BootsnAll Travel Network



To Puno

4 November 2005 (Friday) – Arequipa to Puno, Peru

Today, when I packed my bags thoroughly, I realised something else was also stolen. I had a little bag of leftover change, mostly coins, from the countries I had been to. It was gone as well. Sigh… my coin collection… I felt a little sad about all this but anyway, it was time to leave Peru.

Fernando sent me to the bus terminal and I really thanked him for supporting me during my stay here and for taking care of me.

The route to Puno was through excellent highways, zipping through the highlands in merely 5 hours. I was surprised at how Peru had developed. It used to take 9 hours, if we were lucky, but up to 13 hours on a bad day.

I had hoped to be able to catch a bus straight to Copacabana, Bolivia rightaway, but there was no bus until 7am tomorrow. Oh no, I am not sure if I have enough soles to last me through one more night here in Peru. Puno had also changed quite a bit. There is now a Terminal Terrestre where all the buses are located together. And… there is a hospedaje (hotel) on the second floor of the terminal.

I decided to stay at the hospedaje here, as I figured the taxi ride to town and back early tomorrow morning plus a hostel in town would probably work out more than staying here. Also, there are cheap restaurants here. I had never stayed in a hostel at a bus or airport terminal before. They seem to be for desperate people. I wonder how it is like. I guess… pretty noisy!

I had lunch… Jumped Loin, if you want to know… and was captivated by a TV programme being played. This was a Bolivian wrestling programme of altiplano (highlands) women! Yep, no kidding! These indigenous women with the long plaits, flouncy skirts and layers of lacy petticoats, woolly stockings and all, were executing World Wrestling Federation moves! They jumped on each other from the corner stand, they ran towards each other with their arms outstretched to knock at each other’s neck, they pounced on top of the opponent with their elbows… pulling at each other’s plaits and hurling abusive words in Aymara. I was stunned beyond words. These women look exactly like those I kept seeing around in the countrysides, docilely working the lands, carrying their babies on their backs. Now, they had bloody noses, dishevelled hair and ripped sweaters. Er… I am so looking forward to going to Bolivia, haha.

A short walk around Puno brought me to a Puno Exposition, which is a huge area filled with tents, where kiosks all around were selling products from this region and beyond. It was interesting to see the crafts, the coffee, quinua (a type of cereal), fruit juices, and other exotic snacks on display. Puno is truly a very indigenous town as most people here are wearing the traditional dresses and the tiny bowler hats that do not quite fit.

When I was about to take a shower, I discovered due to the altitude change from Arequipa to Puno, there was a huge mess in my toiletries bag. Half the content of my hair cream had burst out, but with the lid still on. How did that happen? 6 years ago, I had the same problem. So, do not try and open anything if you are not ready to catch the content – like flying shampoo and moisturizing cream.

Gosh, it was indeed noisy here in the hospedaje, as there were people downstairs constantly screaming “Arequi Arequi Arequi ArequiPA… Cusco CusCOO…”. Why do people need to shout the destinations? Well, most locals here cannot read, so they have to listen to these shouts in order to know where to buy their tickets. The noise was also complemented by the musical undecipherable announcements of departing buses.

I could not sleep, so I joined the waiting passengers downstairs watching trashy entertainment programmes for a while. In a way, it was fun to observe the locals. These women with their large dresses and tiny hats, were carrying serious loads on their backs, wrapped by the colourfully-weaved shawls. Be careful not to stand too close to them, lest they turn around suddenly and you end up with a bruise on your face, having been smacked by a bundled baby. I would need earplugs tonight to sleep, but I was afraid I would not hear my own alarm clock.



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