I've realized that now that I have lived in Peru for a while, I've developed a higher tolerence for long travel. A six hour bus and then three hour taxi to visit Huancavelica from Oxapampa didn't faze me! To arrive to Chalhuanca, I took a one and a half hour plane ride from Lima to Cusco, a five hour bus ride from Cusco to Abancay and a two hour taxi ride for the home strech of Abancay to Chalhuanca. The longest trek I have had so far took place just a few weeks ago when I visited Puno, a city on the coast of Lake Titicaca and right by the Bolivian border. Honestly, though, it wasn't that bad, comprising only a two hour taxi ride, a five hour bus ride, and an eight hour bus ride... and then all that again to return!
I'd dreamed of traveling to Puno even before applying for a Fulbright scholarship in Peru, but after learning that two of the other E.T.A.s had gotten placed there and could host me, I knew I needed to go. What makes Puno special, and one of the more popular travel destinations in Peru, is of course Lake Titicaca, which is famous for being the world's highest navigable lake. Since the lake sits at 3,812 meters (10 times higher than Mt. Tom), it's a bit mind-bending to think about how one can sail across a 120 mile-long lake at such a high altitude.
