What would be my last meaningful leg of the journey was going to take us to Puno and Lake Titicaca. We loaded up at the bus station in Cuzco early in the morning and settled in for an all-day bus trip.
The bus was nice enough and they had an "active" itinerary for us. With 3-4 stops along the way to give us a chance to stretch our feet. I appreciated the intent, it gave us something to see, something to do, etc. but on the last stop at a tiny museum, I was just ready to get to our destination. Nonetheless here are few photos from some of the sites:
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| I dunno, a window of an ancient structure. If you've followed the Peru series by now, you know I am pretty much obsessed with shots like this. |
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| I liked this green example of pareidolia, especially the eyes. |
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| Some old church in some small town, somewhere in Peru. |
We finally arrived in Puno after a 9 hours of traveling. Puno itself isn't much to look at. The main attraction is of course, the highest elevated navigable lake in the world (and one of the best named lakes in the world) Lake Titicaca. We drove straight to the hotel (Eco Inn) and had dinner at the hotel (pretty decent). After a decent breakfast, we were off to the dock to explore the lake.
The water of Lake Titicaca was the bluest blue I have ever seen.
The water was so calm, our slow motorboat trip was so peaceful, you could forget you were even on the water.
Our guide for the next few days was pretty tripin'. Up until this point our guides had been friendly but pretty standard fare. Our guide for Lake Titicaca was much more open than our other guides and was more personal with us. We found out how she occasionally washed her hair in her own urine. Later on she told us about how she found out her future from someone who read coca leaves for her. She also told us that to find out what was wrong with a health problem, she had a guinea pig lay on her while she slept (I guess it was in a container of some kind), and then in the morning, they killed it to "read" its guts and tell her what was wrong with her. She was the real deal.
Our first stop was to the Uros islands. These are man-made islands that people actually live on! They've lived there so long they have their own unique culture (one that now is dependent on tourists coming to take photos of their unique living circumstances). It was cool to be there but it felt a little too "touristy" for me. The actual island is made up from reeds that grow in the lake "tortas" and it felt a little mushy, but strong. Apparently, they have to slowly but constantly rebuild it as the reeds rot underwater. Cool, but in retrospect, it was cooler in my imagination.
Then we headed over to the Llachón peninsula. I thought our plan was to stay at a local family's home but it was more of a B-n-B that was locally owned. There were 3-4 unheated rooms with 2 beds each and an outhouse-like bathroom. There was no shower or bath for visitors. It was close to the lake and very quiet.
We had a home cooked fish lunch that hit the spot and then we were ready to party.
Yes, party.
Our guide let us know there was party going on in town celebrating one of the saint's days. We had been to a few events that were set-up just for tourist but this time, the celebration was authentic and that was nice for a change. We were the only tourists there and we made for quite a sight. Before we had left our "hotel", our host and guide and encouraged us to dress in the traditional grab before we went to the fiesta. I found this a little silly like if you should wear a cowboy hat because you're visiting in Texas.
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I felt a little ridiculous, but whatever, when in Rome...I also felt so cheap and trendy with the record amounts of selfies I was taking at this point. My quarters were behind me to the left, right after the archway. |
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| We watched a local dancing celebration for about an hour. Some of the show was quite humorous, while we found other aspects baffling but it was a good time. The locals pretty much stayed clear of us, I didn't know how exactly how to take that.... |
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| After the celebration, we took in sunset on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It was a pretty nice moment. It was a good to be alive. |
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| A female sheep herder brought her flock down to the shore for one last drink before the day was over. |
That night we had another solid home cooked dinner and our hosts (a mother and her son) sang some tunes with us. Then, came the main event. Because our students at inquired at the mention, our guide had found someone to "read" our fortunes or answer questions by reading coca leaves for us. He was called (and forgive me but this is going to sound made up) a "ya titty". I tried googling this to no avail, but just saying "Ya Titty" got way too many chuckles and laughs from one of our students and I.
Anyway, our "ya titty" was almost toothless and looked like he'd had a rough day. We sat around the dinner table and an actual hush came over the table. Even I felt like I needed to speak in hushed tones suddenly but remember our questions were going to be answered by an old man dropping and swirling coca leaves on a table. Two of our female students asked about their romantic relationships or partners (they actually asked for us to leave the room as privacy was offered and taken). Our new age hippie student, asked about what college he should be transferring to. When it came to my colleague, he asked if he should go to law school or more graduate school in philosophy. Surprisingly he didn't really answer the question but the ya titty did tell him he would have a daughter in the next year. This made both C and I laugh as our guide, some of students and definitely the ya titty didn't know that this was a very unlikely event to occur. My colleague, C is gay male and while he is in a long-term relationship, they are not looking to adopt any time soon.
I didn't want to partake at all. First of all, at least 4 of the 5 students, some what college-educated students (two of them actual "Adults") were taking this "ceremony" way too seriously. They sat around really watching the leaves as if this was a real reading of their future. I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut as it was all so dreadfully stupid. My colleague ended up talking me into asking a silly question about work (long story) but I didn't get the answer I was looking for either!
Later, we came to find out our female student's questions had gotten very negative answers. They actually seemed annoyed and bothered by it, but I told it them it was crazy b.s. and that they were in control of their own futures (as much as humanly possible) not some coca leaves.
It was time for bed and as we paired off to our rooms, our host gave us a heated water bottle. I was a little perplexed but our guide told us, this was to heat up our beds. Our rooms were unheated and it was cold night on the shore of the lake. The water bottle was a life-saver and it kept the bed warm well into the night. I remember that night I felt like I had a deep sleep. Restful and ready for what I felt like anything. It was last restful night I had for a long time.
The next morning we got up and left for Taquile Island, which was about an hour away. First we had one last hike in Peru. This time it was about a 30 minute hike at a fast pace up a very steep hill face. I tried to keep up with our male student F (pictures below) but couldn't do it. One more challenge but the sight of the lake below and Bolivia made it worth it.
I had been told Taquile island wasn't authentic but on further review, I thought it kinda was. First thing you notice is the archway to the path and the archway right before town. It was built by the community, not contractors. Second, the agency takes you to the pre-determined location for lunch. It's determined by the island government, so that everyone partakes in the money from the tourists equally. It's not about competition and letting the free market reign but balance and fairness. That's as foreign as you get compared to America's values.
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| The restaurants have pretty much the same food. Notice the rococo peppers on the fish. This was a nice lunch. Later a kitty came by and some of my students fed it some of their fish. |
We did some minimal shopping but the prices were very high and I think all of us were tired of shopping at this point in the trip. We hiked back down the other side of the island. It was downhill but still a good work out.
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| If you've read any of this Peru series you know I love windows, doors and archways. The archways on Taquile were really cool because they had those heads on the ends. It reminded me of Gothic churches in Europe but a toned down, simple, Peruvian style. |
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| When I hiked I usually went at my own pace. It was great to sneak in alone time and have space for my own thoughts. On the way down I discovered this little lost lamb bleating out for his mother. I tried to console him to no avail but he still followed me. Eventually, I saw his reunification with this mother. It was a nice moment. |
I was sharing a room with my colleague C and our student F. F was on his phone texting and while I was sending photos of our trip out from the lake to my wife. We had been offline for a few days and I was eager to check in on the fam. C was in the shower getting ready for dinner. Then I received a series of texts from my wife that changed our lives forever.
My wife was on her way to visit her brother and his family in Austin. It was supposed to be an informal "pop in" visit for a few hours and then she was supposed to head home after a long trip with her family and the kids from Wisconsin.
When she texted me, she was outside of his house. Police cars were there and her dad who had been riding with her went in to see what was going on. They had found out on the way that her brother had stormed out of the house with a gun after a fight with his wife. He had been struggling with alcoholism for the past several years and today he had been drunk when he came home. She was in the car with all three of our kids, just waiting on pins and needles to find out what was happening.
Then she texted me the news. He was gone. He had killed himself two hours or so earlier. The pain was primal, almost physical. I hurt for my wife, his wife and two young sons and my in-laws. My worst fear from traveling had come true - I was hopelessly far away and something tragic had occurred.
I instantly started bawling and my poor student didn't know what was happening. He was a sweet kid about it, said the right things and largely staying silent. I imagine it was a pretty big shock to see his professor crying like a baby. I swore like a sailor, especially cursing guns and the gun industry that sells fear and paranoia but the stats tell us hand guns are much more likely to be used for suicide than any other use. More than homicide and more than defending your house against someone breaking in.
My colleague C stepped out of the shower to hear me crying. Both C and F were so great they offered to stay with me in the room the rest of the night but I just wanted to be alone. I told them to go to dinner and that I actually wanted to be alone to think through this. I had many details to learn, phone calls to make and tears to cry. It was a nightmare and I felt guilty for being so far away from the love of my life in her darkest hour. I failed to be there for her and there was nothing I could do.
Our plane was leaving Puno at 6:00 the next morning to Lima. The Puno airport was being renovated and somehow, they couldn't heat the airport. It was freezing cold inside the airport. It was an all-around horrible experience. Cold and sad. The original plan was for us to spend two days in Lima but I wanted to get home ASAP. After our arrival to Lima and a torturous phone call with United Airlines the best I could do was fly out at near midnight that evening. I would be arriving home a day early, so it was better than nothing.
That meant I still had to be in Lima the whole day just waiting to get home. It was a horrible day. We didn't do much, lunch at as sub par restaurant, went to a museum and went walking around town. It was a cloudy day and fit with my mood. I just wanted to go home. I said a hasty set of good byes to the students and my colleague got me a taxi to take me to the airport. He insisted on riding with us, just to ensure everything went well. He really didn't need to do that but he's a great guy and close friend. He insisted on paying for the taxi as well (it wasn't cheap).
It was odd coming home alone. It equally strange to come down from such an amazing high to the lowest of lows. A dream had come true and a nightmare had started. I suppose it's life in a nutshell. The healing process is still going on for our family but at least we have each other. That's all you can ask for.
So, those our my fragments from my study abroad to Peru. It will always linked to this tragedy and yet, I can't forget it was an amazing trip.
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