Puno: Los Uros

Puno is an interesting place. It is built on the edge of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, and even more peculiar is that it is a really steep part of the cost. To walk around in Puno is to walk up and down a lot of steep streets. This is even more challenging because it is located at a lofty 13,000 feet above sea level. Anyway, we (we being Joe, Carolina, Malu, and myself), got to Puno we stayed at Malu's grandpa's house, which is conveniently located close to the Plaza de Armas. Our first little excursion in Puno was to Los Uros, floating reed islands that people live on. I have mentioned them before here and here. Los Uros... Not much to add about them. They are fun to see, but I am tired of riding out to see them. Here are some photos of the event:






This I thought was curious, they finally got some solar power out there on the islands. For this reason, this particular time while we were listening to the spiel about Los Uros, we also got to listen to Sponge Bob that the kids were watching in the hut, not exactly conducive to the ambient if you know what I mean. Alas, times are changing

Candelaria continued: To find a bandanna...

I am bald. There is no denying it. I am as bald as Mr. Clean. My father: also bald. Bald is no problem for me, I bick my head every few days and never worry about shampoo. Puno doesn't seem to like bald people. The altitude/sun/wind/crazy weather seems to take a dim view of baldies. So, when I decided I was going to dance for several hours in the elements, I decided that I needed a bandanna to put on my head.

This was a good idea, but it turned out to be difficult to execute.

You would think a bandanna would be easy to find. WRONG. I didn't search for one seriously in Arequipa because I thought (erroneously) that I could easily locate one in Puno. For those of you who have never been to Puno, there are some good placed to buy junk. My favorite is the "Mercado de Bellavista" which is located fairly close to the dock where everyone goes to the Uros and right below the LDS Church of Lampa.(Which is why I was so familiar with it). The other name for this market is "contrabando", which means "contraband"... (duh). Anywho, as the name implies, that is where you will find your chocolates, booze, clothes, electronics in a comfortably bootlegged fashion. It was there I finally found ONE place that sold large bandannas that I could use to cover my head. (It was silky and silver and black and amazing, but that's beside the point.) First, I went to the Mercado Central. No luck. If you are in Puno, you can buy cloth there and a lot of other things but not anything as cool as contrabando. Than I tried Jiron Los Incas (The Incas Street), where you can find EVERYTHING dance related. It's just below the Mercado central and I bought many a bell there, as I have previously mentioned. I spent about two hours looking for the bandanna, but it was worth it.

While I'm on the subject, for you tourists:
You will be tempted to buy things in the Parque Pino, which is connected to the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza) by Jiron Lima. There are lots of artisan things there like:alpaca products,instruments like quenas and zamponas, jewelry, etc.
DON'T BUY HERE.
Also, when you go to Los Uros, which you will undoubtedly want to do, you will see the same types of stores (by stores I mean open air shops packed together in lines)\ that I just mentioned.
DON'T BUY HERE EITHER. (Although if you have to choose between the Plaza and the Dock the dock is cheaper.

There is a daily Feria de Artisinia (artisan fair) in a uglier, less central part of Puno. It is here that you will be able to buy the exact same things for much less, and the people are generally more grateful because they are the true people from the outskirts whom well meaning tourists wish to help when they buy merchandise in the center.
BUY HERE.
Any Taxi- Moto Taxi- Trici can take you there in less than five minutes and you will be able to buy more stuff for your soles.