Puno Peru 秘鲁普诺 – 3/2017 (12)

31/3/2017. After seven hours, the tour bus arrived at Puno, still in Peru but now close to the Bolivian border. This was a little town with humble people. I took a casual walk around the square in the morning. A crowd dressed like the local tribal people protested in front of the Palace of Justice. It looked like the humble folks had a voice.

Life wasn’t particularly kind to them. Some folks were selling fruits and vegetables in the unsheltered cold and damp streets, a doubly harsh life in this rarefied air. They should protest at life.

I then ventured into the market packed with food stalls to see what they eat. The setting was quite similar to those in the smaller towns in Malaysia, but we are much noisier and more excited when we eat. We slurp and burp because we are satisfied, not because we have poor table manners. I did not want to fix my eyes on their dishes or stall at any stall, because it would be rude to reject any offer to join them. I quickly walked through, to take in the smell and the ambiance. They enjoy the same simple life and simple food we enjoy.

This is an unforgettable memory, to see a microcosm of Peruvian life in a little Peruvian town. I could not have enough of Peru, so this was one last look before I tore myself away.

31/3/2017 – 经过七小时，旅行大巴到了秘鲁普诺镇，秘鲁最后一站。从这里，就快到玻利维亚边境了。 这是个秘鲁小镇，没甚名著，但也是原汁原味的秘鲁。早上在广场走走，碰到一群看似部落百姓在市政厅前游行抗议。女菜贩在阴冷低氧天气坐在潮湿街道旁卖菜，日子也不好过；又转到中央市场周游场内摆满的食摊，还真琳琅满目。这是我最后一眼看秘鲁， 非常依依不舍，瞄了最后一眼，忍痛前进。