Lago Titicaca (Rock of the Puma Lake) is the world´s highest navigable lake. After a day exploring Copacobana (the one that doesn´t have a song about it) on the Bolivian shore of Lago Titicaca, Regina and I headed for an overnighter on Isla del Sol. Isla del Sol is considered the birthplace of Incan culture and is named Island of the Sun because the Incans believe that it is the birthplace of the sun. It is not hard to imagine why when you see the sunrise. The sun looks as if it is rising directly out of the water in the middle of the lake.
After watching the sunrise, we headed back to the mainland to catch a bus to Puno, Peru. This border crossing did not involve nearly as much culture shock as the last one. Peru, thus far, seems very similar to Bolivia.
From Puno, we visited the Isla Flotantes, a series of man-made floating islands. The island is formed by weaving layers of reeds on top of each other. These islands have been around since 1000 A.D. As one layer begins to deteriorate, the residents add another layer. The islands are held in place by poles, which are removed during the rainy season so that the inhabitants can row the island to a more shallow part of the lake. I have never seen anything like it! The ground, huts, roofs, and knick-knacks are all made of these reeds. Our guide told us that the people even eat part of the reeds for breakfast. I tried some . . . kinda tasteless.
1 comment:
jen- your pics are amazing! I want a copy of your favorite to hang in my apt!(just like the one of me and carley-)
that camara was worth it! but i know its you who made them beautiful, i need to take the class you took...
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