We wanted to visit the city of Puno because it is on the banks of Lake Titicaca - the highest navigable lake. Once we were there though, we were unsure whether we would make it down to the shore. It turns out that flying from sea level to 3800 metres is not as good an idea as it sounds. For the first day, all three of us were suffering from altitude sickness. For me, it felt a little like my eyes were too big for my head and thus were trying to pop out of my skull. Dad suffered quite a bit more... very unpleasant business, which left said one of us completely susceptible to any bugs that were floating around.
The second day Mum and I were well enough to venture downstairs for a cup of tea (of the coca kind). The climb back up though had us panting after the first flight like little puppies. We went back to bed and considered our predicament. Dad could still barely lift his head. We managed to force some dry toast into him. At least there was cable TV.
Our third and final day a Puno we all felt well enough to go for a short boat ride out to the floating islands on the lake. It was such an exhiliration to actually be able to sit up for more than an hour, and so exciting to actually be on the lake. Dad even had some of the fresh popcorn. We disembarked on an island where the cheif of the island, Marco, greeted us and told us how the islands were made - by roping together 2m of reed roots then placing a further 1m of cut reeds on top. We bought a couple of souveniers (excellent paintings by a local 13 year old boy) and had dinner back at Puno in an Andean restaurant.
Finally on the shore of Lake Titicacal
R
x
and Judy
+ the Δ
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