Lake Titicaca - Peru & Bolivia

M writes: After a sleepless night (both sick), rose at 6 for the "tourist bus" to Puno on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca - 10 hours. The description did not disappoint - 5 stops en route at tradicional Aymara villages, ancient ruins and museums, with an irritating guide let loose with a microphone at the front of the bus! Had to keep sitting down to avoid keeling over in the heat each time we had to get off the bus, but at least the benefit of many loo stops! Scenery beautiful - lush then desert, passing through a bizarre town which depends for its survival on contraband, being close to the Bolivian border; all the houses were unfinished, because you don't pay tax until the building is completed. Quite a sight to see a whole town in construction! And sad to see (and feel!) the state of the roads and all the litter piling up because no-one pays tax in the area.

First day in Puno we discovered all the boats to visit the islands leave at 7am, so we booked another night in the town and planned to go the next day. Found a restaurant doing the typical Peruvian 15 sols (2.50) menú (3 courses & wine or pisco sour), and also, oddly, playing Underworld mixes - an absolute first for us to hear anything resembling music we listen to at home. Think the staff were unaware of their choice of music and had just switched on the laptop. God, we are missing decent music, especially when the latino soft-rock variety is pumped into your ears for hours on end in buses etc! And then there's the religious fervour…I head home to nurse my tummy cramps and commence antibiotics but as soon as I lie on the bed, the girls' school just in front begins setting up a sound-system and I spy yet another catholic-fest right outside the window, cue hours of singing very badly and processing around with a statue of that lady in a blue dress. Groan. We head out for a gringo pizza and due to poor company of indisposed girlfiend, Laurent contents himself with bravely playing Tekken against a resident arcade-monkey off the Calle de Lima!

Up at 5.30 (frlighteningly, becoming our usual time) to visit the Uros (floating islands) on the Lake. Not quite the simple crossing we thought we had booked as the trip consisted of a sequence of visits accompanied by a Spanish-speaking guide. The Uros were incredible - a real feat. The Aymara people there use the tortura (a type of water-reed growing from a floating base) for everything including entirely constructing their islands, boats, houses, various wares and eating the centre - a bit like palm hearts. The islands are small, each having around 10 families, an oven and eating area and a communal social area, with a watchtower for communicating with the other nearby islands. Seems like a pleasant, sustainable and self-sufficient (with fishing) way to live, albeit bloody hard work rebuilding boats and houses constantly! Although the visits were unashamedly touristy and the people were trying to sell us their wares, they were warm and smiley and when they sang for us in Quechua, Spanish and Aymara and then presented us with little mini tortura boats; there was a genuine feeling of goodwill and I had a lump in my throat. The artisan stuff was all really good quality - the Uros are UNESCO recognised for the handcrafted and knitted bits they make. Bought some miniscule Christmas things which we can just about squeeze into our rucksacks.

Then another 3 hours to Taquile island - an insular community where intermarrying is forbidden and Quechua is the local language (unlike all the other Aymara islands). Everyone wears a unique tradicional costume (wool trousers and waistcoat with a bright cummerbund for men and bright and very full skirts for women and always a knitting bobbin in hand!). We hike up the steep track to the village square and look out at the Lake - so massive and 3,820m altitude. Every single restaurant sells quinoa soup, trout and then local mint and coca tea, which is OK because it is really good.

Next day we move on, early in the morning, to Copacabana on the Bolivian side of the lake.Unusually, its a bus of travellers just like us. After crossing the border at the Kazani-Yunguyo bridge we were excited to be in a new county again! Straight away the scenery seemed a little different - pigs all over the roads and fields, flamingoes lakeside and houses a little more pictuesque than in Peru, with arched windows and pretty trees; a surprise as we know that Bolivia is poorer than the other countries we have visited so far.

Alter climbing up to the hotel on arrival at Copacabana we are disappointed to discover they messed up our reservation: we don't have one. But we luck out when they move us to Las Olas - a set of charming and quirky apartments with a breath-taking view on the lake! Ours had an indoor lawn with hammocks above it, a little garden benefitting from spray from the shower in the bathroom, and panoramic windows overlooking Lake Titicaca. Wow! We wander into town and discover that on the beach there of about 20 restaraunt shack things ALL selling trout with rice and potatoes! The town is small and touristy but has a great laid-back traveller vibe and some good food and cafes. We like! However there is NO bank - we are told by a sympathetic guy in an exchange booth that the nearest one is in La Paz, 4 hours by bus! So we live off our emergency dollars; thank god we took the advice to carry them everywhere seriously!

In the evening we hike up the hill along a well-trodden pilgrimage route to a Sanctuary via the 14 stations of the cross and hang around for ages (bad timing) for an impressive sunset. At 3,800m altitude we need an hour to get our breath back anyway! Next day more hiking across Isla del Sol out on the lake - 4,000m altitude was tough. Hurrah - no guide! Just smiley islanders greeting us on arrival and directing us to their tiny museum of relics then uphill past the pigs and cattle enjoying the beach, to see a series of Inca ruins including a really impressive labyrinthine building (storeroom?) and sacrifice tables (those poor llamas again). Coca leaves and llycta (an alcaloid chewed with the leaves - does the trick) kept us going for 4 hours up and down across the island from north to south, crossing only shepherds and eucalyptus glades, until arriving at the tranquil and idyllic village of Yumani. We fantasised about staying on the Island, but its not too bad to return to the amazing Las Olas in Copacabana, so we do.







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