Lake Titicaca

Even travelers deserve a relaxed weekend every once in a while, so we decided to leave La Paz behind and travel north to the Titicaca lake. So this post resumes Isla del Sol in Bolivia and Uros, Amantina and Taquile islands in Peru.
the bus ride was rather entertaining when a group of travelers from Chile critized the bus driver, which ended in a police involvement, and after all the bus driver decided to drive at 50km\h, excusing himself with the passengers.
Nevertheless, we managed to get the ferry to the island of the sun where we decided to spend 3 nights in the middle of the lake under a bright star spangled sky. the island is the point where the Incas believed the god of the sun, their ancestor, touched the earth for the first time, making the island a big pilgrimage destination back in Inca time; and because we liked it so much we decided to go to the neighbor country and visit their side.
we crossed to Peru and started from Puno, small border town rather friendly during this time of the year due to its 'fiestas' which are celebrated during an entire month. with our heavy backpacks we arrived at a gorgeous family run hostel in an old Spanish colonial building. we were received like part of the family, and enjoyed an excellent Altiplano dinner cooked by the grandma. when we realized we were the only guests, the family confessed to us that the hostel was closed during the fiestas, but they didn't want to send us away when we knocked at their door....we must have looked very exhausted from the voyage.
from Puno one can take a public boat and head off to the islands; when they see you're a tourist they stop at 'Uros' the floating islands and explain to you exactly how they build them. hundreds of years ago, their ancestors used this lifestyle to escape the invading Incas, and managed to resist them....against the Spanish, it was no salvation though.
On Amantani Island, we stayed the night in the house of a native family, receiving excellent local food and exploring the island. it has a magnificent view from its 300m mountain top all across the lake....we could even see the island of the sun, 100 km away in Bolivia, where we had stayed only 3 days before.Read more