Cusco to Puno
We hadn’t planned in much time for post-Inca Trail recovery and the next day we again got up early to take a bus trip from Cusco to Puno with a company called InkaExpress. It was a ten hour bus journey starting at 6:50am with a number of stops along the way – it was a comfortable way to travel and we would recommend it but it was very touristy, which we were expecting.
Our first stop was Andahuaylillas, about 40km southeast of Cusco, where the San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas, known as the “Sistine Chapel of America, was built by the Jesuits in the 16th century. It’s quite plain on the outside but inside it is very impressive, with intricate detailing and a grand ceiling with the altar covered in gold leaf. Like most religious buildings, it was built on top of a sacred place for the Incas. There was also a small market place outside selling lots of beautiful Peruvian weaves.
Next it was on to the Inca site of Raqchi where there are many buildings including the temple of Wiracocha, which is the most prominent. Apparently it was built by the Inca Wiracocha – believed to be the giver of all life – and is an enormous building completely covered with straw. The site also has ceremonial baths, storehouses, and an artificial lake. There are a number of theories about what the site was used for including as a checkpoint, barracks, or for religious officials. Again there was a larger marketplace after we’d visited the site and this time, despite the sunshine, I was tempted by a blue and white Peruvian print scarf, which is apparently alpaca (but definitely isn’t considering how cheap it was!).
After a buffet lunch, we made our way to La Raya pass, which at 4335m, was the highest altitude of our journey so far. It is the watershed between the valley that flows into Lake Titicaca and the valley that leads to Cusco and the Sacred Valley. It’s a picturesque spot as is surrounded by snow-capped mountain (my fave!) and there is also (another) large market there, as well as ladies wandering around with baby llamas for photos.
Our final stop was Pucará, the first populated hub for Lake Titicaca (approx. 500 BC-200 AD), which during its heyday, housed thousands of bureaucrats, priests, artisans, farmers, and warriors.There was a museum there which some of the other travellers went to but as it was a nice day Simon and I decided to sit in the square and relax before our final stretch to Puno.
One of the things we noticed throughout the journey was the sparseness between Cusco and Puno. There were some very small villages and random buildings but these were few and far between. It must be a really hard life for the people who live there as they are miles and miles from any facilities. On the few buildings we did see, we noticed lots of political symbols drawn onto the sides – we weren’t quite sure what/ who they were supporting but they are definitely visual about it. One of our favourite things was seeing all the llamas and alpacas; they prefer the higher altitude so we saw lots along the way.
We arrived at Puno bus station at around 5pm and walked to our hotel, which was in the main square (another Plaza de Armas) built in 1901. It’s a lovely square with a monument of Colonel Francisco Bolognesi, hero of the war with Chile, in the middle, surrounded by well-kept gardens and with the cathedral (Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo) dominating. We had dinner at a restaurant on the square and booked our Lake Titicaca tour ready for the next day.
Lake Titicaca – day one
Lake Titicaca is often called the ‘highest navigable body of water’ in the world and is the largest lake in South America (by volume of water and surface area), shared by Peru and Bolivia. This magnificent, deep-blue lake is home to numerous highland cultures, which still retain a lot of the old ways of doing things. steeped in the old ways. There are 41 islands spread across Lake Titicaca and our tour stopped at three of them.
After about an hour on the boat from Puno, our first stop was the floating islands of Uros, which are probably the most famous on the lake as they are made completely from reeds. They were originally built by the Uros people, although most left in the 1950s. Nowadays locals of Aymara origin run the islands and maintain the old traditions, making their boats and even their homes from the reeds, and creating brightly colored handicrafts.
It’s not very authentic but is interesting to get a glimpse at how people have lived for hundreds of years and it is a very beautiful spot on the lake. It’s extremely clever and impressive how humans can carve out a life, albeit a very difficult one, in the most dramatic of environments. We had a demonstration from a local family about how they build the islands and that they are reliant on nearby Puno for high school, doctors, registering marriages etc.
Next our boat travelled 2.5 hours to Amantaní (an actual island as opposed to a reed one), which is where we would be staying for the night with a local family. As we arrived, we were assigned to a host family – who have a rota for taking in visitors – and walked up a very very steep hill to get to their house. We were with a young woman who spoke some Spanish and a tiny bit of English and her elderly parents, who only spoke Quechua. Luckily a family from America were also staying there who spoke Spanish so we had some idea of what was going on e.g. what we were eating!
Their home was very simple and we had a room with two beds and lots of blankets and a very simple toilet that didn’t have a flush. Unfortunately as soon as we reached the house Simon started feeling really poorly so he got into bed and pretty much didn’t move until the next morning. As Lake Titicaca is higher than Cusco at 3810m, we think he had been hit by altitude sickness as he felt sick, had a bad tummy and was extremely cold.
For lunch, the family gave us (me and the American family) a simple lunch of quinoa soup and a plate of various potatoes. Potatoes are a staple in Peru where there are around 3000 different types as it’s one of the only things they can grow at altitude. After lunch, I went with the mum from the American family and the rest of the group to hike up to Patchatata (father earth) temple, which is only used once a year for a festival on 21 January. There were beautiful views over the island and for once I was actually able to see a decent sunset (I don’t have the best track record of seeing good sunsets!).
Dinner was all the carbs: potato and maize soup with fried potatoes and rice. There was a performance in the evening but as Simon wasn’t going and I was tired I decided to give it a miss. Even though it had been really sunny in the day it was absolutely freezing overnight at the homestay – no heating obviously! Even though he had on every item of clothing he had brought with him, I still had to pile as many blankets as possible onto Simon to try and keep him warm.
Overall it was a good visit as the islands seems to have retained a lot of the authenticity that Uros hasn’t and the locals genuinely live a very simple and peaceful life. There isn’t particularly anything to see or do on the island – apart from take in the unique way of life and contemplate the landscape – so staying for an afternoon and evening was enough.
Lake Titicaca – day two
Luckily Simon woke up feeling much better than the previous afternoon so after a 7am breakfast of pancake with jam and Andean mint tea, we were being escorted back down the hill by our host family to take the boat for quite a choppy one hour ride to our final island of Taquile, named after Spanish colonisers. The boat dropped us off and we had a pretty steep hike to the center of the village, along the way taking in the vivid blue of the lake (it was another gorgeous, sunny day), the island’s stony ground and rustic houses, and vivid red flowers – which together reminded me of being in the Mediterranean.
Taquile is recognised by UNESCO for its cloth, where the women do the weaving and the men do the knitting. In the main square there is an artisanal marketplace, small church, and the municipality. We learnt a little from our guide about how the people of Taquile distinguish their relationship status with how they dress i.e. the colour and placement of hats, skirts, and tassels all have their meaning such as white and red hats indicating single men and red hats indicating married men.
We then walked around the island a little further to a local family house for lunch, where we had amazing views over the beautiful deep-blue water, which I couldn’t believe was a lake and not the ocean, and Amantani island. In between courses, we also had a local education from the host family, who made natural soap, told us about clothes they wear e.g. the different hats for men and women, and the belt they make out of human hair for men to help their back when carrying everything all over the island. We were also treated to a show with a traditional dance and the an elderly may playing a banjo type instrument.
We then had a three hour boat trip back to Puno so we listened to podcasts and sat outside for a bit to admire our final glimpse of Lake Titicaca. When we arrived back in the town, we got our bus tickets to Arequipa for the next day and then had a relaxing evening and an early dinner.
I’m really glad we included Lake Titicaca in our itinerary as I would have felt like we were missing out if we hadn’t have gone. However, I wouldn’t rush back to visit if we went back to Peru and I think if I was going to do it again I might leave more time for us to make our own way to the islands rather than through an organised tour as while some elements felt like a good insight into a very different way of life, certain parts were very touristy.
PG Rated Travel 