Puno by name

We arrived in Puno - which, rather unfortunately, seemed to be in the middle of a sewer renovation project right besides the bus station. Poo-ey!

We had looked on TripAdvisor for a hotel in Puno and one had shone out from the top of the pile. We had sent them a reservation request, but had no reply. We decided that we would just take a taxi there and hope they had space.

Our taxi driver, after first trying to sell us various tours around town, informed us that the whole town would be on strike the next day and, therefore, there would be no train to Cuzco! He then offered to take us to a bus company to get a bus out of town that night - before the blockade began.

We declined his offer, partially because we wanted to verify his story with the hotel and partly because I fancied being stuck in a town under an albeit self-imposed, siege.

We arrived at the hotel and the receptionist confirmed the taxi-driver's story. We had lunch and discussed our options. We decided to get the night bus to Cuzco (night buses in Peru are not recommended). The hotel rang up the bus company and sent somebody round to pick up our tickets. Bless. They also let us use their free Wi-Fi and complimentary Coca tea.

After all our options were sorted and a place in Cuzco booked (another gem from TripAdvisor) we went for a wander around town. It was a functional, but pretty place.

Puno main square

We had our first taste of the local beverage Inca Cola which is a bit like a fluorescent yellow Irn Bru. I will need to get a hangover to test how similar to Irn Bru it actually is.

Inca Cola

We then got a taxi to see the main attraction of the town. An iron ship called Yavari which, along with its sister ship, was fabricated in the UK then chopped up into bite (Mule) sized pieces and transported up the Andes. This took six years. Followed by another two to build the ships themselves.

Due to the attentions of an English ex-pat, the ship was rescued from scrap and is being restored. It now has a working engine and floats and can be sailed. The curator seemed to imply that nobody would insure it though.

Quite amazing.

Yavari

Back to the hotel and then to the, remarkably clean, bus station for our trip to Cuzco. It wasn't our Argentinian Cama Standard, but was O.K. The impromptu Chicken and Chips went down well.

We arrived in Cuzco in the wee hours of the morning.