Blogs from Lake Titicaca , Puno, Peru, South America - page 2

Von Cusco aus ging es am Abend nach unserer Vinicunca Wanderung mit einem lokalen Nachtbus sechs Stunden nach Puno, einer Stadt auf rund 4.000 Metern Seehöhe am Titicacasee. Im Bus zu schlafen war nicht unbedingt die Offenbarung, aber wir waren nach all den Wanderungen rund um Cusco, Machu Picchu und Vinicunca müde genug um binnen weniger Minuten wegzudösen. Als wir dann um 05:30 Uhr in der (auf den ersten Blick wenig charmanten) Hafenstadt ankamen, konnten wir unseren Augen kaum glauben: Der See in der Morgendämmerung hatte wahrlich eine magische Anziehungskraft. Vom Busbahnhof aus machten wir uns dann mit einem Taxi auf dem Weg zu einem kleinen privaten Bootsanleger, von dort aus mit einem Motorboot durch die Schilflandschaft entlang zu unserer Unterkunft für eine Nacht: einer Strohhütte auf einer Strohinsel mitten im Titicacasee. Der See ist mit ... read more

We wake up early to the sounds of our donkey braying and Mama and PapI chatting about the day ahead. When we surface we meet PapI who had been away the day before. He is a lovely smiley man who ushers us into the main house - a single room where they appear to live with table and chairs, cooking facilities and a bed behind a curtain. He serves us breakfast of fresh sweet bread rolls, jam, boiled egg, potato and tea. Mama arrives and explains she is off to a wedding, we should have guessed as she is wearing here bowler hat rather than the triangular one of the previous day. She is apologetic that she has to leave before seeing us off but PapI will take us to the boat. Hugs and kisses and ... read more

Today we began the last full day of touring at Lake Titicaca. This is the highest, navigable lake in the world. At over 12,000 feet the rarefied air can be taxing. Last night we were in Puno and I went to bed about 11:00 PM local time. I have not had any breathing problems at all so far but tonight, I woke up and felt that all the air had left the room. I really was huffing and yet no air filled my lungs. I have to say my heart was racing and I became a little concerned. I opened the hotel window to get some air, even though it only had 60% of the oxygen I expected, it helped. My heart stopped racing, I breathed much better, but now I could not fall asleep. It ... read more

After the sand dunes in Huacachina we jumped back on one of our friendly buses and headed southeast, working our way into more central southern Peru. We spent many hours going through spectacular country side. Looking out the window we saw endless plains, giant mountains, pristine looking rivers, flocks of sheep and alpaca, terraced land, ancient handmade rock fences, spectacular sky, lightning shows, simple mud houses, and most locals wearing the traditional colourful Peruvian clothes. All of these more than made up for the fact that our long bus ride almost doubled in length thanks to a labour strike of some sort; a long delay due to a road closure to accommodate a popular car race of some kind; and an eerie bus transfer done at a dark lonely deserted gas station overrun with somewhat wild ... read more

We were due to wake up at 7 however our home stay mumma only woke us at 720. Our guide said we would help make breakfast but ours was already prepared. It was like a fried bread/tortilla thing. They gave me 6 pieces. So nice but I struggled to finish 3. I feel so bad not finishing all the food they are giving me. Following breakfast we did some house chores like washing up for mumma then papa came and took us sheep herding. He had done most of it we just had to catch them in the final field. Each sheep had rope attached to them so we had to catch 2 at a time and tether them together in various parts of the field. We also peeled potatoes by hand picking the skin but ... read more