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Published: December 2nd 2009
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J:
Our last piece of Peru was island hopping across Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world, fact fans). We boarded a boat from Puno, and first stopped at Taquile Island. We hiked the 200m to the peak and got lunch. There are over 30 restaurants on the island, but curiously they all only serve one dish - grilled trout fresh from the lake. In the afternoon we wandered down the other side of the island to take in the views. Now, I know this is objectively a beautiful part of the world and I don’t mean to sound unappreciative or ungrateful or
anything, but coming straight from the back of Machu Picchu it was a little underwhelming to be honest. The second part of the island tour was stopping off at the man-made floating reed islands of Uros.
This was where the trip really got interesting. It was amazing to think that people could just create their own land, and live off it almost self-sufficiently using only the reeds that grow in abundance in the lake. To make the island the roots of the reeds are cut into blocks, and all tied together. Since they are buoyant they provide the foundations of the islands. On top of these tonnes and tonnes of reeds are placed in a criss-cross pattern to make the 'floor,' and on top of these houses are built for shelter. Each island typically housed up to ten families, and I quite like the way they dealt with disputes they could not resolve - they simply took a saw and cut the island in half, splitting the warring factions. The inhabitants drank the fresh lake water, ate fish and water plants and survived with little outside interaction. When something was needed from the mainland they exchanged or sold rugs they weaved. However our very presence on the islands was only possible as a result of the island's economy shifting to incorporate tourism - indeed looking around the many islands we could see a similar number of boats carrying tours, evidence that these isolated lands have become very touristy.
After Puno we had planned to go to Copacabana in Bolivia then on to La Paz, but due to some protest the road from Copacabana was blocked, so we had to miss out on seeing Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian side and instead went straight to La Paz. The journey to La Paz could have been unfortunate - we crossed the border without any problems (although also without shoes as I left these on the bus) but later on the bus stopped at the edge of the lake and we all had to disembark. Apparently we had to cross the lake and without a bridge they boarded the bus onto a barge and sent it across. We were sheperded along the shore to a small motor boat which we were supposed to cross on, only since we had arrived in Bolivia hours earlier we didn't have the fare that the captain was demanding to cross the lake. With no cash machine around and our bus already halfway across we were stranded and had to resort to asking strangers for money. It wasn't quite begging but it was close. Luckily a Greek couple came to our rescue and offered to pay for us - panic over!
Since the start of our travels we've been in such a rush to see and do everything we hadn't had time to relax yet. We had a week to spend in La Paz so had the oppertunity to slow down for a while. The first thing we did then to relax was, naturally, to take in some Cholitas Wrestling - basically WWF without any of the showmanship but with middle-aged bolivian women in traditional dress. The locals loved it though - shouting and screaming, and throwing greasy chicken bones at the wrestlers. It was very funny - more pantomime that sporting spectacle - and seemed a great introduction to the city.
Another benefit of having slowed down was that we had the time to get on it with more regularity, and toasted this luxury with pints of rum and ginger ale, gin and tonic and Moscow mules and woke up nursing a horrendous hangover. The opressive midday heat and high altitude made things worse so we spent almost an entire day in our hostel room. Aside from that we have loved La Paz, dining in Japanese and Thai resteraunts, in steakhouses and I even attempted 'South America's hottest dish' (NB I only managed half, and it felt like my insides were rotting for days afterwards). We have seen dried llama foetuses in the witches market, spent several hours waiting in the sun to get Holly a Brazillian visa which she ultimately doesn't need, seen San Pedro prison (only from the outside), visited the eerie and otherworldly Moon Valley and been to infamous clubs. It's probably the best city we've been to so far on the trip but sadly good things have to end and we have to move on.
Next up for me is a trip down Death Road - wish me luck!
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