Jo-Lynne Sutherland

Another 6:30 am pick up - Ughhhhh - and a 10 hour bus trip to Puno. Fortunately, we had a great guide, Martin, with a quirky sense of humour. His English was excellent and I, for one, loved his commentary because it was more about people than historical facts.

He told us about the terrorists in the 1980s where Guzman, a professor, lead people into a civil war - 60,000 farmers were killed. He said his parents were farmers, so at the age of 6 they sent him to live in Puno with relatives. There, the farmers were given free land, and they had to build their own homes. When the houses were finished, they had to pay taxes. That's why most of the homes between Cuzco & Puno looked unfinished. The interiors are finished, the exteriors are not. He said farmers don’t want to deal with banks because they charge 20 - 25 %

On route he popped out and picked up Chuta bread - warm, delicious with hint of anise. He explained that their tradition was to buy large chuta bread and share it with family. It was cute - he kept calling us "family."

He also explained that you can bargain for anything but not food, instead you ask for « yapa » and they give you a few more of what you ordered. He bought 2 loaves of bread and as “yapa” got 2 large buns.

The main produce in this area is potatoes (Google says 4,000 varieties, but each guide had “alternative facts”) quinoa (the soups are delish) & maca - said to be a natural viagra. This illicited lots of comments & laughs.

Other facts included: the Jesuit universities are virtually free provided you qualify, there are 5 private universities, and students, Martin included, often walked 1.5 hours to and from school

Our first stop was Museo Arqueologico de Pucara, a small inconspicuous museum with relics predating the Incas including the oldest mural paintings in the Americas. He explained that the Pucara civilization had different traditions than the Incas. They sacrificed their poor, while the Incas sacrificed their most beautiful children. They also mummified their dead, and based on the position their rank was known - seated meant royal, fetal was lower class. He said the hair on the mummy in my pic has actually kept growing - weird . . . .

From there we stopped at the ruins of Raqchi. To be honest, I enjoyed this far more than Machu Picchu - it’s older than MP, create in the 1300s, and well preserved. He said if there was a 2 hour movie about the history of Peru, the Inca part would only be 2 minutes.

Martin then stopped and bought a bag of coca leaves. He said coca leaves have more calcium than milk, but also have a small amount of cocaine. I later googled and found it to be .5 to 1% - you’d really have to gorge to get high. He said the Incas chewed it to ward off altitude sickness and give them energy. The Spanish later controlled it, doling it out sparingly to make the Incas work longer hours while creating their huge complexes.

Martin handed out the leaves and we stuffed them into our cheeks and chewed them as we toured about. They were bitter and crunchy, but not bad. Reminded me of the khat they chew in Yemen.

Next stop was La Raya, highest point in our tour at 4335 meters or 14,222 ft. We only stopped a few minutes for pics, so didn’t feel much worse than we already did.

Lunch at a local village was amazingly good - ample buffet of fresh veggies, fish and local dishes. Really exceeded my expectations.

Finally, we reached Puno on the edge of Lake Titicaca - at 12, 555 ft. We were now really feeling it - headache, unsteady, out of breathe. We checked into Hacienda Puno and took the stairs up to our room on the 3rd floor. Couldn’t believe how hard it was - puffing & pausing the whole way. Not like me at all. Couldn’t believe the impact high altitude can have.

Fortunately, the dinner there was extremely good - but it felt like the floor under me was moving. Others said the same.Read more