Lake Titikaka and the end

So we had a few days in Puno and Lake Titikaka lined up for us all, including a home stay in one of the villages on an island.

After a full day in Puno with very little to do as it is literally just a port town we headed off on a slow boat around some of the Lakes highlights in that area.

The big one is the Isla Flotanes. These are Islands people live on that are made from reeds found growing profusely all around the bay. Every month the families need to add more reeds to their floor as they old ones dry out and decay. Thus losing their bouyancy.

The families pay no tax for their islands and often join or separate them as required to make larger more diverse groups. We got to have a walk around some of them and see what they did for a living and also take a ride on one of their rafts. We paid $5 Sol for the privelige of the ride and one of the small local girls came too and promptly sang a few childrens songs... in about 7 different languages. We were all impressed even though english was the only one we knew.

All the children have some sort of money making scheme going on. The follow you around playing drums and things and then expect you to pay them even though you never asked them in the first place. There are more things they try and do. The worst being pickpockets, their latest trick is to spit on you and then get their mate to rob you while you are preoccupied with the most feral throat bomb you have ever seen clinging to your arm. Joy

Aaaanyways back to the lake. After a bit of a potter around we headed to our island we were going to be staying on. After meeting our host mama or papa (yes that is what they want to be called) you get taken off to their house.

You have to understand that at 3800m high the lake itself is pretty damn high and makes it tough to breath when you are walkign around. So when we had to walk about another 100m up the side of the island to get to the houses we were pretty buggered. Our hosts then made us a late lunch and allowed us to walk around and see things before dinner at 7pm.

At dinner i tried to have a bit of a chat to my hosts but with them speaking a language called Quechuan and me speaking English it was tough. We both knew a little spanish so i got that they had 3 children all older and studying in Puno and a few other mindless details to boot. Its fair to say that dinner was quiet.

Then after dinner we got dressed up in local traditional garb and taken to a dance that the locals had put on for us. I only lasted a couple of dances before my eyes were droopy and i needed sleep.

In the morning we were treated to breakfast by the hosts and then taken down to the docks so we could head off to another island and the end of our Lake Titikaka stay.

The other island was nearby and we had a wander around for an hour or two and then had some lunch at a restaurant there. It had the most fantastic view off of a small balcony they had.

Finally it was a boat ride back to Puno. It was going to be a long ride (2-3hours) so we got settled in for a bit of sunning and games on the top of the boat. Not long into it we were alwanting a swim so we got the captain to stop the boat and we had a few bomb competitions.

Apparently every minute spent in the water adds ten years to your life. The water is crystal clear and has supposed healing properties you see. I spent maybe 5 min in there so Emily had better watch out or i`ll out live her easy.

Back in Puno we got told that there were road blocks on the way to La Paz in Bolivia so we might not get through very easily. As it happened the next morning we left for La Paz and had no trouble at all.

La Paz is an amazing city. Its nestled into a huge valley and the slums feed up the sides of the valley for miles and miles. La Paz is a bit odd in the fact that the poor have all the views of the city from the hill sides and the rich have no views because they live down in the bottom of the valley.

Our first night in La Paz was fairly uneventful. We went out to a restaurant which was pretty cool but i wasnt up for a big night so headed back to the hotel and bed nice and early.

The morning after a group of us went on a city tour and saw some of the citys highlights and a few views of the city from miradores (viewing places) We saw the witches markets which are full of talismans and dried Llama foetuses (no im not kidding) Apparently the Llama foetuses have the power of being able to bring wealth...

We also saw the black markets. There is so much fake merchandise its hard to tell what is real. The electronics section only has a few fakes but things like iPods arent any cheaper than buying from the internet so i haven´t bothered with getting anything yet.

Today i went and perused the markets a bit more and looked at the leather jackets which are made from Argentinian leather (nice) and cost about NZD$70 for the expensive ones.

Tonight is going to be quiet as i need more sleep again but i only have a few more days to go until im back in Christchurch so tomorrow im thinking about taking a bus and going to see some famous ruins nearby.

Well i think thats all for now so i´ll probably be in touch again before i leave for the airport on Wednesday morning.

I´ve loved this trip but i cant wait to get back right now. South American culture has its moments.

Over and Out