Puno

I came to Puno yesterday at 6:30 and the 10,5 hours trip on the train was very nice. It went very fast, the train was very comfortable and the views magnificent. We passed through a few larger towns (and the train was basically going through the local markets so I could observe what people were selling), many little villages, fields of various plants and plains on which alpaca, lama and vacuna were grazing. We made one ten-minute stop in the highest point which was again above 3,000 meters above sea level. We went out to admire the artwork the local people were selling and the scenery. I could see here what I saw in various documentary movies about Peru - women dressed in puffy skirts and wearing a variety of peculiar hats which are mostly tiny and sit on the very top of their heads.

There is nothing particular about Puno and that makes it a very interesting town. There are very few tourists. I suspected that everything will be closed because it's Easter but it seems everything is open and the market is the biggest I have seen. It's a market to which people from around Puno come with things to sell. It's not a market with artwork; it's everything needed for daily life and lot's of food, cooked and raw. Zapatos, zapatos! Chicha morada! Articulos escuelas! Lubricantes por autos! I spend the entire morning on the market because it's so interesting but I am barely alive now. I think today is the worst I have felt in the mountains so far: it's not only that the altitude is great, it's also very hot. It's really hard to breathe. I got a double portion of coca tea but it didn't help this time. I am going to go back to the hostel and just linger in bed... until it cools down in the evening. Tomorrow I am going to visit three islands on the Lake Titicaca. I will stay overnight on one of them. I will write when I come back.