9-25 THursday

Another early day. We hauled all our stuff down three flights of stairs. We woke the ¨gatekeeper¨and had her unlock the doors. We walked down the hill at 6:30 and checked out a super nice hotel. We had decided earlier we wanted a nice hotel no matter what it cost. We signed on for the 28th when we get back from Puno. Our new place has a lift! YEAH

We went back to our hotel for cocoa and bread )breakfast) We were picked up at 7:20 to go to the bus station. The driver didn´t seem to know where it was. We got to a station and it was then that he asked us what line we were on. When we told him he drove away from that station and appeared to go to the bus offices. He went inside, came right back out and started driving again. Barbara was a nervous twit, wringing her hands while I filed my nails. She said she couldn´t believe I was filing in a time of crisis. We went back to the same bus station which turned out t be the correct one. We were in plenty of time as the bus didn´t leave until 8:30. We had to have our bags checked before we could get on. After everyone was in and seated they came around and stuck a video camera in each of our faces and recorded us. I was sitting in the very first seat with Barbara right behind me. The driver, engineer and conductor were all sitting in an enclosure. It was so weird because there were curtains all around the enclosure so not only could we not see the driver we also couldn´t see where we were going. We didn´t like it at first but then decided it kept us from being so scared of the driving. At 10:30 they served us a ham and cheese sandwich and a drink. We saw some interesting scenery along the way. A lot of the land was very arid.

We rolled into Puno about 2:30. No one was there to pick us up. I found the number of our hotel and called to let them know we were here. The hotel owner sent someone for us. Our room was freezing - we asked for a heater.

We walked to Lima Street which is a pedestrian only street with the best fafes and shops. We split a lovely dinner. By the time we left it was getting really cold. We stopped at an ATM and then I bought a cap.

Our room was still freezing when we got back even though the heater was on. I had to wash my hair. The bathroom was like ice because the windows didn´t close all the way.

I crawled under two heavy blankets and tried to warm up.