Casa Andina Tikarani Puno

... in the family group. She came over to me with two hands proferred and I thought she was offering to take a photo. I made negative gestures as I was trying to fiddle with some of the settings on my camera. Of course she was really asking whether I wanted to dance&#8230; I failed to twig this as I´m not accustomed to women asking to dance with me, even ones in their sixties&#8230; Offended she asked one of the other lads instead.<br><br ...

... The locals were very hospitable and we had a fantastic time with our local families. <br><br>The next morning we got up and had breakfast with our &#8220;parents&#8221; and then they sent us off to the boat for our next islands &#8211; the Uros &#8220;floating&#8221; Islands. These islands are entirely made from reeds, and they locals build their houses, boats and almost everything from these reeds. The reeds are replaced every three months because the sun breaks ...

... and customs and we were given an hour to look around. Christie and I grabbed a coffee at a small shop on the plaza and Jody and Niamh had a chicken sandwich. We headed off across the island to a restaurant high above the shoreline with the most spectacular views across Lake Titicaka. We were meant to have lunch here but we declined, we preferred to eat when we got back to Puno later. The lunch was a fair good feast with a soup, followed by a huge freshly cooked ...

... around them.<br> The villagers welcomed us and demonstrated how they construct their floating islands - and how they abandon and rebuild them every so often to ensure they continue to protent them from the fluctuating levels of the lake. Also, they show us their houses - some with solar panels and electricity powered television sets and lights, though these are more recent and rare ammenities. In abny case, every building ...

... but we thought we did great. <br><br>After all the fun we had to hike back up the bloody mountain and went to bed. Being as though we slept in a mud hut it was absolutely freezing and we had about five blankets on our bed. As we were so high up it was also really windy so we heard the howling wind all night. <br><br>The next day we said goodbye to our family and headed for Uros floating Islands. A group of about 300 people who live on Islands made from the reeds on ...

... allways ended in the acres . But I found "Incatiana" and I found the house of Janette after "only" 6 hours. I had the luck that exactly when I wanted to part again the way back, because nobody was at home, and old lady appear. And this woman was Maria the granma of the family, and a bit later also Janette and her boy Antony came home. First she didnt remember who I was, but after she could even say that I'm from switzerland.<br>So I went further the way that supposely ...

... beverages, a buffet lunch and 4 other touristy stops with English speaking guide and considering the highest pt. of the road at nearly 4400m, an oxygen tank for those really suffering from altitude sickness. <br>Anyhows, I was sorry to leave Cusco and my little gem of a hostal, Sueica 2, just off the Plaza del Aramas, but you gotta keep moving and so at 7am (another bleeding early start, you´d swear I was in boot camp, not on holiday) I was at the Inka terminal and off we went at 730 ...

... at various sights etc, causing further delay and increasing the likelihood of more people being at the canyon. Grrr.<br><br>Finally we got there just after 9am. The place we stopped at is called Mirador Cruz del Condor and provides an amazing view; the canyon is one of the deepest in the world at around 1km, and many a winged critter resides within. Luckily we managed to find a decent location despite it being pretty crowded, and within minutes some condors appeared. These birds ...