A lot of time spent on the bus today, but some more spectacular scenery as we travelled towards Puno. We quickly climbed out of the Colca Valley, and returned to our 4900 metre viewpoint. This was as high as we would go on this trip so we made the most of it, taking pictures of each other in the bright sunshine and adding to the piles of stones other travellers had left. As we returned to the treeline and saw more vegetation, we enjoyed sighting now-familiar alpaca and vicuña herds.
After a restorative cup of mate (coca leaf) tea mixed with mint - no, the coca leaves aren't illegal, or addictive unless you chew 50 kg of them - we headed east towards Lake Titicaca. We stopped for a picnic at a lake where hundreds of coots and a few flamingoes were resting, and enjoyed cheese and ham sandwiches as we admired the view. We pressed on, dozing as the bus drove through the plains, and going through the town of Juliaca - rather ambitiously described as the "jewel of the altiplano", where various fiestas were in full swing as we went through the narrow streets.
The cultural activity for the day was the burial tower complex at Sillustani, just north of Puno. Our guide Elisio met us at the entrance and we learned how important people from pre-Inca and Inca times were buried in foetal position to await rebirth, and how the temples had evolved through the ages. They had been built robustly to withstand earthquakes, but had been looted during the Spanish conquests. Even so, they looked impressive and strangely modern and it was easy to see the impact they must have made when they were built.
Our hotel was some distance out of Puno, on the lake shore, and on the way out there we were treated to a spectacular lightning show over the lake, with forks of lightning every two or three seconds, and our first rainfall since arriving in Peru.
We asked to be brought back into Puno for dinner after a couple of nights of hotel restaurant food. We went into a local chicken shop where we were allowed to avoid the queue of people paying in advance, and sat at tables with a loud movie on screens. For 40 soles (about £9) we got a huge barbecued chicken and the largest plate of chips I've seen in my life. (also a salad but we avoided that, for health reasons, you understand...) Another of the top ten Peruvian foods ticked off - but more of that later...
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