08/29 It’s not especially hilly around here but the couple climbs yesterday and today had me sucking air like it was my first week riding. My legs are doing OK but I’m having a hell of a time getting enough oxygen. I can’t wait until I’m used to this altitude again. In the meantime I’m going to look for an oxygen tank I can strap to the back of my bike. 
Last night I stayed in the town of Chucuito at the Albergue Las Cabañas. They let you camp on the grounds for S10 but there were a bunch of other people camping so I just got a room. The room was great and it even had a fireplace (that I didn’t use–don’t want to encourage tree chopping).
Riding next to the lake has been a blast. It is the largest lake in South America and the wind blowing in from the south east has lot’s of time to pick up speed and hit me right in the face. The north end of the lake was very low and people are using the exposed bed along the shore for agriculture. The lake is actually at its lowest level since 1949 due to a shortened rainy season and because the glaciers feeding the tributaries are all melting. The road isn’t the best to ride on. No shoulder and it can get a little rough in places. Traffic is kind of heavy too and everyone loves blasting their horn when they pass. They are pretty good about moving over so no close calls or anything.
Lake Titicaca has plenty of interesting things going on. For starters did you know it’s the place where the world was created from? True story. The Uros, a pre-Incan people, live on 42 floating islands made of reeds. The original purpose of the islands was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. The city of Puno has tours to the islands but I read that the ones they take you to are over-touristy so there’s no big draw for me. There are actual dirt/rock islands that you can visit but the only one that sounded cool was Amantani Island because there are no dogs allowed. The Bolivian Navy has a total of 173 vessels, mostly stationed on Lake Titicaca since the loss of its coast to Chile during the War of the Pacific in 1879.
If you are so inclined I posted my favorite pictures from Peru on Flickr.
Tomorrow Bolivia.
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