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Published: August 6th 2007
Sun setting, Moon rising
The fantastic views from the top of Amantani islandThe sheer number of ruins in and around Cusco is immense and we had booked ourselves on a Sacred Valley tour the day after returning from Machu Picchu, taking in Pisac, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo.
The day started well with gorgeous weather and our first stop, Pisac, gave us a chance to visit the Sunday market selling the usual array of handicrafts before heading up the nearby moutain housing the ruins. Despite the walk being fairly steep in places wheezing old ladies and families dragging tiny bawling children had decided it made the perfect Sunday outing forcing our group to do a kind of Gringo Conga on the narrow parts. The sight from the top however was worth it with panoramic views over the sacred valley.
By the end of the day Matt and I were 'ruined out' or "ruined" as we labelled it and despite our tour guide Martine Martinez's (yes, really) best efforts we were beginning to feel that we had seen enough ruins to last a lifetime.
The following day we were finally due to leave Cusco and had opted for a 'First Class' bus to Puno which broke the journey up with visits to a
A family affair
Our slow boat to Amantani was piloted by Mama, Papa and my 2 spanish teachers for the day, Nuema (pictured)and Nuome church, more ruins (damn it) and a museum as well as passing over a lookout area 4335m above sea level, our highest point of the trip. The journey was pretty good and involved a decent buffet lunch en route, unfortunately language barriers meant some people seemed not to understand the 'no stools rule' and the toilet reeked for much of the journey (and you can guess who was sat beside it!)
Puno is the sort of town that will probably be quite nice when it's finished but a government law stating that no tax is paid on unfinished buildings means that it's not going to be any time soon. Houses appear uninhabitable but they have a line of washing on what will eventually be the top floor proving someone must live somewhere in there. Fortunately our hostel was complete and after checking in we booked ourselves on a floating islands tour in 2 days time, went for a pizza (every restaurant in Puno and Cusco seems to have a woodfired oven for pizza) before getting an early night, only to be woken at 8.30am by a marching brass band consisting of 90% drums. I'm not sure why but every
The Andean Kitchen
These little fellas are all waiting to get dropped into a hot pan !!! This is no joke as the Peruvians love deep fried Guinea Pig.......my childhood pet memories has stopped me from trying, although suprise, suprise...it tastes like chicken. town in Peru seems to have loads of brass bands full of red cheeked children (probably due to the altitudes summer days and winter nights) who are keen to practice at all hours of the day.
The following day we boarded a boat that looked nothing like the promotional picture which had promised car style seats and a toilet complete with unlimited toilet roll, along with a bunch of Swiss, German, Israeli, Spanish and French (including 4 that weren't on our tour and after loudly announcing that they 'preferred to do everything themselves' spent the entire 2 days latched onto our group) and headed for the Uros or floating islands on Lake Titicaca.
Around half an hour later we arrived at the first floating island, they get their name from the fact that they are built on reeds far out in the lake. Whilst they were fairly intersting and certainly pretty unique they were also quite commercialised and featured the female inhabitants selling their handicrafts. Surprisingly one even had accomodation with its own website whilst the other had solar energy panels and televisions.
As we neared Amantani, the island we were due to sleep on, the prospective
The sacred valley
As seen from Pisac Inca ruins new 'Mums' came eagerly running down the side of the hill dressed in their best clothes. What followed felt like when teams are picked at school as groups were divided up amongst the families. Matt and I were allocated to Salma, a 40 year old mother of 3 whose house incorporated a primary school for 17 children.
At Samla's we were treated to a lovely vegetable soup and then a potato dish washed down with Mona tea brewed with leaves picked from the side of the wall in Salma's garden. The tea is meant to help with the altitude and with Lake Titicaca sitting some 3810m above sea level we drank a lot of it.
Salma could speak Spanish and a native language called Quechua which gave us a good opportunity to practice our Spanish and made us glad we had taken classes, though as we are still pretty basic we spent the best part of the first day thinking that Salma's husband was dead.......happily it later emerged he was alive and in Puno with 17 year old son Albert buying food for the family (a 6 hr round trip).
We had been advised to take some
Darkness falls over Amantani
Carla takes in the view from 13,500 feet above sea level where a silly Peruvian hat is a must ! fruit and vegetables as a gift for the family and had spent about 1.50gbp doing so. Salma seemed genuinely touched, even kissing me, and was especially excited by the black corn and coca leaves, when you consider the trip they have to make to get fresh food it's little surprise.
That afternoon we headed to the main plaza to meet the rest of our group (plus the 'we don't do tour group' tag-alongs) to walk to one of the highest points on the island. The walk was all uphill and passed hordes of sheep, donkeys, bulls and pigs used by the islanders. The view from the top was amazing, it was hard to remember we were on a lake as the water just goes on forever and feels like the sea. The sun set as a group of tourists sat near us meditating whilst another banged a drum and a local man wafted feathers over them all (I'm not sure what the signifance was or if any of them actually knew).
Salma's son, 12 year old Juan Carlos, was due to take us to the 'fiesta' that the locals had organised and after a really good dinner of
Lake Titicaca NCP
Dont know where the traffic wardens would put the clamp though ???? potato Lomo Saltado we were given some clothes to wear. Matt's outfit was a huge poncho and hat whilst mine was a voluminous skirt, with a belt so tightly tied that breathing was a slight problem, and a scarf to put over my head and peer out coyley from.
The walk to the main plaza was quite tough in our party gear especially as it was mainly up rocky steps and was all illuminated by just the moon and our wind up torch. Bizzarely on arrival in the plaza 3 unsupervised noisy pigs appeared and were chased off by a local man much as we would shoo away a cat or dog at home.
The fiesta included a band playing traditional Peruvian songs which the local families pulled the group (including you know who) up to dance too. Even Juan Carlos, whose mother wasn't there to force him, came and asked me to dance though I think he quickly regretted it. After a few hours of dancing the band were beginning to tire and whilst looking at their guitar Matt asked if they knew the Beatles, the answer was no they had never heard of them but they
The Peruvian Atomic Kitten
Like the Scouse version, but better looking. Uros floating islands told him they did know 'La Bamba' and proceeded to play it whilst the entire group did a sort of traditional Peruvian dance/Ring-a-ring-a-roses fusion.
Walking back was harder than the way there espeically as Juan Carlos seemed to be high on sugar and E numbers as the result of drinking a Coca-Cola we had bought for him. We managed to ask him about football as he plays for his school and were amazed to find out that he had never heard of David Beckham, which is pretty refereshing and just goes to show how remote the island is.
Back to the house we must have woken Salma who came rushing out of her room like wee willy winkie with a big droopy night cap and holding a candle. Security at the house wasn't tight (I guess you don't need it to be when you have just 4,000 inhabitants who all seem to be related or know each other) our bedroom door didn't actually close and led out onto a courtyard where Juan Carlos wedged the main door shut with just a boat oar. After eventually managing to get my belt off by torchlight, as there was no electricty,
The roof of the earth
At 4,335 metres above sea level its windy, cold and barron......still manage to find a handicrafts market though! we settled in for a chilly night's sleep.
In the morning we finally got to meet child number 3, 13 year old and pretty surley Alexa who we got the impression wasn't keen to see us as she had been hiding the previous day. We said our goodbyes to Salma and Juan Carlos, Alexa was nowhere in sight, and headed by boat to another island, Taquille, for lunch before the 3 or so hour journey back to Puno.
Whilst I didn't have the best nights sleep of my life the whole visit was really good fun and not the sort of thing I would have expected to get to do. It also made me realise some of the things I take for granted, like electricity and the fact that it doesn't take me 6 hours on a boat to get fruit and vegetables.
Our next stop sees us leaving Peru for Bolivia. We both loved Peru, the people have been friendly, we have seen some amazing sights and will always have happy memories of Cusco, especially getting engaged there.
Next stop.....Copacabana, Bolivia.
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Carolyn ( gunga)
non-member comment
Ah yes, Taquile island
It was such fun to relive my visit to Puno( including the bus ride ) through your journal. I did not stay with a family ( sounds like a good choice on my part) but did get to walk up to the top of Taquile and down the horrible 500 stone steps. Damn near killed my knees. More ruins await in Bolivia. Make sure you visit Tinawaku( not sure of spelling). The ride out there is interesting- note all the German churches in the middle of nowhere. Travel on. Carolyn ( gunga)