Peru....Reflections

The floating reed islands on Lake Titicaca

A ten hour bus journey south from Cuzco and we arrived at our final destination in Peru, the lakeside town of Puno situated on the banks of the legendary Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m above sea level.

We had just enough time for one more unique experience in this wonderful country, a boat trip onto the lake to visit the floating reed islands occupied by the Uros people who ingeniously build their own islands, houses and boats out of reeds and have done for centuries. Admittedly its a little like a reed Disneyland but there's nowhere else quite like it and who are we to miss out on the opportunity to see them.

Peru has been a fantastic success and we've loved every minute of it. We've had to race through at times for fear of transport delays over the festive season but this just didn't materialise. A country rich in culture, history, scenery and diversity yet remains very poor. From our experience it appears to be a very tough place for the local people to live but they are incredibly friendly, colourful and proud of their culture.

DAYS SPENT:   15

TRANSPORT:  2 planes, 10 taxis, 6 buses, 2 mini buses, 1 train, 1 boat

NUMBER OF PLACES WE STAYED:  6 (2 B&B’s, 4 hostels)

ITEMS LOST/BROKEN:  Vanessa's silver earrings

FAVOURITE EATERY:  Jack’s Café in Cuzco

WILDLIFE SPOTTED: condors, llamas, alpacas, vicunas, mangy dogs

TOURS TAKEN:  5 (flight over the Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon, The Sacred Valley, Cuzco to Puno, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca)

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY:  the 3 soles (75p) I gave a wonderful old Peruvian lady who posed beautifully after I had the balls to ask if I could take a picture of her