Floating Islands

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This morning Sarah was feeling much better. We woke up and took showers (still not hot) then found our free breakfast - same as all the others with bread and strawberry jam. We then caught a "trici-taxi" which is a man on a bicycle with a cart in front for us to ride in. They are everywhere in the city and we only had to pay S3 (about $1) for the 5 minute ride down to the dock.

We decided to do the trip on our own without a guide or tour group. Turns out this was just fine, as they give you a little explanation as soon as you get to the first island anyways. We paid S10 for our ticket to the island. Apparently there was another S5 that other tourists had to pay but somehow we got out of paying that. Not sure what that was all about???

It was about a 30 min boat ride to the floating islands (Islas Flotantes - Uros). I was expecting one or two islands so I was blown away as we approached tons and tons of floating islands.

The islands are built using the reeds that grow abundantly in Lake Titicaca. They replace the reeds with fresh ones on top every 15 days as the top layers start to rot. The ground is spongy and soft and at one point Sarah and I thought we would fall through the soft spots (although that doesn't really seem possible, as they have layers and layers on top of some sort of sod/soil that they go 5-6 kms to get from the mainland. The clumps of land are all tied together and take about a month to grow into bigger chunks that then get covered in the reeds. Very cool and very impressive.

The islands were apparently originally built by the Uro people to escape the agressive Incas. Nowadays, there are still several hundred people that live on the islands. We did see one elementary school and apparently the older children have to take a boat to the mainland in order to attend school.

I think I expected to have a bigger island. There were tons and tons of small ones and the 2nd one we visited had a couple stores and restaurants in a small area, but that was as big as it got. There was a guy who stamped passports with a stamp if you paid S1 (about 33 cents). I got mine stamped and just hope it doesn't cause me problems at the airport or whatever. Sarah chose not to get hers stamped for that reason but I figure if there are any problems, I plead ignorance. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll let you know if not!

After the islands Sarah and I went looking in the craft markets we saw on the way down there. THIS was what I went looking for yesterday but couldn't find. They had all the alpaca stuff we wanted. I ended up getting a sweater, mittens, and hat for myself, plus something each for Mom, Dad, and Ginny - all for about $21!!!! Great finds!

The plan now is to head back to the other market to get the alpaca wool and some more vegetables to add to the crazy amounts of pasta I got yesterday then come back, make some dinner, and relax again. Tomorrow morning we'll catch a 6-7 hour bus to Cuzco. We have about a week around Cuzco/Machu Picchu and then a week between the Amazon and Lima. Time is flying.

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Photos

Trici-Taxi
The street was full of these!

Islands in the Background
On our way out to the floating islands

Reed Boat
Transported us from island to island

School
This is the school (4 buildings with area in middle) in the floating islands.

Mainland Market
Fixing the roofs at the market in Puno. Bought lots of great alpaca stuff and gifts here!

Comments

[Mom]

Yay!
Yay! Present for me - LOL!!

[kari]

passport
Sarah- no worries with the extra fun stamps in passports. I had several in mine. You will also have the oppertunity on the trail to get a stamp... GET IT!! I think you get one when you start and one when you end!