Cusco, Puno, Amantani Island, Cpacabana and La Paz

The title of this blog is a bit ambitious cos thats a lot of places to write about

Right our last day in Cusco was fairly uneventful, we were exhausted after the inca trail so just wandered around aimlessly, its a nice city to walk around though and perfect weather. And we ate at jacks cafe for lunch which is run by an aussie guy so that was cool. That night we went out to a couple of clubs, Mama Africa and Mythology but didn`t stay out late.

Next day we left early to get to Puno. It was an uneventful ride there. We didn`t do alot that day either, just had lunch and spent some time catching up on the internet.

Next morning we went to Amantani Island on Lake Titikaka to stay with host families. We took tok toks to the wharf which was great fun and then we bought supplies for our families, such as milk powder, rice sugar pasta and jam, as well as books and pencils for the kids. The lake was so massive it felt like we were on the ocean. On our way there we stopped for a visit to the floating reed island. Its an amazing place, the people there are continuously laying down more reeds so their island doesn`t sink. Everything on that island is made from reeds including the island itself. the houses, the boats, the seats, the lookout tower , all reeds. They even eat the reeds and we got to try some; it tasted a bit like apple but a weaker flavour. A woman showed anthea and i around her house, or should i say in her house as it was only one room. then she showed us her handicrafts which she tried to sell to us, they were woven pillowcases and blankets but we couldn`t really afford them but she made us feel guilty cos they rely on the tourists buying their things so i bought a bracelet from her.
We then went on a boat ride (a reed boat of course). It was such an elaborate boat, it had two lions heads at the front and even an upper level. two men from the island would row from the front and we moved very slowly but it was relaxing.
We then got back into our regular boat and continued to Amantani island. When we arrived we were greeted by our host family. Our pPapa came to collect Claire and I and we had a uphill walk to our house. Usually it would have been easy but the altitude makes everything harder. We arrived at our house and were introduced to our Mama and Clarice who we spent most of our time with. After putting our bags down in our bedroom we went down to the kitchen to see if we could help with lunch. Clarice took us out the back of the house where they had a vege patch and we picked beans and then took them inside. She then showed us how to shell the beans and peel them, she did it so easily but claire and i struggled, often losing half the bean from over peeling. Half way through this task she told us lunch was ready so it seemed she had just given us a mundane task to make us feel better and our beans weren`t required for lunch at all. We consoled ourselves by deciding they would be used at dinner.
The kitchen was also the dining room and it was a small brick room with a table and a few chairs. At one end there was a wood fire where they did all the cooking and the room smelt strongly of smoke. It was amazing seeing them cook so well with this oven, it looked so old fashioned. We had soup as a first course and then veges, fried cheese and rice for our main. Clarice could speak Spanish and Quechuan so our conversation was limited but we did manage to talk a bit. After lunch we helped with the dishes and then we headed to the football field to meet the rest of our group. Some of the tourists played football but we know our limitations which definately include no running at altitude. So we climbed a mountain instead. We took it very slow stopping often but it didn`t take us too long. At the top we walked around the old temple 3 times and then made a wish which is a local tradition. Then we sat and watched the sun go down while our tour guide told us the story of pachamama and pachatata which were old folklores of this island and the names of the 2 mountains. Once the sun had got down it was freezing so we made our way dow the mountain quite quickly and went to the local store for hot chocolates. Then we went back home for dinner. We helped peel potatoes but because i`m so used to a potato peeler i ended up cutting off half the potato in my attempts to peel it with a knife, whereas Mama could remove the entire skin of a potato in one go. Dinner consisted of more soup and chopped veges with rice, but we were pleased to see our beans had made it into our dinner.
After dinner we talked to Kelly who was our little sister and we gave her the coloured pencils and book and we drew pictures with her for a while. Again she didn`t speak english but she was easier to communicate to. Then we went upstairs and waited for Clarice to bring us our outfits for that evenings party. We were pretty sure that what she had told us to do but as time went on and she didn`t show up we started to wonder if we had misunderstood, so we kept going downstairs to peak in the window and try and work out what to do, we felt ridiculous but we didn`t want to go into her room because we hadn`t been invited. Finally she came up with our outfits and they were so cool! We had white shirts with colourful embrodery on the sleeves and then four layers of heavy brightly coloured skirts with a fat rainbow belt. and then a black shawl with more colourful patterns on it. We looked fantastic, we attempted to plait our hair as the woman all have two long plaits.
We headed over to the school hall for the party. All the tourists were dressed up similar to us and the guys wore ponchos. There was a live band at the front of the room and we were taught the traditional dance which mainly consisted of holding hands with our partner and pulling our arms back and forth. Occasionally we would all join hands in a circle and dance around the whole hall. It was good fun but after 2 hours we headed back to our homes. There is no electricity on the island but most houses have solar panels so we had a light in our bedroom. We cleaned our teeth out in the garden and it was quite beautiful standing out there with the moon lighting up the mountainside and the garden.
The next morning we got up and headed down to the kitchen where Clarice was making us pancakes. After breakfast we thanked Papa and then headed down to the wharf with Clarice to meet our group and head back to Puno. We attempted to thank her in Quenchuan which is ¨yasparagasunky¨which i had to practise alot to get right. It was a sunny and calm day so we sat on the back of the boat for our 3 hour trip and sung every song we could think of from the 90`s. I think our tour guide thinks were crazy.
We got back to Puno and that afternoon i went to the police station with Diana to get a police report for my camera. Then we went our for dinner at a restaurant called colours. Then food there was a amazing. I had a mango and chicken indian curry with pink rice and blackberry sauce. It tasted soo good and quite different to any curry i`ve tried before. Then i had a banana split for dessert.
The next morning we left Peru and bussed to Bolivia, officially the bus stopped in Peru and we walked over the border so i think its fair to say i walked to Bolivia. Once we had done the official stuff we got back in the bus for a 10min ride to Copacabana. We wandered the streets as there were plenty of people selling jewellery and other crafts, we saw the main square and then went for lunch at a fairly average cafe. Then Claire, Katrina, Anthea and i hired kayaks and went for a paddle in Lake Titkaka. We just couldn`t get over how much this lake looks like the ocean, its so massive, only differences are the water isn`t salty and we`re 3500m above sea level. But the seagulls don`t seem to notice the difference.
After working out our arms we did a leg workout by climbing a hill to a lookout of the lake. Yet another struggle but were getting pretty used to spending our days walking up hills by now. This walkway had stations of the cross which people carry a cross up to the top on good friday. At the top of the hill there are small wood ovens where the people burn minature things such as small wads of fake money or mini houses or cars because they believe whatever they burn they will receive that year (but in regular size) The view from the top was gorgeous, the water was very calm and the sun shone off it. It was such a warm day and the sky in front of us was soo blue that we were surprised to hear thunder behind us. Massive clouds were making their way over so we headed back down to the hotel.
That evening we went out for dinner and we discovered that Bolivia really is as cheap as they say. I had a meal of mushroom soup with bread and butter, buffet salad bar, pumpkin stew with rice and chocolate cake for approx 5AUD. It was fantastic!!
Today we had the morning to sleep in and then wander Copacobana. So we went to a coffee shop where i had a delicious coffee with icecream in it and nachos, then we wandered the markets and checked out the cathedral. At 1pm we caught a bus, and then a small boat then the same bus again (it was ferried across) to La Paz. Since we got here we`ve been out for dinner and come to the internet cafe. We found a movie theatre and were excited by the prospect of seeing a normal movie but unfortunately in Bolivia they dub them all in spanish rather than adding spanish subtitles so we had to skip that idea.
And that covers all the places in my title :)