Visiting the mystical Lake Titicaca

We spent our last days in Bolivia and first days in Peru by the mystical lake Titicaca. The lake, sitting at close to 4000 m above the sea level, is the highest navigable lake in the world, and the largest of high-altitude lakes. On the Bolivian side, we visited the island of Isla del Sol, which according to a legend, was the birthplace of the Inca god of the sun. There are no paved roads or cars on the island so the only way to travel between villages is to take an ancient Inca trail. The trail is very picturesque, with beautiful views of the coast, and many donkeys, sheep and llamas on the way.

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On the Peruvian side, we first visited an archeological site of Sillustani, located near the lake, famous for its burial towers (both from the Inca and pre-Inca times).

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Finally, we visited floating islands of Uros. These seventy artificial islands, made of reed, are home to about 2000 people who speak the Quechua language. The population mainly lives off fishing and tourism, with women making and selling handicraft. Even though the islands are heavily commercialized and very touristy, they are still worth a visit for the beautiful views and to get a feeling how the Uros people used to live in the past. And its worth remembering that despite the reliance on tourism, they still really live there: there are two elementary schools and a church on some of the bigger islands (which are still floating and made of reed).

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As we´re already in Cusco, our next post is going to be about the Incas, the Sacred Valley and, of course, Machu Picchu so be sure to check the blog regularly!

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