Diary Entry
The journey from the border town of Yunguyo leads over the barren high plateau and in parts along the lake. We pass many small villages or individual farms in the middle of nowhere. Here and there an alpaca has been leashed. Sometimes we don’t realize that we are driving close to the shore as it is so heavily overgrown with reeds after Puno.
We spend two days there, cover ourselves with alpaca clothes and eat a lot of trout. The old town is beautiful and we expand our experience of Peru. Here, too, the demonstrations for the upcoming elections are making themselves felt and are blocking the streets.
We have accommodation on the slope of the mountain from which we have a great view over the city and the lake. At night there is a special performance. A widespread thunderstorm is beginning on the horizon, in the mountains across the lake, and we can see the lightning flashing in the distance.
For the roads of Peru we have to buy insurance. We cannot buy these in Yunguyo, but from there to Puno there are police checks asking about insurance.
Some officials are sympathetic to travelers who have not yet been able to purchase such insurance, but others make personal profit out of it. I was able to get such insurance (SOAT) online from a small agency. This agency actually paid in advance and I received the insurance online while I was still in Bolivia. In Puno I meet Roxana, with whom I have arranged to meet via Whatsapp, and like in a spy film, we meet in the main square of the city and arrange to hand over the money for there.
The traffic in the country is even crazier than in the other countries we have visited. There aren’t even traffic signs that would dictate right of way.
There are few traffic lights, but nobody sticks to them. The horn is used for this inflationary much.
At a restaurant we are experimenting with our order again and suddenly find ourselves face to face with a roasted guinea pig on a plate. The rodent tastes like a tiny suckling pig. It’s very greasy and crunchy, but it’s very difficult to shave some meat off the bones, and the popular pet pet has a strong taste of its own. Never again. There are many cafes and the prices are significantly higher than in Bolivia. But Puno is also very touristic.
Visitors come from many countries to see Lake Titicaca. The special thing is that the lake in front of the city is full of inhabited reed islands and seagrass landscapes. This invites for unusual excursions and in the city many people advertise their boat tours through the islands of Uros. We turn down the offers because I’ve already booked a three-day stay on an island that’s been in the family for generations.
