Casa Andina Tikarani Puno

... first. They didnīt speak Spanish or Quechua but Aymara which is a pre-Incan language. However, they were so nice to us that we soon got over our nerves. The family consisted of the grandparents, the mum and dad, two little girls and a 2 week old boy!!!

They took us to their local football pitch where we met with the rest of the group and challenged the local boys to a game. It wasnīt really fair because they were about 14,played with no shoes and had to go up ...

... and dancing.  The rest of the time was spent enjoying the views.  We had a short stop off at La Raya, which is the highest part of the route (over 14000 feet) where we purchased some great crafts and myself, masses of brightly coloured material which at $50, a bargain.

There were about 40 people on the train, a mixture of a nationalities.  If anyone is planning a trip to Peru we would ...

... to go home and to my surprise it took not longer as 10 minutes!!!!!!! I have no Idea where I walked this day as I cant explain. A possibility could be that I walked twice arround the Island because an other thing cant be....
Anyway finally I saw a big part of Amantani and even the two temples in the top of the Island and for sure a few Comunities (perhapps even all twice). I had great luck that I met the girl, otherwise I would have got definitely lost on the Island

Well Puno is just as busy as Cusco. I am still going through an adjustment period I think. I am still hankering after the peace and quiet of the jungle and walking everyday throught he forest. Sigh,

That being said I was looking forward to seeing Lake Titicaca. At 3800m (12,500ft) it is one the worlds highest navigable lakes. Puno is higher than Cusco too so is helping me get used to the altitude before ...

Puno sits on the edge of Lake Titicaca, about 12500 feet above sea level. Its cold up here. But the sun is still pretty intense. I was surprised to get burnt after my two weeks under the amazon sun. But, what could do you expect after cruising around on a lake for the last couple days at this hieght?

Puno is pretty cool. There's nothing archetecturally impressive about this city. The land surrounding it is not all that great either. The lake is definitly cool. But the people, the ...

... workers in traditional dress, a field of alpacas. But we canīt stop. One day I will rent a car when travelling so I can stop when I want to and leave when I want to. I regret not being able to stay longer in some of these places. I regret not being a better photographer. I regret the most not feeling well physically so that I can take in everything.

We ended the day with rotisserie chicken and fries from a pollería ...

... I badly needed some sleep. I wasīt able to sleep well the night before due to a terrible headache. After about 15 minutes, we reached the floating islands of Uros. These islands are made by the Uros people, from totora/reeds, which are like tall bushes with very thin bamboo like stems. The island is entirely made of reeds, as well as their houses. And yes, this is where they live. Historically, their ancestors were trying to flee from other ...

... of the tourists never listen to the tour guides as they are busy giving hugs to the biggest of the penises, embracing them, kissing them, and doing some other stuff.

The penises symbolize fertility and used to be places of prayer. People used to pour chicha down the biggest penis and observed its flow.

I leave the place early as I have some more things to do. I want to see the ...