Lago Titicaca

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When Rupal and I came back from Machu Picchu, we met up with Annu. There is no rest for the wicked, so the next day we took the bus to Puno, which is on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. It is shared by Peru and Bolivia and there is a Peruvian joke that says "the Peruvians got the titi side whilst the Bolivians go the caca side".

The trip to Puno itself was interesting. We took the Inca Express, which a bus that stops in a few noteworthy locations along the way, the most notable of which, were the church in San Pedro de Andahuaylillas (it is beautifully decorated and is filled with gold and silver!) and Raqchi, an interesting archeological site.

Lake Titicaca is beautiful with clear blue waters and you can see the snow capped mountain of the Bolivian side. We went to the Islands of Uros and Taquile. The Uros floating islands are artificially built islands, made with the totora reed. A few hundred years ago, the locals living on the lakeside decided that they had enough of the Incas and started living on the lake. They also speak their own language, different from the Inca quechua language, and to this day, mostly live in the same manner as their ancestors. Abouy 10-25 people live on one island. Interestingly, as the islands are made from reed, they can be sawn into two in the event of a family dispute, and the two pieces can be anchored separately at a respectable distance!

The Taquile Island is famous for its knit: it is made from high quality alpaca wool, the pieces are knit using up to five or six needles at the same time, and the knitters are all male. Annu and I struggled a bit to get to the top of the hill. I am amazed by the stamina of the locals, who can carry loads of 50 kilos, up the 500 steps from the harbour to the top. The altitude was not easy to get used to (Annu and I took inhaled a lot of the local herb which opens up the lungs, whilst Rupal trooped ahead). The view was well worth the pain as we could see all the way across into Bolivia, and got a glimpse of the sheer size of the lake.

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