Costs pp: bus Urubamba to Pisac 2s, bus to Cuzco 2s or collectivo car 5s, bus to Puno 15s. Rooms ave 20s matrimonial no baño, 30s with baño. Collectivo boat to Uros 10s with island entry 5s.
Unsure where to go next we decided on Pisac which has ruins nearby, Carol went to see the tourist info and got to watch a big wood oven at work (yes those are Guinea Pigs - Haley don't look!), but after arriving there we decided not to stay and caught a collectivo taxi to the bus terminal in Cuzco.
There we caught the 12.00 bus at 12.45 to Puno. The scenery here was of large open plains, brown with winter colours and ploughed fields in preparation for the spring sowing.
We arrived in Puno after dark and found a Residential Casa just by the terminal. The room they showed us had a messy bed so we asked for clean sheets and changed it, later there was a knock on the door and a young woman brought other clean sheets and asked for the ones we had put on the bed back! Funny place. A quarter chicken and chips for 7s filled us up and we watched local tv in spanish before falling asleep.
Today we lazed about the town and in the afternoon caught a collectivo boat out to see the famous floating islands on Lake Titicaca. The islands are strange but they work, one family lives on each island and there are 32 of them.
They are approx 2.5 meters deep and made of reeds which become soil over time but the top you walk on is always reeds being constantly replaced. The boats they use are also made of reeds although Kent said they have plastic liners now to try to make them last longer. The large reed boats they call Mercedes and the smaller ones taxis. The islanders have solar power (lights, radios, tvs) and each island is an open air stall for artezans, though how they come to sell kiln fired clayware we don't know.
Cooking is done using a large stone as a base for the stove.
Each island has a viewing platform reached by climbing a ladder. Whilst coming down one of these Carol managed to twist her ankle stepping off the last step onto the ground. She put it straight into the 9 degree C lake water and altho it was/is very sore it didn't swell much. We caught a peddlepower taxi back to the Hotel and she is now getting about on Kents crutches.
