A morning in Puno

We woke up in Puno after a very cold night. After getting on the bus in Arequipa, we noticed that many people were wearing winter jackets and were covered in thick wool blankets (we now understand why). The hostal thankfully had three heavy wool blankets on the bed and we stayed very warm while we slept. We got up early and took a rickshaw to the main bus terminal. We looked around for tickets to Tacna, but nothing was leaving until late in the evening. As we did in Arequipa, our route took a sudden change and we booked an afternoon ticket to La Paz, Bolivia. It is lovely to have the freedom to make these whimsical decisions. After booking a place to stay, over the telephone, upon arrival in La Paz, we explored the streets of Puno. We stopped at a small artesians market and found some great hats called "choclos?" (cone shaped felt hats typical of this southern region). We wandered up the hillside with our hats on and took in a panoramic view of the city framed by hills and the shores of Lake Titicaca. We went to the main square and helplessly had our shoes shined by 8-10 extremely enthusiastic boys for s/. 3 (our shoes sure look good). And we had a delicious lunch on a balcony; asparagus soup, fish, chicken, desert, and pisco sours. We left Puno at 2:30PM and drove along the southern shores of Lake Titicaca. The afternoon was beautifully lit by the sun, the scenery was stunning. We crossed the Peru-Boliva border late in the afternoon with no problems and arrived in La Paz at 10PM.