Arequipa to Puno

Our travels today took us from Arequipa to Puno.  We had to go up and over the high plateau that took us to 14,500 ft.  We tried to get in touch with Carlitos with no avail, and went ahead and took a taxi to the bus station.  This was not a problem and we got to the bus station nice and early.  We found out later that Carlito tried to contact us.  Oh well.  We attempted email over 24 hours ago.  

Our route was from Arequipa to Juliaca to Puno.

Katherine and Thomas at the bus station cafe.  We had some egg sandwiches which held us over for a while. 

Carlito recommended the front of the bus with the giant window.  This was a great idea since the scenery was spectacular.   We traveled on a Cruz del Sur bus, which is a double decker bus with lay down beds below for overnight trips. 

Some more very twisty roads.

The city of Juliaca looked like it was under massive construction.  Actually, it just looks like this all the time.

Looking down to Puno.

Final stop in Puno.  We had to show tickets to get our bags.  Great security. 

Thomas in the lobby at the hostel.  The 12,500ft altitude is starting to set in.  Notice the altitude remedies on the table. 

Katherine taking care of business.

We took a brief walk to town for dinner.  In the square was a super cool music shop.  I grabbed some stuff for the music room at a steep discount. 

Then the problems started...  We were in search of food and got nabbed by a university student doing a survey.  We helped her out, then headed towards food.  In the restaurant Thomas was feeling super bad.  His head was pounding and I had a fog over everything.  We made it though dinner and had to get back to the hostel, quick.  I felt an overwhelming tiredness and by the time I was done brushing my teeth, he had already taken a 5 minute oxygen therapy in the front lobby.  Only Katherine was feeling fine.  We all went to bed hoping things would be better in the morning.