Stephanie collected me at 6:20 after a breafast of the perfectly ripe mango I got from the market the other day. So good! She explained how she had been bed ridden by flu since I had seen her, but was feeling alright now. She and Eric had gone out to dinner the night before! They were both good kids, I hope they work out! I got on my enormous double decker bus and found my seat next to a very nice lady from Vancouver and a couple from Australia. Always nice to find English speakers! We started off on a 10 hour bus ride to Puno. The bus stopped at Andahuailillas for us to visit the "American Sistine Chapel", an ornate Catholic curch built on Inca foundations. The inside was quite beautiful with ornate paintings, murals and chapels done in gold leaf. Back to the bus for a short nap (for me!) and a stop at Raqchi, an Inca grainery site. Walls of stone that supported wooden beams and thatched roofs still stood, surrouned by round, stone silos which housed the surrounding areas' grain. Walls on the hills surrounding the town kept out competing tribes that would take the food. A short drive after, we stopped for buffet style lunch. The alpaca and green onions was delicious, but the alpaca stomach vegetable stir fry was pretty offputting. A full stomach and a Cusqueno beer and I was out again on the warm bus. The trip is up in elevation and I could feel the dryness and slight nausea as we came out of the mountain valleys into the plateu area. The scenery is beautiful despite the on again off again rain/sleet. After a 10 hour journey, with stops and lunch, we finally arrived in Puno. The streets were very similar to Cusco; clausterphobic and insanely busy. Bus station and a quick ride to the Qelqatani hotel, which is quite posh.

I dumped my stuff and immediately set out to experience Carnival, which is in full swing this weekend. The main plaze was full of groups of dancers in their finest clothes, followed by bands of accordian, saxaphone, guitar and trumpets, 20 to 30 strong. They paraded around the plaza and down the main street. Meanwhile, the side streets were filled with children with cans of spray foam, which I escaped......for a while. I searched for a pub to meet up with the Aussies from the bus with only the clues "main street" "english pub" and "starts with a K". Not surprisingly, I did not find them. I did find Carlos, a local guy who tried to help out, but ended up talking me into eating at the restaurant he works at. The black pepper alpaca was great! We ended up going to a local bar to get beers, shout in broken English/Spanish and listen to a DJ mix American (mostly) music. I again had to head back early for an early alarm. The Carnival music carried on till at least 4:30, so I didn't sleep much. Sleep is for the weak.