Lake Titicaca: Puno

After a 7 hour bus ride from Cuzco we arrived in Puno, a small "coastal" town on Lake Titicaca. From here we are to travel to Cobacabana in Bolivia (not the famous beach in Brazil). We had to wait a day for Marie-T and Leon to catch us up, so decided to explore the town. After much anticipation we approach the lake and you can only imagine the disappointment when we found that the lake only lives up to half its name. The distinct smell of raw sewage filled the nostrils around the little port. Shame, I was expecting a greater proportion of breasts to be honest. Can´t win ´em all.

Lake Titicaca is the world´s highest lake, lying at 3,800 metres. Some 290km long and 70km wide, its pretty big. May as well be a sea. Its very chilly, as I did think about unpacking my swimming shorts, can´t be as bad as the north sea in February. Yet to attempt a dip mind.

When the whole party was assembled we took a little boat trip out to some of the local islands. The first stop was at Los Uros after 1 hour, which is a set of floating island that a load of locals have lived on for ages after the Incas chased them off the land. It was totally wierd, the island is made up of layers and layers of reeds that grow in the shallow waters around the lake that the locals chop down and load onto the island quicker than they decay at the moment. It was like walking (and living for them) on a bouncy castle. Tons of fun. Speaking of which, I felt myself sinking in parts. Everything on this island was made out of reeds; boats, beds, houses, children. All very impressive.

Marie-T, Leon and Em on the floating island. I jumped off the bouncey castle ground to take the shot. Really.

The second island we got to was actually an island in the true sense of the word, but compared to the floaters it had nowt. I took about 2 more hours to get too and it ws just a bit of a tourist trap. Lots of locals trying to sell you tat, but still vaguely nice to look at. We were on a local taxi boat, so they hassled the gringo´s in big groups more than us, but a bit disappointing considering the magnificent setting. Only a 3 hour trip back. Yawn.

The ONLY shot of Tequile without the locals selling stuff and getting in the way.

Tomorrow: New horizons in the shape of Bolivia.