The Qhapaq Nan is the great road system of the Inca, a web of paths, causeways and stairways that ran for more than thirty thousand kilometres across the Andes, and a stretch near Puno is part of it. The segment between Paucarcolla and Yanamayo follows the plateau around the northwest shore of Lake Titicaca, where the Inca built a road to link the Collao, the great high plain, with the heart of the empire at Cusco. The route is now part of the UNESCO listing of the Andean Road System, which was granted in 2014 and spans six countries.
The altiplano is a landscape of big skies. Lake Titicaca lies at about 3,800 metres, the highest large navigable lake in the world, and its water is a deep, shining blue under a thin, bright atmosphere. Around it, treeless plains are crossed by low hills, with fields of potato, quinoa and barley, herds of alpacas and sheep, and villages of adobe and thatch. Wind is constant, and the sun is fierce, but the nights are bitterly cold. The ride from Puno to Juliaca is easy, with smooth roads and little traffic, though trucks and buses move quickly.
Altitude is the big issue. A rider coming up from the coast or from Cusco will feel the thin air immediately, with headaches, breathlessness and poor sleep, and the engine will run rough, losing power. Spend a night or two in Puno before making any ambitious plans, drink a lot of water, and avoid alcohol on the first evening. Many people find coca tea helpful.
Puno is a decent town for supplies. It has fuel, restaurants, a pleasant waterfront and a lively market. Try trout from the lake, quinoa soup and chuno, freeze-dried potatoes, which the highlanders have prepared for centuries. Atuncolla, the nearby town, lies close to Sillustani, a hilltop site with towering funerary towers, the chullpas, built by the Colla people before the Inca. They are worth a visit for the view over the lake. The Uros, who live on floating islands built of totora reeds, are a short boat trip from Puno.
The best season is from May to October, when the days are dry and sunny. Frost is common on winter mornings, so warm clothing is essential.