We´d heard that the floating islands on the peruvian side of lake Titikaka were very touristy, but we still wanted to see for ourselves. So we booked a tour and decided the only way to get a real feel was to stay the night on one. The floating islands are made from dried grass and are constantly topped up with new grass as the old decomposes underneath. There are over 40 small islands each with a few families living on each of them. As we had expected the islands we visited were catered to tourism selling handicrafts, snacks and drinks. When we waved goodbye to our tour boat we were the only tourists left on the island. We spent a few hours chatting with the families who cooked us a (yet another) dinner of trout and rice. After dark we climbed up the look out point and in the distance a huge electrical storm was forming. It was truly amazing watching this electrical performance going on however it wasn´t long before it reached us overhead, literally striking lightning all around us. We took shelter in our straw hut, hardly assuring, and lay wondering whether the hut was going to blow away. The thunder roared and the sky lit up and we felt very exposed and vulnerable on our little floating straw island.

We got through the night and I awoke early to Stu writhing around with chronic stomach cramps. I´ve never seen him in so much pain, it was worrying. We still had 4 hours to kill till our boat arrived to collect us and there was nothing I could do to help. At 9am the circus of tourists started coming and going one boat after another until our boat came to the rescue around 11am. The families would change into traditional dress and sing traditional songs for the tourists, it was crazy, life had once existed here now it exists for tourism, like life imitating art!. Once back on the mainland we took a bus to Arequipa, the jewel of Peru.