Conde De Lemos Puno

... I would normally baulk at such a place, in fact baulk isn't a strong enough word, I would normally turn and run from such a place, but with time running out and the GAP hotel's being very nice but quiet I decided to go a little crazy. The Wild Rover is home to SO many Irish people it boggles the mind. If they all decided to return home at the same time I fear Ireland would sink. It does beg the question “why come all the way to Bolivia, if you're Irish ...

... the slick road. in a sense, luckily it was slick and a bit chilly so that A) i skipped across the street like a stone on a river as opposed to hitting and stopping, and B) i was wearing long sleeves up top which helped reduce surface damage to virtually nothing. It was definitely the gnarliest fall i've ever had and at the highest speed. i'm still feeling that one a bit. again, i must've looked like such an idiot to the locals who saw me eat dirt. I'm glad for two things: 1) that the guys ...

... I enjoyed and took in the most magnificent vista over the lake and also strolled around a little bit for myself.

On our way back we made a stop at one of the very nice-looking mud brick homes surrounded by walls and with several smaller buildings inside. I chose to go to the home across the street, the home where the others did not go, and got to take a picture of the family in their doorway and they showed me the different types of crops they are farming. I also ...

... 7.50 euro) naar Puno (een 6 uur durende rit). īs Avonds heeft Astrid zich nog gewaagd aan de wereldberoemde Cuy (Cavia), wat ze zich vlug berouwde aangezien er veel peuzelwerk aan te pas kwam en het beestje in zijn totaal op het bord lag (jaja, hoofdje en tandjes goed zichtbaar). Het smaakte een beetje naar kip, maar heeft een meer neutralere smaak. Ellen heeft ook eens geproefd, maar kon er zich moeilijk overzetten dat het een cavia was.

De volgende morgen gingen we gepakt en ...

... it, a city. A floating city make of lots of small floating islands. 95, actually : 57 "tourist islands", gathering the money, and 38 "inhabitant islands" (yes the popularity of the floating islands led to over-commercialization). They all are anchored at the same place nowadays, in the "laguna minor", but if needed could move anywhere on the giant lake.
Of course the tourist islands sport their load of (expensive) gadgets sellers, but I have to say here at least they are not ...

... central plaza along a cobbled pathway which took about 30minutes arriving just before 10am. There seemed more houses here than on Amantani. There were more locals here dressed in costume than we had seen elsewhere. Men, in particular, wore a black jacket and trousers but wore a coloured belt and a coloured hat, the colours significantly indicating their relationship status, so girls, it's easy to spot who is available. If they had red hats and red belts, they were ...

We boarded a boat the next day and had a 3 hour ride on Lake Titicaca. Itīs the largest and deepest lake at this hight. It was calm and beautiful. We spent most of the time sitting up on the roof enjoying the view, fresh air and sun. (Which we hadnt seen at all in Lima) It was bright blue skies. We arrived on the island of Taquile and had some practice hiking at high altitude, we were all huffing and puffing in no time!! We took tons of pictures. There were lots of ...

... made as much noise as possible all night, shouting, ringing the door bell, being idiots... (we were the only guests I think!)... couldnt sleep so got up early and tried to check out, but it was all locked up, so wandered about, shouted and eventually stumbledinto the store room where the kids were sleeping, woke them up, shouted at them (I am such a teacher!), paid and went to buy out own bus ticket from the terminal... for 20s cheaper!

The bus journey to Cusco is another story....

... attending to the Llamas. The lake was spectacular and went on as far as the eye could see, it could well have been a sea. It is no wonder that the Incas thought the lake had mystical powers as it is the highest navigatable lake in the world.

After lunch we got back on the boat and headed to another Island which was to be our home for the night. We were picked up by a local family and they took us to their house. It was just me and Mark so it was quite daunting ...

... cool, it was hard to sleep. After breakfast, met the boat at 8am to go to Isla Taquile (3rd largest island). The people of that island are known for their textiles and even the men knit. They donīt use any patterns, just what inspires them!

A great walk up to the summit for lunch overlooking the lake. Had to be the most peaceful and tranquille lunch I have ever had. I barely remember the food =)

A three hour ...