Lake Titicaca and La Paz

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Day 19:-
Spent a large proportion of the day travelling to Puno (in a rather uncomfortable minibus). There wasn´t much going on here to be honest, perhaps as it was a Sunday? We sampled a “curry” for tea - it wasn´t.

Day 20:-
We began the day by getting a tuk tuk down to the port. At which point we boarded a boat to take us to Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is immense and very beautiful. On Taquile Island we met the locals who performed traditional dances in the main square in the village. From the Island you could see the snow-topped mountains of both Peru and Bolivia. After (a rather tasty) lunch we caught the boat to a peninsula off the mainland where we were to stay the night… with a local family! Luis took us under his wing and we met his wife and 4 of his 10 kids. We also helped him to feed his pigs and herd his sheep. After that WE were the once that were dancing, dressed in traditional clothes. I may be biased but I thought we did rather well 😊

Day 21:-
A decent night´s sleep was followed by an early get up and breakfast with Luis and family. Then we sailed off to the islands of Uros, also known as the floating islands. The islands are made of reeds (as are the houses on them and the boats that they use to get around them). Amazing to see. We then sailed back to Puno. In the afternoon, Becky and I went to see the burial towers of Sillunstani, where the pre-Incan races buried their nobility. We also had the opportunity to visit a house on the mainland belonging to a local resident, who showed us how they farmed the land and hunted for animals.

In the evening we had a feast of meat: bbq-ed chicken, pork, lamb, beef, sausage and chips. Healthy I know! We decided to top this off with a number of beers at the Rock pub in Puno. A great night.

Day 22:-
We spent the day travelling to La Paz. En route we crossed the Peru/Bolivian border which was an experience. We had lunch in the Bolivian town of Cococabana. We arrived in La Paz as the sun was going down – what a sight! Having checked in we went to view the witches markets where they sell (amongst other things) llama foetus! Apparently it´s good luck if you´ve a new house – not convinced the llamas see it that way. A curry for tea, but decent this time, as we said goodbye to Alvaro, our first tour guide.

Day 23:-
We did a day long tour down “death road” on mountain bikes. We started at 4700 metres and finished at 1200 metres – not a lot of peddling. Pretty scary experience with a sheet cliff faces always lurking off to our left, made more scary by the number of crosses marking the dead on the way down. Gladly I didn´t find out until the bottom that a man that went passed us on a quad bike was only saved from going over the edge by one of only a handful of barriers on the road – the lucky thing!

Back in La Paz later on to meet our new tour guide, another Peruvian called Davide. Had a stroll to a more than decent Thai restaurant for dinner. On the way we saw the prison made famous by the book Marching Powder. Amazing book that chronicles the life of an inmate – you even have to buy your own cell!

Day 24:-
Spent the day travelling from La Paz to Uyuni in preparation for our trip to the salt plains. Nice scenery and a first glimpse of flamingos.

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Photos

Machu Picchu
Although this is from our last part of our travel blog I thought I´d include it here!