Hotel Embajador Puno

... fine but I did find it strange to wear the bobble hat. Christies outfit was great, as was Niamhs. Jody wore the poncho we had bought in Siquilisi, Ecuador.Our guide Ruben led us to the hall which was actually conveniently next to our lodgings. It was a small hall with a lively band playing traditional music from the island. One boy played a large drum, one boy and his father played a flute and panpipes, another boy played a mandalin type instrument. Some local youngsters ...

... 8217;s fairground not yet in full swing. At the dock there were small very slow boats shaped like swans in a sheltered lagoon. Along the portside were dozens of more eating places with plastic chairs and temporary awnings selling good value menu del dia type lunches. <br><br>We came across a man called Santiago who was selling tours. The tour he described sounded great and we were keen but we were cautious because of some travel blogs I had read ...

... of 2 or 3, and paired up with a local family whose role would be to feed us and billet us for the night. This was an interesting part of the trip - the host family I got (along with Dave and John) spoke only Amyara and Spanish, no English...and we spoke only English. That said, with some effort on our part we found a common way to communicate....a deck of cards!<br><br>We were introduced to a sort of competitive matching game courtesy of our hosts ...

... br>After Uros we were back on the lake for our next stop, one of the outer islands - Amanti. They don´t have hostels on this island so all the families share host family duties. After we arrived we were introduced to our new mummies and daddies (Oswaldo´s vernacular, not mine), and promptly shown to our home for lunch. The walk uphill was gruelling, we were above 4000m at this point and in addition to my pack I was carrying an extra 2L of ...

... being in the middle of a Disney film set. <br><br>Susie and I got pounced on the minute we got off the boat. The first stop was to play dress up in the local ladies attire. Our host was Elsa, who obviously sized me up as a 'shopper', because once we where all dressed up looking stupid, she flashed all their handcrafts in front of me.<br><br> Sadly for Elsa, I'm ...

... the island itself to tourists like ourselves, who they only have to stay once a month as its done on a rotating system among the families in the village. <br><br>I noticed a line of writing on the wall of the school house that read in Spanish "Be thankful for what little you have" They had very little but were proud of what they had. Juan explained how millions of pounds is being given to the country by North America but none of it ever gets to the poor farmers (campesinos), it ...

... of them have never stepped on dry land! They were funny to walk on,quite spongy, you definitely knew you weren't on terra firma.<br> Some of the islands don't like the tourists and want to live their normal private lives, so the boats don't visit there, but some of the others have made tourism their main income, and the island that we visited even put on a little show for us, showing us how the islands are built, and some local songs. We then travelled ...

... aftenen var der arrangeret fest for alle os besoegende, saa vi blev klaedt paa i deres toej og saa skulle vi hen og danse med familierne. Det blev dog ikke til saa meget dans for mit vedkommende, da mine knae stadig ikke har det for godt. <br>Naeste dag skulle vi afsted til endnu en oe, nemlig Taquille. Men da jeg havde ret saa ondt i knaene og der skulle gaas op ad en hel del trin, valgte Nicki og jeg at blive paa baaden og vente paa de ...

... it was tough!! Even my power plate session did not help the breathing problem :)<br>Arriving at the top, a la plaza de armas (there is one in every single city of Peru!!!!), the view is impressive<br>We stop for a very nice lunch on restaurant overlooking the valley. El menu: solo uno: sopa de quinoa y trouta a la plancha!!! Muy bonito!!<br>Despues, pues....., go back to the boat for 3 more hours of cruising back to Puno!!!<br><br>Nice view ...

... around the touristy center of the city, watched tv and slept. <br> After Puno, we took a bus directly to La Paz. The bus stopped for everyone to go through immigration just before the border, which is when we got our Visa. In Copacabana, we took a ferry to cross Lake Titicaca. Our bus also crossed the lake. On the other side, we boarded our bus and continued our trip to La Paz.<br>