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Published: August 11th 2010
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Colca Canyon
Colca Canyon from bus window as we head to Arequipa Puno Day 1
Monday, August 9
***I'm posting this one a bit late, since the hotel WiFi was down. August 10th is in the works.
Here we were, content with our trip so far on Cruz Del Sur, and trouble raised its ugly head. Although the bus only left Lima 5 minutes late, we had so many stops and detours on our way to Arequipa that we ended up getting there an hour and a half late, at 8:35am today. Unfortunately (stating it mildly) the connecting bus to Puno left at 8:30am as scheduled, even though our bus stewardess had radioed them that we were running late. Five minutes!
We got our refund for the Cruz Del Sur trip to Puno and my wife quickly located another bus line with a bus for Puno leaving at 11am. There was one at 9:30 which they offered us very cheap at 5 Soles each instead of 15, but when my wife found out it did not have restrooms onboard, she opted for the one at 11 that had them along with reclining seats. It turned out to be a good choice for a 5 hour bus trip. Since we didn't leave
Arequipe Bus Terminal
The "terrapuerto" or bus terminal in Arequipa the bus terminal area, we have no idea what Arequipa was like, except that the terminal was very crowded and full of little stores and restaurants. We bought a couple of tamals, with which we'd had experience at the Lima Cruz Del Sur station, and waited for our bus. Our bad luck continued somewhat when we found out that the Julsa bus to Puno had broken down and we had to wait half an hour for a replacement. It did come however, and was fairly nice, just not at the level of maintenance and such as the Cruz Del Sur, and of course, no food or drinks were served. Oh well, there bus was only 20 Soles each while the Cruz Del Sur was over 50.
Arriving safe and sound at the Puno Terrapuerto (bus station), we walked out to get a taxi to the travel agency before they closed, since we still had to pay for our island tour tomorrow. It just dawned on me that I hadn't mentioned the exchange rate for Nuevo Soles. Its currently 2.70 Nuevo Soles per US Dollar. Ok, back to the taxi. It was quite a surprise to see several three-wheel bicycles
Lake Titicaca
Our first view of Puno and Lake Titicaca waiting and no cars. We asked one of the "drivers" and he agreed to take us, and our heavy luggage to the Plaza de Armas ... for 3 Soles! This older Peruvian pedaled that bike at a pretty good clip for quite a distance, and for what amounts to one dollar US! We gave him 5 Soles instead and went looking for the All Ways Travel Agency. After a couple of bad instructions or misunderstandings, we found the office and they agreed all was fine for the tour tomorrow, but that we would pay tomorrow when they pick us up at the hotel at 7:45am. They also mentioned that we could buy a little gift of rice or cooking oil for the homestay family at the pier before we left. While my wife was taking care of the tour, I ordered to cups of cocoa tea at a little cafe nearby. We sat and sipped on it while the owner explained how good it was for altitude sickness and the headaches that both Manoli and I were getting. Unfortunately, the tea was a mistake for my wife as she continued to get worse. We found our hotel, Don Julio, checked
in to our nice ... cold room and headed out for a stroll and dinner. We decided to splurge a little and eat at Restaurant La Casona. I ordered trout with a delicious sauce with mushrooms and fries and veggies on the side, while Manoli ordered just a bowl of soup, as she said she wasn't feeling well. She didn't eat hardly anything and got so bad that I wolfed down what I could and we went looking for a pharmacy. After buying a pack of altitude sickness pills, we went back to the hotel where my wife jumped into bed. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow, especially with the pills.
Well, tomorrow is our Lake Titicaca island tour and homestay, so I won't be able to post anything until we return Wednesday evening.
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