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Published: April 3rd 2007
Swanning Around
How cool are these giant pedaloes? Alas we didn´t have time to ride one out onto the green covered waters. The reason most travellers (and tourists) come to Puno is to experience the wonders of Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world. Our tour began at 6.40am with neither of us having had a shower in the hostel because the hot water had inconveniently been switched off! We drove down to the little harbour and boarded a 25-seater boat before slowly sailing away along the reeded and mirrored surface of this tranquil lake. Today we had an excellent guide who not only threw plenty of facts and figures at us but he also explained a lot about the way of life for the people who live on the lake. He even taught us how to greet the people that we were going to meet in their own language, which was something everyone enjoyed and later putting into practice.
Our first stop was at the floating islands of Los Uros. Steering our way through a channel in the reeds, we were greeted by the beautiful sight of island upon island made almost completely out of the reeds that grow here. Anchored alongside the islands were big double decker rafts made out of the same reeds that formed the houses,
Mirror, Mirror
The tranquil waters of Lake Titicaca. lined the ground and in fact made up almost everything of importance for the friendly, happy folk who live there. As we pulled up to one island, the family came out to greet us, singing songs and shaking everyone's hand as we disembarked. It was a wonderfully warm welcome.
Our guide then explained to us how the islands were formed and how they are maintained (a lot of hard work) although it was funny to learn that when members of an island community fall out, they simply cut the island into two! After the talk, Glynn and I were taken by a lady called Lena to see inside her reed house. It was only a small house of one room that sleeps 7 members of the same family: Lena, her husband Vicente and their 5 children. We tried out the matrimonial bed that was again made of reeds and were surprised by just how comfortable it was. When Jish came out to play, he made an instant friend in Lena's baby daughter (could this be a future girlfriend for our handsome bear, we wonder?).
Afterwards, we walked around the island a little which was a weird sensation as
Los Uros
Beautiful. the reeds are springy and soft underfoot. We found a guinea pig house also made entirely of reeds (guinea pigs are for eating rather than as pets here btw!) as well as a cooking area where Lena told me it takes about an hour to make dinner for her family. For food, they farm trout here and every weekend they take some fish to the mainland to exchange for potatoes and other vegetables with the ethnic people from the mountains. What a great system!
For an extra 5 Soles (the trip was 30 Soles each), we got to have a ride on one of the big reed boats, which again was surprisingly comfortable. Glynn and I sat up top and took in the amazing views of the many little man-made islands around us. Many islands were hosting other tour groups but some had evidently opted to keep their life and homes private, which we thought was a good thing. We would hate for tourism to cause of the decline of such an amazing way of life. The boat dropped us off on another floating island where they had the world's tiniest post office. Although they didn't have any stamps,
Reed Boat
One of the floating islands that make up Los Uros, with Puno in the distance. We actually sailed in one of these double decker reed boats too! I bought a postcard and luckily had a stamp of my own to post it with. I wonder when it will reach you, mum & dad Harris?
Back on board our official boat, we had a 2-hour journey across the lake before our next stop. The calm reeded waters were soon replaced by gentle swells as we left the shelter of Puno Bay and headed out into the vast openness of this great lake. Our destination was La Isla Taquile, a solid landmass of an island located right in the heart of Lake Titicaca. There have been people living here for as long as anyone can remember and with fertile lands and the fruits of lake at their disposal, this is one community that is truly self-sufficient.
Arriving at the island, we first noticed a big stack of plastic bottles that had been desposited along the shore. It was a bit of a shock to see but I guess this is one of the downsides of mass tourism. It was a steep walk up a stony path to the island's plaza; all the while a steady stream of murky brown water trickled down alongside the path, irrigating the
Little House on the Water
This little house sleeps 7! surrounding crop-fielled fields. We passed terraces full of corn and quinoa (a type of grain like barley) as well as many fields of the infamous coca plant. Coca is a popular South American crop used for everything from making tea to combat altitude sickness (which we thankfully haven't experienced although many travellers do) to being the raw ingrediant for making cocaine.
On our way up the hill, we met a couple of girls who were watching entranced as we played around taking photos with Jish. We took him over to meet the girls who could barely hide their excitement and the younger of the two just wouldn't let him go. I had to prise her fingers off him and was worried she might cry if we took Jish away but when Jish waved goodbye, both girls cutely waved goodbye back. It was the sweetest thing to see. At the plaza we browsed through the cooperative crafts market but didn't feel the need to buy anything. Instead we headed to the roof of the building for a view over the island. Here we were accosted by another couple of young girls wearing traditional clothing and hiding beneath black shawls to
Mobile Home
Inside Lena´s house on the reed island. Almost everything was made out of reeds except of course for her son´s traditional shell suit! keep out the sun. They were selling woven friendship bracelets for 1 Sole (there were lots of kids doing this on Isla Taquile) but again were so taken by Jish that they forgot they were supposed to be hardcore saleswomen and reverted back to being the 10-year old kids they should have been. I bought a bracelet from them anyway because they had been genuinely friendly to us and we left to go for lunch.
Lunch wasn't included in the ticket price for us but we had brought some munchies with us just in case. This was lucky as lunch was a set price of 12 Soles each and we had only brought 20 with us! While the rest of the tour group tucked into their omelettes, fish or soup (that was the extent of the menu), Glynn and I wandered around and did some people watching. We saw some toddlers playing with leaves in a puddle pretending that they were little boats on a lake. Wondering if we didn't have something on us to give them to play with, I struck upon the idea of making something out of paper. Glynn tried making an origami boat but it
Model Home
A scaled down look at the incredible natural engineering that makes up these amazing islands. had been years since either of us had made one and we couldn't remember how. Then I remembered that I could make origami boxes, something my mum taught me to do years ago. We fished around for a bit of paper and I made a small white box which could doubel as a boat on the puddle. I gave it to the little girl who was absolutely thrilled with it. She played with it on the water for a short while before fishing it out again and laying it out to dry. She then proudly showed the box to her mum and everyone else who came past! I felt really pleased to have made this little girl so happy through such a simple thing.
Later on, a group of young boys went past us and when one of them was given a Sole by a passing tourist, he nipped into the shop and bought a bar of chocolate. We were appalled when he just threw the wrapper on the ground and walked off but when one of his friends came over to pick up the litter, I had the idea that I could turn this bit of paper into
Flooring It
See, I told you the entire island is made up of these reeds! a box too. I took it over to a stone table outside a crumbly mud and thatch house and waited as the boys all began to crowd around me. One of them had another bit of the chocolate wrapper and decided to follow my lead and make his own box. The rest of the boys watched rapt as I talked them through the various folds, even though they probably didn;t understand a word that I was saying, and several more passing children stopped to see what was going on. By the time we finished, there must have been 10 fascinated children all looking to see how to make a paper box. I t was amazing to have connected with them through something so simple (thanks mum!) and we get the feeling that the boys will think twice about dropping litter now that they know they can make something out of it!
When the rest of the group had finished eating, it was time to head back to the boat for the 2.5 hour long ride back to Puno. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. Time passed quickly as
What´s New Pussycat?
The islanders even have pet cats! we chatted happily to some of the nicest travellers we've met in a long time including a young couple from Norway, a Swedish couple about our age and 3 Scottish nurses who had just done a stint working in the Amazon. We all got on fabulously and it was a real shame to think that we were all moving on the next day and wouldn't have a chance to go out together. Still, it was the perfect way to end an extraordinary day. Now that we know there's a hotel on one of the floating islands, it's a dead cert that we'll be coming back to Titicaca again some day!
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Frohe Ostern
Wir wünschen Euch und allen die es lesen Frohe Ostertage und eine gute Zeit. Franziska und Papa