Puno - Lake Titicaca

Tuesday September 11th, I got up early because my bus for Puno was leaving at 10h30 am, me and a friend (from England) that I met at the hostel in Arequipa were taking the same bus, so we head to the bus terminal and take the bus. At the terminal I have a chat with another traveler that was from Austria, he was also heading to Puno. We arrived at around 4pm, I leave my friend because he was staying in a hostel close to the terminal because he's heading to Copacabana in Bolivia the next morning. I already have a place in mind because I will spend 2-3 days in Puno. I meet with the guy from Austria again and he decide to follow me to the hostel I was going. It's good someone to talk with. We arrive at Marlon's House and all the rooms with 4 beds are taken, so the girl offers us a 2 bed room for less than the other one, at 20 soles (7.72$ Can.) per night, per person. We leave our stuff and head to the markets to get something to eat. A complete meal for 4 soles, great and I was hungry. We then stop at a supermarket to get some water and a few other things and then head back to our room since it is already 7pm. Go to bed early because in the next morning we are heading to the Uros islands for a little visit without  a tour.

 

On the road between Arequipa and Puno

 

Puno

 

Departure for the islands from Puno

 

The Uros Islands

 

Traditional Uros boats

 

Uros Islans

Small video of the Uros Islands

We leave from the hostel at 7h30 (Wednesday Sept. 12th) to head to the port to find prices for the boats to get to the Uros Islands and Taquile Island. We find one for 35 soles including the fees of 5 soles for the Uros and of 5 soles for Taquile Island, it also includes the bus to get back to our hotel at the end of the day. We accept and get on a boat immediately. We first head to the Uros Islands (floating islands) where we were supposed to spend about 20 minutes, but when we get there they ask us to switch boats right away to head to Taquile. We at least see the islands but I am quite disappointed to have not set foot on them at all. A little later speaking with a French couple they explain to me that as soon as they set foot on the islands they were asked to buy souvenirs almost under pressure and they were charged an extra 10 soles to get on a traditional boat. So in the end and am almost happy to have not been on the islands where I would have had to spend even more. Then we go towards Taquile island, about 2h30 of boat to get there.

 

On the way to Taquile island

 

View on the lake form Taquile

 Central Plaza on Taquile

Village on Taquile

We take the only road on the island and head towards the central place which takes us about 1h. Very nice place, completely calm with no cars and no dogs. We wait for the whole group once we get there and the guide wants us to go have lunch in a small restaurant for 15 soles, I refuse and find a store that sells me a tomato and cheese sandwich for 3 soles. We then go towards the port on the southern side of the island where our boat is waiting for us for the return to Puno, departure at 2h30pm. We arrive back to Puno at 5pm. I met two couples from Quebec that afternoon on the boat, one younger and another one in their forties and I also met a couple from France with which I chatted a lot with. I then went back to my hotel and cooked myself an easy supper (pastas with spaghetti sauce from a jar). I will change hotel in the morning and split up with the guys from Austria, he is very nice but just gets to a point where he is hard on my nerves. So one small little day to visit and walk around downtown Puno and then will leave on the Friday morning.

On the way back to Puno from Taquile

Click on picture to see the whole album ''Puno - Lake Titicaca''

 
Plaza Armas, Puno
 

 
Puno
 

 

Downtown Puno

On Thursday Sept. 13th I leave the hotel Marlon's House at around 10am and head to another hostel called ''Inka's Rest'' and take a dorm room and head strait to the bus terminal to buy my ticket for the next morning to go to Copacabana, Bolivia, at 7h30 am for 15 soles, then take a long walk around the city because I had not seen much of it yet. I go back to my hostel at around 3pm after stopping by the supermarket first. I stay there for the evening and working to finish a post on Arequipa.