Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [165]
To get to Ccotos or Escallani, change buses in Capachica. Be patient, as just one combi plies the road from here to Ccotos (30 minutes) – if you miss it, it could take up to 1½ hours to arrive.
To get to Chifrón, hike over the hill from Llachón, or walk the 3km from Capachica. It’s also possible to talk an off-duty combi (often to be found around Capachica’s plaza) into driving you for a few soles.
From Juliaca, combis run to Capachica (S3, 1½ hours) from Mercado Cerro Colorado in Cahuide. Combis to Escallani, which travel on an incredibly scenic, unpaved back road (S2.50, 1½ hours), leave from the corner of Cahuide and Gonzáles Prado. Both terminals are a S2 mototaxi ride from the center of Juliaca.
Llachón is also accessible via the Taquile ferry. The easiest way to combine the two is to arrive by road, then have your host family in Llachón show you where to catch the ferry to Taquile.
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SOUTH-SHORE TOWNS
The road to Bolivia via Lake Titicaca’s southern shore passes through bucolic villages noted for their colonial churches and beautiful views. Traveling this route is an easy way to get a relatively untouristy peek at the region’s traditional culture. You can visit all of the following towns in a day and be back in Puno or in Bolivia by nightfall.
For public transport to any south-shore town, go to Puno’s Terminal Zonál. Combis leave from there as they fill – usually within half an hour – for Ichu (S0.70, 15 minutes), Chucuito (S1, 30 minutes), Juli (S3.50, 1¼ hours), Pomata (S5.50, 1½ hours) and the Bolivian border at Yunguyo (S6, 2¼ hours) or Desaguadero (S7, 2½ hours). Direct transport to the towns closer to Puno are more frequent, but combis to most towns leave at least hourly – more often for closer destinations.
Ichu
Ten kilometers out of Puno, this rural community spread across a gorgeous green valley is home to a little-known ruin with superb views, and is a great place for a hike.
Leave the Panamericana at Ichu’s second exit (after the service station) and head inland past the house marked ‘Villa Lago 1960’. Walk 2km, bearing left at the junction, aiming for the two small, terraced hills you can see in the left of the valley. After bearing left at a second junction (you’ll pass the school if you miss it), the road takes you between the two hills. Turn left again and head straight up the first one. Fifteen minutes of stiff climbing brings you to the top, where you’ll be rewarded with the remains of a multilayered temple complex, and breathtaking 360-degree views.
This can be done as an easy half-day trip from Puno. A taxi to take you to the foot of the hill and wait for your return will cost around S25. Take plenty of water and food as there’s no store.
Chucuito
051 / pop 1100
Quiet Chucuito’s principal attraction is the outlandish Templo de la Fertilidad (Inca Uyu; admission S5; 8am-5pm). Its dusty grounds are scattered with large stone phalluses, some up to 1.2m in length. Local guides tell various entertaining stories about the carvings, including tales of maidens sitting atop the stony joysticks to increase their fertility. Further uphill from the main road is the main plaza, which has two attractive colonial churches, Santo Domingo and Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. You’ll have to track down the elusive caretakers to get a glimpse inside.
At time of research there was no public internet access in Chucuito.
SLEEPING & EATING
Albergue Las Cabañas (36-8494; www.chucuito.com; Tarapacá 153; s/d from S50/94), near the main plaza, has a charming, overgrown garden, rustic stone cabins and familial bungalows complete with wood-burning fires. Prices are flexible (only estimations are given here), so it’s worth negotiating. Camping is also allowed for around S10 per person.
The unmissable new-age Taypikala Hotel (79-2252; www.taypikala.com; Km18 Panamericana Sur; s/d/tr S167/220/287) is buried under a confusion of model condors and jagged artificial rocks. Rooms