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Published: April 23rd 2010
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Floating Village
The floating villages of Uros We have sadly departed from the Smith family and we left them in Cusco, while we hopped on the Andean Express and headed off to visit Puno. The train ride was the best one that we have had yet, the seats were quite luxurious, and there were some live entertainment. It was nice to have the freedom to move around during our ten hour ride into puno, as well as a bathroom to use whenever needed. The food on the train wasn't quite what we were expecting, and we are almost certain that mom's chicken lunch was the cause of her violent food poisoning. At this point in time we are all (Minus Jody) taking Cipro for digestive malfunctions... and I will leave it at that.
We were a little afraid as we approached Puno, because we passed through a large city called Juliaca. As we got near to the town, the first thing that we noticed was large bolders and shattered glass coating the road for about five to ten kilometers. This city made the hair on the back of our necks stand straight on end and we couldn't wait to be as far away from there as possible.
The demo
The men teaching us how to build our own floating islands... should we wish to. I know we should have felt safe on the train, but it was really a site to see. All of the stores were closed and there were massive crowds of people everywhere, the only people who looked friendly were the children who were still waving and smiling at us as we went by. In talking with one of the attendants on the train it sounds like the people were having a strike because they feel like the government has abandoned their city, and the best way for them to be heard is to protest in such a fashion that will interupt tourism. Once in Puno we had spoken with a couple who had been on a bus that had to pass through the blockaid, and their bus got a flat tire, which delayed them by two hours. I honestly would have felt safer walking down East Hastings in Vancouver by myself.
We were supposed to spend our first night in a hotel here in Puno, and the second night to a home stay on Taquile Island, but as over half of us were in frequent need of a convienent toilet, we opted out of that option and decided to
Native Clothes
The people invited us in groups of twos and threes to come in and see their homes. The reed huts were surprisingly warm and complete with a solar panel to charge the batteries, which in turn power their small tvs. cut our trip to Puno a day short. We did still manage to get up early to join a tour to go to Uros the floating reed village, and Taquile Island. The Island of Uros was so cool and we got to see how the natives to the islands create their floating villages. It seems like quite the process, and each little floating village houses around 8 families. From Uros it was a two and a half hour boat ride to Taquile Island where we did a short hike before eating lunch and heading back to Puno. I don't know if it was missing the Smiths, being ill, or readjusting to a higher altitude, but I think that we all could have lived without Taquile Island. There really wasn't a whole lot to see there and it wasn't worth the boat ride in Peruvian time, which happens to be very, very slow.
Today we got to sleep in until 7am, which felt like a big deal! We met our guide Percy, who happens to be a field archiologist as well as a guide, and who is a co-author to many books about the area. We drove for about two
Taquile Island
Mom and Dad are both smiling despite feeling so crappy. From this Island we could see Bolivia which shares 40% of Lake Titicaca with Peru hours so that we could go Kayaking on lake Titicaca for a few hours. Today we were all in a much better mood, and I don't think that we could have planned a more relaxing day if we tried. We ended up kayaking for about 10kms down the lake to a peninsula where we could see the "big lake" (really it is all lake Titicaca, but it is divided into two portions, the small side, and the big side. Jesus (Hey-suess) was our guide for the kayaking portion of the day, and him and I ended up in the same boat, and I am pleased to say that we came in first both at arriving at the Peninsula, as well as being the first back to the beach. Mom was all talk when she said that her and dad were going to beat us all... I don't care if they are sick, I will take every opportunity to beat my mother that I can. It really doesn't happen all that often.
After lunch we took a little hike through the town, and into the farm lands. It is awesome to see so many of the farm animals just walking along the side of the road with us. They truly are fearless as they have so much human contact that they have completely lost all their fear of us. Back at home all the livestock would be running away, and I am sure rounding up the animals here would be a lot less work. Jody and I both felt like this is a place where we could live, it was quiet and peaceful, away from all the vehicles and chaos of the city. I am sure the people here don't see many tourists and as such we were left alone. Percy said that we were his first Canadian group ever to go Kayaking with him.
We learned alot about the community living of the smaller communities. Percy says that the government has abandoned them as well, but their sense of community and family is much stronger than the people who live in the city. People get married in these small communities around 16 years old for the boys and as young as 14 for the girls. He says that divorce is pretty well non-existant in these communities because of the support that they receive. After a young couple gets married, 80-100 members of the community show up to build them a house and it is finished after only two days. The women cook, and the men build. I am fasinated by the differences in our cultures, it really goes to show that money doesn't buy you everything.
Tomorrow we are off to the Colca Canyon for more adventures..
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