Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is called the "highest navigable lake" in the world, with a surface elevation of 3812m (12,507 ft). We Puno early in the rain and as we got out into the more exposed lake the waves picked up and seemed more than the boat was designed for. We could see the snow-capped high mountains of Bolivia in one direction and of Peru in another. Once the weather improved it was almost Mediterranean in looks, though the closeness of the clouds hinted at the high altitude.

Our first stop was the island of Taquile, two hours from Puno, notable because while the women weave, the men knit using very small needles to make very tight hats.

We then returned to Luquina where we were given lunch in the home of a resident - trout with quinoa, potatoes and sweet potatoes and a drink made with barley. As we left we could see columns of smoke from where the reed beds were being burned to promote growth.

We crossed over to one of the floating reed islands where we were introduced to the family living there. They explained some aspects of their life there, and even dressed us in some of their clothes. Finally they took us for a short cruise in a boat based on two of their traditional reed boats joined and modified to carry tourists.

1	2	3	4 Mountains of Bolivia	5 Mountains of Bolivia
6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19 Mountains of Peru	20
21	22	23	24	25
26	27Quinoa	28	29 Our hostess and daughter	30Quinoa drying
31	32	33	34	35
36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43 For duck shooting!	44	45
46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55
56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63