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Wednesday 6th July
Set off on the long drive towards Puno and Lake Titicaca, made even longer when the road was blockaded by the local community at Juliaca, protesting against the pollution of the river by a large factory(?). We stopped for 2.5 hours, made tea, played football and David attempted to learn to play his newly acquired pan pipes so that he could accompany Robert on the guitar! We were eventually allowed throught after giving (bribing) the "man in charge" with all the cough sweets we had! However, we were then forced off-road, because of a further road block, to by-pass the town. We arrived at our campsite next to the funeral towers at Sillustani, overlooking Lake Umayo, in the dark.
Thursday 5 July
After a short drive into Puno, we boarded a boat to explore Lake Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world). We visited the floating reed islands of the Uros people. The islands (there are 40) are made up of blocks of 1 metre thick reed roots, covered with layers of reeds 1 metre thick. Their houses and boats are also made of reeds. These communities have existed since before Inca times. Our next stop was the island of Taquile. This is a very strict community. The islanders wear traditional dress; boys must greet their elders or their parents are fined; boys and men knit, particularly their hat which signifies whether they are single or not and plays a part in courtship! Couples also have to live together for a few years before they choose whether or not to marry. After lunch we headed for Isla Amantani where we were stood at the dockside while the local families decided who we would stay with (reminiscent of wartime evacuees!). Our hosts, Maria and Juan, led us on a steep ascent to their home, close to the top of the hill. Our room was very comfortable compared with their accommodation. In the smoke blackened kitchen with a dirt floor and clay wood-burning stove we ate our supper of quinae (type of corn) soup and a plate of rice and vegetables, which were grown by Juan. After supper Juan dressed us in traditional costume to join the others at the fiesta in our honour. We all met at the community hall for traditional Andean music and dancing.
Friday 6th July
Shortly after dawn we had breakfast of pancakes and mint tea and set off down the hill, said our farewells and boarded the boat for our 3 hour trip back to Puno. In the truck we followed the shore of Lake Titicaca until we reached the border town where we finally left Peru and entered Bolivia. We arrived in the capital city (highest capital city in the world), La Paz, after dark. The view of La Paz by night from the top of the canyon was spectacular.
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