The Revenge....

Before I begin, I would like to say farewell to Patrick. Get home safe we will miss you!

Okay....

Sorry I have not updated in quite some time, but I was hit, right in the stomach, with the revenge! On Oct 11th, we were scheduled to take a tour bus from Cusco to Puno. I awoke freezing at 5 am not knowing what was wrong. I had an incredible sense of nausea. I packed my bags to make the bus and we were off so I could experience one of the worst days of my life. We reached the bus station and checked in. I sat in a daze, not knowing what was happening, while Kristy huddled my stuff and threw my ass on the bus. The moment I sat down, I felt my mouth salivating and I some how ran to the bathroom (I will let your imagination figure out the rest). I got on the bus and away we went on an 8 hour bus ride with 5 stops (did not have the strength to get off), feeling like I was going to die.

All I can say is thank God for western medicine! I started taking the magic pills my wonderful doctor gave me and the next day I was cured. And I actually asked the doctor how would I know when to take them!?

On our second day in Puno we headed out on a day long tour of Lake Titicaca. Our first stop was the floating islands of Uros. These were some of the coolest islands I have ever seen. They existed pre-Inka, and are built from reeds. They take the reed root which is very buoyant, and anchor it to each other and the lake floor. Then they pile the dried reeds on top until they have created an island (damn, the guide explained it with such ease). Each island was it's own community and the decorated them to fit their own identity. The aspect of the islands that I really enjoyed the most was how sustainable each island was. In the middle of the island there is a trout farm where they grow there grow their own food and incredibly, they have a solar panel that they use only to light there cabins for a brief period of time.

Our next stop was the island of Taquile. The journey from Uros to Taquile took 3 hours by our old, slow, gas powered boat. This boat reminded me of the boat that was in Jaws. As we were about to arrive our guide gave us a run down on what to expect at the island of Tequile. The most surprising fact that he bestowed upon us was the fact that the islanders, population est. 4,000, do not fancy people from the main land or any other island but their own. So, with this being said inbreeding has caused some problems. He warned us that we would see deformations and oddities. However, while we were there I did not see anything wrong with any of the people. They were all very joyous and kind to all of the visitors. We dined on fried lake trout (tastes like Blue Lake trout), listened to their music, and I even danced with a lovely old lady! The views from the island are absolutely amazing. When looking out at Lake Titicaca it takes astonishes you that it is just a lake and not an ocean. You look out and you don't see an end to the water.

While on the boat we met a couple from Chicago, who we ended up having dinner with that evening in Puno. They have been traveling for 5 months! We also had dinner with a solo traveler from Phoenix, AZ who has been traveling for 6 months! Don't know how they do it.

Well tomorrow we are off to see Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon! Only bad part, our tour bus is getting us at 3:30am. Wish me luck.

We hope all is well, Cheers,

Colin & Kristy