Lake Titicaca and back to Puno

I´ve one helluva bad freakin day. It´s been one of those days where once one thing goes wrong, everything does, and everything bugs you, and you cry, and you kick a door that won´t open, and you want to chop off the foot of the person who keeps kicking you accidentally, and you just want it to end.

The islands were nice and I´ll talk more about it further down, but scenery doesn´t make a tour guide more sensitive that´s for sure, and it doesn´t make tourist restaurants cheaper. I wasn´t happy with the tour in general. It´s too bad, I know, but I can´t expect everything to be peaches and cream. Here is an account of my no-good-very-bad day:

1. My tour guide took the group to a specific restaurant for lunch. I asked him if it was possible to eat somewhere more economical if I so chose, and he dismissed my comment, saying all the restaurants are the same. (They´re not.) He then told us the (set) menu was S/15 (3 times as much as I am used to paying) and I, with difficulty, got him to order me just the soup and rice for S/8. Half-way through eating it, other group members came along and ordered a cheese sandwich (probably S/3or4). Earlier he made it seem like we didn´t have a choice and when I questioned him about it he didn´t seem to care and he didn´t apologize.

2. Yesterday (I´m adding it to today´s badness just because) we were supposed to see 2 Inca sites, Pachakata and Pachamama, as advertised as included in the price. We made it to the first one when it was getting dark and when I asked him about the second the guide said I could go on my own if I wanted, just to follow the trail back, but he wasn´t going to go because the trail was difficult, and since it was getting dark I should bring a flashlight for the way back. No one ended up doing it and so we didn´t get to do something they said we would.

3. I wasn´t quite careful enough with my Peruvian money (I had a certain amount with me that I hoped would last until I reach Bolivia tomorrow without having to take more out of the bank), so when I returned to my hostel I asked if I could pay S/13 instead of S/15 so that I could use the extra 2 soles for dinner tonight. The guy at the reception desk said yes that´s fine, but then some other woman came down and said NO, that´s not fine. So I walked up to my room nearly in tears, stressed out about dinner and the UNkindness of strangers.

4. When I got up to my room the damn key wouldn´t open the door because the lock needs replacing. I kicked the door, this time in tears, and a guy who was folding laundry came over and opened it for me.

5. I went back downstairs to pay for my room since I will be leaving early tomorrow morning, but the 5 sol coin I had was damaged and they wouldn´t accept it.

6. On may way to the bank to get the coin changed, I ran into various people when they wouldn´t get out of the damn way. (Yes yes, this is only infuriating because I´m already in a bad mood.)

So anyway, I went to the bank and changed the coin, went to a money exchange to get a few more soles out of my US dollars so I can eat dinner tonight and pay for the room. And now that I´m on the internet and I´ve vented all this and I´ve read the emails from Granny and Mum I feel a bit better. My moods pass quickly.

And now, the islands (minus the crummy tour people). For this I´ll take bits from my journal:

"10.35am - Monday 09 Oct. 2006

"Our boat is crawling along the passageways on Lake Titicaca, through the reeds as far as the eye can see. It´s actually very familiar; it reminds me of the marsh back home.

"Early this morning I jumped in a car with four of my group members, none of whom spoke English, so I was a little nervous about not having anyone to talk to...but once int he boat we totalled almost 25 people, so I have a few amigos now. We are from all over the place, some are from France, from Spain, Italy, different parts of South America. I´ve chatted mostly with Phillip, a guy from Germany who is also travelling alone. He´s a nice guy from what I can tell.

"The first part of the journey was a half hour ride to the floating islands of Uros. I felt too much like a typical tourist as we lined up in front of the reed houses, taking pictures. The people who live there basically posed for us, doing typical Uros chores, but not, of course, without selling their wares as well.

"It´s really quite incredible how the people live though. The Aymara people use the totora reeds in almost every part of their lives. The island floors sank under my feet with each step, and because they rot on the bottommost layer, a fresh layer on top must be placed every 15 to 20 days. The little huts and houses are also made from the reeds, simple and teepee-like, and light enough to lift and move when necessary.

"I took a short ride on one of their reed boats as well, another impressive piece of architecture. They are shaped like viking ships, with puma heads at the bow.

"They live very basically, with only a few modern luxuries: they have small solar panels that provide enough electricity for a telephone booth, a small TV and stereo, and the internet.

...

"2.21pm

"We arrived safe adn sound at the second island, Amantani. The locals with whom we are staying tonight greeted us in full traditional costume, we separated into families, and walked a short distance to the house. I am in the same room as Phillip and Atsuko, a girl from Japan who is also travelling solo.

"Amantani is a beautiful island, very windy because it´s surrounded by altiplano. There were kids in the water when we arrived! They were collecting weeds for some purpose, but it´s cold in there.

"The woman we´re staying with is called Clara. She said she has 10 people in her family. Her house is built of mud bricks, concrete, tin roofing, and metal banisters leading upstairs. It´s very simple of course, but our room with 3 beds is lovely. It´s like the most basic of hotel rooms.

"Right now I can hear the voices of Clara and 2 men downstairs; they are cooking lunch for the 3 of us.

"6.20pm

Lunch was fabulous. We piled into Clara´s dark little kitchen with it´s smoke-blackened old stone stove and meagre shelving with veggies, and were served quinoa soup (quinoa is a staple grain here). It was followed by boiled potatoes, tomato, and half and egg, and was very delicious, though understandably plain.

"At 4pm we climbed up a hill to meet the group and proceeded up the mountain to Pachakata, a sacred place for the Incas. The site itself was less impressive that I expected because it was gated and was difficult to see inside. The walk up was nice though.

...

"Clara taught us how to say ´thank you´ in Quechua, her native tongue: sunki. I´ll have to remember that especially since I didn´t think to bring a gift for her family.

"8.03am - Tues. 10 Oct. 2006

"Dinner was maize soup, also delicious, followed by rice and potatoes in some yellow sauce. The whole time I was in Clara´s house I felt as though I´d stepped back in time. Whether in our bedroom or int he little kitchen, we ate or read by candlelight. It was a nice experience.

"At about 8.30 last night Clara knocked on our door with traditional clothing in hand. She helped Phillip and I get dressed (Atsuko was sick with altitude), and we went up to the dance hall for a fiesta. It was fun, tired as I was, to learn how to dance a traditional Quechuan dance. The families got everyone on the dance floor when the 4 musicians started up a song, and it was a merry hour and a half.

"Clara said, upon my asking, that the ´discoteque´, as it´s called, only takes place for the tourists.

"I must mention, because I find it hilarious, that our guide Angel looks just like a teenage mutant ninja turtle. He´s got the same stocky tough build, the rounded shoulders (shell), the short turtle-like fingers, the solid puppet-like face...I can´t get over it.

"8.57pm

"This lake is so vast you can only just make out the shape of distant mountains. The rest is just water.

...

"12.33pm

[Insert complaining here]

"Taquile island itself is lovely, but now that I´m here with a group I would rather have come alone and explored it alone, without the hassle and insensitivity of a tour agency.

"We are almost ready to start the motor for the last time, a 3 hour journey back to Puno. I´ll be glad to get rid of this bunch. Sure, there are a few nice people amongst us, but I´m tired now and irritable with the guide."

On a completely different note, most hostels are quite good because they have book exchanges. I finished Shakespeare´s Twelfth Night long ago and exchanged it for Annie Proulx´s short story collection, which includes "Brokeback Mountain," the story the movie is based on. I haven´t made it to that story yet, but the stories thusfar are fabulous. I with my love of all things cowboy am really enjoying them.