We arrived in Puno on the evening of the 16th after a bus journey that was supposed to take 5 hours but took 7! We booked into our very nice hostel and had a cup of coca tea before heading out for dinner. We had decided to have a cheap week after doing a lot of expensive activities recently, so we went to a local cafe and got a two course meal for 4 pesos each - thats about one pound! We spent the evening swapping stories and advice with travellers who were going in the opposite direction to us.

The next morning we walked around Puno seeing Lake Titicaca for the first time in daylight. After another cheap lunch we took a boat to the floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca. The islands are constructed by tying blocks of Totora reed roots together and then piling huge amounts of reeds on top to keep them afloat, replacing them regularly as the ones at the bottom rot. The inhabitants construct their homes and boats from the reeds and even eat them as well (they dont taste good!) talk about sustainable. We then went to another of the Uros Islands, this time travelling on one of the reed boats which was great fun. The ladys on the islands wear their hair in long plaits with brightly coloured woolen tassles on the end which Ashley loved. After a couple of hours on the Uros Islands we spent the evening relaxing in the hostel.

Our final morning in Puno was spent walking around town and having our last Peruvian meal before heading to the Bolivian border