Peru, Puno

Puno is on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca.

We did an afternoon tour to see the funery towers at Sillustani. It was OK but we've seen so many Inca ruins elsewhere that it wasn't so impressive. The tour cost 20 soles.

We did an great overnight tour to some of the islands on Lake Titicaca.
We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the boat. First stop was the Uros floating islands after 30 mins. Quiet touristy but interesting. The boat then took 2.5 hours to get to Amantani. We were divided up amongst the villagers and had a late lunch. The accommodations are basic but comfortable. Toilets were outside and there were no showers. Beds were comfortable and had warm blankets. The simple vegetable meals were tasty. We then walked to the top of a hill which had a fantastic view over the island and the lake. We had dinner with the family and then were dressed up in local costume and went to a local hall for a local dance. Not actually as cringing as you may think and was quite fun if you enter into the spirit (beers are available for sale!).
Breakfast was served and then we went to Taquile, another island and walked around. the local men and women have interesting costumes. Lunch was served at a local restaurant. Lunch was included in our ticket but others had to pay between 10 and 12 soles depending on what they had. It's definately better to have the lunch included in your ticket. The boat then took 3 hours to get back to Puno.
You definately need good suntan lotion and a hat as the sun is extremely strong at this altitude.

The tour cost 60 soles. We booked both tours through friendly Kingdom Travel on Calle Lima. Ask for a discount from the rack rates.

We found two great spots for breakfast. Cheap, friendly and quick had good cakes and are open from 6am. Smarter Ricos Pan on Calle Lima had a good value American breakfast which was enough to share.

Puno has cheaper international telephone calls than Cusco. Most places seemed to charge 0.50 soles per minute to Europe and the USA.

We then travelled to Copacabana, Bolivia. The cheapeast and easiest was with Colectur on Calle Tacna near the Mercado Central. The ticket cost 12 soles and many agencies use the same bus and just charge more. They stopped at the border and you can change money and do the Peruvian formalities and walk over the border and do Bolivian immigration. The bus then continues the 8km to Copacabana.

There is no ATM in Copacabana so withdraw enough soles in Peru or have dollars to change. The rates at the border and in Copacabana were the same.