once on the plain to Puno we stand on the runway for about 40 minutes as the pilot sais that there is very strong side wind and we have to wait till the wind gets better. then finally we take off. scenery is beautiful... the flight is short.. about 30 minutes.. and another very very bumpy ride... soo awful. i'm sad i was not able to take the train.. i was looking forward to it.. i guess it is very beatuiful scenery... instead i got this 30 minutes of rocking :( oh well.. i'll live.
once the plane lands and i get my bags i get on a little mini-van that takes me to Puno. it is just 10 soles for the ride and it takes about 45 minutes. the road goes first through Juliaca and then through fields and over the mountains to Puno. the scnery is depressing :( it is just soo depressing. i didn't feel like getting my camera out of the bag.. so i just stared at everything around me. first juliaca.. oh my... like a warzone... there are mud huts that have not been finished.. everything is in ruins... huts are on the field.. there are mainly dirt roads... everything is broken... no huts are painted so it is all gray and ugly. soo depressing... so hopless... we get out of juliaca and there is the 2 lane asfalt road.. then some 30m of dirt field on both sides and then comes one row of the same single level mud huts. i'v never seen anything like that before. i guess that is the suburb. what do people do here? then we get to the fields... there are occasional mud huts here and there + some animals. suddenly the bus stops as some cows and lambs cross the road. for some reason the lambs have pink color on their head.. no idea why that is needed for. we keep driving... we reach the mountains... that look like hills really as we are already up in altitude of about 3500m.... we go through the windy roads and then there is Puno.
there are 2 guys from UK who were going through the same as i did with the train -> airport -> very expensive plane tickets. they have to make their flight in LaPaz on Tuesday so they really had no choice but to take the plane. we chat for a bit and then suddenly the bus stops and we are on the main square - Plaza de Armas (that is the main square in every town here).
i get off the bus.. pay my 10 soles for the ride.. receive my bag.. cross the street and sit in the middle of the square with my bags and start checking the travel guide of which way should i go to. time is 5:45pm. 30 seconds later one couple walks buy and they look at me for a while as i turn the map in many different directions :) i say hi and ask if they know of any cheap hostel around here... their english is not very good but they give me the directions.. and we chat for little bit more.. comes out that the guy's father (or some other close relative) is from Lithuania :D then we discuss of what are their plans here and like everybody else they are going to Lake Titicaca.. so i ask if they could tell me some travel agency where i could book the tour for tomorrow.. they show me one blue sign just across the square where i can get directions to travel agency. so i go there... it is tourist information point.. they tell me to walk down the main street called Lima.. right next to the office and most of the travel agencies can be found there. great. so i go own the street and walk into the first one i see.
i politely ask if they offer tours on lake titicaca.. sure they do... they ask which hotel should they pick me up from in the morning and i just show at my bags and reply that i don't have a hotel yet... well turns out that this is a travel agency AND a hostel :D perfect! i go and check the rooms and 5 minutes later i got the room and the tour for 2 days on lake titicaca and she will check on the buses situation for me for Monday.. of what is the situation with the strikes and if i can get a bus on Monday afternoon to Arequipa :D so that was smooth :D
so now.. i'm checked in at the hotel... and just stopped here to update my blog. i'll go and have some dinner and then will have loooong shower :D and then bed.
tomorrow morning i'm going on a 2 day tour to the islands on lake titicaca... first the floating islands, then Amantani island where i stay for the night .. the next day is Taquile island and i'll be back in Puno at 4pm on Sunday the 8th of July :D
"don't worry.. be happy!" take care ... i'll get some pictures and hopefully some posts about lake titicaca on sunday!
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