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Pirwa Hostels Puno
Welcome to our hostels in Puno
Pirwa hostel in Puno at Lake Titicaca is a cozy backpacker hostel with dormitories and private rooms, all with comfy beds, heating, and 24hr access to hot water; breakfast is included and there´s a kitchen which is free for guests to use at any time. Pirwa Hostel Puno is ideally located only a couple blocks from the main square of Puno, the Plaza de Armas; since it´s nearby Calle Independencia Lima, our budget hostel places you just five minutes from artisanal markets, ATMs and restaurants and cafés. Best of all, our cheap hostel is just 15 minutes by foot from Lake Titicaca Harbor!
Grab a book from the exchange and relax in the patio, hang out in the movie lounge, or sample some drinks at the bar while trading travel tips with other travelers at the in-house bar. DVDs can be rented to watch in the rooms if you feel like staying in one night, and there´s also free wi-fi and internet if you´d like to share your Puno adventures with friends and family. While out exploring Puno, your belongings will be safe thanks to our security lockers, baggage storage service, and warm reception staff on hand 24 hours.
Our backpacker hostel in Puno is run by husband and wife team Jenny and Carlos, who´ll gladly share with you their knowledge of Puno, its surroundings, and attractions. If you´re looking for a hostel in Puno that offers comfortable accommodation, a central location, and friendly service all at cheap prices, Pirwa Hostel in Puno is the choice for you!
Hostel Promotions in Puno
As a gift to our loyal guests & friends, if you stay with us at each our hostels: Hostel in Arequipa, Hostel in Nazca, Hostel in Puno, Hostel in Cusco,Hostel in Machu Picchu, and Hostel in Lima you´ll get a free night´s stay in whichever city you choose!
About Puno
Puno is known as the "Capital of Folklore" in Peru, due to its astounding number of brightly costumed dances. Its surrounding scenery is imposing: bordered on one end by massive Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake, and mountains along the other. To help plan your stay in Puno, you can make use of the maps and information found in reception as well as the in-house travel desk, where you can arrange for tours, transport, or find answers to your travel questions.
The harbor of Lake Titicaca is only 15 minutes from the hostel by foot. Its cold waters shelter a diverse ecosystem of plants and bright birds and its population includes the Quechua-speaking inhabitants of the islands of Taquile and Amantani, who still cling to their traditional way of life, dress, and community collectivist model. Most famous are the Floating Islands of Uros, built by one of America´s oldest cultures, the Aymara-speaking Uros, using the lake´s prevalent tortora reeds, which also provide shelter, transport, food, and barter material.
Another sight you can´t miss are the ruins of the Sillustani Chullpas, burial towers constructed by the Colla but appropriated by the Inca after the conquest. Golden objects, deformed Colla skulls, and mummies from this site can be found in the Carlos Dreyer Museum in the Plaza de Armas of Puno, which also exhibits other artifacts such as pre-Inca and Inca stone and metalwork, textiles, Aymara pottery, and Spanish founding documents as well as pre-Columbian and colonial art.
Inca Uyo Ruins
The main attraction of Chucuito, a city to the south of Puno, is the Inca Uyo Ruins, which formed part of a ceremonial building complex dating back to after the Inca Conquest of the Aymara-speaking Lupaka Kingdom. 86 carved phallic stones about 2-3ft high are positioned upright like mushrooms inside the temple. Both the temple and the stones are authentic, but the site is controversial due to the municipality´s decision to arrange the stones upright and inside the temple, leading to the site´s presentation as a fertility temple where virgins hoping to conceive sat on top of the large stone phalluses, a theory which has never been proven. The name itself arouses debate, as most believe it is in Aymara, meaning Field of the Inca, while others contend it´s in Quechua, where Uyo means penis.
Floating Islands of Uros
The pre-Inca Aymara-speaking Uros, one of America´s oldest cultures, are known as the kot-suña, people of the lake. They live on the 40 manmade Floating Islands of Uros in Lake Titicaca. Originally intended to inhibit attack by the aggressive Inca and Colla, they are constructed of bundled tortora reeds and supported by a thick layer of interwoven roots called the khili anchored to sticks at the lake´s bottom. New layers are piled on top every 3 months as the bottom layer rots. The Uros sustain themselves through fishing, hunting marine birds, tourism, artisan products, and cattle grazing. The iodine-rich white bottom of the totora, the chullo, can be eaten, and a tea made from the reed flowers; the reeds are also used for building homes and boats and bartered for staples on the mainland.
See also Tour Uros island
Taquile island
Once part of the Inca empire as Intika Island, Taquile still has pre-Inca ruins and stone agricultural terraces. Its famed vibrant textiles are considered among the highest-quality artisan products in Peru, having been declared by UNESCO 'Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity'. One of the last locations to relent to the Spanish Conquistadores, Taquile adopted Spanish peasant dress and the Catholic religion after native cultural expression was outlawed, these traditions exist to this day but are mixed with indigenous elements. During colonial times the island was converted into a prison, only returning to the possession of the Taquileños in 1970. Today Taquile sustains itself as a collectivist community which relies mainly upon fishing, farming, and tourism.
