From La Paz, Bolivia, headed north to Copacabana, which is located on the highest lake in the world, Lake Titicaca. I guess we were both a bit disappointed that you really can´t tell that it is the highest lake in the world (except for being out of breath all of the time), but the scenery is spectacular. And one of the methods of getting busses across short distances is by barge. This is our bus coming to meet us on the other side (we passengers took an even more rickety looking boat across):
There´s not much to do in Copacabana - its main point for being a stop on the tourist circuit is as a jumping off point for touring the Island of the Sun and the Island of the Moon, two sacred islands in Incan mythology. The first night we stayed there, it happened to be the 55th anniversary of the university and they had a party. With a very loud band. Playing right outside of our hotel room window.
The next day we took our tired selves on a two and a half hour boat ride to the Island of the Sun. Here is Melanie with the lake and some of the Bolivian Andes (the Cordillera Real) in the background:
The Island of the Sun has been inhabited since before Incan times, and so is a patchwork of terraces and agrictultural fields (and breath-takingly steep hills), all interspersed with ancient ruins. Many of the people who live on the island still live the way their forbears did centuries ago. Here are some of the Incan ruins, which according to the ticket-taker at the gate are not reconstructed:
And looking out from the walls to the Island of the Moon, which is ground zero for creation in the Incan religion:
After we returned to Copacabana, we headed north into Peru. Puno was our next stop, which is a medium sized city located on the northwestern shore of Lake Titicaca. Again, the main reason tourist go to this city is not for the city, but for the islands in the lake around it. The islands we visited are floating islands made out of reeds. They are constructed of mats of reeds on a base of roots that are anchored to tree trunks embedded in the lake bed. The reeds have to be replaced every 15 days to a month. Here is one of the many little islands that make up the group:
And some of the traditional reed dwellings:
Many of the islanders still live a very traditional living by fishing and fish-farming, but the islands have become very commercialized for the tourists. Still, there is nothing like them in the world.
From Puno, we headed northwest into Arequipa, the ´White City´. Arequipa is named so because the volcanic rocks that the buildings in the colonial center are made of are white and gleam in the sun. Arequipa is a pleasant old city with plenty to do and nice restaurants and cafes. And one of the local specialties is chicha, or fermented corn-juice. That might not seem too extraordinary, but the way that it is made is interesting - the corn is first chewed by someone and spit back into the container. This starts the fermenting process. We ate at a restaurant far off the tourist track and (only Dave) sampled some chicha. It tasted good, but it was hard to keep my western indoctrinated mind from thinking that there were some bad-breath flavors in the background. Even though I am sure there were not.
Some chicha urns:
From Puna, we went into the world´s second deepest canyon, Canyon de Colca. It is hard to grasp the depth of the canyon because it is not as dramatic as, say, the Grand Canyon. But you really get the idea when you are trying to get from close the bottom back to the rim of the canyon where you are staying for the night, as we did on our hike into the canyon. The hike was all backwards - you are supposed to get the hard work of climbing the slope out of the way in the beginning, not at the end of the hike. Oh, well. We got to see an Andean condor, too.
From here we head to Cusco, where we will do the Inca Trail. Hasta luego!
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