We awoke to find that, even by glorious sunshine, Puno was a bit of a dive. Still, we only needed to sort a few things and then relax for the rest of the day anyway.
We wasted a few hours trying to book our trip out on Lake Titicaca, most of the operators were closed as it was a Sunday (classic Stu and Bex planning fail), we eventually succeeded, moped around a bit and, before you knew it, we were basically done with Puno.
Realistically you have only a couple of options in regards to Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side (the eastern side resides in Boliva). Spend a large amount on a private, but meticulously planned and touristy, home stay on a lake island, or exactly the same thing with a boat load of people for a tenth of the cost.
We went full tourist, all expense spared.
You know what? It was lovely. I'd set my expectations pretty low if I'm honest, but the weather was clear, sunny and hot, and we had great company in the form of a couple of Aussie ladies, Janet and Jane. They'd left the kids at home with their husbands and were jetsetting around South America having an absolute ball!
We didn't actually do all that much, but it was all very nice - visit "authentic" reed built floating islands, home-stay with traditional family on a proper island, wander all over another island and head back to Puno late the next day.
The evening on the island was spent attending a ghastly gathering of all the tourists and their appointed family carers at the local hall. Everyone is forced into traditional attire and cajoled into dancing while a local band plays the greatest hits of Peruvian folk music.
There was beer for sale, so it wasn't so bad I suppose.
Back in Puno we ate Chinese and tried to watch Star Wars: Attack of the Clones with Spanish dubbing. It made it even more awful. I despaired at the idea of watching episode VII dubbed in a South American cinema and went to sleep praying for a solution to present itself...
No comments:
Post a Comment