We woke up at 3am to begin our journey through the highlands. We were out the door a little after 4am to be at the airport. It took a bit of time to check our luggage. Peruvian does not do luggage drop off for internet check-in. After that we screened security and then got hot chocolate at the cafe near our gate. I think Daniela got juice. We boarded and the flight left on time and arrived on time but it took forever for our luggage to get through to us.
We took a taxi to the bus station but unfortunately the slow baggage claim kept us from reaching the ideal bus to Puno. So instead we bought tickets for a 10:30 bus that they claimed was direct but was not in actuality we found out later. In any event we had a couple hours to kill so had breakfast at a small restaurant at the bus station. I had a hamburger and Daniela had a chicken broth. After we finished we found a place to sit and wait. Daniela bought a sorochi pill because she thought she was feeling the effects of the altitude. Oh yes and we had mate de coca.
The bus was set up with big reclining seats for the ride to Puno. We had the back two. We were both exhausted and fell asleep through most of the ride. Unfortunately we found it made several stops after the fact and what could have been 5 hours direct was instead 7 hours total ride. We arrived in Puno to the hotel Conde de Lemos by taxi from the bus station. It was just beginning to get dark and also it started to rain a bit.
We got settled in and then went out for dinner because we hadn't really eaten all day. It started to really pour out and it was a cold rain. The altitude lets the temperatures get down to near zero though I don't think they ever get snow or ice. We found a restaurant off the main square which was only a couple of blocks downhill. It was called Mojsa which is a Quechua word but I can't recall what it meant. It was very crowded all the time we were there. We had to wait a few minutes to get seated. All the time more and more people kept pouring in. It must be the most popular restaurant in town. I had rocoto rellenos which are stuffed spicy peppers. The stuffing is beef with raisins, olives, peanuts and a few other things that has been slow stewed. They were very good. They came with salad and potatoes with cheese but I really only ate the peppers. Daniela had a quinoa soup. We both had a coca tea infusion which included honey and lemon. By the end of the night I had a fierce headache and totally dehydrated feeling. I am not sure but I think it was a combination of the cold and the altitude all at once. We ended up going to bed early. It stopped raining somewhere in the night.
Pictures from today will again be posted later. The internet speeds up in the high mountains were terribly slow.
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