Wow, hard to believe that Lake Titicaca is a lake and not a sea! It is enormous and spectacular. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We went by boat across the lake to some floating islands that are made of reeds and soil, and literally float on the lake and are ancored in place by ropes in the mud! The people who live on them live in reed houses, and eat the reeds as well as fish etc. A lot of their business now is tourism of course, but it helps them to survive, so.....
After the floaing islands we continued to Amantani island, where we had an amazing experience staying with a family. The houses are simple and rustic, but beautifully decorated with the traditional woven cloths. The families have 2 groups of tourists to stay a month more or less, and they rotate the families which take the tourists, so you feel like you have a real experience of family life. The mother cooked us the most delicious lunch and dinner. Simple but extremely tasty. We walked up a mountain to their temple to pachamama (mother earth) on the top (over 4000m above sea level!) for spectacular views over the lake and the surrounding scenery. In the evening the family dressed us up in traditional costume and took us to a dance in the local village hall. Such an amazing experience, it is hard to put it into words. We danced the night away, and them walked back to the houses for a nights sleep in the quietest place ever (even quieter than Woolpit!). It was great to be able to experience real life with the indigenous people in Peru. And i found that my portuguese can more or less be understood as spanish with a bit of help from Jen and changing a few words!
The next day we visited another island known locally as the paradise island, and you can see why from the peace, tranquility and scenery. More hills and the local trout caught in the lake at eaten at the top of the highest mountain! Yummy!
And then... off to Bolivia!
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