Day 267
Puno, Lake Titicaca, PERU
*************************
John Howard defeated in the National Election! Kevin Rudd to be Australia's next Prime Minister!!!
*************************
Getting all our gear back into our two backpacks and two front backs was a bit of a nightmare..and we were lucky Jose gave us an extra half an hour to pack!!
We met him at 8.30 in the lobby, after buying myself a gorgeous silver inca bracelet to remind me of Cusco and Machupicchu and loaded up our gear in our trusty little white van.
Herman was our driver for the day...and he estimated we´d arrive in Puno around 4.30pm. And he was right..we arrived about 3.45 after a fantastic trip.
We had an option to catch the train which is owned by Orient Express or go by private vehicle. The latter option was a hundred US cheaper each..and we chose the right option. Train rides are definitely overrated! They left an hour earlier than us, and we passed them in the town of Marangani at 11am! It¨s now 4.30pm here..and they still haven¨t arrived here!! Jose said offering an elegant train journey was the peruvian tourist marketing way of providing a way to get more people to catch the train!!! Going by private vehicle allowed us to stop along the way..and see the local sights and experience the local foods....and of course, best of all, we had Jose, the guide all to ourselves..and we learned so very much from this knowledgeable man. We felt very privileged and in a way, grateful that the other¨s had gone home..or had chosen the train!!! (aww...)
And that¨s excactly what we did!!!! BIG TIME!
Our first stop after leaving Cusco was to a town called Oropesa which is the peruvian breadmaking town that supplies about 40% of bread to Cusco! And it¨s such delicious bread..we saw them make it with a huge dough mixer..then mould it into shape and slap it onto a monstrous table..then put their ¨stamp¨on it, which was in the shape of a heart, then put it into their huge stone ovens...we tasted the end product as well..it had a sweetish cinnomon flavour..and looked like a frisbee or a pancake..Jose said that¨s what they call them as well..or Chuda Bread. So yummy!
We then passed this large textile town called Lucre which was where the pre incas, called the Wari¨s, apparently started their textiles..Apparently the textile machines were brought from Europe to here on mules...
We passed the main gate to Cusco, from Puno, that was originally built by the Wari¨s and then rebuilt by the Inca¨s...it¨s so interesting to see the difference in their stone work. The Wari stone building was more rudimentary and basic and the inca building was more symmetrical, solid and simple. As Jose says, The three necessities to inca building! ¨¨
We passed Pinipenya where there was a huge kiln and at that moment...got a message from Mum saying Rudd had defeated John Howard in the Federal Election!!!!! OH dear..i got a tear..and she said he also lost his seat as well........(?)
By 10am we had passed a lot of corn fields in a town called Urcos which had an interesting legend...the legend of the lost golden necklace in the lake there...the Urcos Lake..The National Geographic had gone to find it last year..but no one knows if they ever did! (And Jose said no one would say even if they did!)
It always seems such a shame that another country can just come over and pilfer what they like..just because they have the means...
We passed cow ploughs, a road that was being built to go to Brasil (in Munapata) and learned about corn farming and potato growing (as we were passing all the potato bags on the street) from the driver (interpreted from Spanish to English by Jose). Apparently people in Peru eat an average of 85kg potato per person per year. And in this town Pampacolca, the kids take time off from school whenever they need to attend to the pototoes! The driver also has one hectare of corn and says it yields on average of 18-20 thousand corn per year!!! ANd the corn in Peru..is to die for. The kernals are so plump and luscious!
At 11.30am we passed Piasacuni...then i (being the only female) needed a toilet stop! We stopped in the capital, Sicuani and i went to the train station toilet...and Jose said..leave your bag..lots of pickpockets!!! Funny...we did see a couple of well dressed men in the station looking very nervous...and they turned out to be Mormans. No tourists seemed to be anywhere. I think our private vehicle option of travel to Puno is rare. No wonder they kept asking if we wanted to go by train!
But we were learning more this way than ever....we wouldnt{ have traded this for anytying. We saw little carts being peddled, chooks being bagged up, llama´s galore in the fields...and then....
We got to the Continental Divide..in the town of Marangani and the altitude was 4313m! Just as well we were adjusted to altitude..and didn{t have a problem with it anyway....just a little less oxygen that{s all. We got out and looked out..so beautiful! The Peruvian ANdes are just so beautiful...
The whole trip was against the backdrop of the Andes..so wonderful..and spiritual. The mountains have such magic.
We climbed further..elevating another 1,500m to 4313m which was the highest point on our whole trip...we stopped at a little market where we had these amazing pasty things..ohlala..so good! Theyre รค Bolivain pasty called saltenas...
We passed Ansaac a medicinal university... and looked out at Jimbaya mountain..so gorgeous..sitting there so high and erect, covered in snow...
Then..we had our lunch stop!
In Ayabire, a province of Puno. They specialise in lamb..and the place where we stopped was just a little roadside place..and the woman cut lamb from a roasted lamb that was housed inside a huge brown bag! She served it with burnt whole baked potatoes..and then we ate it with our hands..and it was DELICIOUS! Spicy..and oh..so good. The four of us ate..and drank inca cola with it..and it cost Greg and i 10 soles! (3 soles equals 1 amercian dollar..which is about the same as the aussie dollar at the moment!)
What an experience...
And as we left..all the dogs were lined up on the side of the roads..and we found this quite unusal and asked about it..and apparently they sit on the side of the road...patiently..and wait for the bones to be chucked out to them!!! We decided a name for patience should be likened to the patience of the peruvian dog! Sometimes they waited all day, jose said! They are the dogs of the sheperds for the alpaca´s and cows!
By 1pm we left and travelled along thinking how much was going on outside our window with all the little towns along the way..3pm we reached Juliaca which is an industrial town with about 300,000 people..Jose told us bus horror stories here..because apparently his wife (from NY) and his daughter Sophia and his step daughter were practically killed here 3 years before! They were all on their way to a swimming carnival for Rachel and the driver just skidded and crashed. He killed 9 people and is in jail today. Reckless driving apprently. The bus was full of students and parents. Very sad. Jose said the town gave him bad memories.....
Then he told us about another bus he and Amy and Rachel were on..where the driver, in Spanish, was telling his assistant the bus had weak brakes. Jose decided to get them all off about 6.30am after they¨d been travelling all night..and the next day, when they were on a beach, he read the paper and saw that the bus had crashed and killed 3 people!
He said he´d never trust peruvian drivers!!!
I looked over at our peruvian driver at that moment.....
And Jose then...reassured us the driver of our little bus was a good one..but bus horror stories while travelling on peruvian roads is a bit disconcerting!!!!
Geepers..
We passed some little kids selling clay cows for one soles..and i couldn´t resist...they apparently have fertility powers...not that i need any of that! haha
We arrived in Puno to see the first entrance to Lake Titicaca at 3.30pm...and it looked so big! Dryish at this point..but so wide and large.....it{s the second biggest lake in South America...21st biggest in the world.
Puno has a pop of about 150,000 people..and it has houses that all look unfinished..when we asked about this Jose said it was because parents build the first floor..then put scaffolding up for their children when they get married and build...and they can go up four stories!! It looks so funny...
He then said in Bolivia it¨s the same..but they don{t finish building their houses because they have to pay taxes when the house is completed!!!!!
But the more specatcular view was as we passed over the town of PUno and there was the lake..so beautiful..full..blue..and majestic.....
Tomorrow we´re going to go on the Lake and see what Lake Titicaca holds....
NB Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the World. It's located approximately 2 hours from La Paz.
