Lake Titicaca

After I had a snicker at the name of this place, I needed to take deep calming breaths because I was at 4000 meters and the breathing ain’t easy up here, never mind the snickering.  Of course, the first thing I did was sign up for a tour where I was expected to climb a mountain to see ancient funerary tombs.  I swear, somewhere, buried deep in my genes is a tiny strand of Incan DNA just dying to get closer to its gods. Sillustani was pretty interesting once I decided my heart wasn’t going to actually leap out of my chest.  For over a thousand years, different civilizations built their tombs here and you can see the development of architecture as they became more proficient.  These Incan tombs are some of the last ones built.  

We also got to stop at a local ‘farm’ to check out their lifestyle.  No electricity, no gas, no running water and dirt floors seem to be the norm.  It was pretty sad as the kids automatically put their hands out for tips.  I’m going to be a little more careful about booking tours after seeing the impact that tourism has here.Check out the bones hanging from above the doorway. 

The next day I went out on the lake, thinking that I was in for a lazy day of cruising.  It was pretty easy in the morning as we visited the floating islands of Uros.  The islands, the houses and even the beds are made from reeds that grow around them.  Whole communities float around and live unique, separate lives from the people on shore.  We got to take a ride on this matrimonial boat.  The newly wed couple would sit up top and go from island to island. We spent another two hours peacefully chugging out to Isla Tacile (the boats use recycled bus engines).  The island reminded me the Aegean near Turkey but with more sheep and no goats.  After a breathless hike 400 meters straight up the side of the island, we were fed some delicious trout (which I came to regret some hours later) and then 500 steps down the other side of the island to catch our boat and we were on our way back.  These high altitude climbs might kill me but I’m getting a good workout.

I’m in Copacobana, Bolivia now but I can see Peru across the glittering lake.  I’m sad to say goodbye as it was a great country to travel through but tomorrow I hit La Paz and a new place to explore.