As we drove inland toward the lakes northwestern shore, red dust kicked up off the rutted dirt road.
At 12,500 feet above sea level, the air felt thin and crisp.
On the horizon, the Andes Mountains reared up into the sky.
Islands made of totora reeds on Lake Titicaca.Credit:Westend61/Offset/Shutterstock
After the traffic-choked streets of Arequipa, the first thing I noticed was the quiet.
The interiors are decorated in a contemporary style and accented with wood-and-cowhide chairs and wool rugs.
The water below us was cold and clear.
A corner room in Titilaka.Courtesy of Andean Experience
It was a quiet, eerie place.
The next day we left Titilaka around noon, taking the hotel van to a port north of Puno.
Bruno M/Shutterstock
Do you think people could have sailed across the Pacific on one of these?
From left: An Uros woman on one of the islands; a Titilaka cruiser, available for excursions on the lake.Marta Tucci
Noe considered the question.
Sure, he said.
But youd have to be careful.
The village of Yumani, on the terraced hillsides of Isla del Sol.Bruno M/Shutterstock
(Cars arent allowed on the island; people get around on steep stone footpaths.)
As we walked, we saw farmers working the terraced hillsides with hand tools.
In the evening, we hiked to Las Velas,an unassuming, candlelit restaurant that overlooks Kona Bay.
From left: One of Isla del Sol’s resident llamas; descending a footpath on Lake Titicaca’s Isla del Sol.From left: Aliz Krammer/alizswonderland.com; Jeoffrey Guillemard/Haytham-REA/Redux
Chef Pablo Callsaya steamed whole lake trout inmuna,which he called the special touch.
We arrived in Yumani just in time to catch the ferry to Copacabana.
