Puno

This was the last stop of our trip in Peru. I assume one could fly from Lima to Puno or possibly Cusco to Puno. We wanted to do some more exploring, so we hopped on a nice chartered bus that featured 5 stops and included a lunch buffet.

We departed Cusco in the morning and arrived shortly after at our first stop in Andahuaylillas. This town is home to the “Sistine Chapel” of South America. We were not allowed to take any photos (pretty similar to the Sistine Chapel), but most of the inside was 14k gold. It certainly was impressive. This was built in 1572, so it was interesting to marvel at creations in the western hemisphere with some history. Huaro was the next stop. These ancient ruins were actually Inca ruins older than Machu Picchu. This civilization had a large wall that extended 5km around the ruins. Our trip was on Christmas Day so we got to experience a parade at the stop in a city of Urcos. They had it all, with costumes, a festival, food, and even competing bands. We arrived in Puno around dinner time where we enjoyed a nice class of wine then hit the hay.

The next morning we took a trip out on Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is the highest altitude lake in the world. Peruvians are very economical so our boat ride was optimized this… unfortunately at a very slow pace. Our first stop was at the floating islands of Uros.

These floating islands are handmade from woven reeds and takes 1 year to make a 3m thick island. The islands then last 40 years. These islands are a separate entity from Peru (although the kids go to school in Puno) and run their own government. Their houses, or huts, are very basic, but they do sport solar panels that power radios and there was a TV in one hut. They even have a boat purely made of the reeds. From there we took a 2.5 hour boat ride to Taquile Island. The water out here was so clear, it was amazing. After a nice 40 min hike up the island to the central plaza, we had lunch. At the plaza you could see Bolivia!





Back in Puno, we planned to go to the Gate of Gods, but it was too much out of the way, so instead we visited more Incan ruins. The site we visited was an ancient burial ground for th Inca. It was surrounded by a lagoon that is technically 15m higher in altitude than Lake Titicaca. The burial grounds were just outside of Puno. They are large stone pillars, about 5m in diameter and 20m high. Some have toppled and others you could manage to get to the hollow center. It was a great last minute attraction… plus we found some alpacas and got to pet them!