Blogs from Puno, Peru, South America
May 22nd 2012
21.5.2012 Got back to Cusco last around 10.00pm, was so wrecked didn’t even have a shower straight to bed up 6.30 to be on the road by 7.15a.m. A lot of small groups all congregated at bus station to get double decker bus to Puno. With a few stops along the way at more Inca ruins and of course a church, then lunch in in Sicuani, climbing all the way to 4335 metres, now feeling a bit headachy again and a bit of a heavy chest, we arrived in Puno around 5.30p.m. Pretty town on the edge of Lake Titicaca, which we will be exploring tomorrow. Lake Titicaca we are told is the highest navigable lake in the world, where the Uros people live. Looking forward to that. Elder took us to his mates restaurant ... read more
May 22nd 2012
7.00a.m. 23.5.2012 - After having some lessions on Pisco Sour making - Elder said you haven't been to Peru unless you eat Guinea Pig - so we shared one between us - wasn't that psyched up for it - but it really was a couple of mouthfuls - bit like quail - not much meat and a lot of bones. Anyway we have tried it!!!! Can't believe we did that !! lAlso John tried a Alpaca steak which he thoroughly enjoyed. 22.5.2012 Headed off at 9.00a.m. in three cyclos down to the wharf area in Puna to catch our motor boat out to the floating islands of the Uros people, it was absolutely fantastic, there are groups of families who live on these floating islands, there’s a president and he presides over the community on each ... read more
April 21st 2012
Finally early the next morning we crossed into Peru, although Fabi and Danny were threatened to be put in jail as they crossed the border without authorisation. We were all happy to have finally left Bolivia and sat reminiscing about our experience while we enjoyed breakfast looking over the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. After breakfast it was a short drive to Puno were we all had a quick lunch and strolled the city before starting to prepare for the next day. The next day we woke around 8am and were ushered out to our personal tok tok’s which were powered by small Peruvian men on bicycles; these took us down to the seaside markets to buy presents for the families that would be hosting us for the night. Travis, Kylie, Josh ... read more
April 2nd 2012
CHILE T - Buses, buses, buses – the best budget method by which to travel Chile, and our final overnight bus journey in South America comes to a halt at the northern border town of Arica. The last time I was here I had a great time, my travelling friends and I had met up with a local surfing champion (sponsored ‘n all) and his best mate, the captain of the local rugby team, and we’d have fires on the beach, BBQs of huge steaks, wine, nightclubs and drive about town in their pick-up truck. My memories are a little jumbled and so it’s with some sadness that the Arica I now visit is looking a little worse for wear. Thirteen years haven’t treated this town well and buildings still listed in the guidebooks as must ... read more
March 31st 2012
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 Our next stop on our trip was Copacobana, a quaint town on the shores of Lago Titicaca. But seeing as how Curtis accidentally miscalculated the length of time required for the trip, we decided after arriving in Copacobana to just push through to Puno in Peru. This is that mildly unentertaining story. How do we describe our uneventful bus ride? So, from Uyuni to La Paz is 12 hours. La Paz to Copacabana is anoth 5 hours. And lastly, Copacabana to Puno is another 6 hours. We spent so much time riding buses that both our ankles and calves swelled into balloons. In addition to our burns from the Salt Flats (don't underestimate the power of the sun at almost 3 miles from the sea). Why doesn't Bolivia nor Peru run trains ... read more
March 30th 2012
After an eary start to get out of La Paz before the trouble started we farewelled Cory as he took Heather and Linton to catch the bus to Puno we ground our way up the 1600 meters out of the city only to fight our way through the markets of Samo Alto. After clearing the city traffic we stopped for a smoko break at a nice new Plaza. We arrived to catch the ferry to find quite a que, so after about half an hour we were each allocated our own Ferry Barge, why we could not get all of us on on is beyond my comprehension, so is was game on to see who would get ther first. Allan was able to drop his back wheel down between the gaps in the decking, he had ... read more
Lake Titicaca (Uros, Amantani and Taquile Islands)
Published: April 10th 2012South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Uros Island
March 29th 2012
Post breakfast we were picked up at our hostal by a van that took us to the boat dock. Our tour was the longest offered out of Puno. 2 days in which we would visit the Uros Islands and Amantani Islands (where we would stay with a host family) on the first day and Taquile Island on the second. The Uros Islands are about an hour boat ride from Puno, then 3.5ish hours to Amantani, 3ish hours to Taquile and 3ish hours back to Puno...although the boat was extremely slow so it wasn´t really that far between islands. There were about 10 tourists on the trip, which unfortunately included a bratty British mom and the most bratty little kid we have ever been around. We spent the whole time trying to avoid them, they were awful. ... read more
March 26th 2012
We arrived in Puno to a downpour. As suspected, there were tons of hostals within a block of the terminal and after a little shopping we settled on one for $20 soles ($8 USD) in total. Oh how I love these prices. No restaurants were open nearby so we went back to the terminal and picked up some bread and fruit. We met a nice english speaking guide there who recommended a hostal closer to the main square, also for $20 soles. Tuesday (27th - 1 month in to our trip!!!) morning I talked to a tourist information place while Sarah organized. And after Sarah filled herself with a pre-breakfast snack of bread and fruit. The view from our hostal window showed shambles, chaos, colors, tons of different kinds of taxis, dogs, people...just chaos. From the ... read more
March 7th 2012
Hi again, So back to Lake Titicaca! The lake is home to many islands, some within Peru and some within Bolivia. The biggest island is Isla Del Sol in Bolivia and the second biggest is Amantani which I will tell you more about later. The first stop after half an hour on the lake was the Uros Islands. This are not natural islands, instead they are man-made. The islands are made from a reed called Tortura which grows in the shallow areas of the lake. The islanders create these floating islands by using the root base as the foundations and then literally piling up layers of reeds on top. At any given time, they estimate the depth of the island to be about 2 metres, that is 2 metres of reeds and roots. As the bottom ... read more
Floating Reed Islands and Lake Titicaca
Published: February 21st 2012South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Uros Island
February 19th 2012
Had breakfast, left our luggage in the hotel store room and the whole group took a rickshaw to Lake Titicaca's shore. Fortunately, it was mainly downhill. We both really hate taking these pedalled powered taxis but they were arranged for us by the guide for the day.We always feel so guilty that the poor person has to pedal two not particularly light people around! We would rather have walked but it was too far. All piled into a fairly plush boat. It had a toilet on board which is always useful after 4 cups of coffee for breakfast! About an hour out onto the lake. Lake Titicaca is vast and extremely deep in parts. However, the reed islands were in a shallow part. Moored up at one of the smaller islands on which about 6 families ... read more
