titicaca

the adventures just pile up. here i sit on the 2nd level of the Faraona Hotel in Miraflores, Lima. Pretty swank digs, really swank part of town. Cha is a bit under the weather so I just ran around town alone a bit to soak up the nightlife. It amuses me that when we were out and about earlier together, the locals sort of scowl at me, but when I walk around alone the chicas run out of shops and flirt. Aggressive marketing techniques!

We had a really fantastic time out on the lake. Puno, where we spent three nights total, is kind of a dump. There are fine restaurants, and the Dreyer Museum of pottery and gold pieces is very nice, but I didn't dig the town too much. But it was only the launching pad for our two-day tour of islands out on the lake, so Puno was worth it. There is also a grand black market if you need anything smuggled in from Bolivia across the water.

Uros is one of the most peculiar places I've been. The folks build islands out of reeds and float around in the lake. We visited a couple of these islands for a while and the people were very open and friendly, inviting us into their huts and showing us how they cook and weave and whatnot. They sang songs for us and we learned some Quecha.

Amantani, where we spent the night, is further out on the lake and is the quietest, cleanest place i've been. No cars, no phones, little electricity or plumbing. We slept in an adobe house where Anselma took quite good care of us. Our tour guide Kate spoke Quecha, English, Ayamara, Spanish, and a bit of French. She was awesome. When we arrived the islanders all hugged her; they've known her for years. I won't say much now because I want to get back and check on the mrs. and see if she is ready for dinner or if she needs meds. I'll just say that on Amantani I saw the stars of the southern hemisphere clearly, including the splash of Milky Way which is rare these days, and we climbed an immense mountain to circle a Tihuanico sun temple three times. Young girls molested us with their wonderful knitted wares for sale, and then we danced with the locals after they dressed us in traditional garb. And we slept on the lake in a room with no heat. Brrrr.

more later little ones. Lima is quite exciting. We walked to the beach earlier. VERY cosmo, like Rome or Paris.