We depart our luxury hotel in Cusco for the journey up to Puno and Lake Titicaca.  We travel through the Andahuaylillas Valley and the central highlands.   We have several stops during the way: 
The luxury bus tour to Puno departs early in the morning.  There are 6 scheduled stops along the way:   

• Church of San Pedro of Andahuaylillas:  also referred to as the “Sistine Chapel” of South America.  The extensive renovations to the church are almost complete.   I need to tell you, I have been to the Sistine Chapel in Rome many times as well as the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.  This church in Peru ranks right up there as one of the most beautiful churches in the world.
• Raqchi Inca Complex:  a crossroad of the Inca Trail and site of fascinating Inca ruins.
• Sicuani: a large highland town in the Andes.  We enjoy a wonderful Peruvian lunch.  Our bodies can use it from our strenuous days at Machu Picchu.
• La Raya Pass:  This is the highest point in Peru at 14,172 ft above sea level, it is a picturesque spot to get out to breathe the air and take photographs of grazing llamas and alpacas.  We can see the frozen glacier that feeds the Urubamba River that flows into the Amazon and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of miles away.
• Pukara Complex:  a national monument since 1983.  The site of the first civilized Andean culture, from over 3,000 years ago, pre-dating the Incas.  
• Puno:  Sitting aside Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake at 12,400 feet, this city is the home of some of the most important cultures of the Andes.

We arrive in Puno and get to bed early, we are so tired.  The next day we take a boat tour of Lake Titicaca.   We visit the fascinating floating islands of Uros where people have been living for thousands of years on islands made of reeds.  It is absolutely amazing to see how these people live, unlike anyone else in the world, and to experience their hospitality and way of life.   For lunch it is a visit the scenic island of Taquile, recently featured in National Geographic Magazine.  It is one of the few remaining places to experience the food, fine crafts, and culture of a civilization virtually untouched by the outside world.