Lake Titicaca

A day later than planned, we left Cusco heading towards Lake Titicaca. On the way, we saw the traces left by the strike the day before - burn marks, devastation, and large rocks on the road. We were really glad that our bus had been canceled and we hadn't driven through this uprising.

Early in the morning, we reached Puno on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. The lake is located at an altitude of 3808 meters and is about twice the size of all the central Swiss cantons combined, with an area of over 8300 square kilometers. In the morning, we decided to take a tour to the floating islands of the Uros. The islands have been artificially created by the inhabitants over generations by piling up layers of reeds. Today, tourism is the only source of income for the locals, and unfortunately, you can tell. The tour felt staged and inauthentic. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see that there are actually floating islands.

In the afternoon, we continued to the Bolivian side of the lake, to Copacabana. What impressed us the most here were the incredible prices, which were even lower than in already very affordable Peru. For example, we paid only 6 Swiss francs per night for our double room including breakfast.

The next day, in the morning, we took a boat to Isla del Sol, which is about 2 hours away, to go for a hike. However, after the first ascent, Carole realized that she didn't have the energy for it, after getting seasick on the way there. She abandoned the hike and took the next boat back. Julia enjoyed the hike through the impressive landscape, which reminds you of Southern France and has surprisingly beautiful beaches. Unfortunately, we couldn't really enjoy them because it was too cold, despite the sunny weather.