Did you know that beer has a very different froth at high altitude? I've spent the last five days on the edge of Lake Titicaca at almost 4000m. Walking up three flights of stairs is still very hard on my lungs.
The first stop was Puno on the Peruvian side, not a very exciting city and the tours from there are very touristy. I did a one day tour to a an island made of reeds and then stopped for lunch at another island.
Lunch with a view, the snow capped mountains on the right are in Bolivia. On this island the men must be able to knit well before they can marry, the women weave instead.
An explanation of how the reed islands are constructed every 25 years. I'm still not convinced people actually live there full time now, seemed a bit of a tourist trap. There was an Australian couple on the tour with me and they were just as skeptical as me.
They really are islands amongst the reeds, complete with houses and boats made from reeds. They even eat the reeds and have cattle graze on them.
Copacabana on the Bolivian side has been much nicer. A laid back town of 2000 people, on the edge of the lake, it has just enough services to keep both foreign and local tourists happy. My main activity was a hike on the Isla Del Sol. We didn't manage to find the stone table where the Inkas made their sacrifices but had a really interesting 10km hike. Although the three hills we had to climb were difficult at such high altitude.
So glad I don't have to do my washing this way.
At times it felt like we were working through the Aussie bush. Apparently the Spaniards introduced Eucalyptus trees to South America in the 1800s.
The water around the island was so clear and very bright blue.
Sunset over Lake Titicaca, from a rooftop cafe.
I had a lovely long walk along the edge of the lake on Saturday morning, as everyone was getting ready for the busy day ahead.
posted from Bloggeroid
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