Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is situated on the border between Peru and Bolivia and is famous for being (arguably) the highest navigable lake in the world (3812m above sea level). Even though that definition may be a tiny bit subjective, (there are higher lakes in the world and some boats can navigate in only a few inches of water), you shouldn't question that claim too loudly it if you visit - this lake is home to the flotilla of the Bolivian Navy (pretty impressive, ...
...the second out onto the lake must have been superb!

There is no transport on the island, so you have to walk everywhere. As we were still adjusting to the altitude, this is an extremely slow and painful process, particularly since this place is very hilly. We wandered around slowly being shown the sights and spent sunset visiting pre-Columbian ruins of local religious significance. As in the rest of Peru, the religion here is a mixture ... more

Lake Titicaca is situated on the border between Peru and Bolivia and is famous for being (arguably) the highest navigable lake in the world (3812m above sea level). Even though that definition may be a tiny bit subjective, (there are higher lakes in the world and some boats can navigate in only a few inches of water), you shouldn't question that claim too loudly it if you visit - this lake is home to the flotilla of the Bolivian Navy (pretty impressive, given that Bolivia is landlocked!). Either which way, the lake is visually very impressive and immense, with a surface area of over 8000 square kilometres.

My review is of my travels on the Peruvian side of the lake, since that was where I visited.

Getting there

The main city in this region of Peru is Puno, which is located on the Western shore of the lake. We arrived here by road from Arequipa - if you take this route, then do not underestimate how high the Andean passes are on this route - they are physically challenging even by bus. The other main arrival route by road is from Cuzco, which was our onward route. The nearest airport is about 30 miles north of here in Juliaca, although you would have to connect via Lima.

When visiting the lake, you can take a ferry to stay on one of its several islands; you leave your luggage behind in Puno and just travel with a swimsuit, any medicine, plenty of money and an (optional) change of clothing. Many of the ferries also stop at the Uros "Islands" en route.

The Uros Islands

The Uros islands are the famous floating islands on Tititcaca. These islands are anchored in place and are constructed from mats of tortora reeds and are home to the Uros people. As the reeds are very biodegradable, the islanders have to constantly rebuild their islands from the top down - our guide told us that without this, the islands would rot and break up in only a few months.

We arrived on the islands by motorboat and were greeted with a miniature reed sculpture of a boat and freshly baked flatbread and cups of the ubiquitous Peruvian tea. These had been prepared on a clay stove, which was used directly on the (probably highly flammable) reed island. Walking on the island is a strange experience - it feels very springy, but reasonably secure, so I didn't feel I was about to put my foot straight through!

We were then shown around some of the islands and chatted to many of the islanders in Spanish (apparently the Uru language is no longer widely spoken as a first language). The houses were extremely small and were also built from tortora reeds. The elementary school on the islands though was a little more rugged, made from corrugated metal; inside here was a very simple classroom, with little more on the walls than a map of the world. Tourism is now the main industry here, and everyone, young and old made us feel very welcome, although there was an inevitable undercurrent of salesmanship and the knowledge that people feel the urge to reciprocate. One thing that you must do if you visit is bring gifts for the young children - pens and pencils are recommended although, naturally enough, what the children really want are sweets and they really aren't shy about asking you for them!

As a part of our tour, we were given a ride on a twin-hulled reed boat, which had a platform which we stood upon and relied on paddlers below for propulsion. Then, sadly, it was nearly time to go. But we did have time to shop before we left and bought plenty of the small reed sculptures (of boats and of people) as well as woven and embroidered items, such as cushion covers and ceramic bowls (which I suspect may have been fired on the mainland). As in the rest of Peru, haggling is an important part of the buying process, although after such a warm welcome, we didn't haggle too hard!

Taquile Island

Our lakeward journey then took us on to Taquile Island, a hilly island located in the middle of the lake. Tourists who stay here as we did do not stay in a hotel; instead we are accommodated in someone's home. The accommodation was fairly basic by tourist standards (although I got the impression it was luxurious for local standards), but the beds were very comfortable. The house we stayed in was very reminiscent of a youth hostel - many beds crammed into tiny rooms in barns and outbuildings. Dinner was in a canteen-like hall, which was the only place that had electric lighting - our bedrooms were lit by candlelight. The other facilities were similarly rustic - no showers and only outdoor toilets which were, thankfully, of the Western style (and not the hole in the ground that you find most places), which were supplied with water via a big water butt. Sadly, only one of these actually had a door, but I'm sure the view out of the second out onto the lake must have been superb!

There is no transport on the island, so you have to walk everywhere. As we were still adjusting to the altitude, this is an extremely slow and painful process, particularly since this place is very hilly. We wandered around slowly being shown the sights and spent sunset visiting pre-Columbian ruins of local religious significance. As in the rest of Peru, the religion here is a mixture between Catholisism and the old ways. When you reach high places, you often find small rock piles, which are religious offerings and show that that place is sacred.

Another expedition that we made was down to the beach for a swim. With the waves lapping against the beach, the lake really had the feel of a sea to it, although the water was sweet, not saline. When swimming, I found that it was hard to imagine with the glorious blue skies and clement weather that I was nearly 4km above sea level. The trek back up hill soon brought it home to me though!

The main village on the island has an art exhibition centre, where you can view work that has been produced by the people of the island. These people are Aymara, which is both the name of the people and of the language (it is one of three official languages of Peru and is very distinct from Quechua and Spanish, which are the other main languages). The Aymara spoken here is a subtly different dialect from that which is spoken on the mainland of Peru and of Bolivia, and the culture here is correspondingly also different. Weaving and knitting are culturally very important here and are only done by the men. The woven goods are a main source of income here - you can buy the sashes and the hats that the men wear, although be careful, because the patterns and the colours apparently indicate your marital status and availability!

Sadly, the time came all too quickly to depart from the island. The way off the island involved a tiring trek up over the hill and down a steep set of steps to the harbour. Then once again, a boat took us back to the mainland, to leave behind the stunning lake and continue on our onward adventure.

Handling the altitude

I can report first hand that at 3812m above sea level, this lake is indeed extremely high. That's high enough that you have a pretty good chance of getting altitude sickness (as indeed I did have by that point). But the good news is that you can get diamox (an altitude sickness medicine) over the counter at pharmacies in Peru (in the UK you have to get a private prescription). This pushes the cost right down - it cost about 20p per tablet there, as opposed to £4 per tablet from the travel clinic. All my travelling companions (who included medical doctors and many seasoned travellers of high altitude) warned me against the medicine as they said it had horrendous side effects. This meant I didn't take it in advance like you are supposed to; BIG mistake! Altitude sickness in the lungs is truly awful, so do take the medicine before you get to altitude!

Other than one curious property, I didn't notice any effect of the medicine other than it making me feel better (in the interests of neutrality - this would have happened anyway, it just speeds up the process of acclimatization). The one curious property is that it makes carbonated drinks taste flat. I had heard about this, so I tried this out with a bottle of carbonated water, not really expecting anything, and it was indeed true! I could still tell from the flavour that it was acidic, but it didn't feel fizzy in the slightest.

In conclusion

This is a truly stunning place to visit. I can't recommend it highly enough that you come here if you visit Peru.

NB: Review will be posted elsewhere 

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