For the first time we reached a city that I really didnt like. Puno is a little place which you have to go through in order to visit Lake Titikaka; the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake in the world. The origin of the name Titikaka isnt really known but the locals have translated it as "Rock Puma", as people have traditionally interpreted the shape of the lake to be like a puma hunting a rabbit. Anyway, we arrived on a night bus at 6am and headed in a taxi for our hotel. Our rooms werent ready so we went on the internet for a bit , then strolled down to the main square. In the shade it was absolutely freezing. It was a dusty, dirty, concreted, cold , unfinished town with zero charm. Ray and I sat on a park bench in the square and started to get warmed by the sun, feeling slightly depressed and despondent with altitude sickness rearing its ugly head and breathing in the fumes of this dirty place, I fell asleep on his lap, gripping my Evian bottle containing cocoa leaves like some kind of deshevelled middle aged wino . In the afternoon we booked the Lake Titikaka trip for the next day. Feeling better and putting my despondent mood down to tiredness and homesickiness we got to the port at 7am. We were herded onto a little boat with about 20 others. A little man appeared with a Charango (a small Peruvian guitar) and started playing El Condor Pasa (Simon and Garfunkles hit.. not written by them though!). I suddenly felt a big pang and missed playing my guitar but the sun was glinting on the lake and everything was beautiful as we set off. We arrived at the Uros Islands. These are the famous floating islands made of reeds. As we stepped off the boat onto the reed islands it was a little unnerving, a bit like walking on a waterbed, also felt like any minute your foot would sink into the muddy water below and fill your boots with icy Titikaka but we were ok. The people here live and work on these islands and the reeds are used for everything, boat building, housing, eating!...we nibbled on a slice of reed..it was quite nice. They use the roots as a foundations to each new piece of island then criss cross layers of reed over the top until its waterproof , haul anchor and float away!! The reed made boats of the Uros people are beautiful , like little reedy viking boats. These are used as transportation to and from Puno to sell homemade reedy goods. The Uros people seemed a very happy bunch. They invited Ray and I into one of their houses, a tiny space with shelves, cupboards and a little bed all made of ....reeds!! Cooking is always done outside due to health and safety regulations!! Once we had been all reeded out and asked every question we could think of about ..erm reeds, we got back onto the boat for a two hour ride to Tequile island. I loved Tequile island, it was very much like the island of Ios in Greece which is a summer favourite of Ray and mine. We left the boat and started the incredibly steep hike to the village at the top, tricky stomp but hey we've done the Macchu steps!. Taquilenos are known for their fine handwoven textiles and clothing. All the weaving is carried out by the ladies and the knitting is exclusively performed by men. They knit using five needles and alpaca or llama wool and their readiness to be a husband is judged on how good their knitting is. They make hats and if the hat can hold water and doesnt leak then they are ready to marry or will make a good husband. Once the men have wives they are entitled to knit belts made out of their wifes hair, apparently female hair belts are really strong and enable the husband to lift and carry extra loads..it all makes perfect sense!! All the males on the island wear hats , if they are single the hats are red and plain white on one side, if they are married their hats are just red. Sometimes we saw very old men with a red and white hat. Clearly their knitting never quite made the grade or they made leaky hats..aw sad... While we were there we were lucky enough to see one of the islands most famous festivals taking place..yep you guessed it..it was the festival of knitting!!..very amusing..basically all the people gather in their finest clothes and drink copius amounts of beer then dance all day to the sounds of drums, pan pipes and charangos. Incredible colours as the ladies twenty peticoated skirts spin around while they boogie they way around the square. It was quite a spectacle. We took loads of photos but had to be careful as the islanders believe if they stare into a camera lens then it will steal their soul!!..they are probably right. After lunch we walked over the top of the island to our boat moored at the harbour. This was a beautiful walk with arches, walls and steps adorned with the bright red long trumpety shaped festival flower, the Cantuta flower. Back on the boat we had the added adventure of being steered off course by a big boat and careeing into the reeds where our propellers got tangled up and trapped us. While we were waiting to be pulled out by another touristy boat we found ourselves swapping pronouncations with a couple of very amusing american guys (one of which was a pastor and surprisingly cheeky!) who fell about in response to our english pronuncaition of the word aluminium! ...apparently its pronounced 'aloooominum' not allyminiyum....! We arrived back at about 6pm , having had a wonderful day. It was an absolute privilage to be able to tap into and share a few moments with the people who live such a simple and yet rich life on this incredible lake. Conclusion-Lake Titikaka is just beautiful... (please go to photo section above )