Lake Titicaca is another one of those iconic locations in South America, at 3,820 metres above sea level it is the largest high altitude navigable lake in the world. Today it is shared between Peru and Bolivia, but in Inca times was one of the most holy Inca sites none more so than Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna on the Bolivian side. The lake is loosely shaped as a puma, is slightly saline and in the Inca traditions, it was originally connected to the sea.
Peru’s principal town on the lake is Puno, a busy commercial town that has grown up through both trading on the lake and supporting the surrounding countryside. Puno while lacking the charm of the classic tourist destinations of Arequipa and Cusco, nevertheless is a pleasant enough town to use as a base for exploring the Lake and the surrounding area. While it has the inevitable collection of travel agents, restaurants and hotels that support the tourism industry, it also has the feel of a town that supports rather more than just the tourist industry. Also while like all Peruvian towns it has a lot of traffic, it also feels rather more laid back and disciplined than many other towns in Peru.
The classic day trip from Puno is a visit to both the Uros Islands and Isla Taquile. The Uros are a set of islands out on the Lake where individual family groups have built their houses on a set of reed beds. The Lake is around 16 metres deep and the reed beds simply float on the water. The reed beds require a lot of maintenance to remain stable, and have been around since before the Inca times. Each family in effect owns their own island of reed and survive today from a mixture of fishing and tourism. In many ways the displays they put on for tourists is slightly manufactured and is run pretty much as a commercial business. However without such an approach the community would not survive and their traditions would disappear. The Uros Community wear some very colourful clothes, mainly in primary colours and against the backdrop of the reeds and deep blue of the Lake makes for a stunning spectacle.
Isla Taquile is third largest island on the Lake and from the top there are some spectacular views across the Lake and to the high snow capped mountains on the Bolivian side. Taquile was originally an Inca community and boasts some classic Inca archways, complete with stone Inca heads that mark the start and finish of the Inca pathways on the island. Again as with the Uros Island, Taquile relies very heavily on the tourism industry to sustain its community, without which much of the population, and especially the younger ones would move to the larger Peruvian cities.
Crossing over to the Bolivian side the first main settlement is Copacabana, a surprisingly interesting small town after its initial rather chaotic and drab first impressions. Copacabana’s main church has one of Bolivia’s most important religious shrines, a statue to the Virgin Mary, but not just a typical statue that you see all over South America, this one is unmistakably cast as a local Aymaran. Elsewhere in Copacabana is a large market that seems to operate 24/7 with for example butchers shops still selling prime cuts of meat deep into the night. Also when the market stalls finally close for the night, they simply cover up their immediately non-perishable produce with various cloths ready for a quick start the next day. The level of trust in their fellow Bolivians is one of the really appealing things about Bolivia as it simply would not be the thing to do to steal from such stalls while they are unattended.
Copacabana, like Puno has two classic day trips onto the Lake, this time to the holy Inca islands of Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna. These islands are the largest two islands in Lake Titicaca and both contain some of the most holy Inca sites. The Sun and the Moon represent the most holy Inca deities, with the sun representing the male god and the moon the female god.
Isla del Sol is about 90 minutes by boat from Copacabana, there are many competing boats that offer both a full-day or half-day trips, the full day trip also includes Isla del Luna. Currently visitors can only visit the south of Isla del Sol as there is a dispute between the two communities on the island. The visit to Isla del Sol starts right at the Southern tip of the island at the Inca site of the Temple of the Sun and then a short climb up the Inca pathway and then along an Andean flat path to a viewpoint looking out to the East to Isla de la Luna and the Bolivian mountains beyond. The Lake with the altitude and the blue skies is a deep blue and its colours probably are a key factor in why Lake Titicaca is such a holy site. When the weather is cloudy, the Lake takes on a silvery colour that can with its gentle waves look a bit like mercury.
Isla de la Luna is much smaller than Isla del Sol and contains a set of Inca ruins that contained the woman’s temple. It is not clear who lived there in Inca times, whether it was just women, or whether there was a larger community. Today there are around 70 families living on Isla del Luna. On both islands the main population are the Aymarans, who rely heavily on the tourism industry, selling handicrafts and other services. Both islands have a spiritual feel to them and also pleasingly lack the rubbish and pollution that are so prevalent elsewhere in both Bolivia and Peru.
Finally a small slide show of the local parade in Puno.
Date: 13/07/2018 to 16/07/2018