Day 12- Puno & Sillustani, Peru

After a long night of a bumpy bus ride weaving its way through narrow mountain roads, we finally arrived at our destination: the bus stop in Puno. We pulled in at 4am during a bad thunderstorm. There was no shelter so everyone had to stand in the pouring rain waiting to get their bags thrown to them from the bottom of the bus by the one 13 year old kid in charge of the operation. Lightning was striking uncomfortably close, and I was convinced someone was going to die. I ended up running inside while poor John waited in the rain for our backpacks. Once we entered the bus station it was full of men trying to convince us to use their taxi. We were tired and stressed so we went along with the first annoyingly pushy man who confronted us. I told him the name of our hostel, "Inka's Rest", and he said he knew where it was. We started driving into town. In the rain and dark the place looked pretty shady, and I was getting worried. Eventually we realized the driver didn't know where it was, and after repeating the name several times it finally clicked. Luckily John wrote down directions to it before we left the US or who knows what would have happened!

We were dropped off in the narrow street in front of the hostel, rang the doorbell and were greeted by the owner. He told us our room wasn't available until 11am. Great. I asked the man (in Spanish) if I could pay for an extra night if we could stay in a room until then. I said any bed was fine- but he said they were completely full. Ugh! I was so tired and cranky I almost cried. We tried to fall asleep sitting in the check-in room, but it was unsuccessful. Randomly at 5am, I think he took pity on us and told me there was an open room on the 2nd floor. We headed up there and it had 6 empty beds. I'm not sure why he lied to us initially, it was odd. He also started speaking fluent English at that point. Tricky man. Then, we passed out til 10am. It was great.

After our rest, we headed out to the main plaza in Puno. The town was very lively because it was the Feast of the Epiphany (when the 3 kings visited Jesus), or El Dia de Los Reyes. Women dressed in traditional clothing had stands in front of all the cathedrals and in the main square, selling dolls. I later learned that the children buy the dolls and at mass that night they put them on the altar for baby Jesus, then they later give the dolls to charity. We peeked inside the crowded Catedral de Puno, and then went inside a tour company building to look into our Lake Titicaca island hopping options for tomorrow. (If you don't already know, Lake Titicaca is 12,500 ft above sea level, making it one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. By volume of water, it is also the largest lake on the continent.) After a brief pharmacy stop for me, we hailed a cab. The driver was very talkative and friendly, and I had a nice in-depth conversation with him. I actually used Spanish vocab words they teach you in school that you think you will never use. Now I can say I did! Once. He drove us up a hill toward El Arco Deusta. It was just some arch to honor war heroes, but it was a scenic view for sure.

We then continued up towards a lookout on the hilltop known as Cerro Huajsapata. It had a statue of an Incan king and overlooked the town and the famous Lago Titicaca. Its name might sound weird, but in the native language it means "grey puma" since the lake is supposedly shaped like the animal. After we went back down to the central part of town we had lunch at a place Lonely Planet recommended, it was fairly touristy and had a weird church like theme. It was very quiet and the food was just so-so. We ran into a German couple who were apparently loaded because they had sailed to South America and left their yacht docked while they explored the continent for months. Must be nice.

Video panorama of Lake Titicaca as seen from Cerro Huajsapata

At about 2pm we went to a travel agency and bought bus tickets for a day trip to the nearby area where the ruins of Sillustani are. Our guide spoke English, but his accent was so thick that when he repeated what he said in Spanish, I actually understood him better! The ruins were pre-Incan and Incan structures which served as funerary towers. The burial towers are known as chullpas. The people would put the body of the ruler who died inside the stone tower, and then kill his family and all of his servants so that they could be buried with him. The towers have since been looted of the treasures and the bodies, and the stones are crumbling, yet it was still a very interesting place. The site sits on a hilltop overlooking a lake, and is out in the middle of the countryside. With the wind and isolation it had an eerie yet peaceful feel to it. We had the chance to take many great photos, explore, and learn about its history. We also got some nice photos of the lake as seen from the cliffside.

Our bus left Sillustani and on the way back stopped at a local rural homestead. A family lived and farmed there and let us come visit and see how they live. They had various foods sitting out, a population of guinea pigs, llamas, and alpacas, as well as some woven goods for sale. The homes were made out of stones and dried mud or clay. It was very interesting to explore their home and try to imagine what it would be like to live in that isolated area, selling llama wool for a living. They also had the "pig" statues on their rooves, and we learned that they are actually bulls, and they are a symbol for good luck and prosperity. Tons of Peruvian homes have them. Walking back to the bus, several local kids ran up to us begging for tips. They tried to guilt me but since they didn't do anything worth getting money and didn't even live at the homestead we toured, I denied them. They were really pushy though! We then headed on the bus ride back to Puno, enjoying the rural scenery of the isolated lands.

Puno is at a very high altitude, which causes me to get headaches and tire easily. After I took a necessary nap, during which John wandered the town, we reconvened and walked around the surrounding streets. I bought some snacks from street vendors, and then we went on a quest for peanut butter a.k.a. crema de cacahuete. No street stalls or even large markets had it- they don't know what they're missing! Mission failed. We then ate dinner at a local chifa restaurant. The food has an Asian influence and is a mixture of rice, meat and veggies known as chaufa. It was a local place, so was highly affordable. Then we headed back to the hostel to prepare for another early day tomorrow!