reluctant traveller

I only spent one evening in Puno so I dont have much to say about it. Puno (3800 m) is a small town in the mountains and the central area (main square, bus station, port etc) is small enough that you can walk everywhere. Cheap taxis or tricycle rickshaws are also available. It mainly serves as an access point to some of the islands in this side of Titicaca. (The other half of the lake is in Bolivia.)

Got to Puno late 2nd night. Was nice to get off the ultra crappy bus. Given how terrible my living and travelling conditions were the last couple of days (wasnt all that bad, but you know me), decided to stay at a nicer place. So went to a 3 star hotel, Plaza Mayor and being the low season we got a room for $30. we could have probably gotten it for $25. Staff was incredibly helpful.

Lago Titicaca islands (2 D/IN trip):

Lake Titicaca at 3800 m is the higest navigable lake and is part in Peru and part in Bolivia. Most do a 2 day 1 night trip to either Amantani or Taquile or both islands, stopping in Uros along the way. There are no hotels or hostels and you would normally stay with one of the families on the islands.

The Lonely planet said I should arrange my own trip and travel using local boats (instead of using a tour agency) so the islanders can see most of the money. Plus I had gotten in too late the previous night to book a tour. So I went down to the docks and paid for a trip to Amantani. The captain was supposed to take us (me and other passengers on the boat) to Taquile and then back to Puno the next day (thats another story). Chinni decided to stay in the city and watch the festival celebrations and visit the islands the next day.

day 1-
We stopped at Uros (floating reed islands) for a half hour on our way. Is a fascinating island made from totora reeds that grow in the lake. As the lower layers rot away, they just add new layers to the top! So felt a little funy to walk on. The natives belong to the Uros tribe and speak Ayamara. Some of them also spoke Spanish I guess as they seemed to understand what I was saying. Same with the natives on the other islands. They are all pre Inca tribes.
I also got to ride on one of the reed boats. I could have been on it all day but the capitan was in a hurry to get to Amanti and didnt let us stay too long. I had to use all the Spanish I knew to plead with the capitaan and the boat islander to even get a ride.

We reached Amantani after a super bumpy 4 hour ride during which we also picked up 2 other people from the nowhere on a tiny boat. The lady whose family runs the lodge I was going to stay in was there to receive me and show me the way to the lodge. There are roads on these islands, but no maps or vehicles. The book said they spoke only Quechua but they seemed to understand my Spanish just fine. After a lunch of sopa de quinoa and rice and cheese I feel asleep. The nice lady woke me up to take me to the main squire to view the festival celebrations. After a bit, I decided to walk up to some ancient ruins Pachumama and Pachutata. After the climb up, I was tired enough to sleep really well.

day 2-
woke up to be told by the nice lady that there were no boats to Taquile that day (usually there is one at 8 and there's all the boats for preorged tours) and there was only a boat going back to Puno (disaster!!!!). I kept insisting that I had to go to Taquile and she kept saying there was no boat. We went to the port anyway (different from the one going to Puno) and found more than one boat going to Puno. The tour boats wont take us because we didnt come there with them but there was local boat willing to take us to Taquile and then to Puno for 10s.

So reached Taquile at 9 and we had 3 hours on the island before the boat left to Puno according to the capitaan. I followed the others (a couple and a middle aged lady) up the hill and down through the village to the main square. Once we got back, the capitan refused to leave till we got a few more tourists. Again I had to use all the spanish I knew to get us to leave and we left an hour later only to stop a couple of hours later. We were rescued by the tour boat (i had to hear the operator talk about how local boats were unreliable and how he really couldnt give us ride because he couldnt take responsibility for us grr). We then found out that the capitaan had the same trouble the day before. I felt really bad for him because the others who got off the boat didnt pay him, not even for the Amantani to Taquile part.

In all, I loved being on the islands and riding on the blueee waters on lake titicaca. definitely a trip highlight for me.

Next stop: La Paz, Bolivia. 7:30 AM bus from Puno today.