Intense and brilliant blue, Titicaca is the highest navigable lake globally and a sacred place for the extinct Inca civilization. According to legend, it was in this place where the world was created when the god Viracocha came out of the lake and created the sun, the stars, and the first people. Today, Lake Titicaca remains an epicenter of Andean traditions and customs that you can discover in a couple of days.
Uros Floating Islands
The Uros are one of those peoples that base their existence on the development and exploitation of a single product, in this case, the totora, an aquatic reed that grows in Titicaca. Thanks to the reed, they have managed to build houses, boats, instruments, and it even constitutes a large part of their diet. The Uros Floating Islands are made up of more than 80 artificial islands, each inhabited by a family clan, and it is even possible to see children sailing every day in a small reed raft to row to their school.
Where To Stay?
Being half an hour from Puno, many visitors stay in this city and visit the Islands during the day. However, it is also possible to spend the night next to the Uros; many families offer comfortable accommodations and teach visitors their daily activities: cutting reeds, fishing, sailing in the reed boats, cooking, among others. Prices fluctuate between 5 and 12 USD (the latter includes dinner and breakfast).
Taquile Island
It is the largest island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca and is located approximately 40km north of Puno. To get to the town of Taquile, visitors can climb a 560-step staircase to enjoy an impressive view, in which it is possible to appreciate the opposite shore of the lake. The island inhabitants of Taquile are of Quechua origin and are distinguished by maintaining their customs, traditions, and clothes. So it is no surprise to walk around Taquile Island and see most of the men weaving.
Where To Stay?
As in the Floating Islands, tourists who wish to spend a night on Taquile Island can stay in the house of a local family at relatively low prices, between 5 and 8 USD per night.
Amantaní Island
Every morning, boats from Puno go to Amantaní Island on a trip that lasts approximately 4 hours. Unlike Taquile Island, Amantaní retains a sense of origin, as it has not been so exploited on a tourist level. The town doesn’t even have electricity. In this way, the cultural exchange that you can carry out with the locals is more authentic since travelers spend the night in local families’ houses and not in hostels.
Where To Stay?
About 50 families offer accommodation for travelers. Tourism on the island is organized so that visitors are assigned to each family on a rotating system. The price is 14 USD per person, including lunch, dinner, and breakfast.
The Last One: Sun’s Island
Legend has it that the Island of the Sun was the starting point, for Manco Capac, of a journey that would eventually take him to Cuzco to found the Inca dynasty. Isla del Sol is the largest in Titicaca, with 14 km2. It is accessed by taking a boat from Copacabana, and the trip lasts approximately two hours.
Where To Stay?
If you are an enthusiastic person, you can sleep on one of the island’s beaches for free. To prevent the possibility of catching a cold at night, you can stay in standard hostels for about four dollars or in more luxurious hotels for one hundred dollars per night.
