After embarking upon my first night bus experience (little sleep was had), I arrived in Puno, Peru at 5am. The instant coffee at breakfast was well-received. At 6am I left on a boat tour of the floating islands in the massive Lake Titicaca.

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On our boat, we were taught how to reply to common phrases in the native languages. Extra emphasis was placed on learning “Waliki”, which means “I’m fine” in Aymara.

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Evidently the the native people built these floating islands (made by tying bits of earth together, piling copious quantities of reeds on top, and anchoring the result in shallower areas of the lake) in order to escape the Incas and their taxes. Classic humans.

About fifteen people claimed to live on the island we visited, which was complete with solar panels. Very interesting how certain cultures tend to leapfrog technologies.

After the boat tour, we loaded back into the bus and were shipped to the border with Bolivia. I had a very difficult time getting my remaining 20 Peruvian Soles exchanged for Bolivianos (apparently the bill wasn’t crisp enough), but I ultimately succeeded. We walked across to Bolivia and hopped on a new bus which took us to a second boat in Copacabana. A 75 minute boat ride (during which I may have enjoyed a little nap) took us to Isla del Sol, which is thought by some to be the birthplace of the Incas.

We hiked up the island to get a better view of the glass-smooth lake.

Eventually we made our way back down to a port on the other side of the island, where we caught a boat to take us back to Copacabana.

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A huge part of traveling that I’ve enjoyed is meeting people from all over the world. On the boat ride back, I not only stayed awake, but also met people from Belgium, Australia, and Ireland. It’s always interesting to share perspectives with people who grew up thousands of miles away. Eventually we made it back to Copacabana for the sunset.

Back on the bus! After an hour, we were shuffled off the bus to get on yet another boat. It was a ferry situation. Interestingly, we and the bus were put on different ferries.

It reminded me of the Oregon trail. It appeared that we had chosen the “ford the river” option.

Luckily, both the group and the bus successfully made it across the river and we continued the journey to La Paz. After 24 hours of travel (including 5 minutes of running around the streets of La Paz unable to find the entrance to my hostel), I finally made it to a real bed.