Cusco to Puno
Early start today as we leave Cusco and get on a tourist bus to drive to Puno City.
It’s a bigger bus that seats 40 passengers . Marciano’s has us all seated together at the front of the bus which is great. The other passengers are either from USA or Canada and I think there are a few non English speakers so the commentary will be in English and Spanish. We stop briefly in a bakery town where our hostess gets off to buy some local sweet bread called Pan Chita and then we get to pull a piece off to try. I’m glad we are at the front of the bus! The drive weaves it’s way through small villages to our first stop in a very small village Andahuaylillas to visit what is known as the Sistine Chapel of South America, San Pedro Apōstol de Andahuaylillas. We are not able to take photos inside but we are given a calendar of photos. It is so ornate and heavily decorated and dating back to 1600. The Chapel is built on Inca Foundations.
The drive continues through the small towns where once again we can observe the life of the local people.
Our next stop is a archaeological site of Raqchi. It’s an example of Inca architecture located on the outskirts of the QinsaChata volcano. The temple was constructed in honor of the Wiracocha God. The foundations are Inca stone work and the upper walls are mud brick. It was of significant as a pilgrimage centre.
Lunch stop is a buffet at la Pascala and now we are on our way to the pass which is the highest part of our trip at 4300m above sea level.
As we move out of the valley floor the landscape changes . There are less trees and it is cooler.
When we get out at the view point their are so many ladies with their stalls set up to sell souvenirs. This is the natural habitat of the Llama and Alpaca and they are in herds everywhere. Peru is home to over 3 million of them.
From here we travel into the Puno region. There is few trees, a lot of cattle and wheat. Our last stop before Puno is a small town called Pukara. It is where they make the ceramic bulls that we see on the rooftops of houses all over . They are a symbol of prosperity for the family. We visit a small museum and then walk a little way down a street to a coffee shop.
Back on the bus the hostess Mirabel offers us a cup of Inca Cola,the chosen soft drink of the locals. It’s creaming soda but bright yellow and very sweet.
Now we continue to Puno. On the drive Marcial explains our itinerary for tomorrow and a bit more about our home stay which we have been a little anxious about ( we being all of the group).
Juliana is a city 1 hour out of Puno. Marcial describes it as the ugliest and worst city in Peru. It is huge and ugly indeed. There are many unfinished houses, it’s dirty and dusty and corruption is rife. With a black market operating between here and Bolivia for anything from drugs to fake designer products. The nicest buildings we see is the university just outside the main area.
I have never seen so many dogs! All shapes,sizes and breeds. They are everywhere just roaming the streets. Every village or city we have been there are dogs even out in the middle of nowhere. It’s out of control.
When we get to Puno we will check into our hotel, have a look around, something to eat and then an early night ready for another early start.