Puno

We’re staying over-budget at the very nice Sonesta Pousada del Inca (www.sonestaperu.com), as Puno doesn’t seem to offer anything in between backpackers hostels and $120 a night hotels. But we’re right on the edge of the lake with a fantastic view and there are llamas, alpacas and guinea pigs running around in the grounds which the kids enjoy feeding

Moored at the end of a small jetty is the Yavari, a ship that was built in England in 1862 then shipped around the Cape Horn in kit form, taken by train for part of the journey and finally hauled by mule over the Andes to Lake Titicaca, a journey which took six years.

There’s nothing much worth seeing in Puno itself. It’s a dusty little port town and try as we might, we can’t find anything to get enthused about here. But it does make the perfect starting point for a trip onto the lake to see the amazing floating islands.