The night before, we booked a half-day tour on Lake Titicaca to the floating villages of the Uros via our Hotel Tierra Viva Puno Plaza in Puno.
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The town of Puno on Lake Titicaca
Puno is located 3,800 meters high on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the south of Peru. Puno is also known as “Ciudad de Plata” (“the City of Silver”) from the time when Puno’s silver mines were among the most productive in Peru. The average annual temperatures are just between 14 °C and 3 °C. Puno has more than 100,000 inhabitants, even if at first glance it doesn’t seem like that at first glance. There is a small shopping and restaurant street (“Lima”) and above all a plethora of pizzerias.
The floating villages of the Uros
At 9 o’clock we were picked up and taken to the port of Puno. From there we sailed out on Lake Titicaca with a small ship. The Uros are an ethnic group of Indigenous people on Lake Titicaca. They currently live on 87 floating islands, which they make from dried Totorah reeds. In Google Maps you can see very well the location of the villages in the middle of the lake.
We had the opportunity to visit two of the islands and learn more about their culture and way of life from the inhabitants. The Uros told us a lot about the construction of their huts and we were even allowed to visit some of the huts.
The sights of Puno
Around noon we were back in the city and took a short tour through Puno. There is really not much to look for, except the Plaza Mayor with a Roman Catholic cathedral. The cathedral was built in the 17th century in the Spanish Baroque style. Otherwise you can walk through the many small alleys of the old town. In the afternoon we were at the weekly market in Puno, where you can find everything from fruit, vegetables, spices, fish, meat to clothes or toys.
Towards evening we were back at our hotel Tierra Viva .
All travelogues from Peru
Peru was one of the countries which was set from the beginning in the planning our world trip 🙂 We had already seen so many pictures of the Inca city Machu Picchu that we definitely wanted to see it. And our route through Peru we could also connect perfectly with Bolivia and Ecuador.
» Lima – Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo Spots (Peru)» From Aguas Calientes via Cusco to Lima (Peru)
» Machu Picchu – Historic Sanctuary of the Incan citadel (Peru)
» Perurail – By train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (Peru)
» Cusco – Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo Spots (Peru)
» Pass road La Raya – By bus from Puno to Cusco (Peru)
» Puno & the floating villages of the Uros in Lake Titikaka (Peru)
» By bus from La Paz (Bolivia) to Puno (Peru)