The flight itself was uneventful. The question was: will the jump of another 2500 feet make a difference?
Oh boy, yes indeed it does. Especially when the very first challenge upon arrival is to walk off the plane via a huge flight of steps. The smell of jet fuel didn't help. Once in the arrival gate, it was obvious I wasn't the only one who was feeling it. Lots of gray-looking faces as we verified our luggage.
Seriously beginning to wonder if I'll get truly acclimated before our flight back to sea level on Wednesday.
After verifying our luggage arrived (I must say, it is nice when Trafalgar just pulls all our luggage off the plane for us and we don't have to haunt the carousel), we were back on a bus.
Also joining us was a local guide, Charo, who provided detailed information about the population living in the area - the Quechua and the Ayamarra. Though in general pretty entertaining, after a while it was hard to stay awake.
Our first stop was in an open field near Sillustani for a picnic lunch. Apparently it's a normal thing for the neighborhood dogs to come visit and wait for left overs. This guy was my buddy for a while:
After lunch, we were back on the bus for 5 minutes to the Sillustani archeological site. Unlike the last two activities involving climbing (Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo) where an alternative activity was provided for those people who couldn't/didn't want to hike uphill, this time there was nothing. Our alternative activity was to wander up and down the street or sit on the bus.
Though I didn't wander around for a bit (very, very slowly), eventually it got too cold and windy and I got back on the bus.
Though I did see this pretty little village church:
Fully a third of the group had stayed behind - we had a great conversation, but we were left to our own devices for 2 hours. A bit disappointing, to say the least.
Apparently, this is what I missed:
Finally on our way again, we visited a Kechua family. I had a close encounter with a llama.
We were able to see how they live without electricity and central heating. And, just before we left, we played a Guinea pig gambling game. We lost. The piggie went into box #4 and we had bet on 10.
Another hour to our hotel, right on Lake TIticaca. Another hotel that has steps everywhere - steps to walk into the hotel from the street, steps down to the lobby, and steps up to the restaurant.
At dinner when we asked for our standard "agua con gas" (seltzer/club soda), the server brought Pelligrino! Our favorite brand! I think we startled the server guy - he had no clue why we were so happy to see a bottle of mineral water.
Tomorrow is our boat ride on the lake. Good news - Danny has picked up on the number of people still struggling with the altitude and has made adjustments to the arrangements: providing a bus to take us to the pier to board the boat, and a bus to take us to the restuarant for our farewell dinner. The original plan was for us to walk to the pier and to walk to the restuarant.
This has been an amazing adventure so far - but I'm looking forward to being at sea level again.
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