Sat 22nd Nov 2008
- Lake Titicaca Area Travel Guide & City Information
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3820 m above the sea. The lake is divided in a Bolivian part and a Peruvian part. Puno is the largest city in Peru at the lake and is a good base for exploring.
The floating islands are easily reached from Puno. Walk to the harbor and people will start offering tours. Haggle, as prices vary wildly and you'll all end up in the same boat.
The Islands itself are a bit of tourist trap, but interesting all the same. The Uros live on islands made of totora reed, which grows in the lake. They cut the reeds, put them on top of the island, while the bottoms of the islands slowly rot away. In a similar way, the make boats, which look like venician gondels, except for that they are made of solid reed.