Where's Grayleen?

Lake Titicaca has turned out to be a real highlight of our trip. We visited islands on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides, and spent a memorable Christmas in the sleepy town of Copacabana. With lots of hiking to do on the beautiful little islands, the whole area was right up our alley. There’s no city life to speak of (Puno is a bit of a pit, and Copacabana is, well, sleepy) and the whole area is pretty tourist-ready, but we loved it!

View of Lake Titicaca from Isla Taquile

In order to get to the islands, we had to pass through the main city on the Peruvian side, Puno. I can’t say Puno has much to recommend it. Perhaps the only interesting part was the cool addition to the now familiar Quechua ladies’ attire of bowler caps, many layered skirts, and long braids: crazy pom-poms at the end of the braids! Love it! We ran past the stinky waterfront and jumped on a boat to the islands.

Boat on Lake Titicaca; check out the pom-poms on her braid

The first stop was the Uros Islands, a bunch of communities that live on floating islands that they build themselves from the reeds that grow in the lake shallows. “Disneyland” might just capture the tourist trap feeling of the place with the bright outfits and rides in reed boats, but we were still in awe of how these people live their lives. The Uros people began their floating existence centuries ago to isolate themselves from aggressive outsiders by moving whole islands as needed. They not only make their islands from reed, adding more to the top as the bottom rots out, but they also use it to build houses and boats, and it even comprises a significant part of their diets. We found it to be a bit bland, ourselves.

Waiting for the arrival of tourists on one of the Uros Islands

Out next stop was Isla Amantaní, where we were greeted by local villagers who quickly divvied the tourists up as house guests and led us to their respective homes. We were put up in what was clearly the nicest room in the house; it was there that we slept and ate our simple but lovingly prepared meals. The adorable kids helped serve food, walked with us on our hike, and played cards with us.

Aileen climbing down a hillside on Isla Amantaní

Despite the small amounts of incremental money derived from tourism– to give you an idea, we spent a total of $17 USD for lodging and three meals for two– the island remains firmly agricultural, with beautiful patchwork fields and terraces that are worked by hand. Between lunch and dinner, we spent the afternoon climbing up to the Inca ruins at the highest point of the island and watching the sunset. Though it wasn’t far, with a peak altitude of 4050 meters (13,290 ft), the hike left us breathless. But the views were worth it! After dinner, the islanders put on a nightly party for the tourists, providing us with traditional clothing to wear– the party was somehow both cute and lame at the same time.

Taking a break from spinning alpaca thread to take in the views

In the morning, we made a brief stop at the more touristy but equally beautiful island of Taquile. Taquile is known for its handicrafts, and everyone contributes, including men, women, and kids. We enjoyed walking across the island, taking in the views. We saw a lot more livestock on Taquile, especially sheep, presumably to provide wool for their handicrafts. Finally we climbed back onto our boat for the trip back to Puno.

Elderly gentleman from Taquile knitting a traditional hat

Later that day, we arrived in Copacabana $270 poorer; while most nationalities can enter Bolivia for free, they charge Americans the same as we charge them – fair is fair? After Puno, we appreciated the much more relaxed and picturesque town of Copacabana. We had decided to splurge on a nicer place for the Christmas holiday. A splurge here amounted to $28/night. We had some luck in that the place we wanted to stay which had been booked up for weeks had a no show. La Cupula (together with Las Oslas next door) is a lovely hotel perched on a hill overlooking the town and lake. It was all about relaxation, with hammocks and rustic picnic areas set up on the green lawns with gorgeous views. We also appreciated that it had a public kitchen in which we could prepare our own little Christmas traditions. To top it all off, they had the cutest little puppy– don’t tell Ollie!

View from our hotel room in Copacabana

We ended up having a truly wonderful Christmas, more festive than we could have imagined so far from home. We ate a delicious Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel, complete with a turkey that I wish I could replicate. Afterward, we prepared hot chocolate and panatón since that is the Christmas Eve tradition in the area, and brought it to our room and snuggled up to watch a movie. Lovely!

Christmas morning, we prepared our traditional breakfast, complete with eggs, Gray’s famous breakfast potatoes, mimosas, and Irish coffee. And we had such fun on Christmas Eve trying to find all the different ingredients at the little markets. We had the juice lady squeeze us some fresh orange juice and bought bacon from one of the several shops that had a real pig’s head on display (not sure if it was to advertise that they sell pork or because it is a desirable food item). The most challenging part was finding champagne for the mimosas. We didn’t realize until Christmas morning when we cracked open the bottle that what they call champagne here is actually apple cider, so Gray gallantly went out in the rain and to something like 13 different shops before he found some champagne. We ended up running into 2 other guests who had made the same mistake; Gray had to inform them that the dusty bottle he found was the sole one in the shop. Sorry.

Aileen enjoying the view on the way to Isla del Sol

The next day we took a boat out to Isla del Sol. This sparsely populated island has Inca ruins and rolling hills that provide for excellent hiking. The main trek runs north-south along the main spine of the island, and provides excellent views to the lake on either side. We ended up having loads of fun jumping off the path and scrambling to the top of all the little peaks we encountered. The most challenging one took us clear over to another spine of the island, but we couldn’t miss that one– it was the highest spot on the island! Needless to say, by the end of the day, we were happy but exhausted. We ate a mediocre meal (shouldn’t expect much in the off-season?), and slept like rocks until our boat ride back to Copacabana the next day.

Gray catches his breath atop one of five peaks we climbed on Isla del Sol

More pics from the Lake Titicaca area here.

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