2.26 – puno – copacabana, bolivia

we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. the dinner the night before and the sunrise redeemed puno…but we were still happy to head on out of the lakeside peruvian town. checked out of the hotel and jumped in a 3-wheeled taxi for a short trip to the bus stop. (more yellowy lighting and smelliness.) the people watching here was utterly fantastic. from our american man (had to be from flordia) in his orange shorts, orange tee-shirt, neon green nike pegasus, golf socks, and orange nascar hat to the vagabonds, it was quite the site.

as sweet of a ride as it looks

the trip from puno to copacabana requires a little extra time for the border crossing. tour peru was great and the whole bus was taken care of in less than an hour. 

welcome to bolivia

where they kindly took americans money

a welcomed sign

we arrived into copa shortly after the border crossing, checked into our hotel, grabbed some coffee and jumped on one of the most rickety boats i’ve ever been on for a 2 hour boat ride to the Isla del Sol. maybe we didn’t choose the right tour company, maybe it was too much to do in an afternoon, but this little journey was kind of a buzz kill. by the time we got across we only had an hour before we had to jump back on the ferry for a 1.5 hour trip back to copa. at least it was a pretty day.

i ran away when she asked for a bolivano, sarah was kinder than i

hey pretty lady

hey erin

beautiful day

this little treat was a tasty find

dinner, sunsets and much needed sleep in the cozy turtle. 

turtle

the view from the room is the sunset view below

outside the door

good night copacabana

2.25 – cusco – puno

it’s the rainy season in peru and sure enough, the road trip started off soggy. we grabbed our rain jackets, hailed a cab, and headed to the cusco terminal terrestre to catch our 8:30am bus to puno.

e: i look like a tourist. s: i can see 5 name brands right now.

terminal terrestre kind of smells like the animal carcass section at market san pedro. this might be because of the rain and all the people…nevertheless, we were thrilled to get our call for the bus and head outside. “door 2, platform 5!” called the driver. reminded me a bit of harry potter but no one around had any clue was i was talking about.

terminal terrestre

the rain made it easy to sleep for a few hours along the trek to puno. when i woke up, i was amazed by the views of the peruvian countryside. fields with animals grazing and snow capped mountains dotted in the distance. stunning.

along the way to puno

our plan when we arrived in puno was to go to the floating islands. apparently they’re a bit touristy, but we figured for $7.00, we might as well check them out. julica, the stop before puno, had other plans for us. there was a parade running through the center of town stalling our progression to puno. if being in the bus for 5+ hours and getting stuck in a parade weren’t enough to make you want some fresh air, the children behind us began vomiting. awesome.

we finally made it to puno 1.5 hours late. the hotel arranged a cab to pick us up at the bus station in puno, and to my joyous surprise, he was there waiting for us despite our late arrival. (this is peru now, so i don’t believe messages come through to let the random taxi know we’re going to be late.) we got to our hotel and immediately changed and headed to get some dinner. we had only eaten crackers, apples, hard candies, and almonds all day so we didn’t mind one bit showing up at 5:00pm for dinner at mojsa, even if we were the only ones in the restaurant.

mojsa is ranked #1 out of 31 restaurants in puno and it lived up to the trip advisor reviews. absolutely wonderful drinks and food.

tasty sangria

peru has led to a revival of chicken eating for erin

peppers stuffed with beef and nuts with spinach and potato

we took in the view and the parade from our perch at the restaurant before heading to get drinks at kamizaraky rock pub and getting caught up in the friday night festivities.

plaza de armas

parade

cozy pub

i should have bought a can of shaving cream

road trip

partner in crime and i are taking off towards bolivia tomorrow. cusco -> puno -> copacabana -> la paz -> cusco. have a fantastic weekend!

cheers

forcing a smile

the internship is testing sarah and I right now. it really, really is. i could explain, but i don’t really feel like putting it out in facebook/blog world. plus, it would be fruitless as we’ll just have to keep pushing forward. nevertheless, life in peru continues to have its perks and we had a nice night out with the dental students friday, as well as some trips into cusco for tasty food saturday and lunch with matt & julia sunday.

UK meets Peru

we’re in the midst of planning a few small trips and i look forward to sharing those adventures when they come together. we also have machu picchu in 2 weeks! here’s to hoping for some good weather (and safety on huaynu picchu) when we’re there.

forever friend

sarah and i went on a hike this morning and ran into our sweet friend. i bought her a bone last week that she loved on for about 30 seconds before leaving it in the grass in front of the clinic.

so sarah and i brought her home for some eggs.(she has also rejected carbs.)

they were warm so i helped cool them off.

such a sweetie. we most certainly have a friend.

happy valentines day

This gallery contains 16 photos.

to my sweet family. (click on the photo for a little slideshow)

san pedro market

today we took a work break and met up with a couple we met last sunday while watching the super bowl downtown. matt and julia are from denver and are traveling in western south america for a few months. they took us to the san pedro market to shows us their meat, chocolate and smoothie ladies. 

started with the fried trout (complete with fin and eyes)

worked our way to the juice lady

sans water of course

matt & julia

did some produce shopping

and even found some peruvian chia pets

the smell of the market was less than desirable in places, but we’ll certainly return for the produce, chocolate and maybe another smoothie.

january and february birthdays

all of these sweet ladies have had birthdays in the last 6 weeks. life has taken us all over the world (literally) making it tough to celebrate the way we once did. wish i could be/could have been with each and every one of you on your special day. love you lots and sending giant hugs!

mandy was in town from spain for a few weeks giving us the chance for all these birthday girls to reunite!

i've known amanda since 3rd grade. visit to see her in colorado imminent upon return from peru.

huff is my soul-twin. we became friends the last 2 weeks of undergrad and have never lived in the same town. hopefully one day.

i don't know if i would have survived 2008-2010 without this lady. so lucky to know her.

this sweet lady became a mom last fall. can't wait to meet miss emma.

one of my first friends at bprc who is always down for a camping trip or a headlamp run. what more can you ask for?

cicciolina

no major weekend plans for sarah and i so we headed out for a nice dinner at cicciolina’s, a restaurant a block east of plaza de armas. we were very impressed with the food.

want to know what i miss about america? unlimited safe water.

hands down one of the best salads i have ever eaten. ciprofloxacin near just in case.

the entree was excellent too, the photo of was less than excellent. highly recommend a visit the next time you’re wandering around cusco!

can i keep her?

she's quite pretty & sweet

loved by many

and would get all the walks she wanted