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Published: November 2nd 2011
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The last leg of our Peruvian journey was spent in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca - the largest high altitude lake in the world at 3810m. We found Puno to be a rather unexciting town, but we did book a 2 day trip to visit some islands on the lake. Our first stop was the famous Uros Floating Islands. These are man made islands, made completely of totora reeds. The locals harvest the reeds and replenish the top layers of the island as the bottom layers rot away. Despite being a bit of a tourist trap, it was still interesting to see. The locals, however, have become quite lazy and wait for tourists to sell their wares and take them on expensive boat trips.
Our next stop was Amantani Island, where we spent a night with a local family. Our group, both young and old, enjoyed a soccer match with the local boys before heading up the hill to Pachatata - a pre Inca temple. The views were great, the temple not so much. After sunset, we dressed in local attire and headed to a hall for some folk dancing in the evening. We felt a bit spare and
Uros Islands
Guide explaining local life on the Island. the dancing comprised of holding hands and going round in circles. Our local mama was friendly but not that enthusiastic or talkative. Our guide was also not great - he seemed to only know a handful of facts which he kept repeating. We could probably qualify as guides for this tour by now...
Our final day was spent on Taquile island, where we walked around and learnt a bit about local dress. The planned lunch was expensive, so 2/3 of the group bought rolls and tuna instead. We got along very well with our group and decided to meet up for supper that evening, which was to be our final evening in Peru. One of the ladies in the group was a career and personal development coach who had done work for big companies all over the world. After hearing of our future uncertainties, she offered us a free consultation, which Marco made use of.
We were quite worried about the border crossing into Bolivia, afraid that the same thing would happen to us as when we entered Peru. Added to that, today was a public holiday and we were told we would not be able to buy a
Uros Islands
Local unmarried women visa at the border (South Africans are one of the few nationalitites that need a visa). We took our chances, prayed a lot and made it safely to the other side! : ) We are now in Copacabana, a little town on Lake Titicaca. We head off on another island excursion tmrw, but this time to camp on the beach.
We have enjoyed our time in Peru but it has flown by. We spent more time in fewer towns, which was nice. We also found the people to be friendly and helpful, but are good at making tourists feel guilty in order to make money. We also had interesting bus trips - often times a man would board the bus with microphone and amplifier and proceed to sell products to a trapped audience - everything from vitamins to music!
In contrast, the few hours we have been in Bolivia, we have found the people generally unfriendly. Vendors are very disintersted in helping us. We have heard this is because of a number of reasons: they hold a grudge against Chile for losing their coastal land to them during the Pacific War, they also feel that westerners have robbed
Lunch on Amantani Island
Fried cheese, potatoes and occa (sweet tasting carrot like things) them of the coca leaf, as they have been banned from growing them due to the production of cocaine using the coca leaf.
Peru highlight:
The trekking and nature
Lowlight:
Being put on guilt trips to tip despite having paid a lot of money for a service
What we miss:
Home!! : (
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Hans
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Wazzup
Hi Guys Your travels sounds pretty awesome and I can't wait to embark on something similar. South America sounds/looks very nice and quite easy to travel in. Hope all goes well and enjoy it! h