Running for our bus to Puno, Peru with mouths still full of a trout feed, myself and Enedino made the strictly tourist filled ride to the small village on the opposite shore of Lake Titicaca. The first thing I noticed after arriving in Puno was how much more polluted this side of the lake was. While Copa was clean and deep blue, the water of Puno was anything else but so. There was also many more pieces of plastic, containers etc. It made me a little bummed to see such a nice place tarnished by the contamination. Even the town itself is pretty rough and dirty throughout. In comparison, the lake is like a jewel!

Some more Brazilians invited us on a tour to the floating islands of Uros nearby. This is the only reason to go to Puno in my opinion. Touristy as they are, the floating villages are like nothing else on earth, and like nothing I have seen before. The 'totora' reed is the most significant piece of material for the Quechua speaking locals, who live on the islands and continuously need to replace the top layer of reeds (floor) every few weeks. There are schools, shops, churches and many other types of services within the community (all made of reeds). The reed is life for these guys. I was a bit hesitant to step off the boat onto the spongy yet unpredictable foundation of reeds, given my feet could potentially sink through if I wasn't careful. However, following the well trodden paths around the islands, I was safe from any accidents. Women and children came to greet us off the boat, and although didn't quite feel as authentic as hoped, it was fascinating all the same. We walked around the islands and hung out with some people in their reed houses, talked, laughed and had good times. A very cool experience indeed.

Back on real land, I was certain of not wanting to stay in Puno city (so grim), and instead hung around the terminal until 11pm for a bus to the much nicer Arequipa. Spending more time with my buddy Ed, we ate our last meal, jammed some guitar, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways - a sad yet common occurrence for travellers alike.