Depart Bolivia - Back to Peru

Thursday 12 May

Left at 7:45 a.m. for bus station at La Paz and we were on our way to Puno at 8:30. We ascended up, out of La Paz to the El Alto area at the top where the traffic was grid-locked!

This time the route is direct and not via Copacabana, the way we came through on 3rd May in the other direction.

The border at Desaguadero was perplexing: the Bolivian side was relatively straightforward and then we walked a few hundred metres to the Peruvian side which was frantically busy and chaotic. We tried to remember other faces from our bus so as to know where to go and very importantly: to find our bus! But the driver and conductor must have good recollections of faces and seemed to gather up any 'lost sheep'. One had to watch carefully behind that one wasn't about to be bowled over by one of many wheeled vehicles of a bicycle/tricycle variety loaded with people or goods or both: one with 2 women with their shopping and manhandling a large sheep across their laps; mostly pedal power at a fast rate of knots in both directions across the border. The queues seemed interminable...[continued below]

We set our watches back an hour here and were on our way again about an hour or more later.

Lunch on the bus is cold chicken, cold chips, cold rice. All best left well alone I think. Made do with the baby bananas and lolly ...

Slept off and on - woken on several occasions by the beeping of horns and the sudden application of the brake; we are not up the front so can't see what is happening but no doubt someone was not travelling on the correct side of the road...

We duly arrived in Puno (Peru) and for the first time this trip we had to wait for our transfer - which arrived late. We returned to the same hotel we stayed at on 1-2 May. It is very nice - as are the staff. Tonight we have the welcoming sight once again of a hot water bottle in our bed - such a nice touch!

After sorting ourselves out, we set off into the central plaza which is only about 10 minutes walk away. As on our return visit to La Paz yesterday, there is always something comforting about being in a place you have visited before - you know the 'layout of the land' so to speak.

We were aiming for the Dreyer Museum - we got side-tracked along the way of course looking at shops in the main traffic-free promenade which is a pleasant area to amble; in fact, people have made Puno out to be a scary place but we are finding it to be friendly and not the security concern we had been led to believe; of course we are vigilant, as you ought to be anywhere.

We bought alfajores again!

The Dreyer Museum was interesting: it houses a fascinating collection of Puno-related archaeological artifacts and art. Upstairs is a full-scale fiberglass chullpa (funerary tower); the museo contains a collection of pre-Incan and Incan pottery and fabrics, mummies, deformed and trepanned Collas skulls, as well as solid gold diadems, idols and plastrons found on the Sillustani site.

Carlos Dreyer (1895-1975) was a German artist who painted landscapes and portraits of Indians.













Afterwards we walked up the Cerrito Huajsapata hill for nice views over Puno although the area was strewn with rubbish...

Dinner was at La Casona - a lovely meal with excellent service. On the way back, at the little plaza near our hotel, there was a band playing and people had gathered to watch and to join in the dancing.

We had hoped to find out more about what sounds like firecrackers that seem to go off at all sorts of times during the night. This has been a constant query since we arrived in Peru. We think it is to do with all the religious festivals they have here ...