Views that take my breath away (or is that the altitude sickness?!)

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We arrived to Puno in cama class with altitude sickness already settling in from our 5,000 ft climb. So much for working our way up slowly. We checked into our hostel perched pleasantly at the top of the town. Great views and probably the most comfy room so far. The only down side was that everything else was downhill. Not so bad on the way to dinner but an absolute killer on the way home. Needless to say, breathlessness aside, we spent a little extra cash for a ride up the hill each evening. The first evening we walked into the town to find a peaceful protest going on. The government had decided to sell the local lands on which native residents had been living for years to an international mining company. This spelled eviction for the locals. Residents were out in force to stop their lands begin taken and the border to Bolivia had been closed for a few days in protest. We came to find out after our stay in Puno that riots occurred in the town and the locals had made their point to the government.

We headed past the protesters to dinner at a fancy restaurant complete with music and traditional dancing. Not so sure that mini skirts and low cut tops have ever been worn by Peruvians traditionally! In the end it all got a little sleazy and "playing it up to the tourists for tips" for me so we headed out for a walk around town and a wander through the local market. Never have I seen so many different types of potatoes for sale! Every color and shape imaginable.

A short taxi ride up the hill and we settled in for the night under our well needed wool blankets. Early the next morning we headed out on Lake Titicaca for a look at the Uros Floating Islands which were interesting, albeit completely tourist driven, and a stop on Taquile Island. An absolutely stunning island. What was a bit shocking was the 30 minute walk uphill as soon as we disembarked. At sea level we could have gotten up that hill much faster but as we were already at 12,500 ft we seemed to get winded every 10-20 feet or so. Numerous restbreaks later we arrived about 3/4 of the way up the island for our lunch at a local home.

A brief explanation about the Taquile culture which is based on the concept "do not steal, lie or be lazy", traditional dancing and explanation of the local dress and we were served lunch. Lovely soup (travellers sickness here I come!), fresh trout from the lake with rice and potatoes. Perfect! Topped off by the stunning crystal blue lake behind us! After lunch what else but continuing our trek upwards to the main square. A brief look at the markets, some picture postcard shots and a walk the long way down back to the boat. A truly fantastic day! Great scenery, great food and a lulling boat journey through the reeds and back to Puno as the sunset.

The next day we awoke for our journey to Cusco, the final city on our short trip to Peru. This time we took the less than modern bus without any of the luxuries we had come to enjoy. No food, no air, no movies and lots of hawkers! Altitude sickness hit so bad on the journey that a whole bag full of coca leaves was procured from our fellow travellers and chewed one by one. Not sure if they helped or if it was the burning desire to stop chewing the disgusting leaves which made the sickness abate. We arrived in Cusco 2 hours overdue and dying to get back on our feet and off that bus!

Cusco has a charming main square, masses of restaurants and plenty of sight seeing to keep us busy for a few days. We caved in and bought the tourist ticket and set about seeing as many of the attractions listed over the next few days. We came to find out that Cusco has many horrible museums and many worthwhile ruins. We spent a full day relaxing (our first on the trip!), had a full English breakfast (Peruvian style), toured the Sacred Valley, took a full day trip to Macchu Pichu, walked all over Cusco, dealt with our soup induced travellers sickness, found a drug that helped with the altitude sickness (finally!!) and generally loved our time in Cusco.

We left the city feeling exhausted from all the steps and ruins we had climbed and amazed that we had finally visited the mountain top ruins of Macchu Pichu. Another box ticked on places to see in our lifetime! It has truly been an amazing trip, a great time together and a sort of last adventure before my baby boy arrives.

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Photos

The only good thing about the
museo municipal de Arto Contemporaneo

Picture Postcard
Machu Picchu

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

It brought back many good memories.