In, out, in, out..... just breath!

We´re currently at 3,800m and gradually adjusting to the altitude. Breathing is becoming a lot easier and I can now walk up the stairs to our room on the second floor without puffing! We are currently in Puno after spending the last two days on Lake Titikaka, the highest navigable lake in the world.

After a bumpy flight from Lima, we touched down in Juliaca and then transferred to Puno. The altitude was immediately evident as my bags felt like they´d gained a few kilos on the flight. After a night in Puno, we hopped into our local transport to take us to the port... check out the photos! It was lots of fun, although I do feel sorry for the guys who had to pedal the fat gringos!

On our first day on the Lake our boat took us to Uros Tinto, a small community of floating islands. The islands are built of the roots from the Tatora reeds and the reeds themselves. The islanders have to replace them every 6 months to a year as they gradually rot away in the lake water and the sun. Gladys and Nelson were kind enough to show us into their homes. The kitchen was crazy... an open fire amongst all those dry reeds! Our guide told us that some communities had solar power and that this helped with the issue of open flames and large amounts of combustable material. Not all the islands are that lucky though.

After a short cruise in Nelson´s mercedes we pushed on to a peninsula on the lake where we met our Mamas and Papas who would be looking after us for the night. Tim and I stayed with Mama Bibiana. After a delicious lunch of tiny crispy fish and rice we each helped out our local families with a few chores around the house. Tim and I got off lightly with some kitchen chores and fishing, while some others in our group had to plough a field by hand!

The highlight of the day was the games of volleyball on the lake shore. Our Peruvian Mamas and Papas are excellent at this sport! Lots of fun, sharing a few laughs with the locals. They also had lots of fun laughing at us and dressing us up in the local costume!

Today we waved goodbye to our families and headed off to Taquelie Island. On this island, the men do the knitting and the women do the spinning. If a man wants to marry a woman, he needs to knit a hat. His prospective mother in law will fill it with water and if it is water tight, he´s passed the test. To win the heart of a woman on Taquelie, you need to be a good knitter. As Dave said, its the other way round in England... if you´re a good knitter, chances are you´re not going to get many women!

The textiles from Taquelie Island are very fine and have attained world heritage status. They are so well made that most of those in our Intrepid tour believed them to be machine made, until told otherwise.

I know I keep mentioning food, but lunch today was fantastic. Fresh trout with an onion, tomato and lime salsa and rice. We ate in the community restaurant. Each family on the island cooks in the restaurant for 1 week and as there are over 300 families on the Island this is once every couple of years. The view over the Lake was spectacular.

We´re back in Puno tonight and off to a local restaurant to see some Peruvian dancing. Tomorrow, a 6 hour local bus ride to Cusco.... wish us luck!