Lake Titicaca and the altiplano, Peru, November 2008
Lake Titicaca
Approaching one of the floating islands in Lake Titicaca. The islands, houses, and boats are all built from the reeds that grow in the lake shallows. The islands are constructed of many layers of reeds, which are replaced from the top as they rot at the bottom.
Reed boats. The single canoe-shaped boat close to the shore is typical; the larger pontoon-like boat is designed to carry tourists from one island to another
Part of a village on one of the floating islands
Village women selling weavings on one of the floating islands
Harsh landscape of the high, dry altiplano near Puno. It is a poor area, inhabited mainly by indigenous Aymara-speaking people who are herders and subsistence farmers. Altitude is ~3830 meters (12,565 feet)
Mountain pass at La Raya (altitude 4335 meters, 14,222 feet), the dividing point between the harsh altiplano and the greener and more fertile Sacred Valley
The way we came: looking back at the altiplano from the pass at La Raya
Once you cross the pass at La Raya and begin the descent into the Sacred Valley and Cusco (at a mere 3626 meters, 10,912 feet), the land is much greener and more fertile. The headwaters of the Urubamba River, which flows north and eventually joins the Amazon, are at La Raya, beginning as a tiny creek you could step across, but rapidly becoming a very large river. By the time it reaches the base of Machu Picchu, much further north, it is a roaring torrent.
Incan ruins at Raqchi, southeast of Cusco. An unusual example of the use of both stone and adobe to build the walls. The roof on top is current, installed to protect the top of the adobe from the rain so it does not dissolve and crumble
Lake Titicaca
Approaching one of the floating islands in Lake Titicaca. The islands, houses, and boats are all built from the reeds that grow in the lake shallows. The islands are constructed of many layers of reeds, which are replaced from the top as they rot at the bottom.
Reed boats. The single canoe-shaped boat close to the shore is typical; the larger pontoon-like boat is designed to carry tourists from one island to another
Part of a village on one of the floating islands
Village women selling weavings on one of the floating islands
Harsh landscape of the high, dry altiplano near Puno. It is a poor area, inhabited mainly by indigenous Aymara-speaking people who are herders and subsistence farmers. Altitude is ~3830 meters (12,565 feet)
Mountain pass at La Raya (altitude 4335 meters, 14,222 feet), the dividing point between the harsh altiplano and the greener and more fertile Sacred Valley
The way we came: looking back at the altiplano from the pass at La Raya
Once you cross the pass at La Raya and begin the descent into the Sacred Valley and Cusco (at a mere 3626 meters, 10,912 feet), the land is much greener and more fertile. The headwaters of the Urubamba River, which flows north and eventually joins the Amazon, are at La Raya, beginning as a tiny creek you could step across, but rapidly becoming a very large river. By the time it reaches the base of Machu Picchu, much further north, it is a roaring torrent.
Incan ruins at Raqchi, southeast of Cusco. An unusual example of the use of both stone and adobe to build the walls. The roof on top is current, installed to protect the top of the adobe from the rain so it does not dissolve and crumble