I have really clocked up some miles these past few days. Upon leaving La Paz, I took a bus to Copacabana, but sadly could not find Lola, Tony or Rico, which was sad! Copacabana was a pretty seaside town on the Peruvian border, which took me to my first overland border crossing. I´m not sure what I expected, but two shacks 300m apart on each countries´ side was probably not it! 3 more stamps in my passport, and I am now in Peru.
I did a homestay on Amantani island, a colony in the middle of Lake Titicaca (the largest lake above 2000m in the world). They have a very interesting system of finding a partner- men wear hats and women wear bobbles on their shawls which signify married, living with someone, single and looking, or single and not looking. Such a simple system! I definitely think we should adopt this in England. People speak Quechua on Amantani, and hello is ´Allallanchu´. This was the only word I picked up but my family owned the village shop and so spoke English.
After visiting Amantani, I stopped at the Uros islands, floating reed islands in another part of the lake. The people there add new reeds every 2 weeks to stop the island disappearing into the lake, and they have a surprisingly advanced way of life. I saw two TV´s with cable hooked up, so they aren´t completely cut off from the world.
I´m now in Cusco for a rest, which hasnt really ended up being a rest, as June is the month of ´inti raymi´- another huge festival. Everyday so far I have seen a procession through the main streets which has led to a really jovial atmosphere. I definately like Cusco, it is my favourite city so far!
