Puno and Titicaca Lake are among the most varied and evocative reasons to abandon routine and hurl one into living the experience of the Peruvian altiplano. Here, the protagonist is Titicaca and this immense lake can be approached in multiple forms.

The islands of Lake Titicaca are in the foreground of the traveler's interest. Uros, Taquile, Suasi and Amantani is a trip that you should make, but with respect for the culture of their inhabitants.

In the majority of tourists' guides appear, like a distinctive icon of Peru, the classic photos of the Uros islands, with their inhabitants installed on braided fibers of totora, cooking, selling crafts, taking care of their animals. In the same guides, nevertheless, it is customary to repeat the error of affirming that these islands continue to harbor the Uros ethnic group when they are inhabited by Aymara groups dedicated to fishing.

Taquile is another island on the Peruvian side of the lake, which has been transformed into an obligatory stop for tourists. The taquileños have created a very attractive alternative for experiential tourism, one which has been quite successful. Several things attract the tourist's attention from the moment he steps onto Taquile: the men are dressed in black pants, a white shirt and a very colorful sash, called chumpi; for the women, black predominate in their skirts and tunics, against which their brightly-colored sashes and vests stand out. And the fact is everyone in Taquile weaves and the products are true works of art. The weavings are sold in a good communal store located in the small main square of the stone town or in the houses of the residents themselves.

Nevertheless, the most outstanding thing about Taquile is perhaps its communal organization, which pays tribute of the ayllu. Organization not only dominated the ancestral activities of agriculture, fishing and weaving, but also tourism services. It was in the 1970s that tourists began to disembark in Taquile and since then the inhabitants themselves, while there is a communal restaurant for dining.

In front of Taquile we find Amantaní. It is a beautiful island, rarely visited by tourists, that displays gorgeous landscapes and a community organized in a way similar to that of its neighbors.

Suasi is a real discovery, enthusiastically recommended for the traveler. This is a small island (48 hectares), located in the north-east of the lake, towards the zone of Huancané. It is a private island owned by the Puneñen sociologist Martha Giraldo, who received the land as family inheritance.

Several years ago Giraldo built a guest house in Suasi and since then it has taken in travelers who are willing to disconnect themselves from their daily routines. The experience shows in a palpable way what tourism can do for the environment and vice versa. All the electrical energy comes from solar panels, which makes it possible to have artificial light at night and hot water in the showers, and to use home appliances.

In Suasi you can dedicate yourself to the most elemental and simple things: take a trip walking or in a row boat, watch birds and cameloids, swim in the lake (it is cold, the water never goes below 10 degrees), visit the totoroles. You can also visit Cambría to see a unique spectacle that of community member's houses surrounded by gardens in which flowers of all sparkle: roses, dahlias, lilies, retamas and margaritas at almost 4,000 meters above sea level. And very close to it is the city of Moho, one of the centers which condense the art of the sicuris, those musicians that, it is said, accompanied the funerals of Atahualpa with the sound of their zamponas, pipes made from cane brought from the eastern jungle.