We are now in Southern Peru, after flying to Lima, and a second flight to Puno. Stretching across the borders of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is located in the Andes mountain. Our hotel San Antonio faces it. It is said to be the birthplace of the Inca, whose ruins still litter its shores. Today, it is the home to indigenous, UNESCO-protected communities. We enjoyed the azure waters of the lake as we as we walked along its northern shore. According to Andean legend, a pair of gods rose from the waters to found the Inca empire.
Our next destination, Chucuito, a small Aymara town just south of Puno. After the introduction were made we had lunch with an indigenous tribe. They had prepared a banquet of food. Our guide, Salvador Torres brought bananas, bread, wafers and surprisingly quarts of Coca Cola which the elders especially took a liking to—especially the men. Salvador played a modern dance song and danced to the music drawing laughs from this gentle community. The Aymara were conquered in the mid-fifteenth century and incorporated into the Incan empire.
