New Years day, we were picked up at 6:00am to start our bus trip from Cuzco to Puno. Funny how when you're traveling, getting up at 6:00 isn't all that hard, but at home, yeeeek! As a friend would say, that's stupid o'clock! We made a bunch of stops along the way, the first at a very old church in a very small village. They took us in and explained much of the paintings on the walls, however we were not able to take photos.
A very old tree across from the church, it was very knarly and twisted!
Further down the Panamericana highway were these Inca ruins, a mid point between Cuzco and Puno, where much trading and storage took place - veggies, fruits and other produce from the Cuzco area where it was abundant, meats from the flatlands and mountains and grains from the area around Puno.
Its amazing to watch how the beautiful yarn and string is made, many women walk around with their spinners, and if their hands are free, start refining yarn into thread or wool into yarn.
This was the place we stopped for lunch, it was buffet, and delicious! I think I ate more here than anywhere else in Peru! You can see the waterfall in the background, and on the other side of the building was some crazy llamas!
The highest point on the pass, you can see we're at 4,335m above sea level. The top of the mountain we were passing over was appoximately 5400m!
At this high pass, in the freezing cold, were ladies with their hand made weaving and crafts - we couldn't resist the beautiful bright colours, so picked up a small blanket from this crafter.
One more small town, and some great buildings and churches....
And finally Puno! At an elevation of 3830m above sea level, we arrived late afternoon, so found our way to the hostal, grabbed a quick bite at a shop on the main street, then crashed for the night! This is the farthest south we will go - just across lake Titicaca lies Bolivia, and the tempting city of La Paz.... but that will have to be for another trip! We'll stick with Peru this time around!
XO
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