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Published: December 16th 2008
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We left for Puno on a tour bus and stopped at a number of small towns along the way. Andahuaylillas, Rumicolca, Pucara and Raqchi were Incan and pre-Incan towns famous for their architecture and history
We arrived in Puno with a temporary travel companion called Peter, a Dutch art historian living in Paris and very much a self-professed European. He was a nice lad and he set us up in another nice hostel where we were to stay for 2 nights and attempt to recuperate from the previous week´s activities. The sweet old couple who ran the hostel booked our trip to the island for us so off we set not knowing anything about what was ahead of us. With nothing more than a bindle on our backs with some essentials we hopped on the boat and our first taste of Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake
Our first stop was the floating islands. These are a series of small man-made islands made from the reeds which grow in abundance on the lake. The islands are like waterbeds and the ground moves in waves. It was really something else. When the reeds become too soaked and rotten they
17th C Jesuit Church
Vicki says her prayers lay down new reeds. When we first got onto an island we were first given a little history lesson and we were shown how they use these same reeds to make their homes, boats and crafts. Then we were split up into smaller groups and shown into a family home. The home was little more than one room with a reed bed covered in a blanket and a corner designated for their clothes. Our couple were newlyweds and were telling us how they plan on having kids next year. Now that´s family planning! We were then shown their handicrafts and we were able to make some small purchases. We´d be mad not to because these people are famous for their weaving and embroidery. Then we headed off to another similar island on a reed boat with the locals singing and clapping as we left. I think they were sorry to see us go!
Later on that afternoon we arrived on the island of Amantani. This was a much larger natural island and we would spend the night here with a local family. The local language is Quechua and these people live such simple lives. It was really another amazing
Temple of Viracocha
The only temple with this architecture in the Incan Empire with the largest known Incan roof experience. We were introduced to our mother for the duration of our stay and off we set on a bit of a tiring walk to their house. The mother, whose name we never learned, was an elderly oul dear and, Lord be good to her, she really struggled with the trip to the house. She was stopping for a rest every 5 minutes. Eventually when we did arrive at the house the dad, whose name is beyond us, was just lazing about the place chewing on some cud. It seems that here, along with so many other indigenous communities the women do all the work and the men just relax or socialise and generally take it easy. Take note gentlemen! The house itself was very basic. It was small, no electricity, no bathroom, just a bucket in the yard and a commode down the end of the garden in the shape of an outhouse. We then took lunch in the kitchen which was nothing more than a mud hut. The daughter cooked us soup, vegetables and rice. We then had a cup of mint tea which we quickly acquired a taste for. After letting the mint tea digest our food
we took a walk to the highest point on the island to watch the sunset while sipping on another mint tea and munching on home-made donuts. It quickly became cold so we made in back to the house for another home cooked meal. After another cup of mint tea our mother helped us don some traditional threads, a poncho and hat for Conor and 2 heavy skirts held on with a wrap around belt, a blouse and a head scarf for Vicki. Blended right in we did! Then we headed down to the local disco with our sister for a dance and a drink. The disco was held in a local hall in honour of the tourists with a traditional band playing the local funk with the mayor watching from up on the stage ensuring that the boys and girls don´t get too close. It was pretty much traditional dancing, twirling around and having a laugh. We bought our sister a bottle of Coke and it was like all her birthdays and Christmas´ came at once. She was so grateful. The disco was quite short because the locals tend to go to bed around 7.30 to 8 when it gets
Feeding time
Vicki and her pal dark and our sister was nodding off right in front of us. Home we went and straight to bed. We did require a toilet break in the wee hours of the night so we grabbed our torch and made our way to the outhouse. The night sky was brighter than anything we´ve ever seen and the stars looked fantastic
The next morning our mammy woke us up and gave us pancakes. During breakfast our lazy dad asked us if we had any batteries and not ones to miss an opportunity we exchanged 2 batteries for a bag of mint to which we by now had grown quite accustomed. Mummsie then walked us down to the boat where we said our goodbyes and went on our way to the next island
Isla Taquile was a much larger island and seemed to be more developed than the other islands we had visited. There wasn´t a whole lot going on here so we spent a few hours walking around the island, had lunch and after walking down 500 steps we got back on the boat and headed back to Puno. We spent one more night in Puno and then we parted ways with
Hard at work
Conor winds a windy thing Peru and crossed the border to Bolivia
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BRILLIANT!! Times are defo being had. I love that Vicki is in a pictures with every possible animal you've met along the way! Vicki, you're an inspiration to the organisation. Sherman and Bleep are proud. I laughed alot at your new mam and sister! The mam actually looks like mam, dont you think! I'd say they loved having you there. Stop having tans and looking good. Now go spread the word of Christmas friend for it is nearly upon us! Tell the Incans of Jeebus and the three wise Eggs. Cant wait to hear about Rio, keep it up and for the love of Saint Nick be careful! Feliz Navidad guys xxx