. We thought we would arrive in the daylight. As we drive down into the city and see the lights we realize it is much bigger then we had expected.

When we get out of the bus the touts are on us like a pack of dogs wanting us to go to their hotels. There were two girls who were especially aggressive. Finally we were able to spot the ones from the hotel we had picked out and it was just around the corner from the bus station. The Posada Real Hostal. We were able to walk there and it was satisfactory so decided to stay. This has been the most stressful time we have had so far.

We make arrangements with Anna at the hostal for our tour on Lake Titicaca for the next day, then we go out to eat at a restaurant two blocks down the same street as the Posada. Anna had suggested this restaurant and it turns out to be very good.

Lake Titicaca

Tuesday April 18th
Our breakfast is brought to our room. The buns are so good this morning. I am very hungry as I have not been eating much while traveling. We are ready and waiting outside the hostal. The van soon arrives and takes us to the harbor where all the boats are getting ready for the days tour of Lake Titicaca. The boat we are going on is an old wooden one with a gasoline motor, steered from the stern by a weathered indigenous person. It has no reverse and they have to pole the boat out from the wharf. There are about 20 people on board. Very interesting people from many different countries. Quite a few South Americans are traveling also. The guide was very good, speaking in four languages. It is a beautiful sunny day with no wind.

Most of the islands are not floating any more. The water has gone down several meters in this lake and at this end it is very polluted. Efforts are being made to clean it up. At one time there were ferry boats that would take you to Bolivia from Puno. During the terrorist regime of the Sendero Luminosa the tourists stopped coming and the ferry service has never been revived.

The boat stops at Los Uros one of the islands that is still floating and we go ashore. The islands are made of reeds. There are some beautiful reed boats also. No one lives here and it is mostly just for the tourists. It is very strange to walk over this floating land. I guess people have been known to fall through so we are very careful

We wander around for a bit, use the facilities (a bucket in a curtained off area) and go back aboard the boat and continue on to Taquille island. It is about a two hour ride from here.

When we get off the boat at Taquille we are confronted with a long steep stairway up to the restaurant at the top. The altitude is around 4000 meters at the bottom so we know this is going to be a struggle. Some of the local children have leaves from a plant that they offer to us. It is supposed to help you to breath better at this altitude. The scenery is wonderful looking out across the calm lake. Slowly we ascend stopping often and bending over to get our breath. I feel a bit dizzy. Probably because I have not eaten or drank very much the last two days.

We have a great fish dinner at the hilltop restaurant. It is fish caught in Lake Titicaca, white and sweet. One of the best meals we have had. There is a small town down near the lake on the other side of the mountain. We walk down aways and turn back as it is getting on in the day and we still have to descend back down the long stairway to catch the boat back to the mainland. Going down is not easy either. One of the women fell on the way down. At the bottom we visit the bathrooms and I am complaining about not being able to find my toilet paper and getting my pants wet from the floor of the room. Ellen heard a man in the next building saying this was a time he was really glad he was not a woman.

Everyone is back and we are on our way at last. Our boat is not as fast as some of the others and we are soon left behind crossing the lake. The motor gets very hot and the seat I am sitting on is almost burning me. I move over to the other side of the boat where it is a bit cooler. The fumes from the motor are very strong and Ellen spots a woman starting to light up a cigarette. She pounces on her to put it out. The woman who fell on the steps on Taquille is not feeling well and is laying on the floor of the boat. We find out she is over eighty years old. She had on a little pair of light shoes. Not very wise on the terrain we were covering. The man who had climbed the stairs with us comes over and sits beside me and starts up a conversation. He is involved with some volunteer organization that is trying to help the poor children in different parts of the world to learn a trade so they can support themselves. He also is trying to help the woman who had fallen. She is from Argentina and is traveling alone.

The boat is tipping so much we stand up in the middle and continue our conversation. Jean Marie comes and joins us.

We arrive back at the wharf in Puno safely. We feel we were living on the edge for awhile today riding in that old boat. We are glad to be back on solid ground

Back at the hostal Anna goes with us to the airline office to make reservations to fly to Arequipa the next day. They would not take our credit cards so we had to go to a money change place to get the cash. The main street is very busy with tourists. After buying our ticket we send e-mail, go to dinner and then home to sleep.

Wednesday April 19th
We will leave for Arequipa to-day at 2.30 on Air Continente. We couldn't face another 12 hour bus trip. The flight cost $62.00 US each and the transport to the airport in Juilliaca $3.00 US. It is about 40 km to the airport from Puno. We have more time to look around Puno before we leave. We are sitting on a bench on the main street resting when we see one of the men from the boat trip from the day before, go by. I say hello to him. We had thought he was a bit unfriendly on the boat but after speaking with him realized it was just a language problem. He was from Spain and spoke very good English but I guess he was unsure of himself. A lesson learned.

The airport bus picks us up at the hostal. There are other people in the bus with us. A very nice Japanese young man who wants to visit. He works in China in the computer business and is traveling alone.

Julliaca does not seem as hectic today as the day we come through on the way to Puno. At the airport we sit with the young English guy from the bus. The guy from Japan is going on another airline. The Brit works for British Airways. He says it is a very safe airline. They are very good about the maintenance on there airplanes. He has spent all his Sols so we buy him a coffee and enjoy his company.

Finally we board and are on our way to the next adventure. The day is clear and we can see the road winding up and around the mountains that the bus would be taking. It would have been a fascinating journey but very tiring. We are happy to be looking down at it.

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Retun to Ecuador 1999