Goodbye to Peru

Natalie and I are holed up in a chilly, dark, yet somehow homey hostal in Puno, Peru, which lies on the western shores of Lake Titikaka, the worlds highest navigable lake. We arrived late last night after spending the morning in Arequipa, getting Natalie prescription meds also for the plague I passed along. Lets hope the antibiotics we got are actually full strength and clear this up with one course...

It is with fond memories and anticipating excitment of new horizons that we leave Peru tomorrow and cross into Bolivia. We´ll stay near the shores of this high lake for a little while and do some trekking on a large island on the south side of the lake. Before closing the page on this chapter, however, we wanted to leave you with a few key Peruvian observations:

First, for anyone who as traveled much in countries with taxis dominating the streets of cities, you know how ridiculously often the car horn is used. And I use the term "horn" loosely, because it could range anywhere from a standard beep beep, to more colorful tunes, to any range of extrememly loud car alarms rigged through the horn. Anyway, the lesson we learned here are the precise and exact uses for the horn, so as drivers all around are keyed in instantly to what any other driver may have in mind, as they weave through traffic, between trucks, through lights, past traffic cops, but always stopping before flattening the mother pushing a pram. The uses are as follows:
1. Coming through!
2. Go ahead!
3. Entering an intersection!
4. Exiting the intersection!
5. (and my personal favorite) Gringo! Beep! Do you need a cab! Beep BEEEEP! hmmm....maybe he/she didn´t hear and is in desperate need of a cab. Beeeeeep BEEEEEEP. (then as they pass within 1 ft) BEEEEEP "TAXI!!!??"
6. Hey buddy!
7. Asshole!
8. Hey hotstuff!
9. Get out of the road cow/llama/horse/burro/campesino!
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1001. Any time the driver is executing a move that would make a stunt driver earn double-wages (ie passing a semi, which is already passing a tour bus, which has swung wide to avoid a combined herd of cows, llamas, pigs, sheep, and any stray dogs). At this moment it would be most appropriate for all vehicles to be have their horns engaged for a good 30 seconds. Just to be sure.

The final thought we´ll leave you with as we exit Peru is the scene of Sam and Natalie losing each other in a CROWDED city market in Arequipa. What Natalie quickly learned as soon as she began the search is that finding Sam in a Peruvian market is like a game of Where´s Waldo? Except you´re trying to find a tall, red headed, red bearded, caucaisan Waldo. Hmmm...that didn´t come out as clearly as I wanted. Point being, as soon as Natalie began looking, all of the women manning the stalls immediately started pointing her in the right direction as she made her way between mounds of cheese, nuts, butter, and giant avocados--maybe more like a game of hot/cold? I think you get the idea anyway...Sam blends into a Pervian market like a 10ft tall Waldo in Kenya.

Now, back to the room to try and finish the second worse bottle of wine either of us has ever tried. Second only to the bottle we tried earlier today. Final Peruvian lesson: don´t buy either $1 bottles or $5 bottles of Peruvian wine. Better yet, dont buy any Peruvian wine. Is wine supposed to be more brown than red?

Adios!
Sam and Nat