Lake Titicaca, Peru

Kara says:
Guess what we found in the middle of Lake Titicaca? Inis Oirr! Honestly. It's fantastic - stone walls, sheep, donkeys, wrinkly old men, it's got the lot.
We took a little boat out (even smaller and slower than the ferry to Inis Oirr) and when we got to the island the idea was for the boat captain to organise the accommodation with local families. We wanted to stay at the only fancy B&B on the island (by "fancy" i mean a few purpose built rooms with en suite bathrooms, the advantage of the ensuite being not so much that it's private and in your bedroom but that it doesn't involve a trip to the outhouse at the bottom of the garden) so we asked him to arrange that. He walked a few feet away from us and then yelled down the beach the name of the lodge and a woman came running to get us. She walked us to the lodge, picking up some sheep along the way - see photo, it's the Arann Islands! She fed us well but her Spanish was as bad as ours so didn't manage any great conversation with her (locals speak Quechua - the language of the Incas! - like most rural people in the Andes).
We just wandered around the island, caught the end of a football match which seemed to be the only thing happening on the island that day - see photo of locals heading to the match on a pitch perched at the edge of the island. Got a beer and sat outside a pub/shop and watched the sunset while all the locals walked by carrying things, especially the woman - see photo. It seems that none of the crops grow where they're needed so the women spend all day carrying them from one end of the island to the other. The economy is based on crops, fishing and trade and now some tourism. It's a tough life.
And it's cold - see Karl modelling his fabulous thermals for bedtime. And the altitude! Soooo hard. The lake fools you into thinking you're at sea level but it's still 3800m above sea level. I'm out of breath just typing.
Also went to another similar but more touristy island for a quick peak - another photo of stone wall and the stunning lake. And finally floating islands. Back in the days of the Incas (1300 - 1500AD-ish) a quiet local tribe who didn't like all the fighting decided to move to the lake for a more peaceful life. They've built islands from a floating boggy material covered with reeds and anchored to the lakebed. And all their houses are made of reeds also. Photo of Karl cooking on one of those islands. Alas today they're just full of tourists and the only activities are giving tours and making souvenirs. On the bright side they can now afford to send their kids to secondary school on the mainland and to university.
New thing i learned this week - how DO you get your llamas to the market? On the roofrack of your Hiace of course!