Cusco to Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)(27th Oct- 29th Oct)

The bus journey from Cusco to Puno (which stands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca) should take about 5 hours. However because of local peasants protesting about price increases, the main route was blocked by large boulders and the bus driver had to take a scary hair-raising 3 hour detour over high passes and narrow dirt tracks. Just as we were about to rejoin the main road we were stopped again by more boulders and the locals would not remove them until we had paid some blackmail money (£1) Some of our fellow passengers young americans from Alaska helped remove the rocks. We also passed through a town called Juliaca which was the most ugly , depressing and desperate place I have ever seen. We finally reached Puno about 5pm in very heavy rain.

After one night in Puno we had another 3 hour bus journey , crossing the border into Bolivia and reaching our destination the small town of Copacabana ( not to be confused with the beach in Rio) on Lake Titicaca, one of the highest lakes in the world. We were staying in a lovely complex called La Cupula and got one of their best suites. (see video ). One very strange thing about the hotel was the lack of female staff. All jobs from reception, restaurant, making the beds and washing our smalls were done by men. Not sure if this was a cultural thing or weird recruitment policy of the German owner. The only reason for staying in Copacabana is to visit one or more of the islands on the lake. About 5,000 people actually live on these islands and they are now a popular stopping off place for tourists. We decided on a half day trip to the Isla Del Sol however this was not one of our greatest ideas as it took 90 minutes to get there by boat and 90 minutes return which left us with exactly 45 minutes on the island. We also got caught in a storm on the way back and Gwen had doubts whether she would ever see dry land again.

Weather in the past few days has been very unpredictable and we have seen more rain in that time than we saw in our 5 weeks in the States. As far as trying to sell you touristy tack or taxi rides locals are a lot less pushy and laid back than their Peruvian counterparts. They don't seem to be so bothered about making a sale or a profit.