Advertisement
Uros Girl
Her face is covered in Oreo cookies given by a tourist..... I had always heard of Lake Titicaca and like most people used to also have a little snigger at the name... so now here I was on my way to check it out.
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. At about 3600m it is guaranteed that you are still huffing and puffing as you tour around.
The bus trip to Copacabana from La Paz passed without incident.... Copacabana itself is a sleepy little town famous for the Lady of Copacabana, which explains the huge church this little town has. From there it is possible to take a boat trip to Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna - the birthplaces of the Inca Empire.... I have to admit I was a little disappointed... first of all I ignored the guide book advice which said that a one day tour was too short and rushed. Soooo I felt rushed all day.... First of all they forget to mention how they load all these tourists on these sloooow boats so it take a good 3 hours to get to Isla del Sol. Then you are marched from one end of the island to the other to
Uros Island
A reed boat and a bowler hat woman! What more could I ask for in a photo? see the sacred rock which is errr a rock. By the time I was told that I should be able to see a Puma head from a huge rock which had supposedly once been covered in gold I started getting a bit fed up! Oh well .... the sun, the glistening lake and the views made up for the Inca ruins we were supposed to be seeing!
The good news of being close to the lake is that there is some fabulous fish to be eaten. Trout and king fish so I certainly enjoyed trying the different flavours on offer....
After a couple of nights in Copacabana it was time to travel across the border to Peru. The whole of Copacabana moves on mass at 1 pm with buses heading off to La Paz or to Peru.
Walked across the border and unlike the last one where there was such a marked difference between Argentina and Bolivia, between Bolivia and Peru there was er no difference - just one hour and new currency to get your head around. The snickers and oreos were still on sale - they had just magically double in price!
We arrived in
Lunch!
When in Rome..... Puno which is OK. We had heard that it was not the most attractive of places, which it isn´t and it took us 4 attempts before we were happy with a place to stay - mainly because we were determined to have some hot water for a decent shower! We found somewhere... it just took at least 15 min before the water was hot....
We booked ourselves on a 2 day tour of the islands on Titicaca. I was afraid it was going to be really touristy and in some was it was, on the other hand we had a lot of fun.
First of all you are taken to the Uros (floating islands) and I wanted to scream out ´Tourist Trap´. It was pretty bad. I don´t believe for one moment that if the tourists were not there, these people would still be living on the reed islands. On the other hand, they did live like this once upon a time and from that perspective it was interesting to visit.
After the Uros islands it was off to Amantani (another 3 hours by boat!). Here we were met by locals in their traditional dress - which looks very much like a nun´s habit except with beautiful embroidery..... Our host mum was called Paulla and even though she took minute steps I was still huffing and puffing behind her... There just is no air around!
After lunch - quinua soup (lekker!), two types of potatoes and squeaky cheese it was time to check out the rest of the village - another 200 m up so now edging to 4000 m..... so as soon as the sun goes down there is a decided chill in the air. After the evening meal - more soup, rice and potatoes - (they like their starches here!) it was time to get dressed up in local Amantani dress and go dancing..... Getting flung around the dance floor at that altitude was an experience. Had to feel for the tall Dutch boy who had to dance every dance - his height and hair colour was a hit with the locals. My lasting memory of Amantani will be of when I asked our host Mum if she wanted something to drink. She got all giggly and hid her mouth behind her hands. Cerveza? I whispered conspiratorially. No, coca cola por favor......
The next day after breakfast we were herded back onto the boat and an hour later we were on Taquille island. We had to climb up to the town which was another huff puff session. When we got to the town main square we bumped into lots of other tourists all up here to get fed before walking down the 540 steps back to the harbour. We were made to feel better by the fact that our restaurant was run by 6 families - each week they all take turns and then the profits are shared in the community. The men are known as great weavers and the weaving was beautiful. Also the waist bands and hats they wear carry significance - about their marital status as well as position in society.
More photos at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/foodiefloozie/my_photos
Advertisement
Tot: 0.12s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0772s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Islland ot the Moon etc
Yes as you said much more touristique these days compared to our trip, after all it was over 30 years ago!! We decided we wanted to visit the island and hired a boat with two guys the water was looking ever so slightly choppy but we assured 'no problem'. It got choppier and you know how we are in boats! When they started using a bucket to lift the water off the bottom of the boat instead of a tin cup we were decided to INSIST on returning to shore...!! so we never did get to see the island of the moon, but you did on our behalf! Once more I was on yhour shoulder... - Mae