Lake Titicaca
Trip Start
Feb 22, 2005
1
12
20
Trip End
Jun 22, 2005
Copacabana,
Bolivia
Saturday, April 23, 2005
We headed out of Cuzco by train to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Having booked backpacker class it was a nice surprise to find we had a table complete with linen tablecloth and flowers to ourselves. The journey by train takes 10hrs, 4hrs longer than by bus but it is far more luxurious. We treated ourselves to breakfast and a 3 course lunch but stopped short of afternoon tea. The train passed along the river valley we had been rafting down and after a short stop for photos at the highest point continued past glaciers and onto the flat treeless Altiplano, the Andean high plain.
We stopped one night in Puno and took a boat out onto Lake Titicaca to visit the Uros tribe who live on floating islands on the lake. The islands are made from cut reeds and as they rot away below in the water they are replaced with more on top. Their homes, also made from reeds can be moved from one island to another if the family falls out with their neighbours
alex enjoying eating one of the reeds
.24th April
We left Puno for the short bus trip to Copacabana on the Bolivian side of the lake. If you´re on the Peruvian side of the lake they will tell you that 60% of Lake Titicaca belongs to Peru and 40% belongs to Bolivia, however on the Bolivian side they will tell you the same story, that they in fact own 60% and Peru 40%. This in-fighting must be the reason for landlocked Bolivia´s navy. Copacabana´s cathedral is Bolivia´s most important pilgrimage site and the town on the edge of this lake at 3820m had the feel of a seaside resort complete with b&bs and pedalos.
We took possible he slowest boat in the world out the the Isla del Sol, reputed to be the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. We walked the Inca pathway over hills from the north to the south of the island. It was a very tranquil place with no cars and one or two places to stay, but we gave them a miss and hit what could be called the high life of Copacabana that night. Next day I had the hangover from hell after indulging in a few to many high altitude cocktails. To make matters worse we couldn´t find the place in town that served a full English and a fell asleep in the sun and burnt my nose...Time to leave for La Paz.
