After a rushed breakfast, we asked reception to call us a taxi to take us to the bus station. Admittedly, we were running a bit late and when they said it would take 10 minutes for the taxi, we decided to take our chances on the street.

Fortunately, we managed to get a 'taxi' on the street within minutes and we were hot-tailing through the back streets to the bus station. At the bus station we joined the queue at the San Luis booth to check-in. A lady came up, checked our tickets and looked oddly at them being stamped for a different day. She did however tell us just to pay our departure tax and go to the platform. At the platform, a guy says the bus will come in 40 minutes even though it's due to depart in 20 minutes. On questioning him, he changes his mind and says it is 20 minutes after all.

Alarm bells should have been ringing, but we were giving it the benefit of the doubt. A bus arrived but it wasn't quite what it looked like in the picture. It looked like it had just been brought from junk yard and when we got inside our suspicions heightened. It smelt stale for a start and there was dirt everywhere, it's not possible for any motor vehicle to accumulate enough dirt round a window that a plant could grow in it without it being abandoned for months, or maybe years.

We were stuck though because all the other buses had departed, we could either stick it out or wait for the overnight bus in 13 hours time (which also meant paying for accommodation we wouldn't use). The bus eventually left 30 minutes late at 9am and we crossed our fingers it would be at least on schedule, albeit half an hour late.

It wasn't long before the sun came out and we realised that there was no A/C on the bus. It became a very hot ride and very frustrating when it continually kept stopping to pick people up on the side of the road even though it was supposed to be nonstop bus to Juliaca and Puno. The bus eventually arrived at the outskirts of Juliaca at the time we were scheduled to be in Puno. The town was very chaotic though and the roads were in really bad shape, as bad as an African town so it took forever to crawl through all the potholes from one side of town to the other.

Finally, we arrived in Puno at about 5pm, 2 hours late. We were told it was a 6.5 hour journey and we'd just spent 8 hours on this trip. Even the tourist bus we took last week only took 1.5 hours longer and that made heaps of stops for the sights and for lunch.

A taxi from the bus terminal took us close to our hotel, the Quechuas Inka Palace, and once again in Puno it was in a pedestrian street so we had to walk the last block. We were given a nice room on the fourth floor with little balcony that gave us a partial view to the lake. Just before we left our room in search of dinner, there was a commotion outside. A procession of children with lanterns and music were coming down the street past our hotel.

We booked a tour to Uros for tomorrow morning through our reception on our way out the door. The procession wasn't going so fast through the street and we soon caught up with them. We made our way passed the procession into Plaza de Armas where restaurant Mojsa had a prime spot on the second floor.

It was another highly recommended restaurant and it more than stood up to its reputation for very good food. We had a great table by the pizza oven so not only could we see pizzas being made, it was keeping us nice and warm too. Apart from the pizzas, the menu was based on classic Peruvian dishes with an international twist. Maria, on seeing someone else's plate ordered Trout Sliders with onions, mash and avocado while David had an Alpaca fillet with wheat and mushroom risotto and berry sauce. Both were absolutely stunning!!