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Tours around Puno
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The streets of Puno are full of touts selling guided tours and trips, but don't be swayed, always go to a respected, established
tour company
, such as one of those listed below. There are four main local tours on offer in Puno, all of which will reward you with abundant bird and animal life, immense landscapes and genuine living traditions. The trip to
Sillustani
normally involves a three- or four-hour tour by minibus and costs $5-8 depending on whether or not entrance and guide costs are included. Most other tours involve a combination of visits to the nearby
Uros Floating Islands
(half-day tour; $5-10),
Taquile and the Uros Islands
(full day from $7, or from $12 overnight), and
Amantani
(2-5 days from $7 a day, including transport and food). Of the independent tour
guides
operating in Puno, Andres Puelino Arucutipa Inta (tel 054/353847 or 689775) is reliable and knowledgeable about the sites around Puno and Titicaca, while Andres Lopez is good and can be contacted through any of the town's hotels.
All ways Travel , JirA?n Tacna 234 (tel & fax 054/355552, awtperu@mail.cosapidata.com.pe). The most progressive of the tour companies in Puno and the Titicaca region, running most of the usual tours but also offering trips to the wildlife and haven of Anapia, close to the Bolivian border, where they work with locals on a sustainable tourism project. Cusi Travel , Theodoro Valcarcel 103 (tel 054/369072). Better than you'd think at first glance, this reliable company offers all the usual tours at reasonable prices. Edgar Adventures , JirA?n Lima 328 (tel 054/353444, fax 354811, edgaradventures@ viaexpresa.com.pe). Islands tours at average prices, but more interestingly they also go to Chucuito and the Templo de Fertilidad for about $10 a person, as long as there are four or more in the group. Feiser , JirA?n Teodoro Valcarcel 153 (tel 054/353112 or 355933, feiser@puno.perured.net). Offers the standard tours at pretty reasonable prices; can also arrange short trips onto the lake in faster boats, or pleasure rides on reed boats from Isla Esteves. Kontiki Tours , JirA?n Melgar 188 (tel 054/355887, fax 353473). A bit out of the ordinary, this company offers mystic tours focussing on the ancient power centres of the region. They are reliable, very professional and work in other regions too, such as Cusco and Nazca. Lake Country Treks , Lima 458 (tel 054/355785 or 352259). Standard tours plus a range of more outward-bound options and alternative trips to Taquile or even to chullpas at Cutimbo and the Templo de Falos near Chucuito. Tur Puno , Lambayeque 175 (tel 054/352001, turpuno@via_expresa.com). The normal tours and, for groups, with very good deals on the one-day Taquile trip. Also free transport to Juliaca if you buy your air travel with them.
Transturin
, Libertad 176 (tel 054/352771). Travel agent offering catamaran trips to Bolivia. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Peru,
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