Friday night we loaded our backpacks with every article of warm clothing we could find and hopped on the bus for Puno. We arrived bright and early the next morning. And when I say, "bright and early," I actually just mean really flippin' early, not so much bright, because the sun wasn't even up yet. We had to kill a couple of hours and then headed to the travel agency with the hopes of finding breakfast. The only restaurant open at 6:30 am, though, was a fancy hotel. Let me tell you, 8 girls with backpacks, brushing their teeth in the bathroom, were clearly not their typical guests. They served us, nonetheless.
We took a short boat ride to Uros, the floating islands. At this point, I was feeling quite sick and had once again lost my voice. In hindsight, this was probably for the best. It forced me to stop talking for a couple hours and really take in the islands. The islands were made out of reeds and their roots, so as you might imagine, they were quite bouncy, and the ground beneath my feet was literally moving. It seemed like such a foreign way of life, until one if the natives pulled out a cellphone. Congratulations, AT&T...you have taken over the world! We were told that natives will probably only inhabit the islands for a handful of years. It seems all the youngins are moving to town.
Next, we took a 3 hour boat ride to Amantani island where we got to live with a native family. The houses were made out of adobe, and the rooms had one lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, which was solar-powered. Remind me again why we don't use solar power? Running water was non-existent. However, they still had surprisingly nice toilets. No squatting required. You just had to pour water in to make them flush. It was quite fancy compared to the port-o-John we use at Betty.
The whole crew went on an afternoon hike, where we got to watch the sunset. The altitude was killer, but the view was absolutely worth it. At the top our guide insisted that we pick a rock and walk around the temple 3 times to create a type of vortex and then place the rock among the others in the wall, while making a wish. I messed up and apparently managed to put my rock in the wrong place. It turns out I max out at 2-step directions. It's okay though. There's a pretty good chance that's just what they tell the tourists so they can get a chuckle watching us walk around in circles.
Our family was lovely. The mom and daughter even taught us some valuable Quechua phrases. You know the basics: 1-5, thank you, cheers. Go figure, I only remember cheers. After dinner our family dressed us up in native clothing and took us to a dance. They ran us around in circles for a good hour. It was incredibly dorky but a neat experience.
The next day we headed to another island (Taquile), where we took a short hike and got to eat breakfast outside at a locals house. Once again, amazing views and a wonderful experience.
All of the girls (there were 8 of us) hogged the top deck of the boat as we cruised back to dry land with sunshine and laughter. I can't even count how many times I heard someone commenting on how surreal the whole experience seemed. I just cant figure out how i got so lucky, especially when I contrast my weekend adventures with the orphanage I volunteer at.
This morning, even though I was functioning on virtually no sleep, I tried so hard to remember how lucky I am, hoping to give the kids just a little more. I'm not sure how successful I was today, so I have very intention of whipping out some more picture boards tonight.
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