Gundry Adventure

An Unfortunate Stop Over

PERU | Friday, 18 January 2008 | Views [862] | Comments [3]

Yesterday we took a horrible 6 hour bus ride from Cusco to Puno. Only horrible because the company we booked with shoved us into another bus, unplanned, and had not allocated the seats correctly. One stand off later between Nigel and a strong Peruvian guy and we were sheepishly sitting in amongst some local people willing the journey to end!! The scenery was incredible though!

So now we are currently in Puno, a port on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca. It is not nice here and we have booked to leave tomorrow luckily. It is ugly and smelly and there is nothing to do. Our room is so uninspiring that it makes me nervous for the next 2 months of travelling, although I am really excited about moving on! It really becomes your job, working out accommodation, travel, somewhere to eat and avoiding the locals begging for money from you!! I hope it isn´t like this throughout South America.

On a positive note, we are going to Copacabana tomorrow by bus, which is in Bolivia and still on the lake. It is described in the books as ´a small, bright and enchanting town, which for centuries was the site for religious pilgrimages. It says it is ´pleasant to wonder around, with excellent cafes, and walks along the lake.´ So maybe a little quiet but hopefully more tranquil and friendly. We have booked to stay at ´La Cupula´ which the rough guide says is the best in Bolivia!! at 26 dollars a night I am dubious but it says it is ´great value with excellent food, hammocks, gardens, books and a relaxing vibe!!!!´ As long as I´m not sleeping in the hammock, hooray!!!

Tags: the planning phase

Comments

1

Bruno, Bruno - Ding, Ding round 2 !!!

P & G Jan 20, 2008 9:15 PM

2

I am learning about not so remote S.America from your blog and what I learn surprises me...Irish Pubs? I am now cross referencing the places you mention with my favourite travel info site www.tripadvisor.com and so I looked up La Cupula. Read this Nige and Su and see if you agree. I noted how fit you have to be! Perhaps reading the TA site will lessen the "research" workload....

...Copacabana from La Paz (Very important -- there are NO ATM's in the town! Go with cash.) I'd read about La Cupula and thought it sounded interesting. We didn't make prior reservations, so we made the hike up the hillside from the bus stop with our fingers crossed!

The man who greeted us at the front desk was very helpful! He didn't seem at all peeved about people showing up without reservations but apologetically told us that the only room he had left was the honeymoon suite. What great luck!

The hostal is laid out in an interesting plan, with a number of small buildings constituting the larger hostal; the honeymoon suite is on the second floor of a building which contains a few other rooms, and you have to reach the suite by climbing a small ladder. Once you're up the ladder, your door is on the ceiling, so you have to unlock it upside-down and then swing it upwards to enter the room. The suite itself is a little small but GORGEOUS -- full-size bed directly underneath a high dome, from which hung a a decorative mobile. Across from the bed was a partition, with windows from half-way up the wall to the ceiling. It was designed this way to allow guests a view of the lake--without ever having to get out of bed!
On the opposite side of the partition is an indoor patio with a lot of potted plants, a hammock and windows all around. The cold of the lake, easy to feel because of all the windows in the honeymoon suite, is mitigated by the small space-heater placed near the hammock. The patio adjoins the private bathroom, which was never lacking in hot water while we were there.

All in all, the honeymoon suite was amazing, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who can climb a ladder. We stayed our second night in another room with three full-sized beds and again, its own private bathroom. It too was nice, but didn't compare at all to the charm of the honeymoon suite. (Remember, they only had to move us because we hadn't made prior reservations, and the suite was only available for our first night.)

Bottom line -- this place might be hard to get to, but it has an incredible location and is worth the hike. It's not actually that far removed from the action in the town, but the hike uphill does take its time if you're not yet acclimatised. It's perhaps the best place to stay if you're considering scaling el Calvario (a lung-bursting ascent, but well worth the views!). The other travelers who commented on the nearby farm are absolutely right in that the farm smells unpleasant, but do believe them when they say that you won't notice the smell once inside the hotel. Other benefits are the great restaurant. Since it's on the outskirts of town and away from a lot of light pollution, the hostal's courtyard is also in a perfect place for seeing the Milky Way. Book the honeymoon suite because the other rooms, though nice well, don't compare. We did run into a number of spiders in the showers. Just check your linens in the daylight hours to make sure they're clean. All in all, this could be a great place for a unique, if somewhat rustic, romantic getaway.

Anna Jan 28, 2008 12:00 AM

3

It sounds like you have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime (Jean sent me your text re. Galapogos Islands). I am totally jealous - that one has been on my list for ages!!! Have you been snorkelling. Let me know if you find a good local place to stay or a millionaire with a big yacht I can crew for :-))
After seeing Mon's photos I bet you are going to have a breathtaking time in New Zealand too.
Good luck with the rest of your adventure.
xx

Norms Jan 29, 2008 8:53 PM