A little slice of paradise

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Well, what a week..it's not often that you find true love and a slice absolute tranquility in one week. Copacabana might not have the beaches of it more famous Brazilian namesake but nestled on the banks of the world's highest navigable fresh water lake, with temperatures well into the 30´s, it doesn´t get more relaxed.

Leaving Cusco proved to be a bit of a mission involving being lied to by numerous dodgy bus companies. The first attempt to leave was supposedly on a brand new direct bus. The reality was a dirty stinking old bus with a lack of seat belts, sitting in front of a selotaped together smashed upper windscreen which only needed the smear of blood to identify the cause. After the 3rd stop in the 1st five minutes to pick people up we decided it was just not worth it and got off to return for a massive argument with the scumbags who had sold us the tickets. We didn´t get our money back but by the time we had finished they looked like they were having a miserable day. We got on a better bus an hour later and halfway to our destination we overtook the original bus and from the looks on the faces of the other passengers it seemed we made the right decision. IF YOU'RE IN CUSCO DON'T USE SAN LUIS BUS COMPANY.

Our destination was Puno, a city on the banks of Lake Titicaca. My head had been filled with romantic images of the world's highest navigable lake (at 3800 meters) but Puno proved to be a dirty old town from which you can´t even see the lake most of the time. It wasn´t helped by the intermittent rain, but speaking to a few other travellers everyone seems to agree the place is a dive. However, it does have one redeeming feature, a bakery by the name of Ricos Pan. I became obsessed by the place while we were there and have lost track of how many apple pies I gobbled. Nos became very jealous of the place and started setting me tests to see if iI loved the place more than her. Luckily I passed...but only with an apple pie in my hand as I did them.

We decided to take 2 day trip to visit the floating Uros reed islands on the lake and then stay one night with a family on Amantani island. Our group of 16 was asked to give the captain a big round of applause on getting onto the boat. I can only assume they did this at the beginning because there was no chance of Captain Coca getting one at the end. Our larger than life captain was indeed a hive of activity but very little of it was at the wheel of the boat. That was until he thought the boat may crash into one of the islands when a mad dash and grapple with the wheel diverted his precious ship from crashing into the rocks. He was even more of a liability when he did stay at the wheel as the hundreds of coca leaves he was constantly stuffing into his mouth obviously affected his vision and reactions. Unable to steer the boat in anything other than a zig zag he must have at least doubled our journey time.

The floating islands themselves are very stange. Originally setup by people fleeing the Incas they are built upon bouyant reed roots which then have more layers of reeds constantly placed on top of them. All the houses, beds and even the boats are built from reeds and the local delicacy is , you've guessed it, reed. They were very interesting but in the pouring rain looked like they made for a miserable existance. The reed floors were very bouncy to walk over but in the rain they squelched out water as you trod on them soaking your feet. The houses were built of an attractive single layer of reeds but looked like they would leave the inhabitants freezing on a winter´s evening, when temperatures dip to -15.

Moving on to the island of Amantani we had an interesting if sometimes awkward stay with a local family. They lived in a house made of mud bricks but they told us that due to the tourists visiting they had been able to renovate it and add a new kitchen and roof. To be fair our bedroom was lovely but the kitchen where everyone ate was very dark and musty. There is very little electricity on the island so after dark it was candle light only. The family primarily spoke the indiginous Quetchua language and only spoke patches of spanish. This actually meant that we were able to communicate very well and it was really interesting talking to people who had never left the island in their whole lives. As part of the tour we were treated to being dressed up as locals and taken to a fiesta in the community hall. This painful attempt at entertainment was initially amusing for its cheesiness but after an hour we were as bored as the daughter from our host family clearly was.

The Bolivians say of Lake Titicaca that they got the "titi"and the Peruvians got the "caca" and after crossing the border and arriving at the small town of Copacabana I can only agree. The fact that the sun was shining and temperatures were in the 30´s definately helped too. The town is nestled in a beautiful oval cove surrounded by hills and offers fantastic views of the lake. In the sun the lake sparkles and the size of it really takes your breath away. There few cars are blessed (more on this later) and the pace of life is extremely relaxed. Our hotel was up on the hill and had plenty of hammocks in which we spent our days lazing, reading and taking in the sun. It is also, strangely, a vegetarian paradise in the middle of South America with all the resturants sporting a huge selection of veggie options. This of course doesn´t guarantee quality and my 4th set of bad guts in 4 weeks have left me with a bum like a sun dried tomato.

We have bumped into quite a few people here who we met along the way in Peru, in particular Laura and Belinda who we met in the desert oasis. They are from England and Wales respectively and are very entertaining. Much to their own disappointment they had picked up a fellow traveller who seems to have almost every annoying personality trait you could posibly have. Still we ventured out together and found a really quirky bar with good live music and cushions on the floor. This has become a regular haunt with Nosi becoming particularly attached to the hot chocolate and Baileys on offer.

The main tourist attraction here is the Island of the Sun which is said to be the birth place of the first Inca. We have enjoyed avoiding tours and chilling out so much that although we did briefy get off our arses to cycle up the coast we decided to scrap the island visit.
Instead, we stayed around town to watch the bizarre ritual of the local priest blessing the local residents' new cars to a chorus of fireworks and flying petals. I really think I may have to turn my back on my Catholic roots with all this dallying with the devil that is car culture. We are reluctantly about to set off for the capital La Paz where we hope to organise a week's long jungle trip, weather permitting. We have also finally manged to organise a volunteer placement in a city called Santa Cruz which should begin in a week or so.

News reaches the Southern hemisphere that Jim has finally popped the question and that Jane said yes!! Congratulations guys and we look forward to hearing all about the romantic moment when we get back. When's the stag do ???

Anyway that's all for now.

Hello to everyone at home.

adios

joe and nos xx

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Photos

Down at the Copa
The view from our room

Freshly plucked from the lake
Do I really have to put that in my mouth?

Reed huys on a reed island
Surrounded by reeds. Brrrr!

The fiesta
Nothing like sponteneity

The fiesta 2
The undercover agents fit right in.

Our hosts' house
Nosi with Martin, the father from our host family on the island.

Ricos Pan
Oh, it pains me still to have left it behind.

Car blessing
Has the world gone mad?

Comments

[Mark and Marias Great Adventure]

good one
I had to read your blog having been in the same places a few months ago... How I sympathise with your problems with bus companies! Had a similar argument in Nazca ourselves... doesn't it get boring?? "Looking like a sun dried tomato" - this made me laugh OUT LOUD. We know where you're coming from! lol. Enjoy La Paz, great place, but please be careful... if you buy anything, do haggle. Like your life depends on it. Oh, and don't miss out on a ride down the most dangerous road in the world! Happy travels :-) Maria

[Jonny L]

Dowie sacked, come back you lucky charm! I hope all those Charlton fans who had a go at Curbs send him cakes to apologise.

[jim]

Hi Joe, I cannot believe the news has reached that far already, was it in the local press there. Well it is true I have been worn down, we got engaged in Rome last Friday. Jane immediately wanted to tell everyone but found she had only 10p on her phone and no way to top up. Anyway your trip seems to be continuing very successfully, we are all enjoying reading your blog and keeping up to date. We have set the big day for 10 June 2027. What are the property prices like on the floating Uros reed islands?

[lisa flanagan]

ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh sexy!
Those are very sexy outfits you have on for the fiesta - did you get to keep them for future occasions? Have fun!