Memories

Our plane is taking off and Suzanne is reading a magazine.  I look over her shoulder at an article by Jane Smiley entitled 'Life Is a Lake of Memories To Swim In" and I must add that my lake has just gotten larger.  I look out the window.....

Last afternoon in the downtown plazas and.....

First, I don't know why that last picture did not publish.   At least it didn't on my device.  We went to a museo of a local artist  in the San Blas neighborhood.

In the afternoon we went down to the main plaza for the last time.

And then walked around other nearby plazas.

At four o'clock our taxi picked us up to take us to the airport.  I can't believe this trip is coming to an end.  Although we have about 15 hours of flight time to get back to Seattle, because of layover times in Lima, Dallas, and Phoenix it will be 34 hours of travel.  We are now leaving Phoenix on our last leg of our trip and are anxious to get to Suzanne's and crawl into a bed.  I will rest tomorrow and start the drive back to my house early Saturday morning.  I will stay with friends in Grants Pass Saturday night and finish my trip on Sunday, June 1st.  What a ride it has been!!!!!  ......making more memories that will last a lifetime.

Our last day and one half in Cuzco

The morning at the market. A row of women with their treadle machines.

Eating at a little place upstairs....perfect for people watching

And alpaca for dinner. It was DELICIOUS!!!

The next day we packed and left our bags at the hostel and walked the San Blas neighborhood.

Electricity, anybody?

It can be fixed if you are patient

San Blas square 

And a local artist's work

All aboard for Cuzco

We took the Perurail Exhibition Train back to Cuzco.

A luxury ride....tablecloths, meal service. Pisco Sours, entertainment

Along the way

I wasn't feeling so good, but that is a story in itself!  It was a beautiful 10 hour trip never the less.

Wide sidewalks, anyone? And you wouldn't want to step in a hole in the sidewalk!

And back at the same little hostel in the San Blas area in Cuzco.

Another fun day in Puno

We had no agenda at all today.  We went down later for breakfast and then headed for the Plaza to find why we were hearing band music.  Well, there was a parade of all the Kinders and teachers marching past an Army band across from the church.  Army officers were observing from the church steps.  There must be lots of schools in Puno because this parade went on for hours.

After we watched for 1 1/2 hous we walked the 20 blocks or so to the waterfront, wandering through the market places, and just enjoying the sights and sounds.  We followed the walkway around the bay to see if we could get to the ship Yavari that was brought to the lake in 1862. On our way.....

This we took for Lindsey

Linda, what are these?

Three or more miles later....

Walking home we came upon a public primary school.

We caught a ride to the market for tangerines and bananas and then walked the rest of the way home, stopping for empanadas and ice cream on the way.

Sunny and Cold Puno

Well, up here on top of the world it is cold.  Fall and winter are the dry season, but it is cold.  Low 60's during the day and 20's at night, but it is super sunny and we can feel the intensity of the sun.  Sunglasses and sunscreen is a must!  

Our hotel is three blocks from the main square, Plaza de Armas, and cathedral.

We orient ourselves to the main square first thing so we know how to get back to our hotel and then start exploring from the there.

After the morning of exploring, we took a motor taxi to the waterfront on Lake Titicaca where we found a boat to take us to the floating islands, which is what we came to see.  

We head for the floating islands of the Uros People who built these islands to protect themselves from the more aggressive Amarya and Inca Peoples.  These islands are made of the reeds that you can see beside the boat.  They build up layers and layers do reeds.  As the islands rot from below, more reeds are laid down on top.  There are around 85 of these islands in the lake with each island holding 1 to 10 extended families.  Only about 10 of the islands allow tourists to visit.

The reeds are also eatable, used for medicinal purposes, for their houses, and for boat building.

This is their hospital with solar power for electricity.  It is not floating.

We landed on one island where heard how the islands were made, maintained, and how the people live on them.  The islands are actually anchored so they won't drift out farther into the lake.  There is an elementary school on one of the larger islands, but when the children go to high school, they go into Puno and don't return.  We heard all of this in Spanish so we missed a great deal of the explanations. This is the island we went on.

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This is what we were walking on.

We rode in a balsa boat over to an island to get some lunch.  We had the best trout that I have ever had, eyeballs, tail and all.  The food here in Peru is good, although plain, but here we had the best hot sauce ever.  The cook said his dream is to come to the USA to be a chef and also sell his hot sauce, which is his own recipe.