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Nous avons passé deux nuits à Puno mais nous n’avons vraiment pas eu le temps de nous promener dans les rues très animées de cette ville. Les habitants de Puno semblent aimer les fêtes et tous les prétextes sont bons pour faire la fiesta. Lors de notre dernière nuit, il y avait un défilé pour une fête que nous n’avons pas pu vraiment identifier.
Notre prochaine étape était un trajet d’autobus vers Cusco. Après être sorti de l’agglomération de Puno et de Juliaca, le paysage s’est enjolivé. Nous étions sur l’altiplano, vaste plaine en altitude ceinturée de montagnes. Dans les champs, quelques troupeaux et des bottes de foin témoignent du caractère agricole de cette région. Si tout est jaune en ce début d’hiver, on peut s’imaginer qu’en été le vert est la couleur dominante et doit donner un aspect différent au panorama qui nous semble aujourd’hui rude. Après quelques heures de voyage et en consultant la carte Google, on s’aperçoit que l’on n’avance pas vite. L’autobus atteint rarement sa vitesse maximale autorisée de 90km/h. Dos d’ânes au milieu de nulle part, traversées de petits villages poussiéreux, déviations pour chantiers, camions qui montent à pas de tortue les longues côtes, tout est bon pour nous ralentir. Au final, cela aura pris 7h30 pour parcourir 386km.
We spent two nights in Puno but we really didn’t have time to walk around the very busy streets of this city. The inhabitants of Puno seem to love parties and any excuse is good to have a fiesta. On our last night there was a parade for a feast that we couldn’t quite identify.
Our next stage was a bus ride to Cuzco. After leaving the urban areas of Puno and Juliaca, the landscape became more attractive. We were on the altiplano, a vast high plain surrounded by mountains. In the fields, a few herds and bales of hay testified to the agricultural character of this region. If everything is yellow at the start of winter, we can imagine that in summer green is the dominant colour and must give a different aspect to the panorama which seems harsh to us during our stay. After a few hours of travel and consulting the Google map, we realize that we didn’t move very quickly. The bus rarely reaches its maximum authorized speed of 90 km/h. Speed bumps in the middle of nowhere, crossing small dusty villages, diversions for construction sites, trucks climbing the long hills at a snail’s pace, everything is good to slow us down. In the end, it took 7h30 to cover 386km.
Puno
Juliaca
De Puno à Cuzco
[Auteur/Author: Pierre & Suzanne]
Les voyages de Suzanne & Pierre 
I took the train from Cuzco to Puno… was there still rail service? I preferred to take trains wherever I could. Buses were rough back then (and doesn’t sound like they are much better). I remember a 12-hr. journey through the altiplano where at times I couldn’t even see a road, but the driver seemed to know the route! No facilities and stops were mere huts. No way I could do that today!
I did love the bleak starkness of the altiplano, no wonder the locals favored the hot pinks and oranges Orlon provided to weave into their clothes. All that wild landscape dotted occasionally with spots of bright colors of shepherds with their herds of llamas.
Thanks Eliza. I think the train still exists but it is extremely expensive. The buses are actually quite comfortable with toilets and wide seats with comfortable foot & leg rest. The roads have also improved quite significantly since you visited. It is just that the buses don’t drive very fast so every journey is quite long. As for the altiplano it was bleak because we were in winter; I am certain that in summer it is greener.
Love the idea of party whenever for whatever! The city is certainly a study in contrasts.
Thanks Jacqui. Cities in Peru were often not much to talk about as the architecture is pretty basic and often houses aren’t finished but they certainly made up for it with their animated streets. There are obviously a few exception like Lima, Arequipa and Cuzco (photos on Cuzco to come soon).
Your photos of the church in Puno are beautiful, and the altiplano does seem more attractive than many of the towns. There is such a half-finished air about many of them, with the sharp corners, rebar for future construction sticking up from the roof, and incomplete paint work. It sounds like a very tiring bus ride, too. We had an adventure trying to drive our car into Bolivia from Puno and had to go back and forth several times (before we gave up!). We counted 93 speed bumps on the “Main Highway” between Puno and the border, about an hour’s drive. Having a car did not improve the journey much over the bus.
Thanks for your note. The speed bumps are quite something and not certain we understood their utility…i agree with you about the villages though we have seen similar unfinished buildings in a number of countries we have visited like Egypt, Jordan or Morocco…
Love the church in Puno, it looks very interesting, as does the colourful-but-unknown festival!
Thanks Anabel. The cathedral was amazing and the sculptures of the facade were very interesting. Puno was an interesting town…