Joya del Titicaca Puno

... that's a co-incidence that his first name is President and he is a President or if he just got really motivated to become one because of the name. Anywhoo, Colin and I were close enough to take him out and we did discuss it. And I don't mean for a nice spot of dinner and a drink. I mean take him out as Tony Soprano would understand it. We would be doing the world a huge favour and would surely become heroes. Well, possibly martyrs. But we thought it best to let him ...

... for under 500!!!) Imponerende den lille dreng, det var han altsaa. Stor tung taske paa meget spinkle drengeskuldre. Og jeg selv?? Jeg maatte holde pause for hvert 5-10 skridt for at sidde ned med bankende hjerte og kvalme!

Til toppen naaede vi da til sidst, hvor jeg dejsede udmattet om paa mit vaerelse og sov et par timer, for dog lige at naa op at tage et bad, foer jeg kunne nyde udsigten over Lake Titcaka badet i dagens ...

... nuit pour le repas - partie de carte et dodo.


Mardi 1 decembre

Petit dej tres sommaire (decidemment nous ne sommes pas venus ici pour l´aspect culinaire), nous partons pour l´Ile de taquile.

Encore une grimpette - Seb compte 500 et quelque marches, Flore et moi songeons plutot a calmer notre respiration...
Retour sous le soleil a Puno.
Départ pour Cusco le soir apres un bon resto pour célébrer la remise en place intestinale...

... sometimes cited as highest navigable lake in the world, and unarguably massive- it just looks like the sea but is at 3800m above sea level), provides great views and is peopled by an isolated community who have some great customs:
- unmarried men wear a red and white wooly hat, hanging to right if dating, hanging to left if up for it and to the rear if not interested. Married men wear red wooly hats. Important community
people wear crazy multicoloured ...

... for tourists

*the Amantani islanders welcomed us at the port and we all went off with various families to have some lunch and see where we would be staying the night. Our little house was very sweet - the 3 of us had our own room, and we eat in the kitchen of the family which was tiny and mainly consisted of a gas burner and table. The food was basic but very nice, rice and potato based - and we had a great drink called Muña ...

... at Chivay, then it was time for the long trip back to Arequipa, made longer by the fact that a double-decker bus had ploughed into the side of the hill and had a totally crushed front. The buses here don’t inspire us with much confidence.

Back in Arequipa we tried to have a look inside the Cathedral in the early evening but it was closed to tourists. Nath and I had dinner by ourselves at a creperie we had stumbled upon.

It was another 4.45am start the next morning for ...

... to the tiny motor on the boat than distance. So I laid back on my rickety seat and got some more sleep, listening to the banging of the locals on the thin dodgy wooden roof.

Isla Del Sol is quite barren and isolated. We started our 4 hour walk from north to south, seeing ruins along the way, many dating back to the 15th century. There's also the Sacred Rock, where the Incas believed the sun god was born. It's believed to be a magical place.
Isla del Sol, Bolivia kimsworld

The next day I took tickets to Isla del sol, a big island close to the Bolivian mainland. It is the legendary birthplace of Manco-Capac, the sun-god himself, and his sister-wife Mama Huaca.
I pay for an "all included" boat ticket (means boat ticket and a quick tour with a guide), which takes me to the north part of the island. There, as described, a guide awaits us and we start the tour. 1st stop : a small desk where you ...

Caught a boat from Copacobana on rough waters and the wind blowing so the boat full of 30 people with their backpacks had to dock at a different place and had a great walk over 25 minutes and my 25kg backpack up mountains to get to the town with the hostels. Found a hostel with a few danish and english blokes and drank beer and ate pizza all afternoon.

Have to catch a boat back to ...

After a bit of investigating we ended up getting the lunchtime ferry to the island with the plan of staying overnight. There are several options for visiting the island which we considered, one involved walking 17km and getting a boat at the shortest crossing. It is suppose to be a beautiful walk but with the island walk being about 10km anyway, we opted for the easier option.

The journey out across the lake is absolutely beautiful ...