Travelling to South America

Hey guys! How are you all doing? This is the first post of my first time to South America, more precisely about Puno in Peru. Travelling to South America from Europe can be really exhausting. Well, if you are already bored with your 30 minute train trip to your job, imagine travelling for 9 to 12h inside an airplane. It’s pretty exhausting just sitting there browsing the in- flight electronic entertainment, just to avoid the awkward next door neighbor looking intently to your every move.

But after a 3 to 4 hour sleep before you arrive to your final destination, you can finally enjoy the beauty of Peru when you gaze upon the Andes. There is something really unusual and special when seeing the Andes from above the clouds and also looking at it up close in land. Puno is unique, actually Peru is unique. The streets are filled with people doing their thing, during the day and during the night too. The markets are packed with colors from fruits, vegetables and all kinds of goodies. 

One thing you must visit in Puno is Lake Titicaca. It is damn big with its 165 km and with Bolivia on the other side. I visited the floating islands of Uros and found some pleasant and friendly locals living there with their families. Everything they had was very un-technological, not at all fitting for the 21^st century modern man, with no mobiles and no tv but they did have some solar panels, so they could use its energy for electricity, pretty awesome! Water was stored in a tank and for food they hunt birds and catch fish from the lake. The island is hand- made from reed and they also eat it. After visiting and chatting with the people at the floating islands I visited the island of Taquile and got to know more about their culture and lifestyle. Men and women know how to cook and to sew, they do hats that have different meanings for single men and married men and clothing items too, there is nothing to be ashamed of because it’s part of who they are and they do it very well.

Other things you must be prepared for when visiting South America and the Andes region is the altitude. Yes. It is pretty damn “uncomfortable” :P. That is something you don’t want to feel when you are visiting a new place. Staying in your bedroom hotel is not something you are paying for when you go travelling, so my advice is to have some ibuprofene or paracetamol, and take lots of “mate de coca”. That tea helps to relieve the discomfort. Other stuff you should pack is a universal adaptor specially if you are taking electronic devices that will need to be recharged. Research before you travel, depending from where you are you might not need it. A mosquito repellent will also be very useful such as a sun lotion. And don’t forget to pack your Spanish dictionary, because it might be useful too. 

Thank you!