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sooooooo...that is not quite the truth because, as always, I am a little bit behind with my blogs and so it was quite a few nights ago now. But what a day. It was amazing. We spent the day travelling on Lake Titicaca, which is absolutley stunning. This huge Lake looks like the sea because it is so vast and has green mountainous areas as backdrop. It was truly beautiful, albeit a little breezy. We still enjoyed some time on the top of the boat gazing out into the blueness. The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown. It has been translated as "Rock Puma ", allegedly because of its resemblence to the shape of a puma hunting a rabbit, combining words from the local languages Quechua and Aymara. We reached Taquille Island and had lunch at what is quite possibly the best lunch spot EVER! I have many a picture for proof...just in case you don´t believe me! Even more amazing soup, and the most wonderfully tasty Trout.
Taquille Island has a thriving tradition of weaving and knitting, so I didn´t hesitate to buy another bracelet to add to my collection. Then after a wander around the island, we got back on our boat and headed to Amantani Island where we stayed with a local family. If it wasn´t bad enough that my Spanish is poor, on this island their first language is Quechua. I had no hope. Although we were unable to communicate very well, the community were so welcoming. After taking us to our room, which appears to be a damned sight better than where they were sleeping, we all were given a home made hat and met up at the football field. The hats were supposedly used so our families could identify us. Each family had their own design so it was easy to spot who was staying with them.
When we arrived at the football field there was a match going on...but as always it was male dominated and the girls just sat in the stands and looked pretty. Most of us decided to buy snacks here...we splashed out and spent 6 soles on a Twix! The equivalent of just under 1 pound 50. Although, Jeanie and I decided to share one. That way I could also buy a bottle of Coke! YUM! It truly was amazing! =)
I did regret it, however, as not long after, we walked to the top of Pachatata (´Father Earth´) to get a good shot of the sunset. Pachatata was one of the two peaks on the island...the other being Pahcamama (´Mother Earth´). My stomach wasn´t used to the bubbles from the Coke and turned itself into a balloon...many of you are familar with my bloated belly stance and will understand it is not ideal for an uphill trek...or struggle! The view was totally worth it though...the moon appears so big here and the sky is so blue. There is also a local ritual whereby if you walk around the top of the hill three times you can make a wish. Mine seems to have come true so far!
On the way back down the hill I had to use a panoramic toilet because it was impossible for me to wait til we got to a public bathroom. Besides...it is often much nicer this way...some of the toilets you can barely call a toilet. The smell is terrible, you are lucky if you have a toilet seat or even a door and you always have to provide your own toilet paper...which you can´t put in the toilet anyway. So you might as well do it in the fresh air...where the smell isn´t so terrible!
Anyway, getting back on track. We headed back home for dinner after grabbing a quick Hot Chocolate on the way down. Dinner was very interesting...we sat in the tiniest kitchen and as always Poneh and I had special treatment...we got the table and a bench whilst the others sat on the floor. The food was pretty good. We had potato and vegetable soup to start and then pasta, rice and potatoes for main. If you saw the size of the hill here you would understand why they ate so much carb. And we had a nice cup or Manu (peppermint) and Coca tea to help with our digestion. YUM!
Then the real fun started...our families dressed us up in their traditional clothes and we headed down to the Town Hall for a fiesta! It was so much fun...we danced for a couple of hours to a local band. Boy, do these guys have stamina...they were puttin us to shame...dancing for a good four minutes at a time. And none of this swaying type of dancing people tend to do at home. Lots of spinning and skipping and twirling! WOW! The father of our family asked me to dance...I felt so privalleged. It was so cute. He is nicknamed Maradona becuase of his football skills...but was far too modest to introduce himself in that way. We were sure to bring lots of fruit, vegetables, rice and sugar for our family to say ´Thank You´as it is difficult for them to comeby these items.
Another early night for us. I was in bed by 10.30pm after another tiring day. Ready for an early morning start so we could visit Uros, the floating islands, on the way back to Puno.
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Nins
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Love this!
Nikki, this made me laugh so much, 'many of you are familar with my bloated belly stance and will understand it is not ideal for an uphill trek...or struggle'. You are such a good writer! Miss youu xxx