Lake Titi & lots of Kaka

After a few great days trekking in the Canyon, we decided to have a couple of days of rest with two friends we'd picked up on the way. Mucho Fiestas followed and we ended up at the south of Peru at Lake Titikaka ready to visit the lake islands.

Lake Titikaka is one of the most commercialised places I have ever been with every corner, mountain top, church, or area of natural beauty covered in little old ladies selling silly hats and Alpaca jumpers. Mark and Cassey our friends were in there element paying over the odds for every bit of tat it was possible to buy - hysterical to watch for us as we turned down old lady after old lady!

Anyway that aside the floating Islands of Uros are one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. Islands 50 metres across made entirely of reeds harvested from the lake and tied together with rope. Surely this must be totally unique? The locals were all so friendly we decided to do a trip to another island to stay with a family (this island wasn't floating though).

The Island of Amantani is 3 hours by boat from Puno and is very rustic and reletively unspoilt by tourists. We stayed with a delightful old lady who looked after us very well. Our first lunch was a bit excentric, 4 different types of potato in a small bowl. But we were eating what the family ate so no complaints from our side. The island was beautiful, with a fantastic view and a couple of fun walks. The highlight for me was watching my beloved dressed up in traditional Andean clothing and spun around a room in a traditional fiesta! (photos to follow I promise!)

Unfortunately my enjoyment of these events was tempered by the fact that every 10-15 minutes I had to rush to a small hole in the garden ..... well you get the picture. The next day we headed over to the Island of Taquile, a slightly larger island in the lake. The fun was seeing it before all the day trippers arrived from Puno, we had the island to ourselves for a little bit which was stunning (although there weren't a lot of Baños around!)

We have now taken a quick detour down to the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka to visit Copacabana and the Isla Del Sol. We have been here two days and this is the longest I have been able to leave the hotel room! Hopefully we will get another shot when we travel past after Machu Picchu....

Next up is Cusco for a back to school experience - lets hope there aren't any tests!