Our quest to visit a Peña

In South America, peñas are or (are supposed to be) bars or restaurants where people get together to play traditional folkloric music, eat, drink and be merry. Intrigued, we first attempted to go to a peña in Arequipa, Peru.

La Paz: In pictures

Arrival

La Paz is quite literally breathtaking. At an elevation of between 3,200m and 4,100m above sea level, even a leisurely stroll around the city centre can leave you feeling short of breath. Most people arrive into La Paz from El Alto, which is actually another city in itself, growing fast into the flat plains above the capital.  The view of La Paz as you travel into the city from ,El Alto, is incredible.  

Copacabana and the Isla del Sol

The beautiful Isla del Sol

The Isla del Sol is another island on Lake Titicaca, but is reached from the Bolivian side (see previous post on our visit to Puno in Peru). 

We had been told that the island was a 'must see' in Bolivia and so we left Peru behind, crossed the border and made our way to Copacabana.

Poor old Puno

Puno from the Condor viewpoint

Puno sits on the edge of Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side and it’s from here that you can arrange trips to some of the islands on the lake, including to the floating "Uros" islands that are made entirely from reeds. 

Puno itself feels pretty rundown and rather unattractive. It looks a little like there was an attempt to brighten up the promenade along the lakeside about 20 years ago, with paved walkways, benches and wooden arched verandas. However, without any maintenance, the paving is chipped and the wooden furniture has certainly seen better days. Unused pedloes sit in the harbor rotting away, surrounded by algae and rubbish. And many of the buildings in the town itself look unfinished and in some cases abandoned. 

A day trip to Tipón

Waterfalls of Tipón

On our last full day in Cusco, we decided that we needed to see just one last Inca ruin!

Chilling in Cusco!

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

While I fell in love with Arequipa and declared that I could live there, James’ favourite city in Peru was Cusco.

Machu and Wayna Picchu

Wayna Picchu - shrouded in mist!

Machu Picchu is Quechua - the language of the Incas and still spoken in Peru today - for old mountain. It is overlooked by Wayna (sometimes spelt Huayna) Picchu, which is Quechua for young mountain.

When booking the Inca Trail, we were given the option of spending a little bit more to climb Wayna Picchu once we were at Machu Picchu on our last day of the trail and a quick search on the internet suggested it was worth it for getting a different perspective on the site.