Machu Picchu
Our next destination was Lake Titicaca. It took 6 hours by bus to get to it from Cusco. The lake is located even higher in the mountains, at 12,500 feet (3,812 m). People who come from sea level may experience altitude sickness. We were already well adapted and did not feel a thing.
We made our base in the city of Puno. While we were on the bus, a Peruvian asked us if we pre-booked a hotel. We did not. That man promised to take us to a nice hotel where the rooms were only $10 per night. Normally, we avoid suspicious offers from strangers. I do not know why this time we followed the man. We did ask about hot water at the hotel and he assured us that it was available.
The guidebook warned about issues with hot water and heating in Puno. Temperatures at night can drop to 0° C (32° F). We really wanted a warm room where we could shower.
Before taking the room, I went upstairs to make sure that it had hot water. I turned the hot water faucet in the bathroom and it broke off from the pipe. A fountain of cold water sprang from the pipe and showered me. With the faucet in my hand, I ran downstairs. The owner was not concerned a bit. He apologized and offered us the best room in the hotel at the same price. He also promised us free bus tickets from Puno back to Cusco.
The new room was spacious. It had 6 beds and stacks of llama wool blankets on them but water in the shower was tepid at best. Feeling guilty for the incident with the faucet, we took the room anyway.
After dinner, we took a walk around. A teenager approached us and asked for money. By then, we were used to child begging in Peru but that boy could hardly be called a child. Anyway, my husband found some coins in his pocket and gave them to the boy. He looked down at the coins and said with disgust, “Is this all?” That made my husband angry.
“You don’t want this money? Fine! Give it back!” he tried to grab the coins from the boy’s hand. The boy was faster than my husband and ran away with the money.
It turned out that our room did not have heating. That explained the presence of many llama blankets. I piled several of them on one bed and got under the heavy blankets in my clothes. When the body heat warmed up the space under the blankets, I took off my clothes one item at a time until it felt comfortable to sleep. Llama blankets were wonderful and we slept well.
The showerhead had an instant electric water heater attached to it. Suspicious looking wires that were bare in some places ran from the heater to a wall socket. In the morning, we tried to make the heater to produce hot water, gave up and decided to skip showering that day.
The hotel owner gave us free tickets to Cusco and they were for the first two front seats on the bus, i.e. the best. So the room cost us almost nothing and we wondered how he made his business profitable.
Our plan for the day was to see Lake Titicaca.