Puno, a town on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, Sept 13

I booked a ticket on one of the tourist buses going from Cusco to Puno hoping to see whatever there is to see along the way.  I got up early and headed for the bus depot.  We had several scheduled stops along the way and the trip was to take about 8 hours.

Our first stop was Andahuaylillas where we toured the Church of Apostle San Pedro (St. Peter).  This church is otherwise known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas because of all the paintings on the walls.  The church was under renovations when we were there but you could still appreciate its excellence.

Crosses outside the church.

Some buildings attached to the church.

Next stop was at Temple of Viracocha in Ragchi. Peru.  This is the entance way.

Inside the site were ruins of former dwellings.

Outside the walls of the temple there were farm dwellings still in use.

Looking across the fields from the temple.

Sometimes the landscape here reminds me of the foothills of Alberta.

Another view of the ruins which were once homes or farming storage.

This was the most impressive part, the walls of the temple have mostly fallen but they are in the process of protecting and restoring them.

Leaving there we boarded the bus to the site of the highest elevation in Peru, at 4335 metes above sea level.

Passing a pastoral scene along the way.

Here I am standing by the sign, just breathing.  I am not kidding about that.  Sometimes I would drift off
during our ride but never quite went sound asleep because my body would wake me so I could focus on breathing more deeply.

Here is another photo opportunity that tourists could purchase.  I just grabbed a shot slyly from the side.

Even up here in the freezing cold you could still go shopping.

Another landscape shot.

We stopped at this museum next and I didn't get the name of the place.  It contained a lot of old carvings.

  We only had 10 minuits to look around because we were running late because of so many road construction delays.

This chuch in the same town looked interesting but there was no time to see it.

Back on the bus we pass a typical looking graveyard alongside the road.

The trip actually took ten hours with all the stops.  Just heading off to bed and looking forward to exploring Puno tomorrow.