Lake Titikaka

First sight of Titikaca

Some teachers are inspirational. I would have to put “Trader” Hunt, my geography teacher, right up there with the good ones! He was the first person to introduce me to Lake Titicaca and the Angel Falls. I clearly remember thinking to myself that I would really like to see both of them. Fifty years later here we are at the town of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. The Angel Falls will have to wait until next year when we make it to Venezuela, right now I have to pinch myself to realise that at 3808m above sea level we are standing on the shores of the largest and highest lake in South America. The snow-capped mountains ablaze with the descending sunlight and our slight lack of breath are reminders of the altitude.

It was a relatively easy ride from La Paz to Copacabana, but nobody mentioned that the road disappeared into the Lake and we would only be able to pick it up again by driving onto a rather dodgy ferry. Not so dodgy that we feared that it would sink, dodgy because there were big gaps between the planks, which were definitely wider than my motorbike tyres and there was a distinct possibility that I would miss the plank following the bus onto the ferry! Once on the ferry we realised that this was a one-way ferry, you drove in the back and would have to exit from the same way. In other words we would have to reverse the bike off the planks on departure. We decided that there was no point in stressing about it as the bus was in front of us and would not be able to get off until we had found some way to resolve the problem. “ Tranquillo” as the locals are prone to saying. We made the far shore and waited for the ferryman to see what he would do about our predicament! He found another small piece of plank and put it between in the gap between the larger planks and asked me to drive across the planks, reverse back and turn the bike around!

Mind the Gap

Amphibius Bus

Maybe you have tried to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time? That is a doddle compared to the task the ferryman had set for me. With much shoving and pushing I just managed to “Mind the Gap” and exited forwards amongst the diesel fumes being emitted by the frustrated bus driver who was fortunate enough to have a reverse gear!

The border between Bolivia and Peru runs through Lake Titicaca. 60% on the Peruvian side and 40% on the Bolivian side. Copacabana is  a “Tranquillo” little town whose main income I would imagine is derived from tourisim.

Copacabana 

Fingure puppets

Just off the town is Isla Sol (Sun Island) which was the birth place of the Inca civilization, the birthplace of the Sun and Moon.

I think the Inca’s must have had a really good PR company! They are really kids on the block compared to the Tiwanaku Culture. The Tiwanaku were a large scale complexed society that originated in the Titicaca Basin in 1200BC, reaching their peak between 400AD to 1100 AD. Nobody talks about the Tiwanaku. At their peak, the state occupied the entire Titicaca Basin, and expanded throughout the South and central Andes, with occupations  right down to the Peruvian south coast, the Cochabamba valley, and as far south as the San Pedro de Atacama Desaguadero. Tiwanaku was an impressive state society. It collapsed, probably due in large to severe drought around AD 1100. The Inca’s only arrived in the area 300 – 350 years later.

My speculation is that the drought was caused by volcanic clouds? Where were Green Peace then! I am not cynical, as I do think being “Green” is a good discipline, but I really do think that in the bigger picture of things, recycling of plastic, not using CFC’s or reducing air travel may prolong our existence by a couple of years, but our global efforts will be like a mosquito bite compared to the forces of nature. A little eruption in Iceland closes down European air traffic for a week. Looking at all the volcanoes around me as I write, I am not surprised that the Tiwanaku decided to throw in the towel, and good on the Inca’s for picking up the pieces a couple of hundred years later.

Sun Island (Isla del Sol) is interesting and has some spectacular scenery and wonderful views of the Bolivian Titicaca Lake. I was reminded of Lake Malawi, as there are some great beaches, which makes you think that the water should be salty. You are really taken by surprise to find yourself swimming (briefly) in fresh water. freezing cold in fact! All the animals come down to drink the water!

Bolivia is poor, this should not be the case, as it has more natural resources than any other South American country. Accommodation and food are dirt cheap, but really basic as NOTHING is finished off. Every hostel that we stayed in is a relative health hazard. The electrics are really dangerous as nothing is earthed. They have an earth spike at the distribution board but do not run an earth wire to ANY of the plugs. Where this becomes a real threat is in the shower. Most of the hostels have electric showers. It is a design I have not seen before, but if you reach up and try to adjust the temperature you get a shock! I have been electrocuted once in by life, so maybe I have an overactive sensitivity to being shocked, but I really would be disappointed to exit life showering in some half completed Bolivian shower! Sacrificial Doff! Actually thinking about it, rather that, than on the slab of rock in honour of some sun God!

Electrical DB 

Sacrificial Table

Life is tough, no need for Virgin Active Gyms here. The Inca’s made sure you got your exercise by building terraces all over the entire mountain. This makes for some great pictures and ensures the health of the woman folk! 

How they manage to till, reap and sow the terraces is a wonder. The tools of trade are a hoe for digging, a large colourful dishcloth for carrying everything on your back from a baby to harvested quinoa, and a donkey for the rest the heavy stuff like water containers. The children also have to do hard time on the terraces. Global travel however is doing its bit to eradicate farming, as it is much easier to start erecting a hostel, which you can rent out without even completing, than sweating it out on the terraces. Unless they show a little more finesse I am not convinced they will not have to return to the terraces. That also includes the male population! Why is it that men are so lazy in poor cultures, it is the same in Africa? Ok, ok I know what you female readers are thinking, especially you Didi and Nicky! ha ! ha!

Isla del Sol was really interesting and I for one was certainly not disappointed by my first encounter with Lake Titicaca, which incidently means black Puma (I think!).

Face of Sun God

Kids walking to school

On returning to Copacabana, we walked straight into the Festival of Santa Rosa. I have dealt with that in picture form in my last blog; suffice to say that we had a great party and very responsibly left for Puno in Peru the following morning! Had we not departed the following morning I think the mixture of various alcoholic drinks and altitude could have seriously jeopardised our schedule!

It took an hour to get through the Peruvian Customs as they did not have Moto Guzzi programmed into their computer! Honda, Suzuki and all the Chinese models but no Moto Guzzi! I was reduced in the end to calling my bike a Moped! The humiliation was just about all I could take, but I bit my tongue. Good to know we are travelling the world on a Moped. Arriving in Puna in the evening, we found a delightful Hostel called Kostillo Posada . We were travelling with Mathias and Tanja, who find their way around with a real working German Garmin, a big leap forward from my SA model which had me riding the Moped right through the waters of lake Titicaca, and definitely would not have got me to the  Kostillo Hostel.

At first we were a little concerned that there was no place to park the bikes out of harm’s way. This was no deterrent to Mathias, who promptly convinced the proprietors that driving our bikes through the entrance doors, past the lounge and dining rooms into the little courtyard at the back of the hostel, was a simple matter once the bikes had been stripped of their packs!

Through the dining room

It was hilarious, we made it to the courtyard, which gave me courage to persuade the Hostellers in Arequipa, where we now are, to allow me to leave my bike in there entrance lobby! Two nights in Puno allowed us to take a breath and catch up on emails, blogs and washing, as well as a visit to the floating reed islands 6km offshore on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. 

Reed base of islands

Nice tassels!

Trad Ewa

Singing for supper

They love duck

The islands were interesting. They came about through necessity as a result of conflict between the Quechua Tribes on the northern shores and the Aymara  tribes of the south. The safest option was to build an island out of reads in the middle of the lake where you could hit your intruders over the head with a wet reed if they gave you any trouble. The conflict has gone, but the tourists have not……

Our time is running out, we decided to make a dash to Arequipa then back track some of the way in order to get back to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. We have just arrived in Arequipa, and are certainly not disappointed that we made the effort to come here.

All will be revealed in my next blog!