Last week we travelled from Cusco to Puno on a very bumpy bus ride. On arrival in Puno we were greeted by a friendly taxi driver who took us to our very posh 3 star hotel. I don't think we will be getting this sort of treatment further down the trip!!! Peru is very cheap :-)
The following day we went on a boat to Lake TitiCACA - whichs mean puma and rock apparently. Our guide would put alot of emphasis on CACA (hence the capitals!). We sailed 1hr to Uros - which are floating reed islands on the lake. They were pretty impressive and floated!
After we sailed another 3hrs to Amantani Island. This was going to be our home for the evening. On arrival we were greeted by the islanders who were to be our new family. We were met by our new sister Lulu. She lead us back to her house to meet the rest of the family. Here lunch had been prepared and after meeting and greeting we had some lunch....For lunch we had Quinea soup - a favourite dish of Peru followed by some odd looking potatoes (purple and maggot like), corn and fried cheese. Yum! After dinner we played a spot of football with the rest of the group and locals on concrete pitch. Guess who feel over....??! We then trekked upto the highest point on the island (for which we had a tour guide and were allowed to do this time). Here we sat and watched the sunset - or big storm moving in!
Following our little trek it was time for some dinner. More soup - this time with rice and potatoes. This was followed by some more pasta, rice and potatoes. Very tasty...if not a bit carbohydrated out! During dinner the storm hit - or sounded very bad on the tin roof of our home.
Once we had eaten we were taken to our rooms and dressed up in some lovely local style dresses. These had belts around your waist which were so tight that breathing and digesting was difficult! After we had been made to look just like the locals we were marched off to the village hall for some traditional dancing. This was very hard at altitude and tied into our dresses!!
We said goodbye to our family in the morning - who kindly woke us up at 4am :-). We then sailed to another island (Taquile - amazing views) where we had our lunch before returning back to Puno.
All in all it was an interesting experience, the homestay was odd but the people were very friendly and the islands and views amazing. We were also lucky to have great weather - minus the storm during dinner!
Next stop Brazil!
Charlie and Jo x
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