Floating islands trip

We were booked to go on a full day boat trip, so we were up and out early.

There were so many boats waiting to leave the quay, we had to wait our turn.

It was a peculiar day. Most of it was spent on the water.

First stop was Uros. The Uru or Uros people are believed to be descended from the earliest inhabitants of Lake Titicaca. They’ve preserved a floating lifestyle for hundreds of years. To protect themselves from invading groups, the Uros built mobile islands from the endemic totora plant. If a threat emerged, they could simply move their islands elsewhere in the lake. While this worked for a while, both the Incas and Spanish eventually discovered their islands.

Although the island was built in the traditional way, it's authenticity was in doubt!

We were then taken by traditional boat to the next island which was a complete tourist trap. Three children under 5 were put on the boat and immediately began to beg by singing a few lines from a song in different languages and then passing a hat around. We were given the impression that we had to use the boat and then got told we had to pay!!

Once on the island, we were told we could have our passport stamped with a 'tourist stamp'. What we weren't told is that we had to pay.

It's all about the money!! This is the welcome sign. Yes, they take visa, Amex etc!!!?