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| View from Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca |
Having read a number of horror
stories about the bus from Cusco to Lake Titicaca (100 dead in the past month)
we decided to err on the side of caution and take the lazy safe option
by catching the more expensive and pre-organised Bolivia Hop Bus. This service arranged flexible transport (it
was founded by Europeans) all the way to La Paz across the tricky Bolivian
border and allowed us the luxury of not having to plan our 31st
border crossing of the year! After a
somewhat limited night’s sleep on the bus due to the winding road we
arrived in Puno. Not the most attractive town, Puno is full of crumbling buildings set along dusty
streets where modified tuc-tucs hurtle in every direction through the early
morning smoke of the wood fires. I had
experienced the charms of the town before so we had opted to stop for just
three hours, long enough to see the town’s only real draw – the floating
villages of Lake Titicaca. The lake is the birth place of the Incas
according to legend when the creator god Viracoca rose up from the lake to
create the moon, stars and first humans.
It was therefore an important stop on our journey through the former ancient
empire.
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| The 'Mercedes Benz' |
We caught a small boat to the
floating villages of the Uros people that are located just inside the Peruvian
border. The islands are made of totora
reeds that are harvested from the shallow areas of the lake and stacked in
layers that can reach a few metres thick.
These are then pinned down with rope to stop them floating to Bolivia
(they pointed out they do not have passports) and they can last around 30 years
although they need constant construction with new layers every three
months. Today they also add blocks of
mud to the underside to make them more solid and we were given a hilarious
demonstration by a unit of a woman who cheerfully used homemade model houses to
demonstrate the islands in a Peruvian style Blue Peter. It soon became apparent why everybody had the
physique of a womble as the bitterly cold morning meant the reeds were covered
in frost meaning the end of the demonstration was met with relief as we were
able to walk around the small island to warm up. Obviously we were treated to an array of
‘homemade crafts’ (is it to cynical to think they were made in China?) that are available in every market across Peru
before we were able to take a ride in a Peruvian
Mercedes
Benz. This was the name given at
least to a boat that looked a little like a Norse funeral vessel and we took
our seats praying to whatever Viking god we needed that the rickety boat did
not sink into the freezing waters! A
small motor boat pulled alongside us driven by a women who subsequently clung on to our boat,
started her motor and propelled us a few hundred metres to the next island –
well worth the $1!
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| Locals harvesting the crops on Isla del Sol |
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| Copacabana |
Having returned to the main land we set off on the short journey to Bolivia where the road ran alongside the water of the world’s highest
navigable lake (3,800m) and South Americas largest as huge glaciers rose up in
the distance. Lake Titicaca translates as 'Rock of Puma' as
its outline apparently looks like a Puma (drawn by that of a small child
learning to hold a pencil) and we were lucky enough to see flocks of flamingos
as we drove around the belly of the Puma where we arrived at the Bolivian
border. Having crossed, we drove the
final 15 minutes to the town of Copacabana which could have not been further
removed from its namesake in Brazil.
The only similarity between the two was a beach and the town seemed to
have been planned by a drunk local although it held a certain charm as it is
nestled between the lake and hills. Our
hostel had an amazing terrace which provided us
with beautiful sunsets and a nice place to relax for a few days.
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| Not quite Brazil's Copacabana |
As with a lot of businesses in developing
countries nobody seemed to have realised that if every shop sells exactly the
same goods trade might be a little slow. In a seemingly endless row hundreds and hundreds of battered pedalo
swans sat rotting in the sun and we sat in bewilderment puzzling over who had possibly
thought it was a good investment as we ate trout from the lake at one of the
small kiosks. We took a long walk along
the shore accompanied by a dog that trotted with us for a few hours taking in
the beautiful surroundings. Amusingly halfway along the
beach two men succeeded after a farcical ordeal to push two donkeys into the
lake and onto a waiting boat, much to the donkey’s annoyance. That evening we sat down to eat dinner with
Hannah crying uncontrollably with laughter as the world’s worst pan pipers/
didgeridoo players performed (like a sketch from The Fast Show gone hippy-cool) before demanding money for their
diabolic performance that we had been forced to endure (a massive gripe of
mine).
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| Counterfeit Hippies, Donkey Rides and the Round Table |
Our final voyage on to Lake
Titicaca took us to Isla del Sol which legend has it marks the spot where the
founders of Cusco emerged from a rock.
The two hour ride gave us amazing views of the glaciers in the distance and
we were eventually dropped at a small hamlet at the north of the Island and
given five hours to make our way to the south where we would be collected. We
initially crossed a beach where a congregation of South America’s finest counterfeit
hippies (dirty travellers rather than authentic hippies) lounged about making
exclusive tin jewellery whilst one enthusiastically
waved flags about as though she believed she was on a runway at Heathrow. Copacabana we have since been told by a Bolivian is known as the centre of the hippie universe! At 4000m high the walk was a little challenging
as the path ascended in the blistering sun and the barren landscape offered us
no protection from the elements. After seeing
the Incas version of The Round Table we walked along the top of the hill where
I got completely carried away taking photo after photo of the incredible views
across the lake and glaciers. Although
we had to pay tolls to each village who maintained the path (with varying
degrees of success) the walk was a real high point of Peru and gave me a jolt
when I stopped to think about quite where we were in the world – one of travelling's
greatest gifts. After a final day of rest and relaxation in
Copacabana we left for the four hour journey to La Paz and sadly away from the
heartland of the Incas.
We caught a small boat to the
floating villages of the Uros people that are located just inside the Peruvian
border. The islands are made of totora
reeds that are harvested from the shallow areas of the lake and stacked in
layers that can reach a few metres thick.
These are then pinned down with rope to stop them floating to Bolivia
(they pointed out they do not have passports) and they can last around 30 years
although they need constant construction with new layers every three
months. Today they also add blocks of
mud to the underside to make them more solid and we were given a hilarious
demonstration by a unit of a woman who cheerfully used homemade model houses to
demonstrate the islands in a Peruvian style Blue Peter. It soon became apparent why everybody had the
physique of a womble as the bitterly cold morning meant the reeds were covered
in frost meaning the end of the demonstration was met with relief as we were
able to walk around the small island to warm up. Obviously we were treated to an array of
‘homemade crafts’ (is it to cynical to think they were made in China?) that are available in every market across Peru
before we were able to take a ride in a Peruvian Mercedes
Benz. This was the name given at
least to a boat that looked a little like a Norse funeral vessel and we took
our seats praying to whatever Viking god we needed that the rickety boat did
not sink into the freezing waters! A
small motor boat pulled alongside us driven by a women who subsequently clung on to our boat,
started her motor and propelled us a few hundred metres to the next island –
well worth the $1!
Our final voyage on to Lake
Titicaca took us to Isla del Sol which legend has it marks the spot where the
founders of Cusco emerged from a rock.
The two hour ride gave us amazing views of the glaciers in the distance and
we were eventually dropped at a small hamlet at the north of the Island and
given five hours to make our way to the south where we would be collected. We
initially crossed a beach where a congregation of South America’s finest counterfeit
hippies (dirty travellers rather than authentic hippies) lounged about making exclusive tin jewellery whilst one enthusiastically
waved flags about as though she believed she was on a runway at Heathrow. Copacabana we have since been told by a Bolivian is known as the centre of the hippie universe! At 4000m high the walk was a little challenging
as the path ascended in the blistering sun and the barren landscape offered us
no protection from the elements. After seeing
the Incas version of The Round Table we walked along the top of the hill where
I got completely carried away taking photo after photo of the incredible views
across the lake and glaciers. Although
we had to pay tolls to each village who maintained the path (with varying
degrees of success) the walk was a real high point of Peru and gave me a jolt
when I stopped to think about quite where we were in the world – one of travelling's
greatest gifts. After a final day of rest and relaxation in
Copacabana we left for the four hour journey to La Paz and sadly away from the
heartland of the Incas.
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