Day 15 - Onwards to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at an altitude of 3820m!
 
Today saw us boarding the local bus onwards to Puno where upon we would be undertaking Ads & Ian's most favourite part of the trip, a local family homestay where they dressed us up in traditional costume and took us dancing!!! Wahoo!
 
The scenery on route from Cuzco was beautiful, winding valleys of beautiful autumn colour farming terraces and mountains, much of the landscape at times reminded us of the Lake District if you took away the poverty stricken straw huts which the locals lived in . Working in the fields we saw mainly women whilst the men undertook the old arable farming techniques with ox and cart, again a tough life to see amongst such a stunning landscape. As we climbed higher, the mountains became glacial peaks and at our highest point we stopped at 'Abra La Raya', 4338 metres high in the snow capped mountains! We can probably all say that to date this had been our highest and most breathless toilet stop!!
 
After we descended slightly passing through a large city called Juliaca, which to us was so reminiscent of India, dirt tracks for roads and dust everywhere, stray dogs, people, carts, tuk tuks and old lorries, all going madly about their daily duties in no particular direction, it was an interesting place to drive through but we were quite glad we weren't staying here. Soon after we were nearing Puno and high from the mountain top the city looked huge, expanding vast among the valley with the beautiful deep blue Lake Titicaca in the distance, such a stunning setting! Our hotel again was lovely with an open fire in reception, the town was buzzing with people and after me finding some dodgy striped local made cheap pantaloons due to finding the biggest hole ever had appeared in the butt (oops!) of my 2 yr old Primark others, we managed to find a cheap local café called Rico's with the most amazing homemade quiche and cake, this being the first time we had seen quiche in 9 months, it was like being at home! The effects of the altitude really hit me though for some reason and feeling out of breath and rough to bed for the rest of the day/eve to sleep it off it was, whilst Ads went to the home stay briefing for the next day then got us takeaway cheese sandwiches from Rico's so that I didn't have to move....more aspirin please mum!