Posada Don Giorgio Puno

... and could be picked up from the freeway. We got a taxi to take us outside the city limits and hopped on the first bus that would stop for us. It was packed far beyond capacity with people trying to get out of town. We met a nice lady with a baby who told us where to transfer busses to Cuzco and invited us to her sons baptism on sunday. When we finally arived in Cuzco last night we were welcomed with open arms by one of my old campfriends who is ...

... slightly weary of this shouting miming strange thing!!


After dinner we got dressed as a the local women do with layers of skirts, a little black jacket, a sash and a bowler head then headed back down to the school for a village disco. Was very funny seeing everyone attempt to dance, our guide asked us to do a dance for the locals which he correographed - gto me it seemed like a slight adaptation of the Oakey Koakey but we didn´t get to sing.

Puno, Peru kirstycurls

... Indeed almost everything on the island is made from reed. An Aussie wag in the group then asked whether smoking was banned on the islands…. We then learned how they hunt and survive with fishing being a key staple. Given the high maintenance nature of needing to constantly replace the reed floor on a weekly basis and move islands every 10 years, it didn´t seem a very durable method of sustaining a living. However, the sonar panels on ...

... inquisitively through windows, it was their entertainment too. For 2 hours we danced, sometimes independently, twirling dizzily, and sometimes in a large hand holding circle. I danced once with Niamh and later she said she needed to dance with people her own age. Was it my dancing I thought? The altitude certainly made the dancing very exhaustive and we had had enough before the fun was over about 10pm. We retired to our room, washed in the moonlight and fell quickly into sleep.

... I´m pretty sure these people are accustomed to tourists and have learned to prepare meals cleanly but you still never know...

Matjea and I headed for a hike to the ruins of pachapata at the top of the island. However, we enjoyed the journey and sites along the way far more than the ruins itself. Romulo designated Abraham our official tour guide. Sweet and darling doesn´t even describe this pleasant well-mannered boy. In ...

... Avoid ´´Titicaca Bolivia´´ bus service in the Puno Bus Terminal. When we get to the bus station for our 1pm bus to Bolivia we were told it left at 7.30am Grrrr. The man who sold us the tickets wasnt there of couse!! We had already paid him S/20 each for Puno to Copacabana(Bolivia) and an extra S/10 each for the Copacobana to La Paz connection and although he had charged us we still had to pay yet another S/10 each for the same connection or they wouldnt put ...

Our sole reason for stopping in Puno was to finally get a slice of what it was really like to live in Peru, and the only way to do this is to go and stay with a family.

Feeling like a nervous ten year old on a school exchange trip, wondering what strange things lie ahead, we, and about 20 other adoptees boarded the boat to Amantani Island on lake Titicaca. We met a couple of groups of Londoners and chatted most of the 3 hour ride there in amongst staring into the distance ...