Puno

I made it to Puno yesterday, though far slower than I had hoped. I caught a bus that was meant to leave at 2:30 (but didn´t) and be a five hour trip (and wasn´t). I arrived in Puno after 9pm, which is not my favourite thing to do, it must be said. Oh well. I managed to get rid of the yucky drunken man that acosted me in the Arequipa bus stop (yeah for pretending not to understand Spanish), and the taxi driver in Puno had a suggestion for a hotel here in Puno. I´m quite certain that he got a kick-back for dropping me there, but that´s okay. I was a little weirded out by the door man, to the point that I put the chair in the room against the door with my heavy backpack on it, just in case. And sure enough, at 7am this morning the guy was knocking at my door asking something that I didn´t quite catch about the hot water. Anyway. He also asked when I was planning on checking out. I replied that I had the room until noon so he could expect that I´d leave then. Erg. Anyway. And then after all that, there was a very nice señorita at the desk this morning that made me feel less squidgy about staying, so I signed on for another night. Nutty, but hey. They have hot showers?! (a pathetic reason, I grant, but it´s all I have to offer!)

I wandered around Puno today and took a two hour boat tour to the Islas Flotantes, which are literally floating islands made of the grass that grows in Lake Titicaca, by the Uros people. Quite cool, in fact, though highly commercialised at this point. Interesting to visit anyway though. The women and girls wear these interesting pompoms on the ends of their braids -- they look heavy, but I guess they must have some significance. The women in the Colca canyon wear full length calico skirts with flowered hats -- with tonnes of petticoats as well. It looks hot, but I guess the canyon is cold for much of the year. I have to say the women´s traditional dress reminds me of certain tribes in Africa whose ¨traditional¨ dress dates from colonial times, not before. I don´t know if the penchant for full skirts and petticoats dates from pre or post conquistadores, but my vote is post... Interesting, anyway. But I´m quite sure that the colours used (hot pink, bright reds and greens and blues, with black for accent) are all South American :)

I decided to go to Bolivia tomorrow. I am not that thrilled with Puno, and I can visit the other Lake Titicaca communities from the Bolivian side. So, assuming all goes well, this will be my last night in Peru. Maybe I´ll splash out and eat something yummy for dinner :) I had fried trout at a little place on the floating islands for lunch, but for all that it was a whole trout, it wasn´t that much food and I find that I´m hungry again. So, dinner it is, and then an early morning border crossing bus to Bolivia!