Blogs from Puno, Puno, Peru, South America - page 13

Not a great deal to report today - but the last for 3 days as we head off to Sun Island on the lake. Not even sure we have electricity there so will not be taking the laptop. Bus trip today from Cusco to Puno on the lakeshore. Followed a heavy night at a local restaurant in Cusco where we were entertained by a small band and dancers. Each was fantastic, but with free pisco sours and too much beer and wine to follow, we were a little tired on the bus today. That said, the bus trip was still enjoyable and we managed to stop at a magnificent old church in a small village, fantastic Inca ruins in Raqchi (quite different from earlier sites), a nice lunch at a fair restaurant, and a pass through ... read more

Our 6 hour long bus trip to Puno S53 (N$26.50 each) was due to leave Arequipa at 0900 so we were up fairly early on the off chance that it was actually going to be on time. We were going to give Cruz del Sur a go as their timing worked in for us and we were pleasantly surprised to be on board and on the road by 0915. Furthermore, Sam and Janaya (who we had met in Lima earlier in the trip) were also on the bus so we had some company. All good things must come to and end and we were all curious when, two hours into the journey, the bus pulled over to the side of the road at a toll stop and turned the engine off. We were not allowed to ... read more

We arrived in Puno after a nice scenic drive along the shores of Lake Titicaca and a trouble free boarder crossing from Bolivia to Peru. It was pretty grey when we arrived compared to the glorious sunshine we'd left behind in Copacabana. After having a little explore we soon realised that Puno appeared to be a fairly grey place all round; compared with the Bolivian side of the Lake it seemed less beautiful and a lot more commercial with Peruvian businessmen intent on making as many Soles as possible from the tourists. The town didn't really have anything of interest and all the activity seemed to be based along the main tourist street which wasn't particularly interesting. The main reason people come here is to visit the Uros Islands (floating reed islands) on the lake so ... read more

Puno has a reputation for being both dreary and full of pickpockets, and indeed its outskirts were grubby and packed with buildings under construction, but its centre possessed a couple of pleasant plazas. Our first evening there, we were passed by a parade (possibly for the Virgin of Carmen), consisting of a bunch of young schoolkids holding lanterns, a float bearing the figure of the Virgin herself, a band, and a guy letting off fireworks from his hands. The town is most famous as a base for visiting the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, which boasts the meaningless title of the world's highest navigable lake. More significant is its actual height above sea level - about 3,800m - which makes it a prime location for soroche for anyone coming from much lower altitudes. The RG's gushing ... read more

For those not aware of Puno, it´s a small town sitting at 3827m above sea level on the North shores of the world famous Lake Titicaca. The main reason people go there is to visit the floating and natural islands found in and around the enormous lake. We´d come to Puno with Joe & Anna who we´d met on the Inca Trail and it was nice to be in a small group for a change, not that we mind each others company but it´s nice to have someone else to talk to every now and again! Our taxi driver took us to a really nice and cheap hotel and we were really pleased when we found out our rooms also had cable tv so for once we were glad we´d been ambushed into going somewhere a ... read more