We arrived in Puno late afternoon afternoon to yet another lovely hotel.

We dropped off our bags and headed straight out for an orientation tour of the city, and then to get gifts at the local supermarket for the local families we would be staying with the following evening.

The gifts were actually practical & consisted of quinoa (the local grain), dehydrated milk, popping corn, oats & tea.

We then went back to the hotel for a quick shower and change, then out for dinner at a restaurant that had a local dancing & music show.

I had my first Pisco Sour in Peru, exotic duck which looked great but tasted ordinary and a 'haujsapato' (hot red wine with OJ & pisco). Others tried the guinea pig (cuy) but wasn't yet ready to stomach this!

All went to bed early, and up early with our day packs prepared for our overnight trip to Lake Titticaca.

We travelled to the boat by means of a 2 person bicycle style tuk tuk.

Then boarded the boat with our first stop being the floating reed islands of Uros. 

At first it felt a little cheesy, all the locals dressed in thier brightly colored local dress, waving to us as we sailed by ...

We then arrived at the island we were to visit with the same fan fare, and we greeted them in the small amount of Quechua we'd managed to learn on the boat in the hour since leaving Puno.

The islanders seated us immediately on a log made of reeds, and we were introduced to the family.  

We were then treated to an explanation of how they create the floating read islands - they literally are made from the reeds and require much work to create and upkeep.

After the explanation each family (about 6 on the island) invited a few of us each, into their hut to try on their local dress!  Once again very cheesy but funny!

The one we were in was basic but had a small black & white tv which Iater realised was powered by the solar panels on their roof! 

They had us pose for photos after dressing us, then proceeded to sell us their wares that included wall hangings, jewelry and other trinkets.

After our shopping was done we hopped on a reed boat for a cruise around the islands then back onto our big boat.

We all waved goodbye fondly to the islanders, having enjoyed our visit, then headed for our next destination, Armantani Island!

Most of us were greeted by our host families when we arrived.

Others like myself, Sandeesh & Ceri met ours further up the hill (another long panting walk and I can see why they didn't come down!).

Accommodation was great!  So much better than our low expectations and very clean and tidy. We also had a nice clean tiled toilet and vanity, that although having all the signs that the plumbing was hooked up to receive water, actually needed to be filled and flushed using a barrel of water nearby.

We chatted to the families 11 year old son, Brian, in Spanish, and I showed him a postcard of home to explain where I live (shh just quietly I've been showing the sunshine coast one as its much prettier than brissy!!!). 

I gave him a koala & kangaroo keyring and also a wad of Australiana stickers.  He seemed most excited about the latter and I can see why when wandering around later noticed keys to other rooms already had koalas dangling from the keys!!!

We were served lunch as soon as we arrived which also exceeded expectations!  A decent serving of food and consisted of a soup of potato, egg and the local grain quinoa. Followed by potatoes, yams and a slice of something similar to haloumi.

This was washed down with hot water infused with Amoona - a local herb which seems to help immensely with opening your airways!

We washed up after lunch, sitting outside on the concrete and using a couple of buckets.

We then gave the family our food gifts, to which they seemed grateful and told us to have a siesta.

After our siesta (which was oh so nicely spent lying on the hillside!) our family took us to the soccer game - gringos vs locals! We did ok but the locals kicked our butts!!!  

They did have an unfair advantage over us out of breather sea side living gringos when we're playing at 4200 metres above sea level!!!

Next we puffed and panted our way up to the peak of the hill that the community was perched on.  At the top were more people selling local handcrafts ... Is there anywhere they won't go to try to sell us an alpaca beanie??? And there were also ruins that apparently at one time were used for human sacrifices on the solstices.

They spared us this day and instead our guide gave us a few tips on how we can make wishes come true ... One was to walk anti clockwise around the ruins put a stone in the wall and make a wish. and another was to walk through the arch and make a wish ... I did both so lets see how I go!!!

He also told us both the high Andes and Nepal were 2 of the most spiritual places in the world and that we should sit for at least 20 minutes & soak up the energy ... Kinda hard when you're surrounded constantly by too many gringos & on tight deadlines!!!!

Alas maybe along the Inca Trail on my journey to Machu Pichu?!

Which reminds me I also grabbed a rock from the shores of Titicaca to put in the wall of Machu Pichu!  He said this is extra good luck so better wish for something real good when I do that one!!!

We walked back down the mountain in the dark by the light of our torches ...

We stopped for a super yummy hot chocolate with Baileys to warm up, then our families took us home fo dinner.  

For us Brian was there to collect us. We had a funny walk home with a couple of other girls from our tour (who are notorious for drinking & partying) and their hosts daughters, Rosalie.  

The girls were a similar age as Rosalie (they 19, Rosalie 20) and thought they'd be polite and buy her a wine ... They werent sure if she liked it as wasnt sipping any, so they toasted her, 'Salud!'.

Rosalie sculled the whole glass then got all embarrassed when they laughed at her! The girls thought she was awesome and that they had found the perfect host family for themselves!

Our local guide translated for Rosalie, that she doesnt usually drink and that's what her parents do when they toast!

Rosalie giggled, staggered and stumbled the whole way home with us!!! 

It was so funny to see, but apparently she made sure she acted straight when she got home, so hopefully her folks were none the wiser about the gringa's getting her pissed!

Dinner was ready when we got back ... More delicious soup similar to the last one, followed by pasta in a tomato & herb sauce with rice! There was no chance we were going to starve!

We had a 'disco' that night in the local hall and all our host families were obliged to dress us local for the occassion! 

For me that involved a white embroided top, a big double layered flouncy skirt, a colorful embroider belt, and a black embroided shawl!  

It actually looked kinda cute! Especially when I teamed it with my black thermal & leggings underneath & black ballet shoes. (Most others only had hiking pants & boots to wear - not me - always prepared!).

They had a band playing drums, flutes and guitars, and the locals made sure we got up to dance.

It was a fun night but just before we were about to leave, the storm that had been looming since sunset broke, and even brought hail with it!!!

About 30 minutes later there was finally a break in the rain and we headed for home with our family!

The ground was completely covered in fine hail making it look like snow and as soon as we started the ascent to our home, I knew I was in trouble and should have been wearing the hiking boots!!!

Hmm ... Time to put the cup of red wine I was carrying down!

My shoes were so slippery I couldn't get any traction in the icy hill that had also now turned to mud!  At one point I started sliding back down it again and had my host father with his hand on my butt to stop my decent!!!

I had no choice but to take my shoes off and make my way up as fast as I could, barefoot through the mud and ice!!!  I got back in record time and noted the next day that I must have been so focused I didn't even end up out of breath from the altitude!!!

We all went to bed straight away climbing in under what felt like 20 heavy blankets, but were very necessary to keep out the cold!

The next morning woke to glorious sun and melting hail.

Breakfast was pancakes with jam - once again very tasty!

Our family took us down to the wharf to meet the rest of our group and farewell us.

From there we had a very rough one hour boat ride to Taquille Island.

Once there, a steep panting incline led us up the island, then followed a path that lead us to the Markets (more handicraft shipping!) and then onto lunch.

Delicious local bread and trout were enjoyed by all whilst admiring the gorgeous view from a cottage style garden.

I was also again amazed to see how many solar panels could be seen!  Great to see it must be affordable enough for all to embrace solar, the world over!

From there we continued on our path around the island, and finished on the other side where the boat had gone to meet us.

A calmer trip back to Puno, 3 hours in total.

That afternoon I went for some ME time stopping at a cafe for an expresso, and who should I spot walking past but my first tour driver, Lawrence!  Seems Anton was right about them crossing paths with us a lot!

That night was quiet with dinner at a local restaurant - crispy chicken with passionfruit sauce - mmm! Still haven't tried local delicacies of guinea pig and alpaca!

The next morning was our bus to Cusco, 7 hours! 

Yes this is why I have so much time to write long winded blogs!!