Ask any Peruvian where the best place to party is and you 'll always get the same reply : 'Puno ! ' The city 's colourful fiestas , combining Spanish and Inca traditions , often last for days . During the fortnight-long Candlemas celebrations , dancers parade through the streets . Men dress as multi-coloured dragons or monsters , while local women , known as cholitas , wear skirts puffed up with petticoats and small bowler hats . Reeds all about it : Hand-crafted boats on the gentle surface of Lake Titicaca . Arriving in Puno , you wonder at first where on earth the inhabitants get their energy . This city of 100,000 souls on the shores of Lake Titicaca could leave you breathless for all the wrong reasons . Situated on a vast plateau in the Andes , at an altitude north of 13,000 ft , it is higher than any Alpine ski resort , and you need to go gently the first few days you 're here . Hotels stock oxygen to revive tourists from soroche - altitude sickness - an affliction that causes shortness of breath , headaches and worse . But once acclimatised , you 're in for a treat . Though its architecture is underwhelming ( with the exception of a splendid central square ) , what entrances every visitor to Puno is Lake Titicaca . One of the world 's largest lakes , and its highest navigable one , it stretches 110 miles by 38 miles across Peru and Bolivia . It is vast , remote , unworldly . The high peaks of the Andes frame it in the distance , some glistening with snow . There are more familiar sights , too . At the town 's busy port , you 'll see a gunboat called the Yavari , which has a distinctively British look . It was built in London in 1862 , then transported , piece by piece , across the Andes to Puno , where it ferried people around for 70 years until the roads made it obsolete and it was left to rot . It was saved from the scrapheap by an English woman , Meriel Larken , who restored and turned it into a B & B . Local life : The ingenious floating Uros Islands in the middle of Lake Titicaca are made from totora reeds . The accommodation onboard is suitably nautical - you sleep in bunk beds . If you 're not spending the night , for a small donation you can just tour the ship . The port is the gateway to Puno 's fascinating islands . A standard , full-day tour will first take you to the Uros Islands , originally built by the Uru people as a way to escape rival tribes . These man-made floating structures are hewn from mats of totora reeds , which grow abundantly in the shallows of the lake . Secured to the bottom of the lake by ropes , as the layers at the bottom rot , new ones are added to the top to keep it dry and afloat . Stepping on them feels decidedly squidgy , as if you 're treading on a giant waterbed . Uru women greet you dressed in wide-brimmed hats and brightly-coloured skirts . Islanders make the most of their income from tourists , so will invite you into their cosy , pointy-roofed huts , which smell of hay . The only hint of the 21st century ? A television in the corner . After the Uros , the next port of call is an island in the conventional sense . Taquile , with its craggy , terraced hillsides dotted with sheep , is reminiscent of the Aegean Islands . It 's around the same size as Sark in the Channel Islands and home to 1,700 people . A glimpse of traditional Peru : You can meet Uru islanders , and go inside their homes , on the lake . Like Sark , cars are banned here , but the island 's elders also forbid beasts of burden , such as donkeys and horses , which leaves the locals to lug everything around on their backs . The other thing you 'll notice is that the men all wear distinctive woollen hats , reminiscent of Victorian nightcaps . These denote their marital status - the tip of a bachelor 's hat is white to signify it is unfinished . Knitting here is the preserve of men , who pass the tradition down from father to son . On marrying , a man may wear a totally red hat , to show that he , like his hat , is now complete . Early evening in Puno and the streets are abuzz . Head to the pedestrianised Calle Lima and a restaurant called La Casona . Here , you 'll eat some of the city 's best ceviche , the national dish of raw fish 'cooked ' by being marinated in lime juice , a trend that has caught on in the UK . Being so close to the bountiful Lake Titicaca , Puno has some of Peru 's best ceviche restaurants . Another excuse , as if you needed one , to visit this wonderful place . KLM ( www.klm.com ) flies to Lima , Peru , from £541 including taxes . Journey Latin America ( 020 8600 1881 , www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk ) has a 12-day Value Peru : Sacred Valley Of The Incas to Lake Titicaca itinerary , visiting Lima , Cusco , the Sacred Valley , Machu Picchu , Puno and Lake Titicaca . The trip costs from £2,290 per person based on two people sharing , all flights , transfers , B & B accommodation , most meals and excursions and a visit to the Lake Titicaca islands .
Puno is not the most famous place in artificial Uros Islands - but it is one of the most fun . It sits on the west bank of the famous ( and spectacular ) Lake Titicaca . Visitors can sail on the lake to visit the fabled Peru .