Lake Titcaca
 

What is a goo way to see Lake Titicaca? I am thinking of Taquile Island, Suasi Island or both. How much time is needed? Thanks for all of your help.

Check out wwww.titicacaperu.com for a variety of overnight trips. We decided on the "Cultural Exchange Uros-Amantani-Taquile (2 days / 1 night)". Cost is $45.00 US per person plus 25 sol direct to the family you spend the night with. I am hoping it will be quite an experience.

I can't recall the name of the tour co we went with but we locate them through http://andeantravelweb.com/peru/comp...ndex.html#puno

There are loads to choose from in Puno all offering much the same trip. another good. We had intended to stay he night on Taquile Island but due to a screw up by the agent (or, more likely, my awful Spanish) and the fact that my wife was ill on the day we decided not to stay. It is very much like a theme park the floating islands but nevertheless fascinating. It is easy to arrnge a place to stay on the islands on arrival direct with the families.

It is an amzing place and one of those that yu will never forget. The bus ride from Cusco takes you through some incredible scenery. We used Inca Express and although the guide was incredibly wearing (he would not stop talking - even for a minute!) we did stop at some intersting places en-route.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...1440/tpod.html

Has anyone done the train from Cusco?

train is quite expensive

www.inkaexpress.com gets better reviews

at 25% of the price including touristic stops and lunch.

Taquile makes a nice stay just head for the dock in Puno

to arrange your trip yourself easy to do.

www.edgaradventures.com or All Ways for agent but lots more

The train ride from Cusco to Puno is a very pleasant experience - good food, fun entertainment, nice landscapes along the way - but overall you don't get to see or experience anything truly spectacular. Still, if you want to have a train ride experience in Peru and don't mind the $220 price tag then I'd say give it a go. The trip is nine hours but doesn't feel that long at all.

I thought visiting the Uros islands was like visiting something made up by Disneyland. You'll be greeted by locals that will sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars" in English and wave goodbye to you with "Hasta La Visa, Baby". I actually visited the Uros Islands twice since I had some hours to kill off on my final day at Puno. The first trip was arranged through titicacaperu.com. For the second visit I just went down straight to the dock and paid 10 soles for the boat that the locals also take to visit the islands. What I found interesting was that the island visited on the second trip wasn't as nice as the first trip and neither was the quality of the trinkets sold on the island. I think who you arrange your trip with does affect the quality of the islands that you visit.

I also arrange for a one night stay on Taquile Island through titicacaperu.com. It was pleasant. Everything was very rustic. I did wish I could've communicated with the host family. There were times when I just wanted to leave the house and explore the island but didn't know how to tell that to the host person.

So if you're planning to do a 1 night stay on an island then you'll need to allot at least 2 whole days in Puno.

Babs, How was your trip to the island. Were you pleased with the island that you chose and tour group?

Hi tidy,

We haven't gone yet! We leave March 8th, back on the 31st. I'll post when we return. I don't think we are going to be able to see Machu Picchu though...sigh.

Thanks Babs, I may wait until you post and then book. Thanks

Babs, I think you should be back from your trip now. Do you have any advice about either Taquile or Amantani or both. I think you were doing both. Sounds like the boat ride takes quite a bit so maybe it is best if we only do Taquile. Any advace would be appreciated. Thanks,

Hi tidy, yes we are back and enjoyed our 2 days/1 night trip to Uros, Amantani and Taquile. We went with Allways Travel and it went very smoothly. $45.00 per person US to Allways and 25 sol per person to the family along with a bag of fresh oranges, apples, and rice. I think you can get the trip cheaper if you go as part of a group but for the extra few dollars we decided to have our own guide and move at our own pace. This ended up working very well for us as the islands are at very high altitude and hiking around took a lot of effort and many, many stops to catch our breath. With our own guide, we did not feel rushed.

The boat ride took about two hours to Uros Islands which were very interesting. We took the reed boat ride from island to another and enjoyed it very much.

Then the regular boat took us to Amantani where we were delivered into the kind hands of our hostess AnnaLisa. She led us up the hill to her home and showed us our room for the night. I am glad there were lots of things to take pictures of because I had to stop and catch my breath a lot.

She fixed us a lovely lunch of soup, fried vegetables and rice. Her kitchen has a dirt floor and she cooked the food over burning wood in the corner. We had a bit of time to relax and then our guide picked us up for the "optional" walk to the top of the island to visit the ceremonial ruins. This hike was probably my biggest challenge of the entire 24 day trip. The walkway was nicely maintained and easy to walk on and the view was spectacular, it was just a long way up and the air is so thin! We took our time and finally made it. The walk going back down was a piece of cake!

Our hostess showed us how she weaved, I made an origami crane for her 5 year old son then it was time for dinner. AnnaLisa's father-in-law and brother-in-law joined us in the kitchen for another delicious meal of soup, vegetables, rice, and cheese. After dinner, AnnaLisa dressed us up in local clothing and led us to the community center where all the tourists in their finery were gathering with a large crowd of local folks for an evening of beer drinking and dancing. It was very fun! Anna Lisa's led us back to her house and we were glad we had our flashlights. Our room had one lightbulb so there was enough light to see. We sank gratefully into our beds and immediately feel asleep. By the way, our house did not have running water, we were glad we brought water with us.

The next morning we had a delightful breakfast of pancakes and then were led back down the hill to the port where we caught the boat to Taquille. We were not looking forward to another big hike. This walk took us up a hill a little bit then basically went around the island at the same level. We had a nice lunch of fresh trout at a local restaurant then we went back to the boat for our 3 hours trip back to Puno. We are both so glad we took this trip, the walking was difficult due to altitude but the experience was outstanding and I would recommend you go on it.

By the way AnnaLisa spoke Spanish so my girlfriend had no trouble talking with her. The rest of her family only spoke Quechua.

Let me know if you have any questions.

You are a dear for writing back. Would you say that the scenery on Taquille is similiar to Amantani? Did you have much time to visit with the people, etc. on Taquille. Some have recommended only Uros and Taquille because the boat trip would take less time. I value your opinion.We speak NO Sapanish. Yikes, how will we do.Thanks much.

Yes the scenery was very similar. We spoke with folks on Uros and Amantani, not so much on Taquille except briefly in the restaurant. Our guide spoke English, you will be fine.

We are thinking of taking the "Remote Taquile & Uros" one day tour with Allways. They charge $52 per person. it will be on the fast boat. Do you think this is a good option or would you suggest something else for just one day?

I kind of laught when they say "fast boat". All the boats lined up at the pier looked the same to me but the "fast boat" may have already left port. Actually, the boat ride was pleasant. Part of the time we sat out back in the open air and chatted with the other travelers so the ride itself did not seem that long. On the way back, I napped. LOL. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the tours. There is not quite as much hiking/climbing on Taquile as there was on Amantani so that is a good thing if you are only going for one day. No matter what, I would reccommend that you do spend some time there as it is quite an experience. If you can squeeze in the time the overnight was great.