The Low Mountains

Wow, two entries in one day. Internet is free in the hotel we're at now, can you tell? The much anticipated decision is that we are going to stay in Perú and not go to Bolivia at all. One reason is the political unrest, but also we have heard many good things about Arequipa, Nasca and Ica--the cities in Perú that we are going to visit. It was a tough decision. Mom is going to have a Peace Corps reunion in Bolivia in two years, so there will be other opportunities to travel there. I did see Bolivia today when we were on Lake Titicaca. The Andes look like low hills because the lake is so high (12,500 feet), except for the snow-covered mountains off in the distance that are in Bolivia. We spent most of the day on the lake, visiting some of its islands. The first islands we visited were actually floating islands. People live on these islands that they make out of reeds cut from the lake. They anchor the islands to the lake bottom with long posts, but they do move them around the lake depending on the season. It's quite a feat of engineering. Then we visited a natural island and saw how the people lived there, much as they had lived for many centuries, except for tourists like us coming to visit. We had quite a hike around the island. Good thing we warmed up with walking and climbing around Machu Picchu.