Monday, May 14, 2007: Puno and Lake Titicaca

  [ As always click the link at bottom for photos ]
Another pretty early morning, as Fabricio was picking us up at 7am. He delivered us to the bus and we said good-bye, and told him that he had to see a dentist about a tooth that was really bothering him. Then we set off towards Puno.

The trip took 9 hours, including 4 or 5 stops and a nice lunch. We all felt at a loss about the names of the places.

The first was a colonial Catholic church, which is also known as the American Sistine chapel because of its beautifully painted ceiling. It was pointed out that many elements of the Inca religion are also incorporated into native catholicism.

Next we visited a site that the guide claimed rivals Machu Picchu in archeological importance. It is called Raqchi. It is certainly impressive, but doesn't have the same atmosphere and sense of mystery that Machu Picchu has. 

 

There are high standing walls and many round storage buildings, as well as houses for all levels of society.  We stopped for lunch at a rustic place. The food was quite good and of course there was a small tourist market.

The highest point on our route was La Raya and when we got off the bus to admire the view, we were caught in a snow storm!!

Our final stop was at a museum of pre-inca artifacts. We didn't have long there but what we saw of stone carvings was very interesting.
Finally we arrived in Puno and were met by Caesar and a driver who brought us to the Libertado Hotel. It's rated 5-Star but fell short of our expectations, considering the outstanding digs we had had!. It was also very isolated from the town, though that may not be a disadvantage, since it is on an island in Lake Titicaca facing Puno, and we take our tour by boat from a marina on site.

We ate in our room and talked for a while, then Larry went off to find a "Hot Spot" to do his computing and posting of all my account.

Photos 14 May Puno Lake Titicaca