Peru/Bolivia Part 1 - How I finally got to Puno in a roundabout way (Fotos + Video)

Finally, it´s time! A lot of times I was about to write about this amazing trip, but then I didn´t have the time or another destination was more present. But now finally - after now 4 years!! OMG time flies! - I will tell you all about our amazing three weeks trip from Puno, Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

As you maybe remember from my previous posts I just had spent 8 weeks in Colombia. The plan was only to stay 5 weeks not 8 - so I didn´t have enough time to see most of Peru and so instead I did a little vacation from my travels in Mexico for 2 weeks before I took a flight to Arequipa to meet one of my best friends Britta to travel the country with her.

I started in the morning from Cancun to Lima where I first met her! She had Haribo with her as a snack for the stay.

From there she took the flight to Juliaca and I took the one to Arequipa. In advance, I had checked the flights and Arequipa was a lot cheaper... I didn´t know how far it was away from Puno though :D - What a fail.

When the plane arrived I saw a lot of desert and mountains from the window. - that should have been the first hint.

Britta had the easier way to arrive. As from Juliaca Airport it is only about 1 hr to arrive in Puno. From Arequipa it took me 6 hrs!!!!

I really don`t know how this could happen :D - But anyways.. I asked my way through it and finally found a "bus terminal" where a van was about to part towards Puno. A few pesos more and I got my seat. - Perfect I though...well I didn´t know yet how long it would take and how hot it would be :D

So the Van started to drive and after about 20 minutes we were already in the desert... apparently crossing it.

I mean the nature around was stunning! But it was really hot and the van was fully booked, so I had one seat for me and all my luggage :D At least it was early in the day and we didn´t drive at night I thought and tried to sleep a bit.... of course, there was also no toilet somewhere! :D

At least I had the Haribo still with me, so I didn´t die from hunger :D

After about 6 hrs I finally arrived in Puno. There I took a tuk-tuk directly to the hostel and took a shower. I couldn´t walk very fast as the city is at 3800m high and I just had arrived from Cancun ;)

Why start at Puno anyways you may ask. Well, the point was to start at lake Titicaca and cross the border to Bolivia from there. As Puno is located directly at the lake it is the easiest point to start. Also, it is high enough to get used to the height from the very first moment on. That is why we picked it.

As you may know, lake Titikaka has several islands. But from Puno you can even visit the floating ones. The floating islands of the Urus!

These are artificial islands made from reed grass, on which around 2,000 Uro-Indigenous still live today. Each island has between 3 and 51 inhabitants.

As it took me 6 hrs to arrive in Puno I didn´t manage to visit them myself, but Britta took the time to see them instead of waiting for me all day :D

She arrived a while after me, showed me the pictures and told me all about it.

The Uro Islands are made entirely of totora, a reed around which life in these floating villages revolves.

The totora reeds were used centuries ago to build these islands on Lake Titicaca, believed to be the home of the Uro-Aimara families. The boats are also made from totora reeds and are used for small-scale fishing.

You can also find handicrafts from Totora, which are offered by the cheerful inhabitants of this area to round off the impressions of this magical place.

After catching up and taking a little nap we went out to see a little bit of the city. Of course, it was already night, but still, there were people on the street as it was some festive day.

We went to the local market to get some food and also snacks for our trip the next day, and then watched people dancing and singing on the street. What a day!

I still had to get used to the thin air and the cold during the night!!

So after that Oddisee, I was very happy to be back at the hostel to get some sleep, because for the next day we had already booked our bus to Copacabana - the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca - to take the boat from there and arrive at Isla del Sol, where we would stay for some days. But more about that in the next post. - Stay tuned :)

Cheers,
Liz