太阳神遗失的镜子
从库斯科到普诺的巴士要开一整天。车一路从海拔3000米开到普诺海拔3800米的地方，窗外的景色跟青藏高原越来越像，一望无际的黄色土地，低低矮矮的大片云朵挂在饱和度超高的蓝天上。玻利维亚是这里最靠近天空的国家。
普诺是去Ttikaka湖的交通枢纽，Titikaka在秘鲁和玻利维亚的边界处，大概有40%左右在玻利维亚境内，秘鲁的部分叫Titi，玻利维亚的部分叫Kaka。每天有班轮往来于秘鲁湖岸的普诺和玻利维亚的小港口瓜基之间。
湖上最神奇的是大大小小的浮岛。当地人用芦苇的根和茎建成一座座湖上浮岛，世世代代生活在这些岛上。Titikaka湖上有36座这样的岛，听说大的上面还有学校和篮球场。我们去的是一座最色彩斑斓的小岛，岛上住了6户人家。
当地妇女穿着艳丽，头上顶着大草帽，百褶灯笼裙拖至脚踝，和加西亚一样的两条麻花辫垂至腰间，辫梢各系着一搓彩色大绒球，全身火红配翠绿、宝蓝配嫩粉，搭配上丝毫没有任何不协调。男主人邀请大家围坐在捆扎的干芦苇堆上，给每人发了一根芦苇，他示范我们从粗的那头剥去外面表层，吃里面白皙鲜嫩的根肉。轻轻咬一口，根肉口感清爽多汁，当地人把芦苇根当水果吃，大家边嚼着芦苇根边听他讲述着浮岛上的家族历史。
原来乌卢斯人的老祖宗为了躲避战乱而逃到高原湖边，然后他们将高大的芦苇砍断晒干，扎捆成岛。岛主一边说，一边用一个小型模型演示这座岛的构建原理：先用芦苇根和土做成能浮在水面上的厚达一米的大土团，然后将两层大土团叠起来，就成了一座小岛。整座岛必须像船一样用锚固定在水面，岛上可根据需要用芦苇造房子，有时大浪打来，岛上一切都会晃动，如诺亚方舟一般。据说这些岛可以维持20多年，可岛上的年轻人去大城市打工后通常都不会回来，不知道这种古老的生活方式还能维系多久。
The Lost Mirror of the Sun God ― Bolivia
The bus to Puno took us a whole day. As we approach the 3，800 meter plateau from 3，000 meter Cusco， the views outside the bus started to look like the those of the Tibetan Plateau， where heaps of clouds hanging low over the boundless yellow land against a pure blue sky. In this part of the world， Bolivia is the closest country to Heaven.
Puno is a traffic hub to Lake Titikaka. which sits at the border of Peru and Bolivia. With 60% in Peru and 40% in Bolivia， the lake is called Titi on the Peru side and Kaka on the Bolivia side. Ferries commute every day between Puno of Peru and the port of Guaqui in Bolivia.
The most amazing thing about the lake is the big and small floating islands. Built with the root and stem of reeds， these islands have housed the locals for generations. There are 36 islands in total， the largest is said to have a school and a basketball court. We went to the most colorful island， on which lives 6 households. The women here wear big rimmed straw hats， ankle-length pleated dresses， and two braids running down to the waist with a colored flurry ball at the tips. They often match red with green， or blue with pink， but you won’t find it odd on them. One house owner invited us to sit on his dried reeds bundles， distributed a fresh reed to each of us， and showed us how to peel the skin and eat the white and fresh root. Accompanied with the local “fruit”， we listened to his family history on the floating island.
It so goes that the ancestors of Ulus came to the lakeside to escape from wars. At here they cut and dried the reeds and bundled them up to build islands. He used a small model to show us the structure of the island as he spoke. First they would make a one-meter-thick mass with reed roots and mud that can float on the water， then they would pile two layers of masses together to form an island. The islands have to be anchored in the same way as boats， and houses could be build on the islands if necessary， also with reeds. At high tides， the islands may shake to the waves like the legendary Noah’s Ark. The island could last more than 20 years， but as the younger generation of the villagers go to the cities and choose not to come back， none could tell how long this ancient lifestyle could last.
Tips
玻利维亚波托西省西部高原内乌尤尼盐沼的水反射天空的光线，像是一面光滑的大镜子掉落在高原上，天地一线。白日里，火烈鸟在盐湖上嬉戏，夜晚，漫天星宿闪闪发光，一整条银河在头顶上流泻天际。
The waters of the Salar de Uyuni in the Potosi Department of Bolivia reflect the rays of light of the sky like a gigantic mirror on the plateau connecting the sky and the earth. At day， flamingos would dance on the salt lake. At night， stars would twinkle with its reflections as the Milky Way flows across the sky.