Dag 20: Taquile-island

Peru - Wednesday 28 October 1998

The sunrise was supposed to be beautiful too. I set my alarm specially for 5:30 a.m., but it was far too cloudy to see anything. What a shame.

Those people in my dormitory complain so much! I'm glad they weren't on the Inca Trail. It's too cold, too noisy, and too early for them (we get up at 7:30 a.m...), there's no shower, and everything here is wrong. Idiots.

We're creating a farewell booklet for Patricia. I write that initially, I was a bit critical, but I've come to admire her for the way she manages everything and still pays attention to us when we have problems.

After breakfast, we head to the schoolyard of the island's only school. A game of soccer against the local kids.

The teacher of the 6th grade asks if I want to join. He takes me to his class and asks for a contribution to the school's archeology project. Alright, I give 10 soles.

Diederick, Dawn, and Joanne join in when the kids start singing. I get to say a brief something about the Netherlands. Quite funny.

We visit the 'archaeological site' of Taquile. The boy who takes us there knows nothing about what there is to see. It doesn't seem like much to me either.

We're starting to think more and more about our farewell. I write in Joanne's diary, something about her paranormal gifts, how I admire her, and that she should stay in Peru...

We sail back to Puno. It's heavily cloudy, the wind is picking up, and shortly after, it starts pouring rain. They're not used to this here. What a contrast with yesterday...

We're staying in the same hotel as yesterday. I'm sharing a room again with the Australian. I don't care much now; we're going home.

In the evening, it's our colorful night. First, we have a grand dinner. Now we're all seated at one long table. Ronald and Mike got hold of local costumes. It looks festive.

After dessert, we surprise Patricia with our song:

Patricia becomes quite emotional as we sing the song. We've also written the song out for her and presented it with a bow and a heart-shaped balloon. We're also getting emotional...

After dinner, we head to a kind of disco. It's located in a back alley, but it's extremely crowded. Turns out, the other Tucan group, who occasionally did the same things as us, is there too. It's enjoyable, the music is good, and the drinks are delightful.

Elisabeth tries to charm Mike, but he doesn't respond.

As one by one, we decide to return to the hotel, Patricia emotionally bids us farewell. Later, when the last part of the group wants to leave, Patricia is nowhere to be found. No matter, because we know there'll be another farewell tomorrow morning...