For many travellers, spending a couple of nights in the Lake Titicaca area around Puno is usually the last stop in Peru before entering Bolivia. The unattractive city of Puno might not be your ideal destination but it undeniably is the starting point to organise tours in the region.
But apart from Lake Titicaca most people come here to see something unique in the world: the floating islands of Uros. These inhabited islands, located 30min off the coast of Puno, are nothing but huge floating platforms that were built with totora reed in the past and still survive nowadays.
The indigenous people (The Uros) still live on the islands and on a monthly basis are in charge of their maintenance/survival; it is also them who manage all of the tourism attracted by this incredible sight.
TOURS VS. BY YOURSELF
All tour agencies and most hostels/hotels in Puno offer daily tours to the islands in the Lake Titicaca which can be booked up until the evening before. Tours vary from half-day at Uros Islands (20 soles) to full-day Uros+Taquile (40 soles) and even 2 days/1 night Uros+Taquile (90 soles). From company prices vary very little but more or less the above mentioned are the most common.
Boats waiting at Puno harbour for tourists
If you plan to visit the Uros islands is also possible to do that yourself but it doesn’t really make you save a lot. Boats leave daily to Uros Islands from the Puno’s docks and cost 10 soles/pp including the return; that said, in order to access the islands you need to pay an entrance (included in most tours) which costs 8 soles. In the end, is more convenient to pay 20 soles with the tour than paying 18 soles and being left all by yourself.
You can eat the bottom bit of the totora reed and it tastes like cucumber
In case you wanna be prepared, people at the islands speak Aymara with little hints of spanish but you can remember that when they’ll say “Kamisaraki” (welcome to Uros) you can reply by saying “Waliky”.
TYPICAL HALF-DAY TOUR
The majority of the tourists spending some nights in Puno, opt for the half-day visit to the Uros Islands. The typical tour includes pick-up from your hotel at 9am, wait at the docks until 9.30am for other small groups and arrive at one of the Uros Islands where some families live (picked randomly on that same day) by 10am.
After that it will follow a small explanation of how the islands are made etc…, you’ll be given the chance to buy some expensive handcrafts made by the indigenous people and for additional 15 soles/pp you’ll also be able to have a short ride in one of the huge boats made of totora reeds.
The capital Hanan Pacha
After having stayed/visited the small “family” island for about 1h, all tours will make a short 15-min stop at the capital island (Hanan Pacha) where most of the few shops, restaurants and even a couple of hotels are found. At time of writing, it is possible to overnight on the Uros Islands but accomodation is very very basic and outrageously expensive (150 soles).
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