Puno

From Huacachina many people then go on to stop in Arequipa where there is lots of different hikes and activities to do before moving on to Puno and Cusco. With limited time on the trip we took a marathon bus journey overnight all the way to Puno from Huacachina. 26 hours and over 4000 meters of elevation gain later we got here in the middle of the day for a one night stop. 

Puno is one of the more normal cities in Peru with not a huge amount to do; its main attraction is that it is situated on Lake Titicaca – the highest lake in the world. 

The lake itself isn’t that impressive however it is home to the Uros islands. Man made islands which have been built and inhabited the same way for thousands of years. 

During the tour we were able to go onto one of these islands. They gave us a demonstration of exactly how they build and maintain the islands using reeds, mud and wood and taught us a little bit about the history of the area and how the Uros people’s culture is adapting to the introduction of technology and tourism.  We then had a quick look inside some of the houses and boats before heading back to Puno. 

While I can see how some people would find this fascinating, after an overnight bus and this being the first day at high altitude we were pretty underwhelmed with what Puno had to offer. The consensus among us was that this is a stop that could be missed out on a shorter trip and a stop in Arequipa or a direct bus to Cusco would probably have made more sense. On a longer trip however this could be a useful stop off point for people travelling from Cusco down to Bolivia or vice versa. 

Our second day we packed our bags again, grabbed one last viewpoint of the lake and headed back on a bus on our way to Cusco knowing we were just days away from Macchu Pichu.