The girls dress up to match the locals
Day 11 started with a visit to the floating islands on lake Titicaca, these islands are famous for the life that the local indigenous people live. There are around 40 of these reed islands floating on the lake. These islands have been in existence for over 2000 years and have been refuge for many of the inhabitants during times of War, they went unnoticed until around 30 years ago when they formally integrated with the local community of Puno. They still live a subsistent life style, fishing the lake, growing their own vegetables and farming pigs, chicken and ducks. The majority of the islanders have turned to tourism for their income and now perform a fantastic show on how to build and maintain their reed islands as they slowly decay. A group of photo’s show this process.
After the morning visit it was on to the bikes and off to the Peruvian/Bolivian border. After a nervous stint as I went through customs without my original bike papers we met up with the girls their new guides and van. Once the shuttle of the bags was complete (refer photos) we were off for our first taste of the Bolivian countryside. A quick 2 hours and we descended into the city of La Paz. Man what an experience that was as we battled the streets and hawkers as they sold their merchandise for the upcoming weekends festival.
A big day but a successful day as we checked into our Hotel and stored our bikes in a local underground garage. Enjoy the photo’s of the reed islands in the latest album along with the initial photo’s from Bolivia
Regards
Tony A
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