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Published: April 12th 2011
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Carnival time - Puno
The journey When we left Puno the first time just before Christmas to come to Cusco we both agreed that this was one place we had been to on our trip that we did not want to go back to. However, the draws of the infamous Puno carnival and a group trip with all the other Yanapaay volunteers meant that early one thursday morning we found ourselves getting a taxi to the bus station meeting everyone and getting our seats on the 8am bus to Puno. The first 3 hours of the journey is very picturesque as the bus snakes through the valley and up quite steep paths to flatter ground.
The journey was going well and the sun had even started to shine which was a welcome change from the rain and cold which had suddenly hit Cusco from around the second week of February. We then met a huge line on stationary vehicles on the way to a town called Juliaca about 1 hour from Puno. We stood still for about 30 minutes then our coach driver had a better idea and reversed and took a more of
road route down dirt roads around the outskirts o the town down streets barely wide enough for the coach to get down. We seemed to be making progress until we reached more road blocks. The whole town of Juliaca had been surrounded by a series of road blocks in protest about recent petrol price increases. We spent the next 2 hours circling the town picking up some more passengers at the bus station then attempting to leave the town which we did finally via a road which had been cleared by police to then find another block further ahead so we took a o road route down a farmers track which didnt really seem like it was going anywhere but thankfully the driver knew better.
We did meet some protesters along this route but I think they were sympathetic to the fact the bus wasnt carrying government officials but tourists and they let us continue. We passed many sheep and alpacas in the fields and it seemed like a pleasant scenic route to take until we slowed right down as we approached a bridge over a rather fierce looking river. The bridge didnt look like it would hold
a tractor let alone a 50 seater double decker bus. I am not sure the driver was certain either as he took a bit o a run up and put his foot down, i closed my eyes and felt my bum clench! We made it though and continued a little further to meet the main road and the welcome signs to Puno. We descended down the road to the town centre with views of the lake after a 9 hour bus journey which should have been 6-7 hours.
We were lucky though as we later found out by another volunteer who had tried to get a later bus. Our 8am bus was the last to leave Cusco for 5 hours as they stopped all the buses as they didnt want them to get stuck.
We left the bus terminous, after purchasing our return tickets, and walked to our hotel close to the centre of town, which we were later to ind out was right on the carnival route. The roads were awash with people catching the rickshaw peddal taxis, buying the street side groceries or catching a collectivo to various places. On arrival to our hotel our room
was quite pleasant but there was a continual beat coming through the walls andwhen we asked the receptionist what this music was she said 'its people practicing for carnival but the music should stop soon'. For that night this was true but once the carnival started on the Thursday night you were never far from hearing some kind of musical beat. The rest of that evening was spent walking onto the main street and going for some food.
Night 1 of carnival After a late start we joined some of the volunteers and went to sit outside in one of the restaurants to bathe in the unexpected sunshine, or for me shade bathe due to being aware that we were now at even higher altitude than in Cusco at around 3200m. Once our pizzas had been eaten we left the rest of the volunteers as they headed to a fallous temple, which we did not fancy. Instead we opted to give the sights of Puno another chance, this time in the sunshine. Sam was also very keen to take a peddal rickshaw so we walked to the lake, sampling some of the streetside markets, which
were actually quite good! We then took a rickshaw taxi to the bus terminous, a pointless but quite enjoyable journey! We then walked back sampling more markets as we went ending up in the artensan market where sam pondered over buying a scarf. For dinner we went to a Chifa, a very popular chinese style restaurant, as I was craving lomo saltado (basically stir fired strips of beef, red pepper, tomato, red onion and chips served with rice. Although its obvious Chinese influence this is a very common dish in Peru, alongside Sam's favourite -arroz chaufa, an amazing mixed fried rice. After checking out the 10 centavos (about 2.5pence) arcade awash with video games, mostly street fighter which sam loved we joined the rest of the group.
By this time the carnival had definitely started with one of the squares awash with people and different bands striking up in each of its corners, all playing a very similar beat - mostly drums with their home town on, dressed in very elaborate matching outfits. After this drum off fireworks were let off followed by a huge ferris wheel being lit next to this rickerty stand which then sent fireworks off
it which at times made us dive for cover. Obviously no health and safety concerns, something which we had come to expect of Peru. More drumming continued as the rain came down. When we were all suitable wet we headed to a nearby club to dry off and listen to some different music.
Day 2 & 3 of carnival The next day the rain had stopped so we got some take away arroz chaufa and sat in a square watching the goings on, this was followed by an ice cream and a short walk round town. That evening we went to the main square where there were dance troops in amazing costumes interspersed with more drumming groups, a beat that seemed to continue for 3 days straight! The main parade was the next day so once the main happenings in the square had come to an end we returned to the hotel for an earlier night. This was a very good move as the next morning we were to be woken up by more drumming at 6:30am as the parade left the stadium and made its way up the streets and right under our room window.
There were waves of drums and women in matching dress all doing the same moves for the next 2 hours. There was then a break but the parade continued for much of the day.
After checking out and breakfast we went out to see the streets awash with people and lines of chairs set out at key points. Unfortunately it had been raining since the early hours and continued to do so but this didnt seem to dampen any carnival spirits. Despite the rain you could just stand and stare for hours at the different costumes all very bight and although quite similar to each other they were still amazing to look at. My favourite part was the troops of windpipes who just made the most amazing noise to the backdrop of a drum beat. The highlight of the parade was when we were taking some shelter from the rain in a restaurant on the main street one of the volunteers, a german guy called Ingo who had been invited to dance in the main parade on the monday, he came down the small pedestrianised street at the front of four guys holding up a chair with a lady
on it all adorned in religious motifs, a more sober part of the parade but a very important part.
The afternoon finished with us walking through flooded streets, after a huge downpour, to the bus station and getting the 4pm bus back to Cusco. Puno had proved itself second time round and carnival had definitely been an eye opener but I dont think I could have taken much more of the continual drum beat!
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