1st day in Puno

To get to Puno, you first have to fly into the town of Juliaca. The best way to describe Juliaca is kind of like the crater of a moon with some half built shacks everywhere. I think I might be making it sound nice. The airport was okay though (albeit the smallest one we have ever been to) and we were greeted by a local band, which was awesome!

We then took a one hour super bumpy drive to Puno. On the bus we made friends with two guys from California. They were really friendly, but mentioned that they would have rather taken the bus instead of flying, but couldn´t because of the ongoing protests (more on that later).

Puno is about 3800m above sea level. The high altitude almost instantly made us feel kind of strange. We both feel as though we have a mild hangover. On top of that, we were a bit short of breath. We had trouble climbing the one flight of stairs to our room. It also makes walking and talking very difficult. The headaches are now gone after some Advil and food, and all the rest is kinda just fun and part of the experience. One other cure for altitude sickness is the "mate de coca" otherwise known as Coca tea (yes, that Coca, the same main ingredient in cocaine). Anyways, we drank 2 mugs full each and it hit the spot!

Also being this high, and a bit to the south, it is very cold here. As I write this, it is 3 degrees celsius. It doesn´t bother me too much, and Laura is being a trooper! Nothing like the 30 degree temps we hear we are missing at home.

Due to the protests that I alluded to earlier, we have already made our first itinerary change. We will now be staying here in Puno one more night, and then flying to Cusco as opposed to taking the Tourist Bus as planned. This was necessary because the road is blocked between Puno and Cusco. It all works out in the end, because we can afford to spend one more day here, and will do an extra tour. Only downside is the extra expense. We were lucky we were able to find the LAN Airlines office and make all the necessary changes. It was a definite Amazing Race moment.

Tomorrow we embark on our Titicaca Island tour, including a homestay with a local family! Can´t wait!!

Hopefully we will report more when we are back from the tour on Saturday night.

Adios from Puno!