Fiesta On On

The next day, we strolled along the beach towards town, passing decorated jeeps – vehicles can be blessed outside the cathedral at 2,30 each day) and mamas playing fussball with the gang!

At the bus square,  we found the party continuing on a slightly more ad-hoc basis, with the different towns not only parading, but also giving impromptu shows here and there, with some of the spectators joining in – all such fun!

We wandered through a street market area

 

 

and had a time-out from the festivities by climbing the local Calvary Hill complete with 12 stations of the Cross – on the left of the pic below, not so high, but pretty steep.

It was not a pleasant climb, being a rough rocky track with a dreadful amount of litter strewn the whole way, plus we had to stop every few yards to catch our breath, it was so steep. En route we passed an interesting sign re pet disposal, but the cat seemed unconcerned!

 And visited a small Museum of stuffed birds and other local ‘stuff‘ – well put together and very informative, the hard endeavour of one man with an interest in his surroundings.

On up…

And  it was worth all the effort at the top, with great views of the town and beautiful country and islands around.

 

 

 

And it meant we deserved an empanada each for lunch! 

Back via an indoor market where I was amused to find pot noodles were a staple here too!

Alcohol and exhaustion appeared to be taking their toll on the ensembles
 

so we said enough was enough,  and  after a short re-group at the hotel, we decided the beach needed to be tackled, so walked another three miles past the rather bizarre boats, pedal-swans and floating balls being enjoyed by the beach-goers,  and out along the coast – lovely. 

 

 

 

 

That earned us a taste of Lake Titikaka trout at one of the little stalls at the back of the beach – really good! Then cards and a main course at one of the cafes, and early to bed, as it was to be an 8am kick-off next day.