Sick in Puno/ Lake Titicaca

Mike and I are both sick with bad chest colds. Lots of yellow stuff and can´t breath well. It seems to be a combination of a bad cold combined with the altitude. We are trying to rest as much as we can, but we are still over 10,000 feet. Today we take a bus to Arequipa to a hostel that hopefully is nicer. The reviews are high for it. With hot water which is key for these colds. I´m going to find a pharmacy and hopefully get some vicks vapor rub to break up our crappy feeling chests.

Besides that, we had a great time on Lake Titicaca. We went to these floating islands made of reeds with lovely people and huge nordic looking boats made only of reeds. Then we stayed with a family on one of the islands which was cool. We dressed up in their native garb and went to a fiesta where we danced with the local women. The next day, we went to another island which was just beautiful. Weird though, these islands, surrounded by a huge clean freshwater lake are farmers, not fishermen. At dinner with the local family, we had rice and potato soup, followed by the main course of rice and potatoes. The fish in Lake Titicaca aren´t all that big. In fact the largest fish is the invasive rainbow trout, which very much hurts the ecosystem because it is a predatory fish, but the locals like it because it is so tasty. We tried some trout, and it is true, they are tasty! The whole lake is just beautifu and it gave me a bit of a feel of the Greek Islands actually.

Last night, we went to a resturant with a woman named Sue and had Alpaca. It was really good! A lean meat and the conversation was wonderful! She´s going around the world too and just finishing up her adventure!

We leave to Arequipa today to hopefully get a bit better and see some condors. That will be our last stop in Peru- then on to Chile!