Pooooono!

Well, we managed to get up and sorted pretty darn quick...and yes I did say darn! We jumpèd in the smallest taxi in the world but managed to fit in then headed off to the bus station were we´d decided not to go VIP as the trip was only 5 or 6 hours and it wasn´t too bad. Managed to finish reading the worst book in the world.... "All quiet on the Orient Express"...don´t even bother!
The scenery en route was great. It seemed that we were getting more ´into´ Peru. Snowcapped mountains, large plains dotted with ancient looking sollitary train tracks disappearing into the distance whilst herds of Alpacas grazed away happily unaware of their date with the dinner plate.

We arrived in Puno to be met with the sea of clay brick made houses, a plethora of mud based development. It wasn´t inspiring. They say don´t judge a town by it´s bus station but it´s hard not to. This place seemed...rough. The taxi ride to the Hostal wasn´t any better. We were dropped off on the train tracks going through the town trying to decide if we were, indeed, on the wrong side of the tracks?

The Hostal itself was OK, it was one of those hostals that grows on you I think. Initially I thought, great another dive. But to be honest everything we needed was there and I soon grew to like the place and it´s eccentric owner Alfredo! Imagine a typically french bloke, minus the onions but with the black berét and the big black handlebar moustache...in Peru! We headed straight out to eat as, again, I´d not eaten on the journey. We decided on a veggie restaurant as we both fancied something good and wholesome and....well...we didn´t get it did we. What we actually got was a plate full of veggies between 2 pieces of bread which tasted like the owner didn´t own a fridge so preserved everything in salt! It was quite frankly disgusting!

On we went and had an amble through the town which was quite nice actually, standard Plaza del Armas with Cathedral, and lots of cafés, restaurant and bars. We stopped at one, Inka Café, and chilled in the plush and colourful settees whilst we had a coffee...amd maybe a beer? We joined a table occupied by and American couple...I know, but they seemed nice enough. It turns out that A) they´d sailed a friends boat down from Ecuador to Peru and were now just chilling and heading back to the U.S. visiting places en route and B) They loved Bodhi and the idea that we were travelling with him and C) The bloke was just recobvering from being violently ill the past few days!! ooh eck! We said our goodbyes and decided an early night was needed so we headed back to the hostal and popped in a DVD and chilled in our ´lounge´area which as it turned out we shared with a couple who were in the next room. I think we´re still trying to work out if the ladies were parters or not...we´re playing the guess the sexuality game...oh dear. They were actually there when we got back but left fairly quickly so we could watch the DVD and chill with some left over beers from the night before in Arequipa.

Puno is much higher than anywhere we´d been before (3,800m) so altitude is an issue as well as the colder nights. So little Bo was at the forfront of our minds during this part of the trip. He seemed fine so far. But...tonight he was going to be a worry! It was colder than anywhere so Bo had been wrapped up much more and had his sleeping bag but throughout the night he was constantly sneezing. We decided to put the little bloke in our bed with us so we could guarantee he´d be warm and then we could judge the temperature of Puno nights and make sure he was sorted tomorrow.

We didn´t sleep.

Have you ever tried to sleep with a little person there? Bloody hell ya spend most of your time making sure you don´t roll over and crush the wee blighter! Well, it was a long night for us both and to make things worse when we got up Bo was still sneezing and he didn´t look 100%. He even sneezed up a bit of blood but I was quick to reassure claire that it was not because of Altitude. It was a strange situation to be in, I KNEW it wasn´t altitude (Pulminary Oedema, fluid on the lung due to altitude, can lead people to cough up pink sputum -´coughing up blood´) I absolutely KNEW it. I mean, both me and claire had both had blocked noses the past few days and this was probably just Bo´s turn but....I felt really uncomfortable so we decided to just knock altitude out of the equation and take him down the next day. So that meant we couldn´t visit the islands and the people out there who were apparently really interesting but hey, we knew that this trip was about constant risk assessments and there would be sacrifices to be made to ensure things went well. This was just one of those times.

So we spent the day chilling, had a good lunch and evening meal...seems like a trend forming...food? Had a look through the town a bit further, checked out Lake Titikaka, changed some money and had an early night. In the mean time little Bodhi had decided he was MUCH better now and was on top of the world, almost literally!

Tomorrow...Cusco!