Thursday was a very relaxing day. I wandered the markets here, bought a sweet hat for my jungle trek and just explored the city. What was crazy is the amount of American hats! I saw a Sparty hat, Chicago Bears and even a Chicago Transit Authority hat!!
After a bit of market wandering, it was lunch time. I wandered into this random restaurant and ordered soup. I wish I hadn't. Here is what I had:
Yup, that is a pig foot. Didn't realize it until the very end. You can even see the tiny hairs on the right. Locals were eating the actual foot, or I think. Maybe this is the gringo serving.
After realizing what I ate, I really wanted to get that taste out of my mouth, so it was a quest for diet coke. After being in Peru, no more complaining about only Coke Zero in Brazil and not Diet Coke. Peru mainly has regular Coke and I'd rather pass on that. Maybe 1 in 10 stores has Coke Zero. Mad props to Colombia for having Coke Light. I'm very excited for my flight home to have a Diet Coke. Sorry, sidetracked a bit. Finally, I found one, saw the price was $1.50 soles (roughly $0.75). I went to the counter to pay and the lady said $1.80. I asked why was it $1.80 when it said $1.50 (in perfect Spanish I might add) and she just repeated $1.80. I'm sorry, I don't mind paying a bit more for services and try to always tip well here, but I was just fed up and drew the line at that. I wasn't pissed at the $0.15 difference, I was just tired of being taken advantage of. I left the store, went to the market and there paid $1.80 for one. Could not bring myself to buy it from that original lady.
Thursday night also really sucked. I decided to change my plans to have more time in Bolivia so I could adequately see the sights I want to see. Argentina got axed. Trying to book flights on websites with no English, slow Internet and Skype calls SUCKS. It took three hours and I still have no flight confirmation that I can get from my last stop in Chile to my America bound flight in Santiago. I have no patience to do that now. I treated myself to two hot alcoholic beverages, one made with pisco, Peruvian liquor made from grapes, and called it a night.
Friday, it was up early and off for the reason I came to Puno, the floating islands!! I took a bus to the lake and then a loooong (2.5 hours) boat ride to the floating island.
The floating islands were a very amazing experience. Everyone who lives there goes barefoot and you feel you will step through and fall through into the water. I did reach into the water and it was freezing! What was sad was just how dirty their homes were. The kids were just filthy and it was am insight into bad hygiene knowledge, poverty or both.
They make the island out of some type of reeds that you can also eat. It tastes like a blander version of a cucumber and apparently is good for your bones.
One thing that was hilarious on this island was these two Peruvian women from Lima also taking the tour asked me to take a picture. Naturally, I assumed of them with one of the floating island sights. So I said, "Si," and reached for the camera. They said no, "com tu" or "with you". This is becoming more frequent. I am becoming a tourist attraction. If I were in Cusco, I could start charging and paying for part of my trip. Hmmm...
Woman with the edible reeds
We were serenaded for a bit
I'm on a boat!!
The pro driving the boat (he wouldn't let me drive :-( )
Hanging with locals
Replica of islands
My new boat (it's even pink!!!)
After the first island, we took the boat to a bigger island. On the way there, I met some Brazilian girls and had a chance to practice my Portuguese!
The bigger island, we had lunch, hiked a bit and headed home.
The locals there wear different types of clothing representing marital status.
Overall, the tour was great. I would highly recommend.
Today, Saturday, started off horrendous. My travel partner lost our bus tickets and we didn't know the name of the company. It was a mad dash to the bus stop to try and see if they could look up our reservation by our names (they couldn't). We had to buy new ones and got our tickets as the bus was scheduled to leave. Thankfully the bus was late. Surprisingly, most buses here are on time, which goes against my stereotype of Latin America.
It was just a very stressful morning as I was the one who had to explain everything in Spanish and rush in transit, which always makes me a bit shaky. Buses make me nervous enough. Whenever I am preparing to ride a bus, I always layer in my favorite clothes, wear two pair of socks, hide a debit and credit card in between each and hide my passport on my body. I also make sure to have both my contacts/glasses on me in case we were robbed. The first thing I do as well on a bus is look for a place to stash my passport in case of a robbery. I am paranoid enough in transit, so being rushed and having no tickets was not fun.
One thing this trip has done is made me realize that I can be more assertive than I thought and can be much more confident with speaking, even in a foreign language. I also realized I hate leaving important details to other people.
We then boarded back on the bus, road for about 40 minutes to Copacobanna (Bolivian side of the Lake), had an hour there to eat, take photos, and explore. I bought some cute jewelry.
After that, we again boarded the bus, rode for about an hour, then got off and boarded a boat. Our bus also boarded a boat. After that it was about 3 more hours to La Paz. The scenery along the way was beautiful.
We made it to La Paz, and I was the only one who had a clue where we were going, also frustrating. I hate wandering with my life on my body and we were in a very busy neighborhood. Thank you Spanish (Portuguese-Spanish really). We made it, checked in and then I had to get cash and a towel as this hostel was out. I hate when hostels have no towels. Who wants to carry a bulky, sometimes damp towel when you travel?
Anyway, due to extenuating circumstances, I ended up going by myself. I ended up getting a bit disoriented and some lovely Police officers escorted me to the bank and back to my hostel. Seeing as my dad worked for Grand Rapids Police Department and GRPD is obviously my favorite police department, the La Paz police are second. My little bro just graduated with a criminal justice degree, and is interviewing with police forces, so soon his will be in the top two as well, but the La Paz police are great as well.
Well, tomorrow it is off for a biking excursion. Adios!
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