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Samantha and I took the bus to Puno. I somehow managed to lose my mobile phone in the whole process. It was a mad rush from the hotel to the Bus station and a bit chaotic in the taxi. Anyway, we managed to get the bus for a 10 hour long journey to Puno. We took the Inca Express, a little more up market and pricey than the rest of my travels. We made friends with the guide on the bus which made the trip a lot more fun, and talked in Spanish and English with him about everything....
The next day, in Puno, we took a boat to first visit one of the floating Islands on Lake Titicaca (or Laguna Titicaca). It was pouring it down, a frequent and yet univited occurance (by me) in Peru around this time. The people who live on this Island (living a very primitive lifestyle) put on a show for us whilst we (the tourists) took pictures and clapped! After this, a small group of us willing to brave the the rain and the water took a tradition boat made only from totora (a kind of durable straw) from one of the islands to the other and awaited the speed boat. We then proceeded to Isla Taquile a almost 3 hour ride where we first had lunch overlloking the beutiful waters. Soup, salmon and mate de coca (coca leaf tea- the leaves cocaine comes from) I couldn´t have been happier! After lunch, Samantha and I were introduced to the lady whose home we were going to spending the night with on the Island. Luckily she spoke a little Spanish as well as Quechua, but was a very shy lady and spoke very little to us. We walked a short distance to her house however, it felt like we walked for an internity what with the altitude and all those steps. Lake Titicaca is the world´s highest navigationable lake and sits at 3800 metres above sea level! As I huffed andstruggled to breath along the way, the plucked off a green twig from one of the plants poking through the rocks and told be to inhale this. I did and it was something else! Immediately I could breath better again. She said, well my translation of what she said was this plant, named Muña worked as a bronchodilator opening up the lungs and allowing more oxygen in. However, looking on the web about this plant, I found that it is infact used as a calmative and has aphrodisiac properties! Hhhmmmmm!!!
Anyway,we walked on. I continued to sniff the muña, and yes now, as I remember it, it was quite addictive actually! We arrived at the house, and was shown to our room. A lovely little but simple house with passion fruit growing at each corner. We later ate dinner which consisted of soup, pollo saltado (chicken, tomatoes, onions, garlic and chips all mixed today. Es muy rico!!) and mate de coca. We slept in a little outhouse in the freezing cold of Lake Titicaca. I slept with two jumpers, trousers and 3 blankets. C...H...I...L...L....Y!!!!
We stayed there the night and took another equally slow boat back to Puno where I said my goodbyes to Samantha to embark on my travels, alone.
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Claudia John What an adventure you had, with the weather and the coldness living outdoors.