No man is an island...

The trip to Puno, Peru, was pretty short; however, we did have to cross the border. The system was rather interesting. Our bus stopped in front of the Bolivian border crossing. As we joined the line of people waiting to cross, we watch our bus pull away. After getting our exit stamps, we followed the exodus of people on the walk across the Peruvian border. Crossing the border on foot in the middle of the nigh was pretty cool. We arrived in Puno shortly after, grabbed some pizza, and went to sleep before our big plans the next day.
 

The sign greeting us as we entered Peru.

We all woke up very early the next day to start our tour to the Floating Islands. Las Islas Flotantes de los Uros is an incredible grouping of man-made islands off the coast of Puno, where the islands have actually been constructed by a great compilation of reeds growing in Lake Titicaca. A group of native people live on these islands, constantly rebuilding and caring for them.

They really are the coolest islands.

Trying on some traditional clothes. (It was a rush job.)

After Uros, we headed farther out on the lake to the island of Amantani. There we got a taste of how life is for people who live on the islands in Lake Titicaca. We spent the day with a local family who showed us their ways of farming, sheering sheep, and weaving in order to make a living. Because they island is so far out, it's not very normal for people to use money to pay for goods. Instead, they tend to trade both goods and work. For example, one family will help another harvest a crop and then that family will help the other dig a well.

We finally got the clothing done properly at Amantani.

The whole group.

While our visits were meant to give us an authentic view of the lives of these people, it's easy to see just how rapidly their lives must be changing. If I remember correctly, only a short 10 - 15 years ago the island didn't even have electricity. Now it is a (fairly) frequent tourist stop. And while it's interesting and I feel privileged to be let in on that way of life, it's also clear that the influence of the tourism is changing it. And I don't know how I feel about that. I would be interested to see what the island looks like in another ten years.

Headed back to the boat after our visit.

On our long boat ride back to the main land, we spent a good amount of time basking in the sun on the roof of the boat. Lake Titicaca was such a surreal place to visit, and I certainly hope I'm able to make it back there again some day.

Laura and I enjoying the sun and the breeze.

Our view headed back to shore.

The next morning we got up to see the sunrise before going to Cusco.