Less than 48 hours from Cusco

10 hours on the bus to Puno, stopping en route for our guide to show us a few special places— a 17^th century Jesuit church in Andahuaylillas, the Inca ruin of the Temple of Viracocha in Raqchi, a pause at La Raya (altitude 4313 m) to take a deep breath and gaze at the glacier that feeds the Amazon River, a brief detour into Pucara to visit a museum featuring pre-Inca monoliths,

and then arrival into Puno to catch a few glimpses of beautiful Lake Titicaca before sunset.

5 hours to explore Puno and its restaurants before grabbing about 6 hours sleep at Hostal Buho.

A 10-hour tour on Lake Titicaca, taking in two of its amazing islands: the floating islands of Uros and the island of Taquile. For me, the floating islands were reminiscent of those of Tonle Sap in Cambodia while Taquile had a feel and look of Santorini, Greece about it.

These Lake Titicaca islands are unique in their own ways, however, and I have stories to share from both places…

As we were leaving Taquile, and descending the 500 plus stone steps to our boat, I decided that the two small girls working one of the stairway shops could use a little business. Drawn to the snickers bar and the fact that I haven’t properly kept up my chocolate intake while in Peru, I inquired as to its cost. Holding up five fingers and whispering, “cinco soles” (almost as if she was unaware that such a price was more than 200% profit) was impossible to resist. No sooner had I handed over my payment and started back on my journey then the youngest of the two shopkeepers scurried past me (and about 40 other tourists making their way to their respective boats), descending about 100 steps to her next post, where she sold not chocolate but handmade Taquile souvenirs. When I reached her second line of business, she glanced up at me again with those warm, dark eyes. Before I knew it, I was handing over more soles for an authentic woven Taquile bracelet. A sly smile from Art and I knew I had been marked. I half expected her to scurry past me again, to a third shop where she would successfully sell me whatever it was she chose to. Instead, she remained at her station, agreeing to let me take a photo of her.

Arriving back at Puno’s dock, we had a further 5 hours of walking, eating, watching a few folk dances, and being jostled about at Puno’s excessively busy bus station.

7 hours on the night bus to Cusco, including a rather disconcerting jolt from sleep for a roadside

bus and passenger search for any contraband being smuggled from Bolivia.

Home in Cusco by 5:00 am Saturday morning. Just another “less than 48 hours” in Peru!