Potosí, Bolivia to Puno, Perú!

From Uyuni I got on a bus to Potosí where I was planning to find a cheaper bus to La Paz, but upon arriving in Potosí I figured I might stay for a night. Potosí is one of the world's highest cities with an elevation of 4,050m. I, along with 3 other travelers searched around and found a relatively cheap hostel (very basic), and then I took them too a tiny place where they only made a few typical Bolivian dishes for dinner. It was not their custom to go to places like this, and they were blown away by the quality and quantity of the dishes for the $1 or $2 that we each payed, and they very much enjoyed being immersed like that! (:

And later we went out for some local beer, and then stopped for a bit in a small discotheque full of dancing Latinos to check out that atmosphere! It was quite the cultural evening...followed by a very cold night curled up on cardboard-like mattresses.

The next day the three boys went on a tour of the silver mine in the town, and I spent the day wandering through big markets full of cheap clothing and plastics made in China, beautiful handmade artisanal products made right there, an incredible variety of colorful and textured fruits and veggies, huge bags of grains, nuts, cereals, and other starches piled high, and little grills and stoves on wheels selling corn on the cob, sweet and savory tamales, roasted potatoes, fresh ceviche, meet sandwiches, tiny cooked quail eggs, and boiled chicken feet. That's my kind of exploration!!

That evening I caught a pretty miserable, cold, wet 11hour overnight bus to La Paz:.

When we arrive in the big, hilly city, I walked to a hostel close to the bus station, but after a few hours in the city I decided to get on a bus right away to Lake Titicaca, which is at a lower altitude and closer to the coast hence hopefully warmer and less rainy.

So that afternoon I took a bus from La Pas, Bolivia to Puno, Peru, a small lakeside city. The Bolivia-Peru border crossing took a couple hours, so when we arrived to Puno at 22hrs I took a taxi to a hostel in the center of town ($2 for 10 mins in the taxi). I normally would've walked it, but I didn't get a very good feeling walking out of the bus station onto small, empty, dark streets.

I stayed in Puno for 2 days and 2 nights, most of which I spent with a Russian friend I made at the hostel, wandering around the back streets, and again exploring the local markets.

 On my last morning in Puno, I took a boat to the cultural, floating Uros Village a few Km out in Lake Titikaka. It was a big rip off and reminded me of how in these tourist places they try to squeeze money out of you any way possible -even if you go out of your way see the places without a tour; but, it was still veryyy cool to see!: