This next part started out with the ‘10 hour bus trip from hell’, that was more enforced tourism (entry fees already paid to three places and a buffet lunch included) with a ‘sergeant major’ guide! Not helped by the fact that I was not feeling well and we had a 6am pickup. Fortunately we were given the front seats in the bus so I was pleased about that. Unfortunately the tour guide tried to make us move to the two seats behind the driver. Probably the look on my face and my grumbling gave him the message so he didn’t push it and we didn’t move.
This church (Andahuaylillas) is known as the Sistine Chapel of South America. Not sure by whom. It was the first stop on our bus ride. There is Dick looking for me.
We saw other archeological sites – Racqui (site of an Inca temple) and Pukara (a pre-Inca museum) but the stops seemed to be a good excuse to bring tourists to the local markets.
Interesting to stop at LaRaya, the highest point of the trip at 4313 m (12,000 ft)Couldn’t resist another one of these pics, this time with a llama. Supporting local tourism, and of course there was a market here as well at LaRaya.
Finally got to Puno and I was feeling much worse, so visited a local farmacia and tried to get a mild laxative. Somehow even Google translate doesn’t work well for medical terms. After a sleepless night with terrible stomach cramps, I had to stay in bed and let Dick go off to see Lake Titicaca and the floating islands on his own. As luck would have it, the room was probably the worst hotel room of our trip, but didn’t matter as all I needed was the toilet.
Arriving at the Uros Floating Islands in Lake Titicaca, which is the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake in the world. It is known as the Sacred Lake of the Incas.
Greeted by the women of the Uros Islands. There are about 100 floating islands (population 2000) made out of totora reeds by a method that has been handed down for thousands of years.
This woman is the president of that island where 18 people live. She is giving a speech to the visitors. They work hard as the reeds they walk on need to be replenished once a month, and each island only lasts 30 years.These woman are singing as the visitors go off on a boat ride. It was mentioned that they are generally overweight as they don’t get much exercise on these little islands. Also they still speak their own language.
Here is the type of boat they went off for a ride around the islands in. Like everything else, the boats are also made out of totora reeds.The boats loaded with 20 visitors, were rowed by two strong, young women.
Their next stop was Taquille Island (5.6km’s long and 1.5kms across). The island is steep and was covered with 3000 year old agricultural terraces.
The inhabitants (approx 2200) follow a mix of Inca, pre Inca and Christian philosophy summarized by “do not steal, do not lie and do not be idle” and they have no crime there.
A view of Puno and Lake Titicaca from the lookout as we were leaving town (and all I saw of the place). By this time Dick was feeling worse than me and we concluded that being at high altitude is not good for either of us.
In contrast to our expectations, our private tour of Lima with Mariella turned out to be one of the best tours we did. We seem to be getting very spoiled with our private tours, which also colors the times when we are in shared tours or transport. In addition to showing us the sights, Mariella also helped us with some personal jobs we needed to do like buying more malaria pills, changing money and finding a gluten free store for us. Everything is so much easier when we have our own translator.
We started at the fruit and veg market, which was very colorful. Great to have a guide explain what we were seeing.Also saw an ancient adobe pyramid, Huaca Pucllana, built in pre-Inca times.
Learned about San Martin, a major leader of liberation from Spain in 1826, and saw his statute in the square.
Visited the other main square in the old city
Got acquainted with the local constabulary, who were guarding the Presidential Palace
Visited the Franciscan Catacombs in the Monastery of San Francisco (Basilica and Convent). We couldn’t take pictures inside and frankly I am hoping I will forget about all the human bones we saw there. Piles of bones artistically arranged and sorted by type ie femurs, skulls, tibias, fibulas as they are the toughest parts of the human body. It is estimated that 25,000 bodies were laid to rest there. Also visited the library (25,000 volumes) and the museum but the lasting memory was of the Catacombs.
Finished our Lima tour at the Larco Museum which was established in 1926 by Rafael Larco Hoyle, a pioneer of Peruvian archaeology. Their mission is to serve as a gateway to ancient Peru and it houses a pre-Inca art collection of 45,000 objects. This added a whole new perspective to what we had been learning about the Inca’s and the Spaniards in Peru. In fact Peru is one of the few places on Earth where civilization emerged independently approximately 5000 years ago. Interesting that in Australia there does not seem to be the same interest in or respect of the indigenous history that extends for at least 60,000 years.
Viewing a Paracas Mantle which is approximately 3000 years old. These were used to wrap funerary bundles and contained important religious information which accompanied the dead into the afterlife. In Paracas mantles the positioning and orientation of the designs, the sequences of the motifs and the alternation of the colors were filled with meaning. We marvelled at the intricacy and quality of the preserved mantle.
Quipus – the main system used by the Incas to record information. It was based on the decimal system and the colors, knots and distances between the knots identified the characteristics of the population being recorded (important for recording information on the labor the population had to provide). Managed by specialist officials called quipucamayocs, sounds like early accountants to me!
We finished our time in Peru with a fun night out with Marie Hill, an former Austrade colleague currently posted in Lima, and two of her friends. It was great to catch up with Marie and we enjoyed meeting her friends, especially as it was a different context than the general travel discussions we’ve been having with strangers
One thought on “Puno, Lake Titicaca and Lima finish our time in Peru”
Sorry to hear you’ve both been crook. I hope your tummies are better now.
The tours sound ‘interesting’ – so many of them all over the world are excuses to sell you stuff! Still, all good fun.
L
F
Sorry to hear you’ve both been crook. I hope your tummies are better now.
The tours sound ‘interesting’ – so many of them all over the world are excuses to sell you stuff! Still, all good fun.
L
F