Blogs from Puno, Peru, South America - page 78

22 Mayo - Isla Amantani I am in a magical place, an island in Lake Titicaca. This island was entirely terraced by the Incas and is inhabited by a simple people. We just got back from a hike to one of the main hills called Pachatata, or Father Earth. The sunset was beautiful and serene. We enjoyed Andean donuts and Muna Mate for one Sole, the equivalent of about $0.30. This place has an ambience, an aura about it that is very soothing. And the ruins at the top of Pachatata, coupled with the view, has a noticeable energy to it. The most amazing thing, or at least one of the most amazing things, is that we are staying with a native family for the night. We are living their life for a day. It is ... read more

Spending two nights in Puno we took the time to visit the Uros floating Islands . A lot of people refer to this as a tourist trap but the way I see it they are welcoming us on to their home and you can't blame them for earning a living by selling their beautiful inexpensive crafts to tourist. While on one of the islands I picked up six small flutes for a whopping two dollars. An enjoyable visit considnering we wren't planning to visit the islands but we had walked down to the water front stopping at a naval museum allong the way - a man, seeing two non-locals, approached us and asked if we'd like to visit Urus. So we're like, how much? He says ten Soles which is roughly three dollars eacc. Then we ... read more

After a leisurely 9 hour bus ride, we arrived in a town called Puno which is situated on the banks of Lake Titicaca. From here we organised a two day, one night tour out onto the lake. Our first stop was the Islas Flotantes or the Uros Islands. These consist of floating islands where everything is made of reeds. It was kind of bizarre and a bit like Disney land for tourists, however it was possible to get a glimpse into how these people used to live on the water. From there, we took a very very slow three hour boat ride to an Amantani island. Here each person in our group was "allocated" to a local family who would host them for the next day. The accommodation was rustic, but the family was very friendly ... read more

As my bus from Cuzco rolled into the town of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in all the world, I met Alina, a fellow traveler from Canada fluent in Spanish. As we compared notes on lodging, we agreed to share a taxi, and then a hostel room, and she later ended up rearranging her calender to spend an extra day with me on an overnight homestay to Taquile Island, the nearby weaving and knitting community. I was really glad, because until then, I was the only one scheduled to go on this non-touristy trip where I would stay overnight with a family that lives in a more remote side of the island, not as well traveled by outsiders. Although nearby Amantani Island had 25 people signed up for a homestay, ... read more

We got to Puno tired, sick of tours and early mornings so the first day was spent just relaxing within a couple of blocks of our hotel. Our hotel was pretty ordinary, its only real good point was that it had the cleanest bathroom so far. The receptionist was a lovely old guy who turned out to be a few raisins short of a fruit cake. Though he did recommend us a Chinese restaurant for tea which was cheap, great service and served the best stuffed avocado we have had so far. Puno like our hotel was a pretty ordinary and uninspiring. I went in search of breakfast in the morning and found a yummy bakery, a dairy selling manjar, and a street avocado stall. We walked down the pedestrian street full of tour agencies and ... read more