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Published: March 4th 2007
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Sunset over Lake Titicaca IV.
Wednesday (Feb 14th): The Sunset over Lake Titicaca from Isla Del Sol. Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long to write. We´re actually going to post two blogs, one about our trip and one about what we´ve been doing since we got back. Here is a summary of our trip:
Friday (Feb. 9th) We left for our Lake Titicaca/La Paz/Copacabana trip. We got up at 5 am, hopped on a bus, and headed out for Puno, a city on the shores of Lake Titicaca. On the way, we stopped at various stops and got some brief tours. First we stopped in Andahuaylillas, a small, colonial town, renowned for its cathedral . This cathedral is nicknamed the ¨Sistine Chapel¨of the Americas. It has several famous paintings and a gorgeous altar. After spending a brief time in Andahuaylillas we stopped in the small town of Rachqi. Rachqi containsthe ruins of the highest Inca Temple, Wiracocha. Wiracocha was one of the most important Inca temples and was designed to appear completely symmetrical. Next, we continued on to the village of Sicuani, where we fed alpacas and llamas. After lunch, we climbed to the highest point in our journey, La Raya, which is over 4330 meters. Our last stop before Puno was Pukara, which contains a
Brian the alpaca.
Friday (Feb 9th): Elena says this alpaca reminds her of Brian. I was skeptical at first, but if you look closely you can see the resemblance. museum celebrating highland culture. We got into Puno at around 6:00 pm, found a hostal, and had a pretty easy night.
Saturday (Feb 10th) Elena got up at 6 am in the morning to quickly run to a nearby store and get some pineapple. Instead, she got wrapped up in a parade (there was a festival going on while we were there), and spent the next two hours dancing around the city with a friendly family. And of course she never ended up getting the pineapple. In the morning we walked around the city. It is actually mucher larger than we expected, with a population of 100,000. After lunch we went to the ruins of Sillustani, ancient burial tombs set on a peninsula. The scenery was beautiful, a sparkling lake backed by rolling green hills. We then went to a small, little known volcanic mesa, which also had ruins at the top. That night was a huge festival, and we went out to see the parade and fireworks. The parade was great, but the fireworks never showed up. Elena had her sunglasses stolen from the inside of her backpack. Tom, ever the competitor, had his wallet stolen from the
La Paz II.
Monday (Feb 12th): One of the primary streets in La Paz. La Paz is the highest capital in the world, with a population of over 1 million. inside of his jacket. After Tom lost his wallet we just went back to the hotel.
Sunday (Feb 11th) On Sunday we headed to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. It is the highest capital in the world, and higher than Cusco. We left at eight in the morning, and arrived in La Paz at around 5. We had a couple stops on the way, one in Copacabana for lunch, and another to take a ferry across a strait. (The bus was also ferried across.) Once we got to La Paz, we spent over an hour trying to find a hostal, as every one we went to appeared to be full. That night we explored the city. It´s huge, and we got lost several times. It reminded both of us of New York City.
Monday (Feb 12th) We spent the day exploring the city. We went to numerous museums, including one on Bolivian and global music, a contemporary art museum, and a folklore museum. We also went to the main Cathedral in La Paz, however it was closed so we were unable to go in. We were both feeling a little effects from the altitude, so we had
The View From Our Room II.
Wednesday (Feb 14th): The view from our room on Isla Del Sol. a pretty easy day. That night we went to see Déjà vu, in the only movie theatre we have seen so far in South America.
Tuesday (Feb 13th) In the morning, we went to the Coca Museum, which told of the history of Coca and its significance to the people of South America. We also went to the black market. At 3:00 we got on the bus back to Copacabana, where we spent the night.
Wednesday (Feb 14th) That morning Tom took himself sailing. He typical a typical Bolivian boat, which is different then the ones back in the states. The boom is not attached to the mast, rather you have to move it back and forth as you tack. After lunch we took a three hour boat ride out to the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), where we spent the night. The Isla del Sol is the most famous island in Lake Titicaca, where several mythical indigenous leaders are supposed to have arisen from. We spend the afternoon and evening exploring the island. We watched the sunset, and then hurried back to our hostel to avoid a lightning storm.
Thursday (Feb 15th) Thursday morning
Uros, the Floating Islands VII
Friday (Feb 16th): The Floating Islands are completely man-made. They are constructed using bouyant reeds. we took the boat back to Copacabana and then got on a bus back to Puno. We arrived in Puno in the early evening.
Friday (Feb 16th) Friday we took a boat out the Uros, the floating islands. These are man-made islands constructed entirely out of reeds. We spent some time exploring there, and then headed to Tequile, a large island with a population of around 2000. Tequile was beautiful, with a very unique culture. We took the night bus back to Cusco, and arrived at around 4:00 in the morning.
The photos from the trip are only Tom´s, because Elena´s camera broke in Manu and she only recently got it fixed. Luckily the pictures on her memory card from before, which she was afraid she had lost, are fine. We hope you all are having a good time wherever you are, and we miss all of you.
Tom and Elena
(On the photos that are labeled as Thursday, Feb 15th, they are actually Friday, Feb 16th. Sorry, I didn´t notice until the end and was too lazy to fix them. I´ll try to post the next blog soon. I just have to finish updating The Cathedral of Andahuaylillas.
Friday (Feb 9th): This Cathedral is nicknamed the ¨Sistine Chapel¨ of the America´s for it´s exquiste paintings and sculpture. Regrettably, we were not able to take pictures inside. the pictures - Tom)
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Kathy Griffin
non-member comment
blog makes me wish I was there
Tom, Your photos are fab (descriptions too)...a nice blend of close-ups (Teqiile young people, pigeons, Elena's Starburst prowess)and distance shots(your views,sunsets,sailing) I'm paticularly intrigued w/ the foating reed island and am curious if it's "sustainable"/do they grow their own reeds?Will update... He worked building docks in Florida for a month and just went on a week long kayak/camping from one spring to another on the Wakiva River in Central FL. You 2 sound and look great! Hugs from ME!