Marek The border with Peru looks exactly as you could imagine a border crossing in this part of the world. A lonely pavilion with a sad, uniformed clerk who stamps the passports of the few travelers. It is forbidden to transport coca leaves across the border, and there is no way to buy them right after it. Shortness of breath and slight shortness of breath return. Just to the city.
We go to Lake Titiicaca located on the shore by a tiny bus, together with a crowd of Indians. They glance at us curiously. Tourists rarely ride on this route. We are a kind of sensation. Unlike our fellow travelers, we barely fit in. If someone thinks that planes are cramped in economy class, they should take a ride in a Peruvian minibus. Keeping my knees under my chin, I hit them with my chin on every bump in the road. All I can tell you is that somehow my teeth survived this journey.
Puno would not be a place where tourists stay if it were not for the floating islands and the Uru people living on them. They build their islands out of reeds. They build reed houses, schools and even churches on them. Unlike the old days when they lived in the middle of the huge Lake Titicaca, they now stay close to the shore. This allows them to react quickly in the event of an approaching hurricane, but also earn little money by hosting tourists, showing them their lives and selling souvenirs. It is worth visiting several such islands. This lifestyle ends as young people see (unsurprisingly) a better life on land.
Attention, in the area (it is worth taking a taxi), you can see very interesting tombs. The Indians built them in the shape of towers. Of course, without mortar. Some of them have survived to this day.
When visiting the shores of Titicaca, be sure to remember that the nights here are very cold, sometimes frosty. Despite its proximity to the equator. In the evening and early morning, locals wear warm, quilted jackets and pants. I can already feel the first symptoms of a cold. I didn’t want to take warm clothes out of my luggage. Since local pharmacies don’t particularly care about paperwork like prescriptions, I’ve already stocked up on the necessary medicines. If I get the flu, I’ll fight it with all the necessary remedies, which I already have in my pockets full.
