Blogs from Puno, Puno, Peru, South America - page 9

Puno - 15th to 17th of March. We got a night cama bus (cama was used in the looses sense) to Puno and arrived about two hours before we were meant to. Typical - South American efficiency when you don't want it. Luckily, we were able to stay in a guesthouse type thing for 15 soles each a night and could check straight in, paying only for the next night, even though it was 5am. After a nap we discovered there was no hot water but the man assured us there would be some in an hour so we ventured out and got some pizza. I dropped my bank card in the restaurant and there was a point in the day where I thought it was gone forever but luckily I was able to get it ... read more

15th February We woke to drizzle and the views over Lake Titicaca had disaperaed for the morning. Today we were planning to move into Peru by crossing the border outside Copacabana. This meant getting the early boat back from Isla Del Sol to Copacabana then a border crossing bus from there. The walk back down the Inca Staircase was treturous, well polished stones from 1000's of shoes combined with the rain made it hard going but we made it to the boat in one piece. Again the boat journey was slow, the baot was crammed with people and rucksacks, all in all a pretty uncomfortable ride - but a means to an end all the same. On arriving in Copacabana we booked a bus for Puno on the Peruvian shore of Lake Titicaca which would stop ... read more

Hi all, Well, I am now in Peru. Joined the tour a few days back now - some great people on this tour. Ok first stop after leaving Bolivia was Tiahuanaco - This is an archaeological site in Bolivia. See photos. Next stop was the border into Peru - Fresh stamps in the passport. After reaching Puno, we spent first night in the hotel but then headed out to Lake Titicaca - First stop was Taquile Island - OMG - Mum remember the boat to Rotnest in perth - yeah lets triple it - No altitude sickness here but those who know me well - Lets say i did not enjoy the boat trip (all 3 hours of it). But by the time we had a local lunch (steamed trout, rice and fires) I was good, ... read more

On arrival to puno Lachlan, and to much less an extent myself became affected by altitude sickness finding it much more tiring to walk around the city. We had quite some adventure through the local makets looking for a llama hide with one poor man bicycle taxiing us around town to some very natural looking hides with flesh still somewhat attached unfortunately not what we were after. Also on the way back finding some good llama skins in the form of a gorilla costume for some reason. Waking up early the next day we were once again off to copacabana, and a border crossing into Bolivia.... read more

OK, I keep starting entries and then not being able to complete them, either cause there´s not enough time, or because I was feeling sick and couldn´t write complete sentences. I am better now, though, and Anne and I are here in Puno, Peru, which sits on beautiful Lake Titicaca. We arrived here yesterday by bus and were planning to head into Bolivia today, but for many reasons, we´re still here. It all comes down to odd bus times and the fact that it´s going to take these little US Citizens a little longer (and a lot more money) to enter into Bolivia. Before this year we wouldn´t have needed a visa to enter, but that has changed. We now have to get a visa at the border and pay a stiff fee, which is a ... read more

The night of our return from Machu Picchu turned out to be the last for us all as a groupe so it predictably turned into an almighty piss up complete with dancing on bars, falling over, wrestling and Shushing each other very loudly on return to the hotel. The club was tacky but we didn´t care. Couples dry humped on the sofas and dodgy locals subtly offered us controband by tapping their noses as mainstream dance music boomed out from the PA. Luckily we had a day free of tours the following day so I lay in bed until midday nursing my first hang over of the trip so far. The following day we took a seven hour bus ride to Puno and checked into the Casona Plaza Hotel which is by far the best hotel ... read more

Vandaag weer eens vroeg op omdat we om 7 uur zouden worden afgehaald voor een dag op het Titicacameer. De chauffeur stond zelfs voor 7en voor de deur. Dat zo typische mañana, mañana, geldt hier, net zoals in Ecuador, ook bepaald niet. Afspraak is afspraak en tijd is tijd. In de haven was het een drukte van jewelste; dagelijks doen vele toeristen dezelfde tour... We zochten een mooi plekje in de boot en jawel, niet voor het eerst: een Peruaanse panfluitspeler! Het rare is dat ze er hier in Peru dan weer niet zo uitzien als in de rest van de wereld. Het bleek een student te zijn die elke ochtend op deze manier wat bijverdiende en na een paar nummers de boot - gelukkig - ook weer verliet. Eenmaal vertrokken begon de Spaans/Engelse tolk zijn ... read more

De dag waarop wij en velen met ons lang hebben gewacht; 4 november, de dag van de Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen. Zoals de meesten van jullie weten (en zo niet, dan nu wel), heb ik een vrij grote (voor)liefde voor de VS. De afgelopen paar Amerikaanse verkiezingen ben ik ervoor opgebleven (om 2 keer nog enkele weken op de uitslag te moeten wachten), nu zaten we in dezelfde tijdzone, jippie! We hadden dan ook een hotel genomen met kabel-tv & dus CNN. En vandaag was het dan eindelijk zover... Ik hoef hier neem ik aan niet te zeggen naar wie onze zeer zeer sterke voorkeur uitging. Overdag deden we het rustig aan, met een wandeling naar de haven aan het Titicacameer, langs plaatselijke marktjes, die een zo typische Zuidamerikaanse sfeer hebben; chaotisch en kneuterig maar ook kleurrijk en ... read more