Lake Titicaca pt II

From the reed islands we went to Amantani island, which is where we stayed the night with a local family. This has to be one of the coolest experiences of my life.

Jackie and I were ássigned´to an indigenous family on the island, who put us up for the night and fed us etc. Our Mama was Vilma, who had two extremely cute children called Jefferson and Lucy. (South Americans and their names......!) Adorable. She cooked for us and welcomed us into her home, which was an amazing experience. She cooked everything from scratch over a fire. Everything was very basic, but clean, and she had decorated the kitchen with her own handicrafts. (Which naturally we were encouraged to buy....!) I bought from her some beautiful little knitted flowers and alpaca socks.

In the afternoon we climbed to the top of a bloody mountain. THAT nearly killed me. 400 metres on top of the altitude = slow going. It was so steep I honestly thought I might die there. However there was a point. The views across the lake. It was a beautiful day, so we could see all the way to Bolivia.

The best part, however, was the evening. A party in the local hall, with all us tourists dressed up in local Peruvian costumes with a Peruvian band, dancing the night away. It was so much fun, even if it was hard to keep up with the locals.

It´s the altitude, you know.