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Published: November 21st 2008
I was now heading to my next Peruvian destination, Puno and Lake Titicaca. My bus left about 9pm and I was fortunate enough to sit next to a lovely young Peruvian girl (aged 12) on my journey. She was on holiday with her schoolfriends and also on her way to visit Puno and Lake Titicaca. On the way, we chatted in Spanish and shared photos and experiences. She was a bit cold overnight so I shared my sleeping bag with her, and then we snuggled up together and slept for the rest of the journey.
When I arrived in Puno, I said goodbye to my young travel companion and then got a taxi to my hostel. I was very tired so I checked in and headed straight for bed. Puno is freezing cold so I had to put on several layers to keem warm! I work up late in the day and immediately booked my trip to Lake Titicaca and then headed off to explore central Puno. I walked around the Plaza and took some pictures of the Cathedral and then I sat on a bench and just enjoyed the glorious weather and people-watching. A shoe-shine man asked if I´d
Central Plaza, Puno
It was a beautiful day and there were shoe-shine men everywhere, very common in Peru.like my boots cleaned (they really needed it!) and so I agreed and I sat down and chatted with him for a while. Another older gentleman was sitting nearby and he joined in the conversation and we got talking about my travel plans. He was very pleasant and explained that he was a photographer. He asked me about my plans for the day and mentioned that there was a fiesta taking place that day outside of town at a place called Chunquito. He offered to escort me there for the day, and my instincts told me he was ok, so I said yes!
We jumped in a cab for some of the way and then took a local bus for the rest of the journey. When we arrived there was this sudden burst of colour, music and dancing, it was incredible. A miriad of stalls were dotted around the place and there were enticing food smells wafting about everywhere. First, Alex took me to see the Fertility ruins, a collection of phallic-shaped stones. The locals believe that if a woman sits on one of the stones it increases her chances of conception! Alex then showed me around some other
The fertility ruins
Wow look at the size of that! It reminds me of a picture I once had taken at the sex museum at Amsterdam (remember Lyn!!) statues and churches and took many pictures of me posing at different places. He was not only my guide but my personal photographer as well! We spent the rest of the day walking around the many crowds of people dressed in special costumes of different colours, taking pictures and just absorbing the amazing atmosphere. I even had a little dance with the local people, though I couldn´t persuade Alex to join me! We had a lunch of fish, corn and a selection of Peruvian potatoes, all washed down with some refreshing beer. It really was a fantastic first day in Puno! After we returned to Puno, Alex escorted me to my hostel and he gave me his card in case I needed anything. I waved goodbye and felt so fortunate to have met a very generous man and to have had such a wonderful day. During my travels I have learnt that in order to experience adventure you need to take a few risks and be a bit spontaneous. I think my instincts are pretty reliable, but admittedly you never really know...
The next day I felt like I needed refuelling so I wolfed down a substantial American breakfast.
Me and a brightly dressed lady
As you can see, the colours of all the dresses and costumes were so bright - where´s my purple fleece when I need it! The bus for my tour to Lake Titicaca picked my up early at 7am. More tourists were collected along the way and then we headed for the port. There was an abundance of french people on this trip, a couple of girls from Switzerland, a lovely young Japanese guy called Yoshi and a lovely couple (Canandian girl and Columbian guy). Once we arrived at the port, we boarded a small boat that was to take us across Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.
The first Island we arrived at was called Uros (means sunset). We were given a short demonstration of how the island was constructed as the island is man-made. The islands are made using reeds on very shallow water. A bed of roots is established and submerged in the water and then on top of this they place alternating layers of reeds. Lake Tititaca joins Peru with Bolivia and apparently 60% of it is owned by Peru and 40% by Bolivia (though the guide said that Bolivians would beg to differ!). He also showed us how the lake is shaped like a Puma and explained that the people that live on the islands speak
the languages of Quechuan, Aymara and Spanish. Afterwards, we spent some time on the lake, looking around the islanders´ homes, talking with people and taking pictures. We also had the opportunity to buy local jewelry and ornaments. As we left, the islanders sung us a song and waved goodbye (followed by saying 'Asta la Vista baby' wish was very funny!). We then had a long 3 hour boat journey to the second island, Amananti. But it was a beautiful hot day and I spent those 3 hours listening to my radio, watching the water and enjoying all the gorgeous scenery.
We arrived at Amananti and, as part of the trip, it was planned for us to stay overnight with a family. Most of the group were in groups or couples, so, as Yoshi the Japanese guy and myself were on our own, we were assigned to a family together. Our host´s name was Valentina and she escorted us to her home. The islanders do this several times a week with tourists and I think they really enjoy having the companionship and hosting people from all over the world. Yoshi and I settled into our rooms, which were very comfortable
and the beds were covered in lots of warm blankets which I was relieved to see. Valentina called us for lunch and we had a delicious warm soup and a cheese salad for main course, which came with 2 different types of potatoes (did I mention before that there are over 300 varieties of potato in Peru!!Apparently, the varying levels of altitude that exist in Peru permits different types of potato to grow).
After lunch we headed to the main Plaza to meet the rest of the group and we did an hour´s steep walk to the top of the hill. At the top, there were 2 hilltops, one called Pachamama (mother earth) and Pachatata (father earth). The plan was to climb all the way up to father earth just in time to catch the sunset. We were at an altitude of about 4120 m.a.s.l, so the walk wasn´t easy! On the way, we were accompanied by young children trying to sell handmade material bracelets and a small band of young boys playing tunes on their wooden pipes. I was particularly taken by one girl who was only 10 and orphaned. Her and her older sister spend every day
with their friends trying to make money from selling bracelets to tourists. I bought a bracelet from her and also bought her a bar of her chocolate and her eyes lit up with excitement! I finally reached the top of Pachatata to observe the sunset, it was beautiful. Suddenly, I was bombarded by a group of more young children selling bracelets of different colours, I was completely surrounded! Word had obviously spread that I had bought a bracelet. In the end, I felt sorry for them all and wanted to give a little to everyone, so I proceeded to buy another 4 bracelets. In total, I had bought a record number of 5 bracelets!!
We then walked back down the hill towards the Plaza and then returned to your homes where we had dinner. The experience that evening was very interesting, as I take water and electricity totally for granted. Having been in Peru for almost a month I was used to not being able to drink tap water and relying on bottled water for drinking and washing my teeth. But here on the island of Amananti, they have no electricity in the evening, so dinner was a candlelit
affair, but it had a wonderful atmosphere about it, being on this beautiful island surrounded by masses of blue water. Also, I admired the people here for having to do all their cooking over a fire all the time. Yoshi and I spoke with our host and asked her questions about her life on the island and then she asked us about our lives, we had a nice time and also met her daughter that eve. After dinner, we had a special treat awaiting us. We were dressed in the islanders traditional dress and then taken out to the local hall where we went dancing. There the band the most wonderful music, they really were brilliant and we were joined by the rest of the group. It wasn´t long before our hosts had us up dancing and it was quite hard work with all the gear on as the material was so heavy and thick, its designed to be warm and hard-wearing. It was a wonderful eve and I had so much fun. Afterwards, we walked back to the house and I had a very nice sleep that evening.
The next day we woke up for an early breakfast
at 7am of delicious homemade pancakes. We then had to leave our homes and say goodbye to our hosts. We really had an interesting time on Amananti, truly unforgettable. We met with the group and boarded the boat to our final island destination as part of the tour, Taquile Island. The weather was a bit overcast and so the lakes´waters were a bit rough. The boat swayed from side to side and I finally succumbed to throwing up over the side. I was so pleased that I hadn´t been greedy at breakfast and gone for a third pancake!! We arrived at Taquile island after a few hours. From the boat, we walked for about an hour uphill to the main square. We took some beautiful pictures on the way, it really was a very picturesque island. Then it suddenly started to rain and with nothing to cover my legs, my jeans got soaked and only when I finally arrived at the island's main square, was I able to start drying off. We took a few pictures there and then walked to a nearby restuarant where we had a delicious meal - soup for starters, followed by freshly grilled trout, chips
Dancing girls
Lots of spinning and dancing round in a circle. A bit like our Hokey Cokey... and rice. During lunch there was another downpour and then the skies finally begun to clear.
We then had to make our way back to the boat and leave the island. I hadn´t finished my beer, so I took it with me on the steep walk back down to the port (not an easy feat I can tell you!). Our journey back took 3 hours and we arrived back at Puno safely at about 5pm. I enjoyed a well needed hot shower back at the hostel. The shower at this particular hostel happened to have the most precarious electric-shower heads that I have ever witnessed. Most electric-shower heads in Peru and Bolivia have naked wires sticking out of them. In this particular hostel, every time I turned the hot and cold water dials, I would get a slight tingle in my hands, which was rather worrying. Luckily I did not die of electrocution (which would be a terrible way to go in Peru. I would much rather die in a more exotic way, e.g. head bitten off by alligator in Jungle, kidnapped and shot by Bolivian druglords, death by comsumption of excess Pisco Sour!!). That evening, I was fortunate
A Statue in Chunquito
This statue had some important significance but I just can´t remember what! Something to do with time....It looks nice anyway. enough to meet some lovely Spanish people at my hostel, Alex, Eva and Ernesto. They invited me out for a pizza dinner and some wine. It was quite interesting as I noticed the differences between Spanish and South American Spanish that eve, boy do the Spanish speak fast!.
The next day I got up early and bought my ticket to Arequipa. I enjoyed a delicious spinach and cheese omelette for breakfast all washed down with a nice strong coffee. I spent some of the morning watching some processions taking place in the town and took a few photos. I spent the remainder of the day doing some last minute sightseeing and visited Casa del Corregidor, an old house with a craft shop and cafe and the Carlos Dreyer Museum which houses a collection of precious archaeological artifacts and colonial art. Finally, I climbed up the hill near the Plaza to take a picture of the Inca Manco Capac statue, a legendary Inca king who was born in Puno, which also provided fantastic views of the city. I then picked up some snacks and boarded a bus to my next and final destination in Peru, the beautiful white city of
Arequipa....
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