Stinky Puno

Trip Start Jun 12, 2008
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Trip End Nov 20, 2008


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Where I stayed
Dunque Inn
(Puno hotels)

Flag of Peru  ,
Sunday, August 10, 2008

The bus trip to Puno was great, we found ourselves a nice, cheap company where we were the only non-locals on the bus. The six hour journey from Arequipa to Puno cost us 2 pounds each! Thatīs the same as a return from the Cowley Road to Oxford City Centre, which takes 5 minutes! We drove through another National Park, which wasnīt desert and wasnīt green but was somewhere in between. The driver did like to beep his horn at every opportunity and overtake on bends so we were kept alert for the whole time. We also a guy come onto the bus and sell ginseng tea, he made a 20 minute speech about the tea and all itīs qualities and how it will change your life. After all his effort I think he sold 2 boxes, which he seemed very happy about!

As we drove into Puno we realised that the place stunk. It was horrible, and the town itself was a bit grotty so we were glad we were only staying for one night View from our room1
View from our room1
 . Our hostel was very nice though, the owner was extremely helpful and reserved us tickets on our next bus, recommended a nice place for dinner and talked endlessly about Puno. We didnīt understand most of what he was saying but nodded and smiled as much as we could. We had a great room with great views across the town and Lake Titicaca. We wandered around Puno, which took all of 10 minutes. The cathedral was a bit scary, it was really dark inside and bits of the altar were lit up with neon lights...it was really strange and felt a bit like the set of a horror movie!

We had a delicious dinner though, trout from the lake for Dom and a great alpaca steak for me. Then we huffed and puffed our way back up the hill to our hostel, where the owner talked to us again for a while! On the way we became the Pied Pipers of Dogs, half the dogs in the area started following us up the hill! It was a most bizarre end to our time in Puno.
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