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Well we are now in Puno, Peru. We stopped here overnight to break up the journey from Copacabana on the Bolivian side to Arequipa in Peru where we will spend four days. Our bus there leaves in an hour so enough time to write a short blog about Lake Titicaca.
The lake itself is absolutely beautiful and as I said we were lucky enough to find a lovely hostel with a stunning view out over it. It is absolutely huge and when you look out over it it´s difficult to comprehend that it is not the sea! We had gone during festival time and so Copacabana rang with the sound of music and fireworks 24 hours a day as well as being absolutely packed full of Bolivians. Sitting in a cafe just watching the world go by was great as we enjoyed seeing people with llamas on leads, pigs in bags and fortune tellers who melt tin foil in a pan in order to tell you your future.
We were supposed to go to Isla del Sol on the second day for an overnight stay- the Island is where the locals believe the Sun, moon and stars were born. However us being us we managed to get confused about the boat times and after madly rushing around packing up all of our stuff by 9am ready for the 10am boat we were informed that the last boat left at 8.30am! So another day of mooching by the lake ensued and we decided to rise early the Thursday and do it all in one day.
We successfully boarded the boat on Thursday morning and chugged through the Lake for 2 hours to the stunning Island. When we arrived we stopped in a cafe to enjoy the view (donkeys, pigs, sheep and llamas on the beach)and Charles had some breakfast. I decided that I would get some food later which turned out to be a bit of a mistake! Our host had drawn us a great map and said that we should first see the museum, then climb up to the inca ruins and see where the sun was born. After that we were to follow a path for 3 hours that went from the north of the island to the south and this is where the boat would collect us to return to Copacabana.
We found the museum which was quite fantastic.There were 3 men sitting drinking outside a locked door "Museo?" they questioned? "Si" we replied and handed over a pound. The door was duly unlocked and revealed a dusty room about 8m by 10m containing items that the British Museum would probably die to get their hands on! There was no supervision as we were able to pick up vases from 400AD and see the traditional Inca tools. Anyway that took about 10 minutes and we set off on the path to see the ruins. We arrived there huffing and puffing 45 minutes later very proud of ourselves for being on track with the timings. After seeing the sacrificial area and the rock behind which the sun rose we turned with dismay to the North to South Path.
Now the views were absolutely stunning- the beautiful shimmering lake with the snow capped mountains in the far distance but the pat was far from a joy to behold. We were at 3800m so it was a bit of a struggle to breath standing still let alone on this up down up down 4 hour walk! At moments I did actually feel like I was going to faint but Charles was amazing I don´t quite know where he got his energy from (maybe the breakfast I missed) but he seemed to cope better than me! We plodded on and on and on occasionally stopping to pay cunning locals a 5bs (50p) `path tax´ and no cafe appeared! After 2 hours we came across a little hut and I staggered up to it gasping "Mate de Coca." Two 8 year old boys inside duly put the kettle on and 3 minutes later a mug appeared with some hot water and coca leaves in. unfortunatley just before taking a sip a huge caterpillar floated to the surface. The cup was returned and we carried on.
Well we eventually made the boat with 2 minutes to spare but I am now in serious doubts about whether I can do the Inca trail or not! These were compoundedafter my return to Copacabana where ironically it appears that the Island of the sun has given me sun poisoning and I haven´t kept anything inside me for 2 days...That is the rseult of not eating and then trekking for 5 hours in blazing heat i guess- a stupid mistake I won´t make again! Anyway Charles is hurrying me along as we have to get our bus...a lovely woman in the hotel actually came to the bus station to book it with us earlier otherwise we would have ended up on one that takes 10 hours instead of 5...just hope I can hold my lunch down for the duration....
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