Lake Titikaka

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After our experiences tying to get to Puno we were really happy to be able to get to see Lake Titikaka.

Eros the floating islands

First stop was the Eros floating islands which are man made islands made out of reeds that grow on the lake. There's 45 islands in total with approximately 2000 inhabitants. It's pretty amazing! They have to lay all the reeds and remake the houses every 3 months so it's a lot of work.

We stopped off and met some of the locals on one of the islands. These women were jovial and boistrous and having a laugh. They demonstrated how they barter and exchange goods with other communities and within their own community. The husbands are all out fishing and working and they produce goods to be sold (in this case to us tourists) such as woven rugs etc.

The photos show the boats which are also made of reeds and wood. The kids travel to school in Puno on these each day, leaving at 6am, returning 7pm.... a very long day!

Taquile island

Next stop was Tecquile island, about 3 hours boat ride from Puno. I found this island to be very interesting. There are approximately 2000 inhabitants, all of which live in a communist society. There is a strong sense of community here.

There are no police on the island and there hasn´t been any crime in over 20 years. Last known offence was a theft of a sheep which resulted in a public flogging and dismissal off the island!

We learnt about local customs, in particular how hats are worn to show the status of a person. A hat (didn´t get a picture but imagine a very long beanie with a pompom on the end) worn with the pompom to the right side meant you were available and looking, to the left you had a boyfriend-girlfriend, to the rear of the head that you were ´too busy and not interested!´. You can tell those that are married as they have other items of clothing they were and different colours, mostly wearing red.

One other thing I found interesting is the way of life. Up at 3 or 4am to go out fishing. All of the jobs are shared within the community, on a rotating basis. There is no heirachy. After a week or two you swap so one week you might be sweeping paths, the next week looking after pototoes. Hard to imagine when our lifes are so differnt.

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Photos

Puno
Making our way to the boat tour. We had a race to get there.... I won!

Eros
All of these items are made from the reeds

Lake Titikaka
This lake is the highest lake in the world. It´s massive, approx 400kms across, by 80-100km wide.

Tequile island
3,900m altitude and has 2000 inhabitants

stash!
These girls were given pencils by a passing tourist. They promptly went and hid them!