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Puno- 5:07 PM
This was the first time this trip that I didn't really think I could get out of bed and enjoy the day.
My headache that started last night did not go away after 9 hours of sleep like it often does back home. Mimi had the exact same problem that I had. We woke up before our wake up call at 7:15. I thought by drinking water for a while that I might feel better. By 7:15, we still felt horrible. It took me a few tries but I eventually got a hold of Edgard on the phone. We told him what was going on and he immediately thought we should try using the oxygen tanks (that are available in many hotels, restaurants, etc.)
After a couple minutes there was a knock at the door. A man came in with an oxygen tank. He started by cleaning the mask and told me to wear it for 10 minutes. I started to feel a little bit better but I knew it wouldn't last all day. Edgard came a few minutes later. He put this little clip on our fingers that tested the oxygen in our blood. Mine was in the complete normal range. After talking with him a few minutes, Edgard concluded that we were very dehydrated. It's apparently pretty common due to the elevation. He gave us electrolyte packets and told us to drink two bottles of water with the powder in it. He said the quicker we drink it the better. He recommended we drink both bottles in 2 hours. As someone who doesn't like water, this was going to be torture, especially because it tasted like salt water.
We got dressed and stated drinking our water. At breakfast, we really didn't have an appetite so all we really ate was fruit. Carol came over and we told her our situation. She ran upstairs and got us some Advil. We took it immediately when she got back in the hopes that our headaches will go away.
We got on the bus and we were definitely not our usual cheerful selves. Most people noticed. We actually weren't the only ones sick. Irvin had a doctor visit the hotel and his nephew Carlos didn't feel good either. I guess when you take a bunch of tourists above 14,000 feet, bad things can happen.
We picked up the three ladies at their hotel about 10 minutes away. Edgard had told us this morning they were making his life miserable. They even complained last night that there weren't enough channels in English. The last time I checked, we were in a Spanish speaking country.
We parked the bus and walked across the street to the harbor to pick up our boat on Lake Titicaca. The boat was very comfortable. Our guide for the day was very knowledgeable about the lake and it's history.
Fun facts about Lake Titicaca- it is the largest lake above 6,000 feet
It is 10 times smaller than Lake Superior
It is the 21st largest lake in the world
It is 130 miles long
It is 60% on the Peruvian side, 40% on the Bolivian side
If you ask a Peruvian, the Peru side is TiTi and the Bolivia side is caca
We took about a 20 minute slow boat ride through the lake, down a canal with reeds on both sides, until we reached the floating Uros Islands. They are basically large "islands" made out of reeds from the lake. They have a base and then about 10 feet of reeds on top. The people make their houses, beds, furniture, boats and even playgrounds out of the reeds.
We stopped at one of the islands that is basically its own village. We sat down and were told how the people make the islands. (They take a year to build!) We were also told that they save their money from selling their crafts to buy mini solar panels so they can have electricity for lights, radios and even TV's. They like to be aware of what's going on in the world so the TV's and radios are important. They also need electricity because if they used gas or candles they could burn their whole island down!
We then got to visit one of the houses. We got to sit on the bed made of reeds. We were also shown the outfits that he women wear... thick skirts and sweaters and hats. We were told that the women are all very large because living on the reeds makes them retain water. The men are thinner because they go into the city to work so they don't spend as much time on the island. Their life span is also only about 60 years.
We learned that the children go to school on one of the islands up until about high school. They go to high school in the city and most kids don't come back to live on the island. Our guide predicts that there will only be about 10 more years of people living there until there really isn't anyone left. The sad part is that these people have been living on these types of islands for a couple thousand years.
After we met a couple of the teachers and saw the kindergarten classroom, we got back on the boat and headed to a different dock to pick up our bus. We rode back to our hotel and got there around 12:15.
When we got back, Mimi didn't feel good so she went back to bed. I decided to go to lunch. When I got downstairs, the three ladies were in the lobby and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with them. I said sure so we walked down the block to an Andean restaurant. We saw most of our other group members were eating there, too.
The three ladies ordered pizza. I ordered grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies. The food was pretty good and it came out quickly. After chatting for a while, the ladies decided to walk around town. I wanted to find some snacks and a small bottle of Pisco to bring home. I ended up finding a shop that sold it and bought that and a Snickers bar. I was so excited to have my chocolate but for the second time this trip, the chocolate was old and nasty and probably expired. Yuck!
I went back to the hotel and Mimi was still sleeping. I decided to relax and take a nap, too. Later, around 5, we decided to head out to dinner because she hadn't eaten much all day. We went back to the same place I had lunch because it was close, inexpensive and good food. Mimi ordered tomato soup and I got the lomo saltado, my favorite beef dish with fries and rice. It was sooooo good!
After dinner we checked out a few more markets and I bought a few last minute gifts. It started to get really cold so we headed back to the hotel. When we got back, we packed and started to watch a new show on HBO... I think it's called The Leftovers. Mimi fell asleep by 9 and I decided to go to bed around 10. Our wake up call is at 5 AM because we are flying back to Lima! I can't believe the trip is almost over!
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