Day Two in Puno / Lake Titicaca

- Woke up at 5:45am and saw that it was cloudy and wet outside. Not a good sign! I felt pretty depressed because we were going to Lake Titicaca today and the thick clouds and grey sky would not make the Lake pretty.

- We then had breakfast at 6:15am which was included by the hostel. There was a lot to eat: bread, cheese, avocado, bananas, honeydew, cantalope, mangoes, and orange juice. It was a big and good breakfast.

- I also poured some coca tea for the morning and the rest of the day as well as chewed a leaf. I wasn't even sure if that's what the leaf was for -- I think I later found the true use of it. :) My headache was almost completely gone. I wonder if it was the coca tea from the previous night at work?!

- We were then taken in by the tour guide and took the boat to the Uros Floating Islands. They were just man-made islands of reeds. It was pretty cool.

- The sky cleared almost completely it was amazing! The view was even more amazing! The water was beautifully reflecting the rays from the sun. The sky was blue. The clouds were white. Highlands are just breathtakingly gorgeous.

- Then we took a 2.5hr boat ride to the Tequile Island on Lake Titicaca. The ride to the island was very nice. I stayed on the upper deck most of the time to enjoy the breeze and the sun as well as the view. Gore-Tex IS pretty good at blocking the wind out and keeping one warm. :)

- The island itself wasn't particularly special, but its view of the lake was beautiful. I was so glad the weather more than just cleared up. A visit to Lake Titicaca in groomy weather would be a real pity.

- We were back in Puno at around 6pm. We then went to the Coca Museum. It was small and not what I would expect from a "museum" but my friend liked it. I was expecting more info such as the chmical formulas, why coca does what it does, how cocaine is extrated from the leaf, how people chew the leaves, etc. Instead, it gave text and pictures on the history and customs of coca leaves. I felt I could easily obtain the same information off google. Oh well, at least we had some free coca candies. They tasted just like green tea candies and that's how I made up my mind about buying some as souvenirs sometime during the trip.

- Then we went to the Museo Dreyer. It was very good and informative. The guide was very patient and friendly. They also had the complete display of the gold pieces from the Sillustani tomb.

- We treated ourselves to a nice restaurant where they had live music and we had ceviche the national dish and deep fried trout. The ceviche probably wasn't very authenic because it was supposed to be spicy and sour, but it was only sour, too sour. Although it was still very tasty. It was raw fish (or could be other seafood) marinated in lime juice. It was perfect for my taste buds as I like fish and sour stuff. The trout was also very good despite it being deep fried. Add lime juice to it and it gets rid of the grease - not that it was greasy to begin with.

- We walked a bit on the shopping street and went back to the hostel. For a change, we were actually staying in the same hostel for three consecutive nights! And it was (by mistake) the most expensive of all the hostels we were staying at as well...