Blogs from Puno, Peru, South America - page 82

After a hearty lunch of Shepards Pie in the Irish bar (not quite local food , but heh) , we left Cuzco and headed to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. From here we hooked up with SAS Travel and their tour of the lake. First was the Uros Islands, floating islands made of reeds. When they got a bit soggy, another 5 " of reeds were laid on top. Even the locals boats were made of reeds. Very primitive, although they did have solar panels for their electricity, a gift from the Peruvian government! From here our boat continued to Amantani Island. We were introduced to Olga who was to be our host for the night. Her house was made of bricks held together with mud and straw, although our accommodation seemed better than ... read more

Puno - Lacul Titicaca 21-25.10.2005 Version française plus loin Salut, Suntem in ultima seara in Puno, pe malul lacului Titicaca, si am decis sa punem cateva poze si sa scriem cateva randuri inainte de a pleca spre Cusco. Am vazut vazut ca bebe alpaca al nostru a avut un succes teribil si au fost cereri de toate felurile (nu dam detalii). Din pacate nu putem raspunde cererii de bebei alpaca .. nu suntem siguri ca s-ar obisnui cu altitudinea. :O) Cei interesati de ceaiul de foi de coca vor trebui sa se multumeasca cu cel de musetel caci nu vrem sa petrecem cativa ani dupa gratii la intoarcerea in Europa(si nu mai avem zile de vacanta). Efectul care predomina insa dupa un mate de coca e o dorinta urgenta de a merge la toaleta(se pare ca ... read more

After our unexpected long stay in Cusco we were eventually leaving! Although Cusco is a beautiful place with lots to see around the area, the constant hassle from touts and children selling postcards and finger puppets gets too much! As a treat with some of our wedding present we decided to book first class on the train journey from Cusco to Puno which is on the shores of Lake Titikaka in Southern Peru. We awoke with pleanty of time to get checked out of our hostel and down to the train station, but after having to wait for 15 minutes to get our change as the hostel had not got any we were starting to stress! We stood outside the hostel loaded up ready with our backpacks waiting for the girl to come back with our ... read more

From Copacabana I caught the bus over the border to Puno. No dramas in immigration but our bus decided to break down on the other side of the border and we had to join another bus. Unfortunately, they miscalculated the numbers and, me being the last person, I was left without a seat. Inventive souls those Peruvians, solved this problem by puttiing a wooden kids seat in the isle, right at the front. This gained a lot of laughter and, once again, I became the subject of many photo's. The following morning I went to visit the floating reed islands of Puno. The 'Uros' people of Lake Titicaca live on these islands formed from compacted beds of totora reeds that are constantly topped up. It's a rather odd experience walking on the islands because the reeds ... read more

After a great time in Chile except for one incident with a vanishing bag, we headed to Peru. We had booked a bus ticket from Tacna, which is just inside the Peruvian border to Puno, a small port on the edge of lake Titicaca. First we had to get to Tacna via a 'colectivo', which is a big old american car which would have looked at home being driven by Huggy Bear on the set of Starsky & Hutch. The Colectivo waits until it has enough people and then sets off accross the border. We were lucky to avoid the waiting around as the company we had booked our bus through (Zesal) had organised for the colectivo to pick us up from our hostel. Crossing the border was the easiest crossing we have had to date. ... read more