Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is located between Peru and Bolivia. Peru says it owns 60% of the lake and Bolivia 40%. If you ask Bolivia, the answer is of course the other way around. The lake is the world's highest lake, which you can sail in with larger ships, at 3811 m above sea level. The lake is home to several islands, all of which have preserved their traditions, which vary from island to island. A typical visit to the lake is a 2 day trip with an overnight stay with a family.We gave 65 S per person including transport, entrance and food. It's a good thing to make sure that the family you stay with and eat 3 meals with gets enough money from the travel agent. Some families are cheated and get very few sunsets for their stay. We stayed 4 with the same family, who got 25 S per person. That is 100 S, which is a lot of money here. Our first stop on the trip was the Uros Islands, which consist of 60 small islands, all of which are “home-built”.It takes 1 year to build an island. To avoid the warlike Incas, this tribe built their own islands, which can float. They rein them in so they don't end up in Bolivia - without passports: o) The women are wearing the most beautiful and neon colored dresses. These colors are nice contrasts to their island, which is "right-colored". The foundations of the Uros islands are built of roots, which are covered with reeds in several layers. Their cabins and boats are also of reed, so it smells nice of hay.3.5 hours later, we arrive at Amantani, where we will spend the night. They've created a rotation system where all families take turns hosting overnight tourists. In this way, everyone gets a share of the money tourists spend. No one can make more money than others at restaurants and hotels, as there is only one option, and that is private accommodation where you also eat.We were fortunate enough to live with the area's president. Amantani is divided into several areas, each with its own president. They are democratically elected for one year at a time. After having lunch, we were to meet the others from the group, after which we were to reach the highest point on the island - 4127 m. My record to date: o) Up here, the sacred rituals are performed on January 21 every year. Afterwards, there is a big fiesta.After dinner, we were dressed in their traditional clothes - what a sight. Honny wore a poncho and a colorful homemade hat. Us girls had to wear a colorful skirt that was thick and in several layers, so you looked quite wide. We got a wide sash tied tight around the waist. The shirt was white with embroidered flowers on it. We were wearing hiking boots, so it looked quite comical.We went out into the night wearing our new clothes down to the local “congregation house” where we would do their dances. We also had the family's little daughter, 5 years old, with us. She was very passionate about dancing around: o) The locals had found out that Honny's birthday was the next day, so a birthday song was played, and people from the village all came to give him a hug.