Puno & Lake Titicaca
Trip Start
Apr 15, 2008
1
36
58
Trip End
Apr 19, 2009
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Puno,
Peru
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Our journey from Cuzco to Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, took us the whole day. The scenery was wonderful; initially we drove through fertile valleys where the fields were full of local adobes, livestock and crops. Native trees are rare up here due to the height but eucalyptus introduced by the Spaniards, seem to be thriving well. We climbed through the valleys to reach our highest point on the trip, 14,200ft where we enjoyed fantastic views of the snow capped Andes. At this height there are no trees, we were now on the high plains where native grasses go on for miles. The locals mainly herd cattle and lamas, we loved seeing hundreds of lamas grazing it seemed so far removed from home. Always expect the unexpected, we were amazed to see flocks of pink flamingos wading in the river, I thought these birds like hot places, they were the last thing we expected to find at 14,000ft! We stopped at several villages to take a look around their churches. We also spent some time looking around the ruins of the largest Inca palace in Peru, Raqchi. This was quite unusual as it had several floors, with the ground floor built of stone and the upper floors constructed from the adobe materials. (mud and reeds).
Finally we descended to into Puno. This town has grown rapidly in resent years due to the increase in tourism. The current population is just over 100,000 people, who are squeezed into a bowl between Lake Titicaca and the mountains. The city has a main plaza lined by cafés and churches, just off the plaza is a pedestrianised street which is lined with all the amenities one could require.
Raqchi Inka Palace Ruins
The towns economy is fuelled by black market goods which are smuggled over the border from nearby Bolivia. For some reason Italian cuisine is the most offered food in the restaurants, and having spent a couple of weeks in Peru this is becoming a bit boring! The other option is guinea pig, which comes served whole with the head still on! Sorry I've had to give that one a miss, but I have tried Alpaca which has a strong beef flavour. We thought the food would be spicier but it's really quite bland. Breakfasts have been really nice, they serve some delicious tropical fruits and juices and the bread is lovely. Also worthy of a mention is Ricos-Pan @ 326 JR. Moquegua, this bakery come café has the best cakes and coffee in Peru!
Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 12,507 ft above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America. In parts it is over 900ft deep. The western part of the lake lies in Peru the eastern part in Bolivia. The lake is huge at 180km in length and about 60km at it's widest point. It is even protrolled by a Peruvian and Bolivian navy fleet.
We spend a day out on the lake visiting first the Uros population, these people live on artificial floating islands, there are over 40 of them with about 50 people on each. The islands are made of floating reeds called totora. This reed is plentiful in the shallows of the lake. These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Peru, drawing excursions from Puno.
Andes Mountain Scene 14,200ft
Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. It is a very strange experience as you walk around the reed island, it is very soft and in parts you feel like you may sink into the water! Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds and all of the houses are built of reeds too, it really is amazing how these people live. They even have schools and a hospital, we watched in facination as we saw children, probably only seven or eight rowing boats to get to the school. These people live off the fish, water fowl and their eggs, and ofcourse guniea pigs! Which they fatten up by feeding them the totora reeds.We then cruised two and a half hours to Taquile, one of the three natural islands of the lake. Taquile is a hilly island located 35 kilometres east of Puno. It's narrow and long, and was used as a prison during the Spanish Colony and well into the beginning of the 20th century. In 1970 it became the property of the Taquile people, who now inhabit the island with a population of around 3,000. Taquiles have maintained their traditions and culture almost unchanged for centuries. Here the ladies spin the wool and weave while the men do all the knitting, they are renowned in the area for their high-quality colourful textiles. Pre-Inca ruins are located on the highest part of the island, and agricultural terraces on the hillsides. The main town in the island, also called Taquile, has a textile cooperative shop, some small restaurants, there are no hotels but rooms are available in family houses where visitors can stay for the night.
On Lake Titicaca
We climed the steep path up from the harbour, which has a feeling of the balerics about it! It feels more like the mediterrainnean than a lake. Having caught our breath we enjoyed a meal of country style soup and lake trout which was delicious. On the way back the lake was really choppy, our small vessel was tossed around for most of the journey but I manged to hold onto my lunch! 32 kms from Puno are the Chullpas (funeral towers) of Sillustani, beautifully set on a peninsula on Lake Umayo. The Chullpas were built by the Aymara-speaking Collas - a tribe that dominated the Titicaca region before the Incas. Each tower contained the remains of Colla nobility accompanied by their riches. Grave robbers have since removed their contents, although the towers are well preserved and well worth seeing. Two of the towers are unfinished: one with a ramp still in place to raise blocks; the other with cut stones ready to go on a very ambitions dome. The stark views from the top of this windy peninsular are beautiful. On the way back to Puno we stop by a local Colla homestead, where we tried the local cheese, bread made from the local grains and purple potatoes, all delicious. It was interesting to learn how they live and to tour their adobe home which is a collection of functional cottages topped with reed roofs set around several court yards. So concludes our tour of Peru, which we have really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. We used Best Peru Tours to book our trip and they have been wonderful. No I'm not on commission! but you do need to use a company who is reliable, trust worthy and knows Peru as only locals do. Good luck and be sure to ask for Jessica to build your tour for you, she's ace! www.bestperutours.com
Comments
best time to visit Peru
Hi Andrew and Julie, mmm.. after hankering to return to California where for one thing I would like to spend more than half a day in Yosemite, you've whetted my appetite for a trip to Peru now too - I can feel a career break coming on!
If Lima is best for the temperature between January and March, does that go for the rest of the country too?