Titicaca

Much to tell since the last blog... thanks to all of those who have commented on the blog so far. For those of you who I told that I was going on vacation or holiday, I think I lied, because this has been quite a tiring affair, waking up early and going to bed late. I think I will need a real vacation after this trip!

During our last days in Peru we spent most of the time on Lake Titicaca - it is the largest lake in South America and basically reminded me of being on a sea or an ocean. We visited 3 different islands while scooting around the lake a really slow boat. The islands were pretty interesting because of the inhabitants and their traditional ways of life. We had homestays on one of the islands, which was really cool, though they were really set up for tourists. I had to break out my Spanish skills during the visit to understand anything that was going on. We ate traditional meals (lots of potatos) in a tiny little kitchen, that was the only heated (by a clay, wood-buring oven) room in the house. Luckly the bedrooms that we slept in had massive piles of blankets for sleeping. During the evening they locals dressed up all of the gringos and we had a little fiesta where we learned some traditional dances. It was a fun night, our host mama was named Mary and was very helpful/kind and she really knew how to cut a rug. After another wood-fired breakfast in the cave-like kitchen, we headed to the last group of islands. To my surprise everything on them (including the islands) was made of reeds, it was pretty awesome - you could actually feel the islands floating moving as we walked around on them. From there we made it back to Puno, ate lunch and headed for the Bolivian boarder.