Hi Hoe

---

Yesterday evening I discovered that our hotel in Puno (Wary Naywa) had a pool and steam room. Being so tired, I put an alarm on my watch to prevent my self from falling asleep in the steam room, last thing I wanted was to turn into a lobster.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to catch a collectivo down to the docks were we began our two day trip to the Islands of Amantani and Taquile.

On the way we stopped off to visit the Uros floating Islands people. These folks some how figured it was better to build floating Islands from water reads than to live on real ground. About 1000 inhabitants occupy 32 or so of these floating Islands. The eat fish, reeds ... and that's about it.

Alessandra took a water taxi off to the central Island (like a gondola, but made from grass)

I played around with the Island kids for a while, they seemed fascinated with my goatee, all was good until this two year old begins pissing on my shoe....ok time to go.

I hopped into the motor boat to meet Alessandra coming in on the water taxi.... a half hour later she arrived on the main Island... which basically received such honor cause they built a look out tower on it.

After buying a couple of overpriced souvenirs we jumped back onto the motor boat to head off to Amantani Island.

It seems that all the boats on Lake Titikaka were never designed to break the 5 knot speed barrier. Took us some 3 hours to go 10 miles.

We finally get to shore to meet our adoptive family for that evening. We follow Dionicia (Grand Ma) over to her house.

Modest little place with wall to wall mud coverings.
No electricity, no running water... um... no floors.

Alessandra needed to use the Banos, she asked how to flush the bowl in the out house, and was directed to a tin bucket and a nearby stream.....

Aside from getting used to the unconventional living arrangements the family was quite adorable. We ate dinner that was cooked on a clay oven built out of the wall. They then dressed us up in traditional Amantani attire and took us to the town discotec. We partied like it was 1599, the twists, twirls and flutes!!! oh the flutes!!

Alessandra left the party early taking with her our only flash light...on the Island of Amantani, in the middle of the night, with no moon. I find my self slightly inebriated and trying to figure out how to get back to my temporary house... I soon realize that if I review some of the more luminous pictures on my digital camera the LCD provides just enough light to allow me to distinguish a path from a cliff.

Got a bit chilly that evening, but the 30 kg of blankets Dioncinia gave us created enough heat from the intense pressure that we kept quite warm.

---

Photos

Uros
Contiki Island

Amantani
Home away from home

Part y
Get down and boogie