Looking for the Lake

Cusco to Puno

Another early start for our weekend trip to Lake Titicaca. We left Cusco International Bus Station at 7am. No time for breakfast at the hotel before departure this time, so a lightning stop by the tour guide at Oropesa, the village where we volunteer, to pick up a couple of their speciality loaves (slightly sweet tasting, stottie-shaped, with patterns impressed upon them) was very welcome.

Along the way, we visited two richly decorated Baroque churches, at Andahuaylillas and Checacupe. The former, dedicated to St Peter the Apostle, contains so many frescos that it has been nicknamed "the Sistine Chapel of America". Next point of interest was the imposing, clay-coloured, 16th Century Temple at Raqchi, dedicated to the ancient Inca God, Wiracocha, creator of sun and moon. It looms high, the central feature of a large complex in an area of marshland consisting of the ruins of houses and restored grain stores. It even has its own sun gate.

Lunch was in a cavernous building, overlooking a rural stop on the the main Cusco to Puno railway line. The food was 'interesting'. The one-pot style chicken and fish main courses were tasty, but the puddings, apple compote, rice? pudding and egg custard, although they looked delicious, did not taste like home.

Perhaps the most visually dramatic stop was at La Raya, not really a place, just the name of this part of the mountain range, meaning 'the crease, line, streak, mark, stria, dash, score or scratch'; it is a viewing point or mirador on the dividing line between the regions of Cusco and Puno, 4,335 metres above sea level. And what a view. Hardly a 'scratch on the landscape'. The vendors of fabric and alpaca goods must struggle to sell anything at all when the tourists are all pointing their cameras at the beautiful, snow-capped mountains behind them.

Final stop before Puno was Pukara, a one-bike town with a sleepy central square and its own tiny museum that we struggled to fit into to listen to the tour guide's information. It is also famous for its bulls; a symbol introduced by the Spanish invader, they are supposed to bring good luck, and appear to decorate everything, including the walls and railings around the church. However, this seemingly insignificant village was once the origin of an important pre-Inca culture, dating back to the 1st Century AD, hence the museum.

Arrival at our hotel in Puno was around 5.30, just in time for a quick wash and bag drop before Pisco Sour time and dinner. Definitely in that order, hey Theresa?! It'll all go tits up in the morning ;)Read more