Hanging with the locals

Devon and I were ready to eat

Breakfast with our island family

The three amigos

A good use for old sandals

Any proper reed-boat needs a good cabeza

A floating island on Lake Titikaka

A nice ornament for the top of your house

Jeff would not make it if alpaca clothing were his trade

I would not make it if quinoa bread were my trade

This door was not made for Devon

Lake Sullustani

The sign at the La Raya stop

From Lima to Cusco to Puno to Arequipa

(Devon, Jeff, and I with a native Peruvian woman on the way to Puno - the La Raya stop)

When last I blogged, about a week ago, we were in Lima. Since then we've managed to circumscribe a large part of southern Peru. This wasn't original our plan; we were supposed to visit Cusco and Puno and then leave for Ecuador. However, after checking into our transportation options we determined that getting to Quito would either take too long or cost too much. So, we decided to do southern Peru properly.

We started by flying to Cusco. We spent about 24 hours in Cusco; we were there to try to book an Inca trail trek. Normally, you have to book an Inca trail trek at least 4 months in advance. However, we lucked out and managed to book a trek for November 8th to November 11th; so, we will be returning to Cusco on November 6th. After setting things up, we left Cusco for Puno on the train.

This train ride was amazing. The train went straight through the Sacred Valley and easily cleared 14, 000 ft at one point. After arriving in Puno, we relaxed a bit and booked a tour on Lake Titikaka for the 1st and the 2nd of November. We also visited an archeological sight called 'Sullustani'. Aside from gruelling boat rides, the lake tour was amazing. We visited floating islands constructed from lake reed. We spent the night of the 1st on Amantani island with a local family; we also danced with the locals. On the 2nd, we visited Taquile Island before heading back to Puno. This island was very picturesque; we had some great fish there for lunch. After returning to Puno, we ate and rushed to the bus station to catch our bus to Arequipa, which we did. We made it to Arequipa at 2am.

I've posted a number of photographs of the last 6 days. I hope that you enjoy them. Oh, and by the way, Devon has some more photos posted on his blog.