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El Lago Titicaca

Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.

The 10-hour train ride from Cuzco to Puno passed through some beautiful mountain scenery.

We (Kevin and Nancy) took one of the highest railroad rides in the world from Cuzco to Puno, stopping along the way to admire the scenery, haggle with locals over more wool goods and comply with demands for pens from trackside children. There we met up again with Rachel, who had taken an even higher road (the sky!) to Titicaca (Tien had gone back to Lima).

Map of Lake Titicaca... shape of a puma, catching a rabbit?

We managed to do a lot in our one full day in the Titicaca area, though Tien insists that the Bolivian side is much more beautiful. Originally we thought we'd have time only for the standard McTour of La Isla Taquile, but (once again) we lucked out with a better tour (and tour guide); because we went by bus partway around the southern edge of the lake, we not only got to see a lot more on land, but we also had a shorter boat trip out to Taquile and consequently got to see much more of the island.