Day 444 – Puno

Visiting Lake Titicaca and leaving Puno

Today we woke up early and had another buffet breakfast at Sol Plaza Hotel. Afterwards we had to pack our backpacks and check out. We were able to leave our packs inside the hotel’s storage locker.

Since we had booked a guided tour of Lake Titicaca yesterday, we had to wait in the lobby at 6.40am. As the minutes went by we were getting nervous that the pick up wouldn’t arrive. Ten minutes later the pick up van arrived. During this time we were in contact with our German friends who were in a different hostel. A different van picked them up.

We arrived at the Puno pier, where we found out that we probably could have caught a boat without a tour. 

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Nevertheless, we got into the waiting medium sized boat. It could seat 30 people, but it was only half full. We were nervous, thinking that our friends would be on a different boat. All our worries were useless as the day went along flawlessly. Our German friends arrived a few minutes after us and got into the boat. 

Lake Titicaca Tour

The boat left the dock at 7.30am with our bilingual guide. He kept switching between Spanish and English throughout the entire tour. He told us that the lake is located 3,810m above sea level with a maximum depth of 280m. Near the pier, the depth is only 10m. The name Titicaca translates to Grey Puma in the native language. With a bit of imagination, the outline of the lake is in the shape of a puma.

The lake is home to some man made floating islands where locals live. These man made islands are called the Uros Islands. The boat ride to the island took half an hour.

Uros Islands

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We were greeted by friendly locals in colourful dresses. at the first Uros Island It was covered with dried reeds, which felt weird under our feet. In certain spots the reeds would compact a lot, but overall it was a cool experience. 

On the island, we were given a short demonstration showing how the islands are made. Essentially, there is a block of dirt that is covered with dried reeds. An island takes around 1.5 years to build and will last 30 years. The islands are isolated without many modern comforts but they use solar panels to listen to the radio. 

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After the demonstration, we were invited into the houses. It’s essentially a small studio apartment with the lounge and bedroom in one. The kitchen is outside around a fireplace.

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Then we took the optional traditional boat from the first island to another floating island. The traditional boats are decorated nicely. It was a slow and relaxing journey between the islands. Some people didn’t take the optional traditional boat ride, and came along the normal boat instead.

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The second floating island was a hub of some sort. There was a small restaurant and souvenir stalls. A lot of tour groups were here. Be careful getting off the boat. A lady fell straight into the water as she was getting off a different boat. Luckily she was pulled out and had no permanent damage.

Taquile Island

We got back into the modern boat and continued our journey to Taquile Island. The journey took 1.5 hours. We arrived just before midday to the picturesque island. I was feeling home sick as soon as I saw all the eucalyptus trees on the island. Imported from Australia. 

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There was a short walk to the central plaza. The uphill walk was tough since we were 3,800m above sea level. Looking around at the lake, it is easy to forget this fact. The plaza is 3,900m above sea level.

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Then we had another short walk (this time downhill) to a small restaurant where we were given an explanation of the local culture. From the clothing, to the ceremonies with cocoa leaves, we were given a lot of information. For lunch we had lake caught trout and the vegetarians had omelettes.

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During lunch we chatted to a Mexican couple. When I told them that we are from Australia, the guys response was, where are you really from. I wasn’t annoyed by his comments at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more disappointed I was. 

After lunch we walked back to the boat, leaving Taquile Island around 2.30 in the afternoon. The journey back to Puno took over two hours. We were able to go above deck and hang out with our new German friends. 

Back in Puno

Once we reached the pier in Puno, we got into vans that took us back to our hotels. We were back around 5pm. There was plenty of time until our night bus to Cusco, so we hung out in the lobby of Sol Plaza Hotel. As we were waiting it started pouring outside. 

When the rain stopped, we decided to have dinner at the popular Remix Pizzeria Cafe Bar. The food was delicious and cheaper than dinners over the last few nights. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel’s lobby to wait around. We had asked the hotel to call us a taxi, but due to the heavy rain, the taxis were in demand. We ended up waiting over half an hour for a taxi to arrive. 

The taxi took us to the Puno Bus Terminal without any dramas. At the terminal, we had to check in our large backpacks at the Cruz del Sur counter and then pay for the departure tax at a separate counter. This counter had a massive line, which was moving slowly. 

However, it all worked out and we were able to get onto the Cruz del Sur bus. We had heard a lot of good things about these buses. We didn’t pay extra for the First Class like lounge on the bottom level. Instead we went upstairs which was like any other bus in Peru. The only difference was that each seat had an individual TV screen. However, all the movies were in Spanish without subtitles.

We left Puno and fell asleep as the bus drove through the rain. 

Travelled November 2019

Expenses and Transport

Tour – Lake Titicaca – International Andions Tours – 130 PEN (~$63 AUD) for 4 people
Tour Extra – Lake Titicaca Optional Boat Ride – 10 PEN (~$5 AUD) per person
Taxi –  Puno Main Plaza to Puno Bus Terminal – 10 PEN (~$5 AUD)
Bus – Puno Bus Terminal to Cruz del Sur Cusco Terminal – 60 PEN (~$29 AUD) per person with Cruz del Sur at 10pm (night bus)
Bus – Puno Bus Terminal Departure Tax – 1.50 PEN (~$0.50 AUD) per person