We got away by 9 and our first stop was by chance at a livestock market at the side of the road. Twice a month the surrounding communities come with their pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, donkeys to trade and sell. Julie was a bit sad at their treatment. Tied up too tight with no water just seemed sad. We continued on our way and entered the Andres Pleutea, here the main framing is livestock, llama, alpaca, sheep and cattle, all with minimum fencing. We were amazed at the number of animals along the way that could wander onto the road but don't. No fences to keep the farm animals in. We saw a really cute baby donkey.
We stopped to do a photo op at the highest point en route at 4,335 m, the photo op soon turned into to a shopping stop as the it is common for the tourist to stop here and the locals have set up stalls. Along the route we could also see the use of thatched roofs. Amazing how in the rural areas the old methods are still in use. We could see a number of weather fronts as we drove along.
Our final obstacle on our drive was our crossing of the city of Juliaca, the highway is in desperate need of a bypass. Juliaca is the largest city in the Puno region and also home of the regions airport so we will be return here for our flight to Lima in a couple of days. Our tour guide described Juliaca as the ugliest city in Peru, an ugly city with money. Juliaca is a trading and mining centre for the area.
We finally reach Puno by suppertime, check into our hotel and meet for a quick dinner together. Dinner was in an excellent restaurant overlooking the main square. Dawson had the stuffed peppers which has been his best meal yet. We piled off to bed at around 10 looking forward to the next day as our guide promised us a limo ride to the docks.
Phot Notes
1) Local livestock sales just south of Cuzco
2) Julie and Dawson at pass en route Cuzco to Puno
3) Photo op and shopping
4) and 5)Weather fronts
6) Alpacas in field
Cheers
Dawson and Julie
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