So we finally arrive in Puno after our journey from Copa. We arrive in the bus station (which is a lot tamer than I had anticipated) and get in a cab. Sarah and I have devised a system of choosing cabbies called the ¨can we take him¨ system. I.E. we choose the oldest/weakest looking cabbie that we can. It is working well so far. We arrive at the hotel and I tip the driver (he was v happy) and then drop off our bags. Our hotel (the Queltiquena) is nice enough and clean which is good. The view is crap though but we can put up with it. First things first (we decided), we booked our coach tickets for the trip to Cusco and our trip to the Reed islands via the hotel as we have only really have 2 nights in Puno. We then head out. Luckily our hotel backs straight onto the main drag. This is good as we needed some more cash and some food as Sarah was feeling a little faint. We went to the bank, which is guarded by some heavily armed chaps with sub machine guns and then dive into a little cafe. Had some nice scoff and then had a wander. Puno is not very scary at all contrary to the info we had received from fellow travellers and the guide books. All seemed to be very ordered and relaxed. We saw some cool churches and some tremendously ornate topiary and then headed back to our hotel to chill out.

Had dinner at the hotel. It was expensive and ultimately forgettable so we decided not to do that again. Booked some accommodation for Cusco and had an early night in preparation for our trip to the reed islands in the morning. We wake up at what I believed to be 7am and go down for breakfast for around 7.30. We then decide to wait in reception for our 8.45 pick up for the reed islands...only to discover that we have really gotten up at 6am and the time is arpound 7.30am. go back to our room feeling CHEATED!!!! and really pissed off at having gotten up so early for no bloody reason at all.

Reed islands. We finaly get our 8.45am pick up (at 8.45 am funnily enough) and take the bus to the marina via a number of pick up stops. We are on the coach with the same irish chaps that we had travelled with on the bus from Copa to Puna. It is really interesting how your travels overlap with that of others. Anyway, we are then ushered onto a boat and Alfredo, our guide, gives us a talk after the obligatory musical interlude from a panpiping/guitar strumming local who to his credit was very good. The lake looks immense as usual and we can see in the distance the islands. There seem to be any number of vessels heading out so we get going. We are given a talk on TITIKAKA (grey puma) and how the people on the islands exist. All vey interesting stuff. We then arrive at the reed islands and the guy who greets us has traditional dress on his top half and a pair of reebok track suit bottoms and trainers on his feet. I am feeling that there is a certain clash of cultures at play here. We are then asked to sit down and we are shown how the islands are created. The reed that they use is not only used for the construction of the islands but also for food (which is v bland), to create boats and for medicine. It is very interesting how they construct the islands. They have a reed that grows on the water is cut down once it has reached the right height (1-2 mtrs) and stored to create a floor. They then take the floating root system that is left exposed with the storks of the reeds sticking out where they have been cut. They then cut the roots into square blocks and tie the blocks together with rope or reed where the storks have been cut to create a base. Once the base is big enough, they then lay the reed on top of the base up to 2 mtrs thick and then this can support not only people but their houses, fires and lookout posts also. It is pretty impessive. The people of the island of UNOS have been living this way for hundreds of years and the way that they live and how they create the place that they live is amazing. Some of their houses and the boats especially are really something else. What, however is not amazing is to see a proud people turned into performing monkeys for the gringo tourists. Our guide was kind of directing operations and the majority of our 14 hosts seemed a little non plussed at having to clap and sing and shake our hands at every given opportunity once prompted. Í didnt blame them and I now have my cynical head on thinking how much do you guys get and how much does our guide get? After the talk has finished we are ushered into one of the reed huts. The guy who shanghaid us is trying to get us to buy some petty lovely things, but we havent brought any dosh with us. He looks very disappointed and quite bemused when I give him 5 soles and we get out of there sharpish. We are then put on a traditional boat (which we have to pay 10 soles for each what a swizz) which transports us over to another island which is basically a market with millions of kids running around. Now i may sound a little harsh at the mo but I was genuinely impessed by the skill of the tribespeople and how they reate their houses and boats, but not with the commecialisation of the islands. We bumped into a dude from Horbury of all places on the Reed boat and decide to meet him for a pint once we make shore. Make shore we do and after saying no gracias (our new catchphrase) a million times on the way out of the marina we get our lift back to the hotel, we arrange to meet Jonathan at 2pm and chill out for an hour. We get to the restaurant early and are about to order when a coachload of elderley Finnish tourists come in. Decide to only have a beer and wait for Jon to arrive. Make a swift exit after a liquid lunch and stop off at an altenative restaurant for a bite. Have burgers all around which are OK but getting really fed up of chips at this point. Wash it down with another couple of beers and stumble out. Sarah forget her sunnies and to the credit of the waiting staff, a young lady raced down the high street and gave us them back. All good. After some deliberation we end up in a bar restaurant and we have a couple of Cuba Libres and Sarah has a Marguerita. The lads finish with a flourish but Sarah can´t finish hers and leaves it. We say ta-ra to Jon and arange to meet him in Cusco and head back to the hotel. Have a chilled out evening and have a few snacks in the room and call it a day. Next stop Cusco, the Sacred Vallay and Machu Picchu...cant wait. (ps sorry about the lack of APOSTROPHES, this computer is set up for Spanish)