Travel from Cusco to Puno
Andahuaylillas Church (Sistine Chapel of the Andes)
Raqchi
Sicuani – Lunch
La Raya – highest point on the Peruvian Andes road
Pukara

Travel from Cusco to Puno

We booked our travel from Cusco to Puno on a Turismo Mer bus on the Sun’s route.  It was a 10 hour bus ride through the Andes with multiple stops on the way for

We started off from our hotel, Casa Elena, bright and early as the bus would leave Cusco at 7 AM with or without us!  We barely made it 10 minutes before departure, eagerly looking forward to the trip through the beautiful Andean landscape.

Just outside the outskirts of Cusco is a bakery that bakes traditional Peruvian bread.  Our bus attendant bought a freshly baked bread called Pan chuta for us to try.  It is a traditional gift that people take for their friends and family when traveling from the Andes to the Amazon or the coastal areas.  Also called “pulled bread”, it was slightly denser and less sweeter version of the hawaiian bread…very delicious!

Andahuaylillas Church

The first tourist stop on the route was Andahuaylillas Church, also known as the Sistine Chapel of the Andes.

Getting out of the warm bus was the hardest part as it was below zero out in the Andean winter morning in the mountains.  Rianna decided to thumb her nose at the “Sistine Chapel of the Andes” and take a nap in the bus.  The rest of us braved the cold to walk the 100 feet to the church.  As with all stops on this route, there were some clean washrooms for use for 1 or 2 soles.

The inside of the church was even colder, if possible.  It was covered in gold on all the intricate details along the columns and the walls were covered with huge paintings that were hung on top of murals.  As was the case with many other churches in the region, this church was also built on top of an older pre-columbian monument.  While calling it a Sistine Chapel might be hyping it a bit, it was definitely a small but beautiful monument totally worth the stop if one is into history or enjoys visiting old churches.  We happen to like both.

Raqchi

Back in the bus, we were served hot coca tea and got a chance to warm up a little bit.  The next stop was Raqchi, also known as Temple of Wiracocha.

The picture above shows the 30 foot tall central wall of the Temple of Wiracocha, ruins of Inca architecture.

Some of the pre-Inca ruins at the site date back to 200 B.C.

It is an impressive piece of architecture in the middle of Andes mountains with no quarry in sight.  Most of the structures are built with lava rocks believed to be sourced from a now dormant volcano nearby.

There were some small souvenir shops where the kids bought some souvenirs for their friends.

These stops also served as bio breaks with decent washrooms.  We carried paper products and soap in our backpacks so didn’t have to worry too much about their availability.

Buffet lunch in La Pascana II, Sicuani

Our third stop of the day was at the La Pascana II restaurant in Sicuani for a buffet lunch.

We got an hour’s stop for a nice Peruvian lunch of roast chicken, alpaca stew, vegetable soup, steamed veggies, bread, rice, many types of potatoes, sweet potato, sweet plantain, a milk based dessert and coffee.

The restaurant was set in the middle of mountains all around with a man-made waterfall, perfect for a photo op.  There was also a llama with an Andean girl that were happy to take pictures with the tourists for a couple of soles or some treats.  We took candies and little fun toys and gifts for children from here and they were very happy to receive them.

La Raya – highest point on the Peruvian Andes road

After lunch, we made a stop at La Raya, the highest point on the road through the Andes mountains.  The spot was surrounded by snow covered mountains on all sides and a great place to stop for a breather.

And everywhere the tourists went, the llamas were sure to go.  We took some more pictures with llamas and bought some stuffed ones before getting back on the bus.

Pukara

Out last stop of the day before reaching  Puno was Pukara, an ancient archeological site dating back to 1800 BC.  We visited a small museum with artifacts from a couple thousand ears ago, escaped a drunk woman crying and loudly asking for some money for a good 30 minutes.  The kids were more than a little disconcerted, wanting to console her and stop the crying.

And so, after 10 long but wonderful hours of traveling through the Andes, we reached Lake Titicaca on the shores of Puno, Peru and Bolivia.  Our wonderful travel agent representative picked us up at the bus station and dropped us off at Qelqatani Hotel for a much needed shuteye.

Also see: Traveling to Peru with kids