Blogs from Puno, Puno, Peru, South America

Another fairly early morning saw us on our way to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. It was an anticipated destination to experience another timeless Peruvian tradition, the Uros Islands and the people who have lived on them for centuries. Our trip required a brief stop again on Yanque, to pick up the boxed lunches that Juanita's restaurant, The Alpaca Chef, had prepared for our journey. In order to get to Puno we had to backtrack a portion of the way, and cross again the same high altitude passes we had braved before and access the Altiplano, or Andean Plateau, the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. Its height averages about 12,300 feet and it's dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the ... read more

9th & 10th June (rest days) After our intensive two days in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, now followed two rest days. Rest days? I make it sound like we’re participating in a sports tournament!! We both woke refreshed after having a relatively undisturbed night’s sleep. I only woke up twice which was a huge improvement on the first couple of nights spent in Cusco. We had no plans today. A lazy day suited us fine. We went down for breakfast at 09:45. Pat and Peter, the couple who had hired the car, still had the ‘do not disturb’ sign on their door so some people were even having a lazier day than us!!! Over breakfast we met Emma and David. They had been with us for certain excursions but for their Machu Picchu tour, ... read more

By 7 AM, after a quick breakfast, (mine was coca tea and toast with honey, I could barely eat a thing due to altitude sickness) we were back on the bus on the road to Cusco, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, via the high Andes mountains. Cusco, at a purported 11,000 feet, those of us struggling with altitude sickness were looking forward to this change in elevation! As our bus progressed north through the grassy plateaus I could see some very big mountains on the horizon. Although I had done my research and printed a chart of all the major destinations and their altitudes, I did not record the “minor” stops along the way. After drinking plenty of water over the two hour bus ride we arrived in Pucara (elevation 12,664 feet…we were climbing!) for a ... read more

Farewell Peru: The Final Stop Lake Titicaca (29/06/2018 - 01/07/2018) Lake Titicaca, apart from having a hilarious name, is the highest navigable lake in the World. At an elevation of 3,812m, it crosses into both Peru and Bolivia. Believed to be the birthplace of the Incas, the lake is a very sacred and beautiful place. Interesingly, in Aymaran (the old local language here) the word “titi” translates as “puma”, and “caca” means “gray”. In Aymaran, Titicaca is actually pronounced as "titi-haha".. though I'm not sure if that makes it any less entertaining. Sitting on this pretty lake are 120 impressive floating islands made of reeds, home to the brightly dressed, indigenous Uros people. The Uros make these islands from dried totora reeds, woven and roped together to make a 1-2 meter thick platform to ensure it ... read more

David here... The bus journey from Arequipa was around 6.5 hours and was comfortable enough. We got a light lunch of a chicken sandwich and a cake on the bus plus a drink of tea. It was mid-afternoon when we arrived at Puno, our final destination in Peru. On the shores of Lake Titicaca, it seemed such an evocative place. We'd booked 4 nights, thinking we would find some great hikes, views and space. Our first impressions of Puno were not great as we passed through on the coach. It looked dusty, drab and like any typical border town. The 15 minute walk to the hotel did nothing to dispel our fears. What had we done? 4 nights here when we might have been better using a couple in the Sacred Valley or Colca regions. We ... read more