Largo Titicaca
After a six-hour trip on a dilapidated
old wreck of a bus that had a dead fish for a clutch and
blocks of wood
for seats, we arrived in Puno on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Next was a
mad flurry in which we managed to find a man who could take us out to
the floating islands that we were so keen to see…
We set off in a small motor
ferry out of the harbour and through the miles of duckweed that
surrounded the coastline. The boat wound its way through the maze of
huge reeds, heading for the renowned floating islands - Los Uros. We
landed on the first of the islands, all of which are made entirely of
reeds, and gasped of the cold. We were all given a very rapid tour of
the place, and
were shown how the island floated of a two-metre thick
bed of reeds and mud. We then took a trip on one of the reed boats (they
like their reeds don’t they?) to the main island of Los Uros, Kamisaraki.
When we arrived on the main island, we were amazed to see a public
telephone in a small shack (also made of reeds) that could apparently
make international calls!
We rapidly made our way into the small restaurant they had there, were given a mug of steaming hot-chocolate and booked a room for the night. That’s right, a room…
After a brilliant meal of fish & chips, we settled down in our Tepees (ehem) with six alpaca blankets and a straw mattress each. The rain that had persisted through the evening continued into the night, but the Tepees were thoroughly waterproof and we slept well … until we were woken up at 6 o’clock the next morning for breakfast.
We had a meal of cold
fried-eggs for breakfast (they would have been hot, but we all took
slightly longer to get up than expected). After packing our rucksacks
and saying goodbye to our hosts, we boarded the first tourist boat of
the morning that would take us on the 4-hour trip to the non-floating
island of Tiquile.
Arriving in the midday sun for a short walk to the highest point on the island for lunch. Walking in the sun at an altitude of 4000m was gruelling work, but at least it only lasted for twenty minutes. We made it to the small village at the top of the island where there was a large square with a museum and a stunning view out across the lake.
We had lunch in a small upstairs restaurant that served only battered trout- delicious! We met a Canadian couple and an Israeli couple who were both fascinated by our travels…
On the other side of the island was a steep hillside that was tracked with a huge length of stone steps that went on for a few hundred metres, cutting backwards and forwards. We three boys ran down these as fast as possible to get to the boat in time for us to change and go for a swim.
The Swim
George and Jed and I stood
on the end
of the jetty, toes curled over the edge of the wood, a crowd
waiting in awe behind us. The afternoon sunlight seemed to lose its heat
as we stared down into the depths of Lake Titicaca, our muscles flexed,
preparing for the jump. A deathly hush had stolen over the expectant
crowd; every person was waiting for the leap…
We leapt.
Ooooh, that’ll be pretty cold I can tell you. We were in and out of the water within ten seconds, and then we spent the remainder of the day trying to get warm again.
If you are not a fool, never go swimming in Lake Titicaca.
If you are a fool, feel free!
Jack.
A Few Extra Photos of Lake Tititcaca
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Mum and Jed
