I don't think we're in Cusco any more, Tito
I arrived in Puno last night after a bus trip from Cusco. The trip itself included some amazing scenery and stops at an old adobe temple, the oldest church in Peru, a museum of Pukara (a pre-Inkan civilization) artifacts and lunch at Casa del Tuna or something like that. Our bus had a flat along the way, so we had an opportunity to get out and snap photos of flamingoes (!!) in a nearby lagoon.
Puno is a little...different from Cusco. The guidebooks describe it as 'seedy' or 'rough around the edges', which is appropriate. There is much less evidence of tourism here than Cusco. In fact, Puno makes Cusco look very artificial; here you get a sense of a very vibrant, youthful, and crowded community.
It certainly isn't as picturesque or fun to explore as Cusco, but Puno is interesting in its own little way. Wandering around this morning, it appears that many of the streets in the main part of town are filled with market stalls selling everything from freshly squeezed juice to butcher knives. There were plenty of coca leaves, dried corn, and all sorts of prepared food for sale as well. I actually saw people sitting at one of these stalls eating ceviche (raw fish and shellfish 'cooked' in acidic juices) at 9 in the morning. Bleah.
After my $12 a night room in Cusco, I was determined to find cheaper lodging here and am staying in a hostel (Hostel Illampu, Dad) for 10 soles a night - which is approximately $3. Surprisingly there isn't a big difference in cleanliness or scariness, but I have a feeling I'm not enjoying all of the amenities that one might if they were staying in a Motel 6, for example.
A word about the food: so far, I haven't eaten anything that didn't come from a restaurant, bakery or a package marked 'Cliff Bar'. The markets are a little scary and I don't know that I could buy even a piece of bread when it's less than 10 feet from some big flabby piece of raw meat.
There is fruit galore here. In the Urubamba Valley especially, there's a different climate every time you move a foot, which the Inkas capitalized on by engineering their crops to grow in particular climates (which is why there are 170 varieties of corn and over 300 types of potato in this one little county). Fruit juice is always fresh squeezed and you can find delicious smoothies on any street. I've had a lot of fresh fruit with yogurt in the morning - yummy. Fruit is incorporated in many of the main hot and cold courses (you would die, Amber - lots of bananas). You name the fruit, they grow it here: apple, cherry, strawberry, mango, pineapple, coconut (lots of coconut on lots of things), and so on. There are also lots of pizza places around, which is strange, but the pizzas are excellent as well. They have thin crusts and are baked in clay ovens, which give the most delicious aromas. I had a pizza con trucha (tout)that was heavenly while in Cusco. Seafood is huge here, but I haven't ventured beyond trout yet. I'll wait until I'm closer to the coast to try the ceviche.
Meat dishes are generally some type of meat in some type of gravy served with some type of rice and are all hit-or-miss as far as I'm concerned. I haven't tried alpaca or cuy (guinea pig) yet, but they are on my list. I also haven't tried a Pisco sour yet, but may tonight. I've tried to stick with beverages from clearly marked bottles - water, Cusqueña beer, vino blanco. You can tell Patti that the wine here isn't much to write home about - it's mouth-puckeringly sweet.
This afternoon I'm going to look at some Pre-Inkan funeral towers at Sillustani, near Puno and tomorrow I go out to the islands on Lake Titicaca. The trip to the islands should be interesting. We'll go to three of the five islands on the Peruvian side of the lake and I'll stay overnight with a family on one of them before coming back to Puno (Tour agency: Edgar Adventures).
I plan to get the heck out of dodge then and move on to Arequipa, the intellectual capital of Peru and jumping-off point for trips to the deepest canyon in the world.
Puno is a little...different from Cusco. The guidebooks describe it as 'seedy' or 'rough around the edges', which is appropriate. There is much less evidence of tourism here than Cusco. In fact, Puno makes Cusco look very artificial; here you get a sense of a very vibrant, youthful, and crowded community.
It certainly isn't as picturesque or fun to explore as Cusco, but Puno is interesting in its own little way. Wandering around this morning, it appears that many of the streets in the main part of town are filled with market stalls selling everything from freshly squeezed juice to butcher knives. There were plenty of coca leaves, dried corn, and all sorts of prepared food for sale as well. I actually saw people sitting at one of these stalls eating ceviche (raw fish and shellfish 'cooked' in acidic juices) at 9 in the morning. Bleah.
After my $12 a night room in Cusco, I was determined to find cheaper lodging here and am staying in a hostel (Hostel Illampu, Dad) for 10 soles a night - which is approximately $3. Surprisingly there isn't a big difference in cleanliness or scariness, but I have a feeling I'm not enjoying all of the amenities that one might if they were staying in a Motel 6, for example.
A word about the food: so far, I haven't eaten anything that didn't come from a restaurant, bakery or a package marked 'Cliff Bar'. The markets are a little scary and I don't know that I could buy even a piece of bread when it's less than 10 feet from some big flabby piece of raw meat.
There is fruit galore here. In the Urubamba Valley especially, there's a different climate every time you move a foot, which the Inkas capitalized on by engineering their crops to grow in particular climates (which is why there are 170 varieties of corn and over 300 types of potato in this one little county). Fruit juice is always fresh squeezed and you can find delicious smoothies on any street. I've had a lot of fresh fruit with yogurt in the morning - yummy. Fruit is incorporated in many of the main hot and cold courses (you would die, Amber - lots of bananas). You name the fruit, they grow it here: apple, cherry, strawberry, mango, pineapple, coconut (lots of coconut on lots of things), and so on. There are also lots of pizza places around, which is strange, but the pizzas are excellent as well. They have thin crusts and are baked in clay ovens, which give the most delicious aromas. I had a pizza con trucha (tout)that was heavenly while in Cusco. Seafood is huge here, but I haven't ventured beyond trout yet. I'll wait until I'm closer to the coast to try the ceviche.
Meat dishes are generally some type of meat in some type of gravy served with some type of rice and are all hit-or-miss as far as I'm concerned. I haven't tried alpaca or cuy (guinea pig) yet, but they are on my list. I also haven't tried a Pisco sour yet, but may tonight. I've tried to stick with beverages from clearly marked bottles - water, Cusqueña beer, vino blanco. You can tell Patti that the wine here isn't much to write home about - it's mouth-puckeringly sweet.
This afternoon I'm going to look at some Pre-Inkan funeral towers at Sillustani, near Puno and tomorrow I go out to the islands on Lake Titicaca. The trip to the islands should be interesting. We'll go to three of the five islands on the Peruvian side of the lake and I'll stay overnight with a family on one of them before coming back to Puno (Tour agency: Edgar Adventures).
I plan to get the heck out of dodge then and move on to Arequipa, the intellectual capital of Peru and jumping-off point for trips to the deepest canyon in the world.
posted by Imle at 11:01 AM
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