Puno and Lago Titicaca

From Cuzco we took a bus to Puno. The Peruvian tourist buses are generally cheap, comfortable and quite reliable. The bus stopped many times and allowed passengers to marvel many pre-Inca, Inca and colonial monuments and there was even a guide explaining things. That way the long trip didn’t feel boring at all.

This structure is a part of the Wiracocha temple in Raqchi. And the beautiful flowers.

Lamas, my friends.

Puno is a bleak city, but the location is excellent. The fantastic Lake Titicaca glimmers right in front of it. Many tourists explore the lake and have Puno as their base. From there it is very easy to arrange any kind of tour. We arranged a two day tour straight away and went to the lake.

Floating Uros islands were our first etape on Lake Titicaca. The history of those strange floating heaps of canes is interesting.

A basic stove in Uros islands, fire is a serious problem in the islands as the cane burns easily and the islands are made of it. 

This is the Rolls Royce of Uros, made for carrying tourists. The cane boats locals normally use for fishing are smaller. Tourism is the main source of income in Uros as tourism increases and fish population decreases.

From Uros our trip continued to Isla Amantani where we spend some time with local community. There we spend a night in a village president’s house because there were no hotels.

The main plaza de armas of the island. Even the smallest villages have a handsome plaza. This was quite lifeless though.

Our host served us typical Titicacan food that is quinoa soup and omelet with fresh cheese.

Kids playing on the plaza.

After the chilly Cuzco weather the ladies enjoyed the warmth of the Titicacan sun.

On the island in between every community there was built these arches to show the limits.

We walked up to the hill to see the mountain peak temples of Pachamama, Mother Earth, 4100m.s.l. (in the pic) and Pachatata, Father Earth. The first just a bit higher than the other.

We found a windless spot to see the big landscape and the beautiful sunset. It is incredible how big the lake actually is.

From Isla Amantani we took again a boat to another island,Taquile, we wandered up the hill to the main village and around. There we had a brief about the village’s culture and headdresses. It opened our eyes! Straight from the type or the position of your woolen hat, pipo, the others can tell if you are a local authority, are you married, single or if you have sutinaa, something going on. Also the men never shake hands when they meet, they swap coca leaves, not hand to hand but to their little coca bags which they carry always on their hips.   

Small cemetery.

Mama, Esko and Pärnäsen Mari taking a break.

Local married men.

One of these boats took us back to Puno across the big, impressive Lago Titicaca.