Lake Titicaca: Puno, Uros, Taquille, Copacabana & Isla del Sol

First off, let us appologize for the very, very extended delay getting this blog post up. We have been keeping on top of the photos, but throughout Bolivia we haven't had wireless internet, which makes it exceedingly difficult to upload our blog posts.

Back to October 7th...

We took a day bus from Arequipa to Puno (we took the advice of our guide book and avoided taking a night bus across one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Peru). The bus putted along at an unbelievably slow pace, and we arrived in Puno several hours later than intended, and checked into hostal Q'oni Wasi; a bit of a dump, but it had very friendly staff, and an included breakfast. Fake wood paneling, a ridiculously huge run-down bathroom (with bidet and electric shower), and metalic and pink carpet accents. 

We'd heard that arranged tours of the islands of Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world) tended to exploit the locals, and that you could do it yourself if you were up for the challenge, so we opted for that option. We woke up bright and early and headed for the docks, picking up some snacks along the way. At one fatefull fruit stand, we also picked up an unwanted creepy local man who tried (repeatedly) to convince us that the docks were, in fact, down various sketchy alleyways. We wisely ignored his advice, but he followed us (litterally, stepping on our heels), and told us he wasn't going away, so we headed for the other side of the street where we could see some policemen. We eventually lost him, but were soon surrounded by hundreds of people trying to sell us tours. We went straight for the government run ticket office and just bought a boat ticket. The tickets were cheap (~$2.50 each way, per person) but we probably could have swum faster than the boat, which took 3 hours to get to the island, 34km out into the lake.

We stopped first at Uros, the famous "floating" islands made from layers of buoyant totora reeds. It was an interesting site, but the authenticity had definitely been damaged by tourism. As our guide book put it, the islands have become shockingly commercialized, though there is still nothing quite like them anywhere else, and it was worth the trip.  The boat wouldn't start when we went to leave, but not to worry, the driver/ mechanic fiddled away at the engine until it would. If something doesn't work here, you just sit around until it does.

Next we continued on to Taquile island, where we had planned to spend the night. While the island had no hostels, we had heard that you could pay the locals for a "homestay". The elevation of the Lake is 3808 meters above sea level, and it was a strenuous climb to the top of the island. 

About half way up we realized that the local woman in front of us was "following" us (waiting whenever we stopped to catch our breath or take a picture). She didn't say anything, but kept this up for a good half hour until we reached the top, and then politely "herded" us to her restaurant. We were looking for food anyways, so we went with it. The food was good, althought we'd had just about enough of the island after 2 hours, so headed back to Puno for the night instead (much to the dissapointment of the woman who was hoping she had convinced us to stay with her for the night).  On the way back, the boat was twice as full and we got stuck sitting on top for the 3-hour journey. It was freezing cold, and we bundled up in all our clothes, and even our sleeping bags. Near the port, they made everyone cram (like sardines) into the cabin, because apparently it's not legal to ride on top of the boat.

Back in Puno, we decided to treat ourselved to one last Peruvian dinner for our last night in the country. We split two dishes; 1) alpaca tenderloin medallions stuffed with smoked lake trout in a red wine reduction
sauce with some sort of local berries and quinoa, and 2)  lamb with red wine sauce, apples and roasted baby potatoes. We also split a bizarre Peruvian variety of cheesecake for desert and had some local wine as well. The whole deal set us back a whopping $12 each... quite the treat. We then wandered around trying to find a postbox for our 6 un-mailed postcards... quite the task! We ended up asking some policemen who were just standing around chatting and he kindly took us under his wing and found us a post-box (hidden inside a corner store).

The next day we set off for the Bolivian border. No major hiccups, but we find it strange that you have to walk across the border. You go through Peruvian immigration, then customs, then walk down the road to Bolivia (past various street vendors) and do the same on the Bolivan side. No where do they ask to see your bags, or ask you any questions. We got our 30-day VISAs and continued on to Copacabana; a small sunny town with no ATM's, and the hub to Isla del Sol. We checked into a hotel (mostly just so we had somewhere to store our bags while on the island) and hurriedly caught a boat to Isla del Sol (4000 meters above sea level, and the birthplace of the sun in Inca Mythology). Because there were no ATM's in Copacabana, we showed up on the island with an absolute bare minimum of funds to get us through our stay there. 

We scoured the island for the cheapest accomodations, and settled on Hostal Puerta del Sol, right at the very top of the island, in the Yumani region. On the way up we ran into a discouraged couple (Kayleigh and Russ, from the UK) who were in the exact same monetary situation. They informed us that if you tried to walk around the island, the locals would stop you every 10 minutes and demand payment to walk on the paths. As such, they had spent all their accomodation money and had to head back to the mainland early. We also tried to walk around, but only made it past 1 "checkpoint". A little girl magically appeared and demanded payment for a photograph we took of her donkeys, and when we pretended to delete it, she demanded payment for walking on "private property" (which is clearly wasn't). We wouldn´t actually have minded paying if it was legitimate (which it wasn´t) and we had the money (but we didn´t).

Exceedingly frustrating, so we gave up on trying to walk around the island, and just lounged by the hostel and enjoyed the incredible view. We met some great people at the hostel, including our new friends Dewey and Sean. (If you keep reading this blog you will find out that we spend the next two weeks with Dewey, Russ and Kayleigh). We socialized and watched the sunset from our hostel, then headed into the bush (literally) to a highly recommended restaurant. 

 

The one-room wood shack restaurant was in the middle of the eucalyptus forest, over-looking the bay. The owner and his wife enthusiastically cooked us an incredible meal (handmade bread and all) by candlelight. We had fresh lake trout, quinoa, vegetables, bread and wine (of course) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We didn't have enough money, but Sean spotted us, and were able to enjoy yet another extraordinary $5 dinner. Everything in Bolivia has been extraordinarily inexpensive; about $4 per person per night for accomodation, and less than that for a great meal.  

The next day we headed back to Copacabana (again, we got stuck on top of the boat), and our new friends convinced us to head straight for La Paz instead of spending another night in Copacabana. Probably for the best, since we were out of money and it was getting close to Thanksgiving (needed to prep)! We ate a cheap but delicious trout lunch on the beach, and headed for the bus, where we ran into Kayleigh and Russ again. 

The 6 of us headed for the highly recommended Adventure Brew hostel in La Paz. At one point, we had to get off the bus, while the bus got on a very rudimentary "ferry" of sorts, and we took a shuttle boat across a narrow portion of the lake. Here is the ferry that the bus went on:

 

 

The ubiquitous election grafitti of Peru spilled across to the border into Bolivia as well. This was a pretty tipical sight along the shores of Lake Titicaca as we headed to La Paz.

Next post: A Canadian Thanksgiving in La Paz (up soon!).