Chilling by the Lake

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We have just arrived in La Paz after spending a few days at Lake Titicaca, chilling out after the Inca Trail and general rushing about. Its tough work, this travelling!

I´ll get the usual geography/history lesson out the way first. At approx 3800 metres above sea level Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. Its 97km wide, 230km long and covers over 9,000 sq km. Which means it is absolutely huge. You cannot see the other side; its literally like a sea. Lake Titicaca spans the border of Peru and Bolivia. The name 'Titicaca' has several meanings depending on the language. The best one is in Spanish (Titi means 'large cat' (or puma), caca means 'sh*t'). The Peruvians say that cat bit refers to them and the other bit to Bolivia. Understandably, the Bolivians beg to differ.

We travelled from Cuzco to Puno, a little town on the Peruvian side of the Lake. On the way, we travelled through this town called Juliaca which resembled Beruit on a bad bombing day. For one horrible moment, I thought it was Puno.... but fortunately the bus kept on going. Puno itself was a bit nicer. It afforded us our first glimpse of the Lake and it is a good base from which to see the Islas de Uros - more of which in a minute. Aside from that, Puno had nothing to do and we were pretty bored. Two nights there was at least one night too long. I did have a great steak though for about a quid.

We visited the Islas de Uros which are basically reed islands i.e., they are made solely of reeds. Very spongy under foot. The locals have lived on the islands for hundreds of years, fleeing the mainland to get away from the bloodthirsty Incas. They make the islands by gathering loads of the reeds that grow in the water around Lake Titicaca and basically roping them together to make an island. They then continually put layer after layer of these reeds down as they rot away underneath. There are loads of these islands, each housing about 5-10 families. They anchor them down but they can quite easily push them around by motorboat if they fancy moving. If the families fall out, they can take a saw to the island and just cut it in half (I'm not kidding). Each island lasts about 30 years or so until the rope the binds it starts to rot away. The islanders use the reeds to build their houses as well as these pretty cool reed boats, which we got a ride in. Because everything is made of reeds, you are a bit overwhelmed with yellow. Its definitely not a place to visit without your sunglasses.

The islanders still live relatively traditional lives but the 21st Century is slowly catching up with them. For example, some have got solar electricity (and even televisions!) in their little huts. Traditional pursuits such as fishing and hunting still go on but they obviously make most of their money from tourism and the crafts they were selling were grossly overpriced by Peruvian standards. Still, as evidenced by some people in our group, some people (mainly Americans) will pay the asking price.

The next day we left Puno for the Bolivian border and onwards to Copacabana. I must admit, I was a little nervous about the border crossing. You hear a few nightmare stories about getting fleeced by border guards in these sort of countries and guards in general are always liable to instigate a body cavity search if you catch their eye. As it turned out, the crossing couldn't have been easier. Our bus stopped on one side, we grabbed some Bolivian money from an exchange then wandered into the Pervian Immigration office to get our exit stamp. Then we just strolled up the road (and across the actual border) until we saw a Bolivian Immigration office and went in there. Quite frankly, we could simply have kept walking and no one would have batted an eyelid. We didn´t even fill out the Immigration form properly as we didn´t understand the Spanish questions (broadly speaking they concerned involvement in terrorism, contagious illness and mental health problems; but you don´t really want to tick the 'no' box unless you are absolutely sure!). The guy just shrugged and stamped our passports anyway.

It was a shame to leave Peru. I mean, its not perfect. We've come across the odd shady (or more often incompetent) character. Also, you cannot buy fresh milk for love nor money. However, on the whole I loved it; the sites have been amazing, the people very friendly and its cheap as chips. Time for the next adventure though.... or at least a few days chilling out before the next adventure. Copacabana is a nice sleepy little town right on Lake Titicaca. We splashed out on a nice hotel called La Cupula (www.hotelcupula.com if anyone is heading this way). Its only about 4 quid each but expensive for here. Bolivia is even cheaper than Peru. The hotel was up on a hill with hammocks overlooking the lake. Fantastic. The first day, I indulged in a spot of sunbathing as I'm trying to lose the farmer's tan I acquired on the Inca Trail. Unfortunately, I only managed to burn my legs.

The next day, we took a boat trip to the Isla de Sol where the Inca sun god apparently created the first Inca and his wife. We got our first taste of Bolivian business practice on this trip. The boat ride took about 2 hours because the boat was rubbish (you could have swam faster), the seats were uncomfortable and, despite assurances, the guide didn't speak any English. He lost interest completely when he realised we weren't going to pay him extra to give us a tour in Spanish. The island itself was beautiful. We hiked across from the north to the south which took about 3 hours and gave great views of the Lake. Unfortunately, my burnt legs were killing me and I couldn't really enjoy the latter part. My own fault, I suppose.

We stayed at Copacabana for about 3 days and really liked it. Vey laid back. The food, on the whole, was out of this world and very reasonable. Trout, steak and more trout.

However, I'm getting the impression that, by comparison, Peru is first world when it comes to service. I've only been here a few days but the people don't seem as friendly, cutting corners is the national sport and everyone tries to overcharge you (relatively speaking). You can see the cogs turning when you ask what price something costs. Fortunately, they will invariably drop the price when you start to walk away. Also, people will outright lie to you about what you get for your money. I don't think the word 'no' or 'don't know' is in the language over here. Case in point: our bus to La Paz yesterday. The guy who sold us our tickets would have said anything to get our money. Is there a toilet on board? "Si". Is the luggage stored underneath? "Si". Will Ipswich win the Champions League this year? "Si Senor". I wouldn't wish to discourage anyone from coming here as it is a beautiful country (and I 've only been here a few days) but you need to keep your eyes open and sense of humour close at hand.

That little whinge aside, its a nice place. After getting over the initial fear of seeing our bags lobbed on the roof of a rickety old bus (not the one in the brochure!) the ride from Copa to La Paz was beautiful. We had to cross the lake at one point which meant getting off the bus and taking a small boat across. We then sat on the other side, biting our nails, while the bus (and our luggage) was ferried across the Lake balancing precariously on a raft. There were several of these rafts by the shore and the captains (for want of a better word) spent the whole of their time bailing out water. Not encouraging. The bus survived somehow and we continued on through the mountains.

The first view of La Paz was something else. Most cities creep up on you; you drive through the suburbs until you realise you are probably in the centre of town. Not La Paz. It slaps you in the face. One moment you are driving along a nondescript road, the next you come over the brow of a hill and La Paz is sat in a giant basin below with mountains rising up around it. Amazing. Our bus was filled with jaded travellers but they were all straining their necks for a view of the city. I'll fill you all in on the city another time; if you've read this far you should probably get back to work.

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