A man alone.

This might be a long one. Grab a hot cup of tea and get comfortable.

SO, it all started a few weeks ago when I decided that I needed to get me Spanish. All the Italian was confusing the locals more than my English. So, I chose a school close to the hostel we were staying at in Cusco and set up lessons starting last monday. Which gave me about 5 days with nothing to do! So, it began. I set off on my own.

I left Cusco for Puno which is a city on lake Titicaca very close to the Peruvian border. Now, before you make any jokes or funny references to the name of the lake, let me assure you, I have already done so and beaten the jokes to death. Mercilessly. At least twice. That being said, the name means something in quechua which I do not recall at this time. Stayed in Puno a day and relaxed and then headed out onto the lake. Highest navigable lake in the world. And cold too. Though the sun is hot and burns you to a crisp in minutes. (exaggeration).
So, in the morning, I was picked up at the hostel and driven to the Puno marina where the water is covered with what looks like a thick pesto sauce. yum. The group got on a boat and we headed out for an hour to islands made of reeds. They float and are only kept in place by anchors which tend to break in the 12 foot swells that rock the island during rainy season, i.e. Now. Every year new reeds are lain down to bolster the island and after about 80 years the whole thing is rebuilt. It’s kinda squishy so you can jump off the roof of your boat onto the island kind of like a trampoline. After that we took a 2 hour boat ride out to Taquili, an island which has nothing on it except for villages and fields. The tour group arrived and we were given a host mama who would take care of us and feed us and such. I was placed with 2 cool germans and we had an interesting time together though our mama wasn’t overly friendly. (no worries though, her food was delicious. ) at about 3, they group went for a walk up to the islands summit to look at temple ruins and such. I decided to play soccer instead, because, well, I wanted to. I can look at ruins any day. That night, we got dressed up in traditional local clothing, ponchos and all and went for a traditional hoe-down which was fun only because it was silly. I’m working on getting the pictures. Next day, another island, not too interesting, and then a 3 hour boat ride back to Puno, spent mostly on the roof napping in the beautiful chilled afternoon lake air. After 3 hours, I was a bit red in the face, but feeling good.
Arrived back in town about 4 and then spent a few hours bumming around the market and town waiting for Amy and Erica’s train to arrive. From the looks on their faces when they arrived, I am pretty happy I took the bus. But they insist they enjoyed it, so…
After a bit of a relax, I took the girls to meet 2 friends I had made on the boat trip, who brought along 2 others from the trip who I were not expecting, who brought a friend they had met in Columbia who brought 2 friends he had met on the bus 2 days before. All in all a big eclectic group of cool people. (on a side note, when planning to meet people, best not to meet them in the middle of parades, funerals, religious processions, or violent labor protests. i just cant seem to get it right.)
It was a slow but good dinner followed by more free drinks then I can count or remember and lots of dancing. I recall Amy and Erica called it a night relatively early and they say I said goodbye in the morning, though I have no recollection because I think I went to bed just a few hours before they got up and left.
I spent the next day relaxing and just trying to find anything at all to do until my night bus back to Cusco. 2 of the girls I had met at dinner the night before were in the same situation so we had a few long tea breaks and walks around town together to pass the time.
This seems like a good place to break. So, stand up, stretch, refresh your tea, and get ready for part 2!