"c" is for Casual....laid back in Puno.

I don't really know what to say about Puno. It's a nice enough little city, but unremarkable. With a population of about 100,000 people it's not huge, but it's big enough to have lots of different areas. It's small enough that I felt quite comfortable going for a walk early in the morning....where I saw this remnant of someone's evening....wine and cake....my kind of party....cake and wine...my kind of people!

Puno seemed to have a lot of smallish and separate areas. Our hotel was in an older area with lots of narrow streets, a a few tiny shops. It wasn't a particularly nice area,  at least that's what I thought at first, until I wandered around the streets a bit and realized that most of Puno looked the same. Old, a bit run down, some beautiful colonial buildings that needed some upkeep. Like a grand old lady who was trying to look young, but not quite succeeding. Remember the movie with Gloria Swanson, she played Norma Desmond, the ancient actress who "was ready for her close-up."? The movie was sad, but Carol Burnett did a hysterical spoof of it. That's what Puno is like. But, I digress....

Just a short two blocks from our hotel was the main square, with the inevitable cathedral, beautifully lit up at night.

During the day, it was more of a hang out for locals.

Typical little boys, horsing around on their way to school.

There was quite a lovely traffic-free area just off of this square, loaded with restaurants and shops, banks and cafes. There was a Scotia Bank there, always surprises me to see my local bank in a foreign country...it sort of gives one a comfy, soothing feeling, other than the fact that none of my cards, both debit and credit would work in my "local" banks....they did, however, work in strange machines with no visible connection to North America, and no English on the machines.  That's one reason why I always order some local currency before I go anywhere...you just never know.

Margy and I wandered down the street one evening and got caught in a horrendous downpour, one of the very few rainstorms that we saw on this whole trip. So what do you do when you are caught in rain in a city in South America? Why you find a spot to drink some wine of course....

Almost all the tiny restaurants have these little wood burning pizza ovens that produce the best pizza ever!. Really! We sat and enjoyed the wine and the rain and the people watching and the atmosphere....I was finding it hard to believe I was in Puno, and Margy was finding it hard to believe she had returned to the same restaurant she had enjoyed a glass of wine in the last time she was here!

It was a casual, wonderful evening, just wandering around the streets and seeing the sights.

Housing is cheap...maybe I'll buy a summer home here, this place is for sale,...I'll bet I could pick it up for pennies on the dollar.

The stores in Puno are tiny and sweet. None of the big, multi purpose stores. You want a book? Stop in at the bathroom sized bookstore:

You want a religious icon? Stop in at the tiny bathroom sized religious icon store:

You want a cookie? (Yes please) Stop in at the bathroom sized cookie store:

You want a bathroom? Stop in at the, ummmm...bathroom sized bathroom store:

The more I wandered around Puno, the more this quirky little city at the top of the world appealed to me.

As I was walking back to the hotel from the traffic-free street, I could hear a barking dog. It was quite loud and non-stop. I looked everywhere, but couldn't see any dogs at all, until I looked up and spotted this fellow, being a look-out dog I suppose, at the very top of this yellow building.

This was early in the morning, before the shop had opened, so I guess he was just shouting a joyful hello to everyone. Either that, or he was somehow stranded and needed help, I prefer to think the former.

 

The food in Puno was simple and fresh and delicious. Bread and olives before the antipasto plate

The antipasto plate before lunch. Fresh focaccia (or something similar) fresh fruit, avocado, a veggie sort of pancake thing, cheese, more olives and tasty tomatoes, and sadly.....Doritos. 

And lunch, a yummy chicken soup.

This was the outside of the restaurant. Because the buildings are so old, the outside is not at all indicative of what is past the doorway.

The inside was bright and cheery. 

Closer to the dock area, at the edge of Lake Titicaca was a large handicraft market. The prices were surprisingly inexpensive and I picked up a few more items...good thing that alpaca scarves and sweaters and ponchos and socks and hats and earwarmers and mitts all squish up into a ball that doesn't weigh too much. Did I really buy all those things? Ummm...yeah, as well as mugs and a plate and some coffee and...and...and....

This picture doesn't show how the market actually was. There were a lot of rows, each filled with many little stalls, similar to this one:

Wandering through this area of Puno was a bit nicer than our hotel area. Not any "newer" or more modern, it was just as old and decrepit, but there seemed to be fewer tourists, it was a bit of a walk from the main square and the traffic-free tourist area to the docks where the boats left for Lake  Titicaca tours, most people took the rickshaws or taxis, so this area was a bit less walked through.

 Interesting looking Holistic store.

Football games.

Another small plaza.

Interesting signs and walls. I'm not sure what the rooster graffiti is about. "Lucho" means "fight"...ooh, could be underground cockfighting? (Cockfighting at Titicaca ....an immature persons dream sentence...snicker, snicker) However, "Alcalde" means "mayor". So I don't know....calling the mayor names? Someone wants to fight the mayor? The roosters name is Mayor?  I guess I'll never know.

Eventually we ended up back at our hotel.

Supper...trout and potatoes. I was beginning to doubt that I was going to get to try guinea pig. When we were at a nicer type of place, it was never on the menu, or, if it was, it was priced ridiculously high...in the $45 range...screwing the tourists...and when I did see it on a menu priced reasonably it was invariably at a place where I'd be hesitant to eat a rodent. 

On our final night in Puno we went to a very nice, albeit very touristy restaurant, but the "good" kind of touristy...dinner and a show. I'm always kind of partial to this kind of place because you get to see traditional dance and dress. Sure, it's put on strictly for tourists, but how else are you going to see traditional costumes and dances? It's not like you stumble across dancers dressed authentically, just dancing down the street. Pay close attention to that last sentence.

Here are some pictures of the dancers, there were musicians as well, and I thought it was spectacular.

You know how sometimes you go to performances and everything is just little tatty and grubby? Hems are slightly falling down, sequins are missing here and there, feathers are missing bits and pieces, clothes just look a bit faded and shopworn? It's always a bit sad to see the reality behind the glitter. Well, this was none of that. Everything was shiny and glittery and spotless. It was extremely impressive, especially in a remote and impoverished city. 

Hands a blur, he played so fast.

Very sexy cowgirls!

Aaaand, the best dessert ever...I don't know what it was, some sort of sweet, creamy, cheesy, mousse-ish delight.

And, more importantly.....oh yeah, I had a guinea pig for dinner. Little paws and teeth included.

It's presentation. It was quartered, each leg dressed in frilly tassels, the head looking  the other way. I figured if I was going to eat it, I'd look it straight in the eyes as I did so. I mean, what the hell, if you're gonna do something, do it wholeheartedly.

What a great final meal in Puno....dinner, dancing, dessert. 

And that is Puno. I hated to say goodbye, but the next morning was our final bus trip, back across part of the altiplano, to the black market city of Juliaca to catch a flight to Lima. Our journey is quickly coming to its end. And I'm very sad at that thought.