At the Copa, Copacabana, the highest lake south of Havannah....

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We find ourselves on the shores of the majestic and frankly massive Lake Titicaca the birthplace of the Inca people. Apparently the sun was born here which is something of a surprise to me. Then came Mancu Capaq, the first Inca and Mama Oqito- his sister AND wife! Very liberated people these Incas.

First stop was the Bolivian side and we stayed in Copacabana, not so many chick in tiny bikinis as it´s Brazillian namesake, what with it being pretty chilly and all, but very pretty non the less. This is the jumping off point to visit the Isla de Sol, central to Inca folklore. We catch a boat across at 8 in the morning and some of our shipmates are very drunk Bolivians which is quite a feat at that time of day. Arrive at the North with a view to hiking to the South. Out of all the people who´ve been here, none of them gave the slightest inkling that this would be anything other than an amble and so it came as quite a shock to find ourselves struggling up inclines and one false summit after another. The effort was well worth it, we were rewarded with spectacular views of the lake and a sense of achievement at the end.
And so we come to the end of our time in Bolivia and it is with some regret we cross the border into Peru. Gone are the days of eating and drinking for pennies and all manner of unregulated dangerous activities but onwards. Peru is still nice and cheap by anyones standards but they do seem a little more keen to get their hands on the tourist dollar here by any means possible.

Puno is our next stop, a dumpy and crowded little place but it is the place to visit the famous floating islands from. The trip out to these truly remarkable reed islands was fantastic. There isn´t anything you can´t do with reeds it turns out. You can eat them, wear them, live in houses made from them, sail in reed boats and most importantly turn out small handicrafts that can be purchased at inflated prices by inflated tourists- reedtastic! The inhabitants are a very friendly bunch wearing ridiculous colourful costumes. We even got to try on the local garb and I think you´ll agree we fitted right in, especially when we were made to sit with the family to sing traditional songs. Funny at first but after the 5th song it got a little tiresome so we chose to get up and stop ruining everyone elses photos. The rest of the time was spent poking around the locals ´houses´. Quite surprising to see a TV in one of them, it probably runs on reed sap or something. Although the guide assured us that the islanders survive purely on what they catch it did seem that they did all have rotten teeth. I didn´t realise that there was so much refined sugar in seagull meat.

We have spent the last couple of days trying to get out of Puno by bus. An easy enough prospect, we thought, but how wrong can you be! for full details on the fun and games we endured you´ll have to read my bus rant. We are now in Cuzco and it is a beautiful city and I´m very much looking forward to our time here.

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Photos

Spot the non locals
Em liked the skirt as it ´Hides everything´

Hut on Isla de Sol
This must be someones house, nice view but I doubt it has an en suite.

Reed island
A real floating island with real Inca craft stalls.

... Or seagull perhaps?
Lack of refrigeration on these islands leads to some interesting menu options.