Our boat tour took us out to the islands, about a 30 minute ride from Puno. We stopped on one of the many islands and met a couple of the families living on it, they showed us how the islands are made and shared with us their daily way of life. They actually use the reeds that grow around the lake to make the islands, they tie the roots together (which are very boyant) making a base, then they lay reeds over the top of them, making the ground very soft and spongey! Pretty facinating, there are about 40 islands with up to 5 families living on each (and these islands are not big - you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 steps!). We took a boat ride on one of the local boats (made of more reeds), I even had a row - see photo below. After a few hours on the islands it was time to head back to Puno. We had a bus to catch across the boarder into Bolivia.
We got to the Peru-Bolivia border in the late afternoon where we had to get exits stamps on the Peruvian side and then an entry stamp on the Bolivian side. Pretty uneventful except for the fact the driver explained the details to us in Spanish and we all noded like we knew what he was saying. When we came out of the Peruvian immigration office, our minibus was gone, out of sight with all our bags. At first we thought he had taken off, until a nice guy on a motorbike explained to us that he has driven up to the border so we wouldn't have to carry our bags, what a nice thing to do, but maybe we should have been a little more cautious! There's always someone trying to rip you off in Peru!
An hour later we were in Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (not the beach in Brazil). After each bus ride we are always glad to be alive, especially as most driver's make the sign of the cross around every blind corner and have no regard for the speed limit.
The following day we went on a day trip out to the Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. The boat dropped us off at the north end of the island and we walked 8km's to the south end. Although the walk was pretty spectacular with water surrounding us, there weren't any significant Inca ruins as we'd been sold by the ticket office. Amusingly, every town we walked through charged us a 10 bolivianos (US$1.20) entrance fee, not a bad racket!
Overall an interesting couple of days, but it was time to move on the bigger and better things, we headed back to Copacabana for a late bus to La Paz, big city here we come! Another interesting bus ride, this time our bus had to cross Lake Titicaca on a barge, all the passengers were thrown off the bus and told to cross the lake by boat! It was pitch black, the boat had no lights and it was freezing cold. Why didn't anyone tell us this before we got on the bus? Maybe they did (in Spanish.....)
On approach to the 'floating islands'
Some of the local ladies singing.
Giving it a go, it was bloody hard work!
View from Isla del Sol.
Our lunch spot on Isla del Sol, not a bad view.
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