Hello everybody! We're are now back in Puno in Peru after spending the last few days in Bolivia. We've been quite busy so here's another update for you all to enjoy.
Last time we were in Puno we did an island tour on Lake Titicaca. Our first stop was the Uros Islands, which are unique in the fact that they are made out of totara reeds and are floating. These floating islands have supported a large community for hundreds of years and there's even a school and a church on the biggest island. No one is quite sure why the Uros people decided to give up living on the land in favour of floating about on a lake, but most people think it was to escape the conquering Incas.
Here's some of the locals going about their daily lives. These ladies are busy bargaining and trading their local produce.
You will notice that the totara reeds are used quite a lot by the community. Not only are their islands made from the stuff, but they also build their houses from it, make crafts out of it and eat it. I tried a bit and I have to say it tastes a bit like celery, mmm mmm! I'm glad I don't have to live off it.
The Uros people also make boats out of the reeds, and here is a typical example, which Kat and I were lucky enough to take a ride on.
Here's the two guys that had to paddle the huge thing across the lake. It's a fine example of why we've never seen a Peruvian rowing team in the olympics, look at that timing, it's all over the place!
At our second stop, there were more people going about their everyday life, including these little cuties working hard to mill the corn for their bread.
From the floating islands, we carried on (in our proper diesel powered boat this time) to Isla Amantani. This is a real island made of stones and dirt and here we had the opportunity to stay with a local family. This is the house where we stayed. On the outside it was pretty nice. Our room was also very nice but the kitchen, where we ate and socialised with the family, was made out of mud bricks and just had a fire at one end for cooking on and a couple of wobbly wooden benches, very rustic indeed.
This is the family we stayed with and who had to put up with our lousy Spanish. We managed to communicate with them quite well and we seemed to get along together very well. From left to right we have Mary, Yolver, Milissa (the little one), Estefa and Gerado. Sorry about the quality of the photo, but we were in a bit of a rush when we took it and didn't know the Spanish for "please could you all stand over here where the light is better."
After being introduced to our family and after our first meal of soup and potatoes (a common theme when it comes to food on the island) we went for a walk up the local hill, a mere 4,170 metres above sea level. Here's Kat enjoying the afternoon sunshine on the way up.
At the top of the hill there was an old temple, but we weren't allowed access to it as the locals still used it. Instead we had to make do with the fine dry stone walling that is common on the island.
After sampling some Andean Doughnuts at the conviently placed cafe at the top of the hill, we waited for sunset.
We walked back down to the village, and after another soup and potato based meal, we went out to a local fiesta. This meant dressing up as the locals do. For me it just meant donning a poncho and woolly hat, but Kat had to wear the full lady's dress.
We partied the night away to the sounds of the local band (consisting of panpipes, guitar, drums and flutes). Dancing at altitude really takes it out of you, and after an couple of hours we had to retire to bed.
In the morning, we had a good breakfast of pancakes (cooked specially for us, the locals ate, guess what? Yep, more soup and potatoes), before we headed off to our next island, Isla Taquile, where we admired some more of the local stonework.
On Taquile, it is the local custom for men to knit, and it is considered that a man is not a man unless he can knit. Here's one of the locals showing off to the rest of us just how manly he is.
We headed down a steep hill to get back on the boat to return to Puno. At the bottom, however, Kat realised that she'd left her sunglasses at the restaurant at the top of the hill. So, with me being a good and diligent boyfriend, I ran back up the steep steps to retrieve the lost glasses, which at an alitude of 4000m or so, nearly killed me.
Back on dry land at Puno (and with me fully recovered), we went out for a trip to one of the local villages. Here we found an old Incan (ahem!) fertility temple. That's enough said about that.
We also went to see one of the oldest boats in the world called the Yavari. This boat is really quite special. It was built out of cast iron in London in 1862. The parts were then shipped round Cape Horn to a port in Peru. Then, after a 30 mile train ride, the parts were carried by mule for 170 miles through the Andes to Puno, where the boat was then assembled, a process that took six years! After several years of service the boat was left for scrap, but has now been lovingly restored by an English lady and in the future hopes to take passengers on cruises around the lake.
For our next adventure we decided to hop across the border into Bolivia. This seemed easy enough when we booked our bus ticket, but it turned out that "adventure" is really the right word to use. We had a nice comfortable coach for the first half hour, until we reached the town of Ilave. Here the town's people had decided to go on strike, which meant blocking the road off. So, in order to get through, we had to walk for about 10km, carrying all our bags through the town. On the other side we met up with the rest of our coach party, and the man in charge had managed to find us a minibus to take us to the next road block. Here we had another walk (only about 10 minutes through the picket line) to where another coach was waiting. This time, we had about an hour's ride before we got kicked off. Our bus guy again found a minibus, which took us on a cramped and bumpy ride to the border. Passing through the border itself was the easiest part of the trip, just a couple of stamps in our passports and we were through. From here we had another minibus to take us to the lakeside town of Copacabana, home of Bolivia's only beach and the entire Bolivian navy. We arrived just in time to get an awesome view of the sun setting over Lake Titicaca from our hotel window (yes, that's right, a hotel, it's very ceheap in Bolivia).
The next day we went on another island tour, this time to Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the Inca civilisation. Needless to say we found some rather nice Incan ruins.
We did a hike along the length of the island, which provided us with some awesome views. Here's one with our vessel, the Isla de la Luna and the snow-capped Cordillera Real in the distance.
On our way back into Copacabana we passed by the Bolivian naval base. Now, with Bolivia being a land-locked country, it seems a bit daft for them to have a navy, but they do, and it's on a lake. The navy obviously doesn't have much to do apart from wave at the passing tourist boats.
Back in Copacabana we spent a few days relaxing. We went to see the cathedral, which is pretty impressive. Hundreds of pilgrims come here to decorate their cars with flowers before they ascend the local hill to give thanks to the Virgen de Candelaria.
Feeling nicely relaxed we headed back into Peru, the journey this time being far more easy and straight forward - one bus from start to finish. We have a day here in Puno before we fly back to Lima and then on to Argentina. I'm really looking forward to tucking into a nice Argentinian steak and some good Mendoza wine.
That's all for now.
Dave and Kat
Despite the favela´s dilapidated appearence it was home to all sorts of people. We visited an artist, saw an internet cafe and partied with kids at a day care centre.
We spent quite a lot of our time in Cusco watching the parades in the Plaza de Armas. The variety of ponchos was amazing! I think this little cutie is looking forward to the day when she can wear a poncho just like her dad.
This is one of our favourite costumes. This guy was one of about twenty who came carousing through the square, knocking back cerveza, I'm sure there was meant to be some symbolism involved but it was the amount of beer they consumed on their revels which impressed us.
The locals danced from eight in the morning to sometime after midnight. I can't tell you when exactly as it was after we were tucked up in bed.
It was definately an experience. Probably won't be starting a Cuy farm when I get home, not enough meat on the little blighters really, perhaps we'll try capeburra next.
Also in Lima we had our first taste of pre-Columbian Peru. 
We visited an ancient adobe pyramid and witnessed a kind of Peruvian time team still at work. I´m sure that guy in the hat is Tony Robinson.
By the time we reached Cobanaconde, our scond night´s stop, dusk was falling and we were all in need of showers. We celebrated our achievement with food and beer before falling into bed for a well earned sleep.
