Great breakfast was had at Sol Natura guesthouse owned by a German couple in Ollyantambo before Team Lipstick hit the road on their way to Bolivia.

 

Fortunately, there was no need of crossing any mature Andean mountains as the way down south stayed at height of 2700 to 3700 meters above sea level and in most cases the boys were driving next to a river

 

Nice single lane roads on the way to Bolivia

 

Going through towns however was always hectic and Team Lipstick voted the Peruvian drivers as the worst in the world beating the ones in Alexandria (Egypt) into second place.

Shortly after making it through Juliaca and reaching another Peruvian town called Puno the boys got first sight of Lake Titicaca

 

the boys got first sight of Lake Titicaca

 

The lake is located at the northern end of the endorheicAltiplano basin high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The western part of the lake lies within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.

The lake is composed of two nearly separate sub-basins connected by the Strait of Tiquina, which is 800 m (across at the narrowest point. The larger sub-basin, Lago Grande (also called Lago Chucuito), has a mean depth of 135 m (and a maximum depth of 284 m The smaller sub-basin, Wiñaymarka (also called Lago Pequeño, “little lake”), has a mean depth of 9 m (30 ft) and a maximum depth of 40 m (131 ft).[8] The overall average depth of the lake is 107 m (351 ft).[1]

 

Map of Lake Titicaca

 

Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca in order of their relative flow volumes these are Ramiz, Coati, Ilave, Huancané, and Suchez More than twenty other smaller streams empty into Titicaca. The lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.

 

Having only a single season of free circulation, the lake is monomythic, and water passes through Lago Huiñaimarca and flows out the single outlet at the Río Desaguadero,which then flows south through Bolivia to Lake Poopó. This only accounts for about 10% of the lake’s water balance. Evapotranspiration, caused by strong winds and intense sunlight at high altitude, balances the remaining 90% of the water loss. It is nearly a closed lake.

 

Since 2000 Lake Titicaca has experienced constantly receding water levels. Between April and November 2009 alone the water level dropped by 81 cm, reaching the lowest level since 1949. This drop is caused by shortened rainy seasons and the melting of glaciers feeding the tributaries of the lake Water pollution is also an increasing concern because cities in the Titicaca watershed grow, sometimes outpacing solid waste and sewage treatment infrastructure.

 

First sight of Lake Titicaca outside Puno in Peru

 

Driving for another hour on this beautiful huge lake the boys reached the border between Peru and Bolivia at a town called Kasani and the procedures here were really easy and done by within 45 minutes whereafter Team Lipstick found themselves in Bolivia continuing to drive along the shorelines of Lake Titicaca.

 

Their destination of the Day – Copacabana in Bolivia -was reached well before sunset but under very low temperature which dropped to 11 degrees Celsius.

 

Day 36 -20th February – MachuPicchu to Copacabana (Bolivia)