Puno Day 2 - Island Tour

---

Tuesday, August 10th:
Puno Day 2 - Uros, Amantani Islands:

Between the high altitude and having dozed frequently before getting to Puno, we both had a very bad night's sleep. We tried to sleep at 8pm or so, but after tossing and turning and having strange mini-nightmares, I got up at midnight and went for a walk. I had to bother the hotel security guy since the door was locked. I walked down the hill to the Plaza de Armas looking for a soda and/or water. When I asked a group of police patrolling, they pointed to the corner where a vendor was asleep in a doorway. Before I could tell them not to bother him, they'd roused him from a deep sleep. Since he was already awake, albeit sleep-eyed, I bought a Coke and a bottle of water and gave him a little tip. When I returned to the room around 1am, my wife was feeling better and hadn't slept well either, so we packed our stuff for the islands tour, took a nice hot shower (very welcome in the cold, unheated room), and were then able to sleep well from 2am til 6am. It seemed a bit strange that the hotel had no heat, but plenty of hot water. After we woke up... again... we took a walk down to the Plaza and stopped at the Restaurant Don Piero for coffee (my wife had a fried egg for protein). Then, it was back to the hotel, drop the suitcases at the desk since we wouldn't be staying here tonight, staying instead on Amantani Island, but we would be staying the following night.

A minivan picked us up at the hotel pretty much on time, and after a short stop for more passengers (and money), we arrived at the dock in Puno. Our group consisted of three girls from Ecuador (one in training to be a guide), a German girl studying for a degree in Tourism, a Spanish couple from Barcelona, a group of six young people from Belgium, and a couple from Australia and England. The guide told us we had 5 minutes to buy gifts for our homestay families, so we quickly picked up bags of rice, sugar, pasta, and a bottle of cooking oil. All things they can't easily get on the islands. Although probably not required, most tourists buy gifts like this for their families that feed them and put them up for the night. We boarded our boat and headed for the floating islands of Uros. Eventhough I'd seen many photos, I was still surprised at the number and size of these floating islands. The boat dropped off a couple at one island where they would be staying, then took the rest of us to another island called Mano Copac, after the first Incan emperor. It was a small island of about 5 families, but I imagine pretty typical. The guide gave us a nice presentation about how the islands are made, their culture, and lifestyle. After that, we were each taken in hand by one of the mothers to show us their house and have the ladies with us try on their outfits. Our hostess was the wife of the island's president. She then took us to see all the handicrafts where we bought a nice woven and embroidered pillow cover for 40 Soles (about $15 US). They were a littly pushy, but not too bad. Most of us then climbed on board their family reed boat for a ride to the other side of the island group. The cost was 7 Soles or $2 US, but that didn't bother me as much as the idea that the boat wasn't returning to the island where our boat was... another 7 Soles? But no, our motorboat met us there and we were on our way to Amantani. I should mention too that several of the little kids from our island climbed up with us to the top and sang for us along the way. Another tip of course, but they were so cute.
We left the Uros Islands and headed to Amantani Island for our homestay. The trip was a long 3 hours, with the engine stalling fairly near the island. Thankfully, the guy got it going before tgoo long. Also, thankfully, the boat had a toilet onboard! If you do this tour, or any travelling in Peru, make sure you have toilet paper with you. Eventhough most places have farily clean facilities, it seems very few have toilet paper. Also, remember that you do NOT put toilet paper in the toilet, rather put it in the waste basket. Its not as bad as it sounds. Peruvian sewage systems just can't handle toilet paper. You can buy nice individual mini-rolls in a plastic dispenser, or go to the camping section in WalMart and buy a 3-pack of mini-rolls in a resealable pouch.

So, back to the boat and Amantani Island. We rounded the end of the island and manuevered alongside tgheir pier and a number of other boats. A couple of men were directing the docking while the women pulled the boat in. Their culture I guess. After disembarking, our guide introduced us to our host family matron and we were off. My wife and I, along with the young Spanish-speaking German girl were introduced to Valentina and she proceeded to lead us to her house. It was uphill a ways, and since the lake itself is situated at over 12,000 feet, a bit rough. We reached her house and she showed us to our rooms. Ours was a nice clean room with four decent beds, table and chairs. We even had a light, although it was probably only 20 or 40 watts. After stowing our gear, we went downstairs (yes, we had to climb to our room too!) to Valentina's kitchen for lunch. By this point, it was almost 1pm, so we were all hungry. Valentina magically produced an excellent meal from her tiny cooking area, consisting of: a delicious soup; a plate with two kinds of potatoes and fried cheese; and a platter of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lime. You squeeze the lime over the salad fixings and sprinkle some salt on it. Very refreshing! The Amantani people are mostly vegetarians, getting their protein from beans and quinoa, a common locally grown grain/cereal.

After lunch, we were given a demonstation by the ladies of weaving and grinding grains. Our Valentina did the weaving demo. Afterwards, our guide took us to the library and introduced us to some of the local children. They were so cute and fairly shy. We tried to engage them and did a pretty good job I think. The guide explained that his travel agency, All Ways Travel, is trying to help build up their library. They only have one fairly full bookcase, for an island of 4,200 people. After the libary, we began a grueling ascent to their temple of the sun. I knew we were going to climb, but my goodness, what a challenge. After several rest stops and a lot of puffing, we reached the temple at almost 4,200 meters (13,200 feet). For good luck, I did the three counterclockwise circuits, after another rest. After the relatively easy descent, which was still tough on the legs and ankles, we were lead to the main square or plaza where it seemed everyone on the island was present, including a few dozen tourists. After a fairly long wait in the cold... did I mention the near freezing temperatures... we watched a procession of folks dressed in the craziest outfits, dancing to music in whatever style they chose, while they lit four bonfires made of straw. I couldn't take pictures because it was dark by then. Really neat, except for the numerous times we were choked by the smoke. At the end of the procession, our guide came and hooked us up with our host mother and we returned to her house for dinner. Again, very good, although less variety. We had a nice soup again and a plate of rice with a potato and veggies cream sauce. Both were very good and the hot coffee really hit the spot. Manoli and I were both pretty tired, so we opted out of the beer-drinking, crazy-dancing party at the plaza. Unfortunately, it was another restless night for me. I'm writing this in my notebook in our room at 2:30am using my booklamp for light.

---

Photos

Proud New Owner
Manoli with her newly bought pillowcase

Inca Trail Pretest
Making the arduous climb to the Temple of the Sun on Amantani Island

The Temple of the Sun
The Temple of the Sun, Amantani Island

Beautiful Sunset
The fablous sunset we saw hiking back down from the Temple of the Sun on Amantani Island

Quechua Festival
Crazy dancers in Main Plaza of Amantani Island

Heading to the floating islands
Boat heading towards Uros Islands

The Floating islands of Uros
Our first view of the famous floating islands of Uros.

Uros Reed Tourist Boat
The reed boat we took from Manco Capac

Amantani Island
Arriving at Amantani Island

Photo 7
Manoli in our room on Amantani Island

Room With a View
The view from our guest home room

Homecooked Meal
Our lunch at guest home on Amantani Island

Valentina In Her Element
Valentina cooking in her tiny kitchen

Amantani Children
Manoli and others interacting with Amantani children in their library