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My last stop in Peru - Puno! Not the most beautiful cities but I wasn´t here to see the city, I was here to see Lake Titikaka. I travelled from Cusco to Puno on the overnight bus the very same day that I trekked Machu Picchu and woke up with very stiff legs! I arrived at my hostel around 5am and didn´t get my room until 10am! Safe to say, I was extremely tired that day and was not in the mood to do anything strenuous! I talked with some people staying in my hostel and they had told me they had booked at 2day/1 night tour to the island on Lake Titikaka through the hostel. It seemed good so I decided to book, leaving at 730 the next morning. When am I going to get a lie in!!??!!
The next morning, I was picked up by a shuttle and taken to a small boat. First, we visited Uros Island that was a man-made island made of reeds! It is thought that these islands were made by people escaping hostile tribes, including the Incas! The base layer is made of the roots of the reeds all bound together. This takes about
one year to make the base. Reeds are then added in criss cross layers and the whole thing is anchored with rope to the base of the lake. The reeds have to be maintained and changed every 15 days to make sure that the island does not rot. We were asked if we would like a ride in a traditional boat made of reeds. The boat was absolutely beautiful but went so slowly from having to be manually rowed by one person. Was a lovely ride around a small part of the lake.
We then set off to Amantani where would be staying with a local family. Myself and an Australian guy stayed with one family who also had two daughters. They were so cute! Even though I couldn´t really communicate with them, I tried my best and had fun playing piggy-in-the-middle! They also got very keen on having piggy backs and getting me to twirl them around also...I was exhausted! The family made us lunch, but we all didn´t sit together. The man of the house, Martin sat with us with one of the daughters but teh mother stayed in teh kitchen with one of the daughters, continuously
cooking more food.
We then met up with the rest of our group and trekked up to the look out point and the top of the island to watch the sun set. Yet again, such a lovely view. It is funny, at the start of my trip I really enjoyed taking as many pictures as I could of all the beautiful sun sets. I´ve come to realise now it´s actually nicer just sitting and watching. We made our way back down the steep path in the dark, back to our families for dinner. The two girls came to meet us and one of them held my hand all the way back. Awww.
Dinner again was lovely and we were given fresh mint from the garden to add to hot water. Apparantly, it is very good for digestion. We then were given some traditional clothing to meet at the fiesta up the road. I wore a huge red skirt, I white embroidered shirt and a black shawl. I looked brilliant. Well at least I thought so! The girls even helped me to get dressed!
We met all of the other groups that were also staying at the island
for a huge fiesta. There was a live band playing and we all held hands and danced around in a wide circle! You could see everyones faces filled with huge smiles! Lots of fun but I soon got tired and went home...in the pitch black as there are no lights on the island!
The next day, we woke up to a lovely breakfast of a pancake with jam and met our group to go to the next island, Taquile. This island was very beautiful, it felt like we were in the meditaranian, with the sun beaming down. On this island are famous weavers and a group called the ´knitting men´. Apparently, they are famous for their impressive tight-knit weaving that looks like it was made by a machine! From what I saw, you couldn´t really tell the difference between machine made and man made!
We had a lovely lunch of fresh trout and made our way back to Puno.
It was an nice trip to meet local families and see how the floating islands were made. For some reason, at the end of this trip, I have started craving to go home! I am loving every minute
of my travels but feel like the end is definitely near where I can have all of my home comforts again 😊
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Peru
We loved our time in Peru and this part was particularly beautiful. You've taken some nice photos. Thanks for the memories.