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Copacabana was our next stop, not the famous Brazilian beach, but the Bolivian town which borders with Peru and sits on the verge of Lake Titicaca.. one of South America's largest lakes and the highest navigable body of water in the world at over 3800m. It is also said to be the birthplace of the Incas and is home to many ruins.
Reaching Copacabana was slightly indifferent.. the bus had to cross over the first part of the lake on a makeshift raft while we hopped on a boat to the opposite side.
We arrived to the chilled lakeside town at midday on Wednesday and checked into our hotel before grabbing some ridiculously cheap sushi.
Pablo, the hotels concierge had recommended walking to the top of the local viewpoint.. Santa Barbara and Cerro Calvario. It was an extremely steep climb to over 4000m above sea level but it was totally worth it. The panoramic views over Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, and the rest of the Andes were something else, and unlike the majority of viewpoints there was barely any tourists.. just peace and quiet. The lake is so large and reflective it appeared more like a beautiful blue sea.
A few cocktails were had in the evening watching the sunset over the port and that was us done for the day.
The following day we had a trip out on a boat to one of Lake Titicaca's islands.. Isla del Sol, where there are Inca ruins. It was pretty pointless as we were barely given any time.. it took an hour and half on a boat to get there, then we hiked 45 minutes on the island from one side to the other before jumping back on the boat to return to Copacabana. Rubbish! But the views were decent.
Forgetting to collect my cash card from the ATM and going through the ballache of having to cancel it was the only notable point from a pretty uneventful evening. What a prat! Gracias Pablo for helping me to sort it.
We had half the afternoon to kill before we left on our bus to Peru. Sat down by the port looking out onto the lake, Ria and I were wondering what we could do to pass the time. Some pedalo's happened to be perched by the waters edge... ;) That's right, for the next hour we were those d*** thinking it would be funny to paddle around in a very old, rusty, floating swan.
The border with Peru around Lake Titicaca was no longer than 10 minutes drive away on the bus. The border crossing was the most stress-free and picturesque of them all thus far.. passport stamped. Hola Peru!
Copacabana, and Puno in Peru, are the two largest towns situated around Lake Titicaca.. Puno is where we were heading, just 3 hours drive away.
We arrived around 7.00pm to the chaotic narrow streets of the Peruvian town.. Friday night in Puno! The place was buzzing.. and so were my ear drums. Leave those horns alone!!
We had a wander round after checking in at the hostel and it seemed old Puno had quite a character.. roads jammed up with traffic, tuk tuk's flying here, there and everywhere, street-sellers offering anything from massages to men's razors, set-menus to steamed corn.. it was a challenge just getting from one side of the road to the other without being harassed or run over! Oh.. and the bakeries/cake shops were insane.. a nightmare for my sweet tooth especially as the cost was pennies rather than pounds.
We were up early on Saturday morning to catch a "speed boat" for our day tour to the Uros Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca, then onto Taquile Island. For a start, it wasn't a "speed boat" as you'd know it, it was a regular boat just a few mph quicker than the others on the port.
Lake Titicaca's most popular attraction is the forty-two self-fashioned floating islands that are home to the Uru or Uros, who are indigenous people of Bolivia and Peru with an approximate population of 2600 and 2000 respectively.
These islands are man made by the people who live on them using the reeds that grow in the lake. Apparently it takes around 2 years to build one.. the large islands can house up to 10 families while smaller ones, only about 30 metres wide, house only two or three families.
The islands have around a 2 year lifespan before the reeds rot and eventually sink. In the meantime they start building another island ready to move on to in preparation of the other sinking.
Their homes, boats, furniture etc, are all made from the lakes raw materials.. their food source is also the lake, mainly trout. They are essentially completely self-sufficient by using whatever the lake can provide them.
Stepping off the boat with 20 or so other tourists, onto their island didn't feel right.. almost like I was invading their territory. I certainly didn't have full confidence in it's structure, my feet kept disappearing through the top layer! These guys don't own any footwear either, walking around bare-footed all the time.. needless to say, they had proper manky trotters!
It was cool seeing how their way of life is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to my own, while also trying to get my head around how these people still live like this in the 21st century.
But I found the whole experience completely bizarre. Here I was learning about how they live and survive while the tour guide was banging on about how humble and self-sufficient they are.. then the next minute we were told to get on a boat made of reeds (balsas) so one of their guys could push us very slowly around the lake. We returned 15 minutes later where the chief (who is always a woman for each of the islands) was waiting for us with her hand out.. cash please! One by one she went round every person collecting our cash and pocketing it. Fair enough we're tourists but they rinsed us there. Scam!
Back on the island the frumpy women in their funky coloured outfits began to work the crowd. "Nancy", invited Ria and I into her home to check it out.
"Yeh alright, cheers Nancy".
It was a bit more flash than I was expecting.. she even had a TV in there, probably bought with all the scam-cash!
Nancy sat down, started speaking in what I presume was Spanish, then proceeded to whip her boob out and start breastfeeding her young one.. "Easy there Nance!" Not what I was expecting! Tour of Nancy's home was over in a flash (literally), "now I've shown you my home, come and buy some tat," was the gist we got, while Nancy literally dragged us over to her mini-stall, making us feel almost obliged to buy something. Scam! Probably wanted to raise more funds for a new flat screen or something.
The authenticity of the tour after all that palaver lost all credibility for me. Yes it might be interesting and amazing to find out about how they live but there is nothing worse than being guilt-tripped in to giving money or feel like you're being scammed from a hidden agenda. Rant over.. get me off this floating bush!
Next stop was Taquile Island.. a proper island with actual solid ground and of substantial size too. We trekked uphill for a good half hour to arrive in the local square. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant in the green hills where the natives of the island cooked and entertained us with some traditional pre-meal music and dancing. I use the word "entertained" very loosely!
It was all a bit uninteresting but at least I was fed. We blasted our way back to Puno on the not-so-fast speed boat and arrived back at the busy port around 5.00pm. After a bite out later on and a few cocktails we called it a night.
We had more time to kill on Sunday as our next bus didn't leave until late evening. The highlight was a wicked meal in the evening at a restaurant called Mojsa in the main square.. high quality restaurant food at a fraction of what it would cost in the UK. Tasty!
Cusco is the next stop, where I will be ticking off one of the major highlights of my whole trip.. Machu Picchu!
Adiós xx
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