After crossing the border into Peru, our first stop would be the small port town of Puno. It would be our base for our trip onto Lake Titicaca and a few of its islands. Lake Titicaca is known as the worlds highest navigable lake, at about 3,800 meters ASL in the Andes Mountains. The name Titicaca means "Rock of the Puma" and the lake itself has spiritual significance to the Andean people, who believe that the Gods rose from the Lake to build their empire.

Lake Titicaca is an enormous lake, about 8,300 square kilometers in area, and there are over 300 island communities that still seem to live in the 14th century Inca lifestyles. We left our hotel in the morning - Vaila and I shared a bicycle taxi to the harbour where we got on a boat that would take us to the islands.

The first islands we visited were the Islas Flotantes, or Floating Islands, of the Uros People. They built their islands on buyoant reeds that are found all over the shallow parts of the lake. The original reason was to isolate themselves from the aggresive Collas and Incas on the mainland. They were amazing little islands - everything was built from the reeds, their houses, boats, everything. They even eat them. The ground was covered with the reeds, and it was spongy to walk on. I could definately tell I was walking on something that was floating.

From the Uros Floating Islands, we cruised for 3 hours to the remote island of Amantani. I am always suprised at how even the most remote places become touristy. Amantani is inhabited by the Quechua people and beginning about 4 years ago, the Quechua began to open their houses as a sort of bed and breakfast for tourists. A tour company approached some of the villagers and worked out a deal where the visitors would bring fruit and food to them in exchange for a night in their homes. It ends up being a very good deal for the Quechua people, since they are unable to grow many crops on the island, due to its high altitude. The only crops they grow on the island are potatoes, wheat and barley. And of course since they are so isolated from the mainland, they have to rely on the Puno residants bringing food to them. Vaila and I had bought some oranges, apples, cooking oil, and candles for our host family (total cost - $1 USD). We were greeted by Epifania, the mother, and taken back to her house. There we met her two sons, 5 year old Brian Elvis, 13 year old Jhony (pronounced like Johnny) Richard, and their neighbor, a little girl named Fanny.

Our room was pretty basic, but much nicer than I was anticipating. I assume that over the last 4 years, the "bed and breakfast" operation has helped them to get the supplies they need to expand their house. We spent the afternoon just hanging out with the children, watching them play with sheep, building stone castles, and playing frisbee (which we had brought with us - and ended up leaving with them). Epifania spent her afternoon spinning wool and washing clothes in a bucket, while her husband, Teodocio, built a mudbrick wall, which I think will end up being an addition to their house.

We hiked up to the gathering place of the community, where there was a game of soccer, tourists vs. locals. Of course, like most South American countries, soccer is the most popular sport. After the soccer game, we hiked up to the temple called Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). The temple is only open on January 20th of each year, when the locals come to perform their spiritual ceremonies to the "Mother Earth," where they will celebrate and pray for a good harvest. We hiked to the temple, but just walked around and watched the sunset.

After sunset, we walked back down to have dinner with the family. We ate in their kitchen, which was a really small, dark room, with an open fire where Epifania cooked our meals. The meal was pretty basic - rice soup, rice and potatoes and a special kind of tea that is supossed to help with altitude sickness. We played cards with Jhony for a while after dinner and then Epifania dressed us up in their Quechua traditional clothing so we could go to their nightly party and dance the night away!

In the morning we said goodbye to our host family and began the 3 hour journey back to Puno. When we got there, our guide found out that there was a strike going on in Juliaca, a small town that is on the way from Puno to Cusco. Cusco was our next destination and our starting point for the 3 day Inca Trail trek to the lost city of Maccu Picchu. In order to avoid getting stuck in Juliaca, we left that night for the 7 hour drive to Cusco, rather than wait until the morning. It was a long night, but we made it and here I am in Cusco! I have tomorrow to explore the city and then saturday morning I will begin the hike to Maccu Picchu! The good thing about beginning this trip in La Paz is that I have been at fairly high altitudes for the last week so hopefully I have acclimatized well enough to not get sick during the hike.

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