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Titicaca Island HoppingRoute: Puno - Uros - Amantani - Taquile - PunoOn this traditional Peru tour, you’ll visit floating Uros island before sailing on to an island in the middle of the lake where you’ll spend the night in the home of a local family on the island of Amantani. It's a unique opportunity to get to know the traditional Quechua Indians that live here. You’ll need to have a flexible attitude and be prepared to go basic; you’ll have dinner with the family, sleep in a basic bed and share a ‘toilet’ and bathroom with the them. Facilities on the island are very limited. In return though, you’ll be treated to a memorable traditional Peru experience. The next day you’ll sail on to the knitting men of Isla Taquile for a walk through the Inca terraces and a lunch of fresh fish before sailing back to Puno. You’ll have the rest of the evening to soak up the atmosphere in the university town of Puno before travelling on to the next destination on your Peru holiday. |
| Duration | 3 days / 2 nights |
Accommodation |
1 night with a local family, shared facilities and 1 night Puno hotel (browse our photos here). |
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Price |
£80 per person - based on 2 people sharing |
Includes |
Transport, guide on the boat trip, full-board on Amantani Island, accommodation in Puno including breakfast |
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Transport |
Return transfer hotel - harbour, fast boat Puno - Uros - Amantani -Taquile - Puno. |
Excludes |
Lunch on Isla Taguile, other meals, excursions and entrance fees |
Day 1: Puno - Uros - AmantaniIn the morning on the first day of this traditional Peru trip, you’ll be picked up at your hotel for the short drive to the busy harbour of Puno and the first day of your Titicaca Islands tour. Around 8am, you’ll board the boat with your fellow passengers and sail out onto the wide open lake. You'll be accompanied by an English-speaking guide and, as a "formality", you’ll be given a lifejacket to wear while you're on the boat– well, at least until you’re out of sight of the harbour…We've booked the fast(er) boat for you, because it's quite a long way. On the open deck it can get quite chilly (remember you're at an altitude of 3900m!) and, even though it’s nice and sunny, you'll need to bring a hat and gloves if you have them and don't forget your sunscreen! |
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The deep blue water of Lake Titicaca is the stuff of legends and is a must-visit destination on any Peru trip. Its not Machu Picchu, but Titicaca, that is the most important Inca site. According to local legend this is the birth place of the first Inca, the Sun God Manco Capac who together with his wife - incidentally also his sister - founded what was once the greatest civilization to rule the southern hemisphere; the Inca empire. After about an hour, the boat will moor at the floating reed islands of Uros. The islands are entirely made of totara reed. As the bottom layer slowly rots away, the reed requires permanent maintenance which is why the inhabitants continuously need to add new layers of reed to the top layer. Houses, boats, watchtowers, the school, it's all made from reed. You can take a short trip on a reed raft to one of the neighbouring islands, steered by a man with a long wooden pole. An hour later you'll board the boat again and head to the island of Amantani, where you'll be staying for this night of your traditional Peru tour. |
| Based on a fair and impartial system you’ll be placed with one of the island families. The proceeds of your stay all go towards the development of the island, for example to buy school supplies or farming tools. Usually you’ll be staying in a small clay hut with a straw mattress and a couple of warm blankets. Around sunset you’ll go on a walk across the island with a local guide. At the top of a nearby hill there’s a small Inca ritual site with beautiful views across the island and the lake. A small gift for your hosts is greatly appreciated, like soap, crayons and paper or a toothbrush and toothpaste. This is a really unique opportunity to experience traditional Peru life on your Latin American holiday. |
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Day 2: Amantani - Taquile - PunoAfter breakfast it's time to say goodbye to your hosts and continue with your Peru trip as you head down the long flight of steps to the jetty. As the boat sails off around 8am, you can see the sun coming up across Lake Titicaca. An hour later, you'll step ashore in Taquile, but it's another 45 minutes uphill to the village square.The square isn't just a meeting place for the local villagers, it also serves as a football field and public assembly room. The locals, in their brightly coloured traditional dress, look at you with bemusement as you observe their rather unusual knitting habits. Later that morning, you'll take a walk across the fields to a small Inca ruin and enjoy a fresh fish lunch on the other side of the island. With the sun setting across the water you'll sail back from Taquile to Puno where you'll be dropped off at your hotel 3 hours later. Enjoy your second night of your traditional Peru tour by trying the local speciality Pollo a la Plancha at one of the many chicken restaurants of Puno. |
Day 3: Puno - departureAfter another night in Puno it’s time to check out and this is where your traditional Peru tour ends.From Puno you can take a “trici-taxi” from the hotel to the bus station where you can catch the 9am express bus to Cuzco and our Machu Picchu holidays. The trip takes about 6 hours, which means you’ll arrive in Cuzco around 3pm. If you’re planning on travelling on to our Bolivia tours, there’s a direct bus to La Paz (8 hours), but we can recommend stopping off for a night in the Bolivian former hippie village Copacabana. |
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What to pack for your Titicaca island tour
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Traditional Peru Island Tour - Accommodation (Click to enlarge)
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