27th
Nov
Woke up to temps of about minus 2 deg C. I knew it had ben cold because I was warm
when I awoke at 4 am, but then was freezing by the time I got up at about 6.30
am !! But thankfully the strong winds of
last night had died down so we hadn’t blown away ! But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and when
the sun came out over the top of the canyon walls, it quickly warmed up – Well,
as much as it ever does when you are at 4000 metres. At these altitudes it can be really hot when
you are in the sun, but if you get in the shade, or the sun goes behind a
cloud, you realise the air temps are pretty low ! Anyway, the canyon was just as stunning this
morning as it had been last night, and we had breakfast enjoying the
scenery. The farmer came round to see
how we were, and we gave him some plantains we had bought yesterday thinking
they were bananas !! Yuk when you try to
eat them raw like bananas, but fine when they are fried like crisps / chips
! Anyway, the farmer was pleased with
them, and we left to drive out of the canyon and back to the main road to
continue our way to Lake Titicaca.
It seems we were the last people up this morning, because
we had some hikers walk past us while we were eating breakfast, and then we saw
several farmers with their cows / sheep / llamas letting their herds feed in
the fields. Out on the main road, it was
more of the flat altiplano, and the stunning clear views of the hills on the
sides. At one stage a freight train past us and it
was funny to see the train on one side, a stray dog by the road, mud brick huts
on the other side of the road, and an old lady sitting on the edge of the road –
A complete mix of new technology and the old way of life.
We then came to a fairly sizeable town called Juliaca –
Large font on the map makes one think you are coming into some big city. Well it was big all right – but the highway,
which in the country was a really good two lane highway, suddenly disappeared
and we were swallowed up in really rough dirt roads, road works, absolutely no
signs, and roads which just stopped in the middle of a crossing and left you to
decide whether you would like to go left or right !! Of course, today Garmin had lost the plot,
and Google Maps didn’t even know what country we were in, so it was back to the
old standby – Ask for directions every hundred yards !! The easy way to do this in a RH drive vehicle
in a LH drive country is just to ask the driver next to you because of course
he is right beside you. And that system
worked well, and eventually we got out of Juliaca. Stupid place !
Not long after Juliaca we reached Puno, the main city on the
edge of Lake Titicaca. We planned to book a tour to the floating islands on the
Lake, but it was lunch time when travel agencies are closed so we decided to go
and look for a campsite first. We had
one that looked good, so went about 15 kms S of Puna and after lots of asking
we were directed to go 5 blocks into the village and it would be on our
right. Well, the roads for those 5
blocks were goat tracks – We almost needed 4 WD to get up them – But they are
classed as roads round here !! So we
bounced 5 blocks, with the roads getting narrower and narrower, and then turned
right, and sure enough, there was this lovely little hotel that had a spot for
camping !! You really never know what
you are going to find down here !
We then went back to find an open travel agent, and I had to
park and stay in the car while Janet went off to see what she could find in the
way of tours. To cut a long story short,
she came back with an option of staying in a hotel for a very good rate which
included breakfast and secure parking, and then going on a morning tour on the
lake before coming back to pick up the car and head off down the road. This had so many advantages over the 20 km
distant camp site that it didn’t take too much to persuade me, so next thing
you know we are in the hotel and enjoying hot showers, wifi, and a set dinner
for about $12 including a whole avocado entrée, local lake Titicaca grilled
trout, and a serve of chocolate ice cream !
Washed down with a local dark beer or three while we chatted to a very
nice couple of Danish guys, Sten and Mike, and we then retired to our warm
hotel room ready for an early wake up for our tour on Lake Titicaca.
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