We eventually managed to leave La Paz!! jumping onto a bus to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca, away from the madness we booked ourselves into a lovely lakeshore hotel.Here we were treated with beautiful sunsets which were enjoyed with pisco sours. We took a trip out to Isla del Sol a two hour boat trip on a very slow boat were we enjoyed a days hiking. The island is truly beautiful (see photo below), it 
is apparently the birth place of the first Inca and therefore the sun. However its also over run with tourist like ourselves on day trips who have been diligently reading the recomendations in their guide books. We did manage to get truly lost! I blame the poor map we had that looked like a Bolivian school child had doodled it on the side of their maths homework! Anyway we just about made the boat back to Copacabana with much help and directions from the ever kind and patient Bolivians.
is apparently the birth place of the first Inca and therefore the sun. However its also over run with tourist like ourselves on day trips who have been diligently reading the recomendations in their guide books. We did manage to get truly lost! I blame the poor map we had that looked like a Bolivian school child had doodled it on the side of their maths homework! Anyway we just about made the boat back to Copacabana with much help and directions from the ever kind and patient Bolivians. The next morning we got an early bus to across the border to Peru and 
Puno. Puno is also on lake Titicaca´s shore, here we booked ourselves into a grotty hotel for the night and onto a guided tour of the chullpas at Sillustani. Chullpas are traditional tombs for nobility, these date from way back to the more recent Inca constructions. The tombs are shapped farely close to a pint glass, narrower at the bottom than the top and up to 12 meters tall at this site (see picure below). The blocks used in this one are roughly shoulder high to give some scale. We also found a particularly photo friendly alpaca, see left!
Puno. Puno is also on lake Titicaca´s shore, here we booked ourselves into a grotty hotel for the night and onto a guided tour of the chullpas at Sillustani. Chullpas are traditional tombs for nobility, these date from way back to the more recent Inca constructions. The tombs are shapped farely close to a pint glass, narrower at the bottom than the top and up to 12 meters tall at this site (see picure below). The blocks used in this one are roughly shoulder high to give some scale. We also found a particularly photo friendly alpaca, see left!
After near electricution in the shower and a hollow shaped bed it was off the the Uros people who live on floating reed islands. These people seem to have been on the butt end of several aggresive neighbours and decided that safest place for them was on the lake!They didn´t have 500 years of fore sight to envisage the boat loads of tourists coming to envade them daily. However they have developed a certain skill at the hard sell approach when it comes to the handicrafts they justifiably push! The Uros people and the trip was very interesting and rafts 
and their houses beautiful. The picture show their on board fish farm with a guinea pig farm behind. If a quarrel breaks out between two habitants of the same island they simple get a big saw out and cut the island in two to separate the two disputing parties! so much for boundary disputes.
and their houses beautiful. The picture show their on board fish farm with a guinea pig farm behind. If a quarrel breaks out between two habitants of the same island they simple get a big saw out and cut the island in two to separate the two disputing parties! so much for boundary disputes. Back to Puno and its an overnight bus to Cuzco.
Posts
