Peru! Lake Titicaca and Cusco

After a wonderful time in Bolivia, we took a bus ride from Copacabana, Bolivia across the border to Puno, Peru. 

The town of Puno was quite...simple...and not the cleanest place.  However, we did find some wonderful deals on souvenirs!  This town, however, is the place from which to explore the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, and we spent a morning on Isla de Uros - an island community where the islands are made entirely of reeds that grow in the lake.  They form a floating foundation from the roots, and pile fresh reeds on regularly.  People have been living here this way for hundreds of years, but mostly now it's a show for us gringos with songs, trinkets, solar panels and television sets.  Never the less, it was still interesting to see how a group of people lived on straw for many years.

Onward to the city of Cusco, which was the centre of the Incan Empire for several hundred years.  The downtown area is filled with Colonial era buildings that are built on foundations of Incan structures that were torn down by the Spaniard conquerors.  It's a beautiful city with an incredible $5 Indian buffett, a museum with a very unique collection of nativity scenes, one made of doilies, one of bent forks and spoons, one of animal bones, and so on.  The cathedral houses a very unique painting of the Last Supper, with the drink on the table being Chicha, a local corn-based moonshine, and the food on the table being a local rodent - Vizcacha - a member of the chincilla family that looks like a rabbit but has the tail of a squirrel - very entertaining. 

A fountain in Cusco's main square.

One Incan building that was partially preserved was the Temple of the Sun.  While a convent was built overtop of it, much of the structure remained and was restored - the stone work is incredible.

Two months ago, a chocolate museum was opened in Cusco to help educate and create a local market for the many cocao producers in Peru (which is the second largest producer of cocao beans in South America).  They also offer seminars on how chocolate is processed and made, so of course, we did the 2-hour session.  We roasted beans, crushed them, melted it down and ended up with some yummy yummy treats that lasted a few days :o)