Lake Titicaca

Yes, it has a funny name, but there's nothing funny about its grandeur. The lake is 6 or 12 times larger (one of the two) than Lac Leman in Switzerland and far more imposing. Its the highest navigable lake in the world at 3,400 meters above sea level. The days (in the sun at least) are warm and the nights are fridgid.

We arrived to the lake at Puno, one of the ugliest towns we've seen so far with all the buildings made of unpainted brick with metal beams sticking out of the tops. It has absolutely no charm or interest except for strangely manicured trees in its centra plaza. We came to Puno because its the port from which we can visit the lake's unique floating islands.

These tiny islands are made from the abundant reeds growing in the lake. The roots of the reeds are used for a base and then the reeds themselves are piled over each other and crisscrossed for extra strength. These reeds are the livelyhoods of these people - they can be eaten, used for their islands, to make boats, their houses and crafts. As the bottom reeds rot off they must be replaced twice a month to keep their islands floating.

These people moved out to the lake centuries ago due to fighting between their tribe and another stronger one, giving them the only choice to escape or be decimated. Nowadays these islands are very touristic, with the locals welcoming boatloads of tourists with their crafts ready to be sold, but they're still a very unique experience.

After visiting the floating islands we took the collectivo (a super-squished van) and then a sort of cyclo to the Bolivian border where a Peruvian border guard tried (and failed) to steal my money. We arrived in the Bolivian town of Copacabana at dusk and found the cheapest hotel in the world (1.3 USD) to sleep in.

Early the next morning we set off for the Isla del Sol, where the Incas supposedly sprouted from. That island is magical. It is the Mediterranean. Everything from the landscape, the crispness of the air, the blueness of the water to the olive trees and plentiful thyme growing in the arid landscape reminds me of southern Italian islands like Sardenia. The landscape set off a yearning for Mediterranean food in both me and Charles and soon we were drooling to the thoughts of a cold rice salad and fresh rosé wine. Unfortunately all we got for lunch was a greasy chicken sandwich and a melted chocolate bar, but that did just fine.

We puffed up a hill to find our hotel (its not easy to walk up hills at 4000 meters) overlooking the lake and we promptly set out to hike the island. Our mission was to get to the north side of the island, where they had the Inca ruins of the temple of the sun and their alledged sprouting point. Ledgend has it that a husband & wife (and brother & sister) came from the earth of this island and continued into the Andes to Cuzco where they established the beginnings of the Inca empire.

We stopped for lunch on a hill overlooking a beach and it was too nice not to take a siesta. So an hour later we got up and realized that these ruins were a lot farther than we had anticipated. Well, we finally reached the ruins (a bunch of stones piled onto each other) but were so happy with the hike that we weren't even dissapointed. We then walked through the nothern village in the hopes of catching a boat back to the south, which would avoid us having to walk 3 hours back in the dark.

Well the last boat had left 4 hours before, but we found a guy that was willing to take us. The lake was choppier than we (and the boatman) anticipated and we spent most of the ride dodging huge waves and watching water slowly trickle into the boat from the windows. When we finally arrived the boatman smartly positioned the boat paralell to the waves and with a fierce wave and an unbalanced deck it sent the boat flying sideways and Sao Mai tumbling into the water. What followed was a franatic effort to get SM out of the water and to catch the boat before it floated away (all of us were on the dock). We managed to get the boat back and recover SM as the toothless boatman hurridly jumped back in and set off back to the north.