Two weeks in Puno - not a bad place to spend more time than you think you need to. Due to James's stolen passport we "sat up camp" in Puno to wait until the new document has arrived in Cusco. James is bussing it back to Cusco to pick it up and then we can continue to Bolivia.
In the mean time we meet up with Indre and Waldemar - spending some quality time in the bakery!
Indre and I also had our special time cruising around on a boat to a couple of islands in Lake Titicaca. Uros was most impressive because the islands of Uros (really close to Puno) are floating on reeds. Here more info:
We continued across the lake and out of the Puno Bay. The lake is HUGE and at that point we could see the snow capped mountains of Bolivia.
We were aiming to our next destination with our little boat: Island Taquile where we admired the knitting men
and the different clothing.
I don't have much to say about it....the photograph tell more, but I was also in some state ...or mood maybe....feeling - homesick or something..... I clung to Indre...
knowing that we would part soon because the couple decided to ride from Puno straight south into the national Parks in Chile and the salt flats of Bolivia. James and I would take the easier route to La Paz on paved roads because of time pressure and then cross the salt flats further south. Apparently the dry season is over in October. We are anxious to have crossed the salty desert before the rain starts.... otherwise it is impossible to manage - even with a motorized vehicle.
There is a bit of a cross road here .....I would like to write about my inner journey as much as the outer facts of my trip..keeping a journal isn't all about explaining where I go and where I have been (even though that is not a bad thing), but I like to bring myself in it - a deep river of feelings navigating through this life...pooling up in some areas and rushing, cascading through others....we all know. So hard to find the words. Doesn't really matter if they are good words, or even well written sentences, stories. There is a need to express and maybe find a floating device to stay on top and enjoy the ride, watching. It's not always possible to control the direction, let go of the rudder and not even try.....just ride along through the dark and scary parts and then the light comes out again and shows that there is nothing to be afraid of and all looks well until.....
We are leaving Puno tomorrow and the road ahead seems exciting to me - all those big scary mountains are tamed by the Alto Plano and I want to believe that the ups and downs "the 3000m -difference- in -one- day" ups and downs are done! We leave them behind in Peru. Not to say the road will be easy, just different!
How will I ever be able to stay in one place when I am done with this "trip of a life time"? It seems like an addiction to keep moving - constantly change the scenery around me. It could be looked at as an escape, but no matter where one goes, you take yourself with you - every step. Can't fool yourself and I don't think I do. An outer journey is part of the inner one as well...just let it be, let it define you, let it change you and let it find you, let it create you.
I am not the same person who left California one and a half years ago.
