Go Sister!

Doing the deal

In Bolivia you you become entrepeneurs aged 6.

Even the guanacos realise how lush it is

This is the 6^th birthday I’ve spent with Tim. Usually he organises to meet up with friends in a bar or at home for drinks and then we head off to a club – invariably drum and bass – Fabric or someplace similar. By 7am we are on a tube heading back, 15 people or so in tow, to ours for more music, more alcohol, more talking bollocks and generally upsetting the neighbours. This one was slightly different, and some what healthier. We spent it walking, and walking and walking, from one end of the island to the other. There was nowhere to stop for anything along the way, so we brought supplies of chocolate and water from a lady’s front room before we set off. I had knocked on just about every door that looked remotely like a shop front to see if there was any form of cake or biscuit I could get that might act as a birthday cake, but there was nothing. Chocolate bars it was then.

By the time we were heading back we'd been walking for 8 hours up and down massive hills, still trying to get used to the altitude. At one point we were walking down a steep hill out of the clouds. The only other tourist we saw that day stopped us and asked whether we could walk back to the top again so that he could take a photo of us. Dana and Tim walking out of the clouds. If ever that Argentinean traveller ever somehow reads this on the net – please could we have a copy? You know who you are. We reached the Inca ruins on the other side of the island – a mini Machu Picchu and just spent the day marvelling at our surroundings.

The island gets its name from the Incas who believed that the sun was born on the island and that the very first Inca was born from a huge rock on the south side of it, just by the ruins that overlook the lake. One thing I can say about the Incas is that they always chose the lushest spots to make camp. I much preferred this spot to Machu Picchu. It's so much calmer and I find myself starting to daydream about Inca princesses living in the fantastically preserved houses.

Lake Titicaca is stunningly beautiful. And it’s SO PEACEFUL. We saw one tourist – the guy who took our photo (and he was Argentinean so we decided he was almost a local), one old man, three children, two llamas, some vicunas and a few sheep all day long. The kids here are funny, and wise. We came across a group of three girls walking along the ridge accompanied by llama and sheep. We stopped to say hello and take a photo. I had to strike a deal with one of them, the eldest aged about 11 before I was allowed to take the shot. We agreed on a dollar. Once the shot was taken the kid started to complain that I hadn’t given her enough money. ‘No, no, three dollar! One, two three girl, one dollar each!’ The nerve of it made me laugh so much that I almost gave it to them, but then I changed my mind, because it would mean they’d ask the next person for 3 dollars then try to triple it. We did treat them to lots of chocolate though, so they left happy.