Puno and Lake Titicaca

Higher still than Arequipa is the city of Puno, which sits beside the massive sea-like Lake Titicaca. The worlds largest high altitude lake really feels like a sea when you´re on it, you can´t see the other side of the lake which crosses a national boundary into Bolivia.

The main tourist spots on the lake are the Uros floating reed islands which sit in the large bay near Puno, about an hours boat jouney away. Pretty mcuh just for the tourists now, we were given a short talk about the Islands by the President and then encouraged to buy souvenirs from the stalls nearby.

Of much more interest was the permanent island of Taquile, where many people don´t speak Spanish at all but the language of the Incas, Quechua. Everyone wears variations of the traditional dress here and we were also lucky enough to arrive on the island´s big festival day, a really bright and colourful sight with lots of local dancing. After some excellent trout for lunch (caught fresh from the lake no doubt!) we headed back the three and a half hour journey to Puno and our everpresent hard hostel beds!

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