Photo Essay: A Trip to Lake Titicaca
This is a guest blog post written by Sam Wood at Indefinite Travel.
Lake Titicaca is supposedly the world's highest navigable lake at 3,800 meters above sea level (12,500 ft) and it straddles two countries: Bolivia and Peru. There are several ways to visit the lake, from the shore of either country, by day trip out onto the natural and man-made islands or by overnight stay on one or several of them. As the birthplace of the Inca culture, it is not surprising that there is still very much a strong indigenous community around the lake in both Bolivia and Peru, and you will notice that locals are very proud of their cultural heritage.
Our first view of Bolivia
At this altitude the weather can be extreme: bright and intensely sunny during the day while dry and freezing at night. This means clear blue skies almost all the time, which when reflected against the glass-like surface of the lake can be a photographer's dream.
One of our favorite places we visited on Lake Titicaca was Copacabana, the main town on the Bolivian side, just a couple of hours bus ride from La Paz. The views from some of the look out points above the town, especially at sunset, were quite spectacular.
Sunset around Copacabana
But one of my absolute favorite views of the lake was from one of the reed islands on the Peruvian side, where it seems like the whole world is painted blue, punctuated with tiny specks of other colors by the inhabitants, their reed boats and the distant hills and mountains on the land.
[caption id="attachment_12822" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Uros Islands, Peru[/caption]
Visiting Lake Titicaca was certainly a highlight of our 10 months of travel in South America, and I would recommend it to anyone considering a similar trip. My top tip? Don't try and see everything in one day, but leave yourself time to just soak up the spectacular landscapes and ancient, but still prevalent culture of the area.
[caption id="attachment_12823" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Taquile Island, Peru[/caption]
Author bio:
Sam is a sometimes-EFL teacher, wannabe-minimalist, language geek who is trying to make it as a digital nomad with his partner, Zab. You can follow them on their blog Indefinite Adventure http://www.indefiniteadventure.com/ where they chronicle their journey, write about the places they visit, the food they eat (preferably vegetarian, organic and locally produced) and the people they meet.