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Published: September 20th 2006
Taquile islander minding his own knitting
It is traditional for the men on the island to knit the hats for themselves. If married a red hat is worn, if single a white and red hat is worn.I arrived in Puno by bus from Cuzco at around 6.30am. The plan was to walk to the dock and then find a boat. Since the guide book I had said that boats leave at around 7.30am I did not have much time, when I was approached by a person offering a guided tour to the Islands I accepted, and soon the trip was all sorted.
Our first stop was the Uros Islands. These are man made islands made out of reeds, with each Island having a few families living on it. The reeds feel quite bouncy under foot, so it feels somewhat like walking on a trampoline. Each of the houses is about the size of a garden shed, and many now have solar panels, the one we had a look inside had a stereo inside. The inhabitants’ setup stalls with various souvenirs when the tourists arrive. After spending sometime on one of the Islands we boarded a reed boat and headed to another nearby Island.
Back on the main boat we continued for Isla Taquile, passing many of the reeds which are used for the Island building. Once on the Island we had a 30 minute walk
Uros Island
The floating islands are built out of reeds. up to the main square, passing endless terraces and fences made out of stone. At the square our guide looked for a family for me, the first person he approached didn’t like the look of me, but he soon found another local and he was a cheerful chap and adopted me, taking me to his farm house. This consisted of 3 buildings facing each other and so creating a small court yard in the middle with a fence on the 4th side. I left my backpack there and headed back to the square where I would meet up with the group and have lunch before they would all depart back to Puno (there was only another couple which stayed behind from our group).
I decided to go and explore and headed for the opposite side of the Island. Along the way I passed a school, and then came across some ancient ruins. Finally I climbed a hill having to cut across some of the terraces hoping not to be chased away by one of the locals but there where non about. On top of the hill was a niche built out of stone with a cross inside. Over the
Isla Taquile
Isla Taquile contains endless stone terraces and walls. niche was a collapsed mast. There was a great view from here overlooking the rest of the island.
In the afternoon I headed for the opposite side of the Island. Hoping to catch the sunset but it was unfortunately mostly obscured by clouds. I returned back to my home, and was met there by the family. They prepared dinner for me and served it to me in my room, the husband sat with me but unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish and he didn’t speak English so we had to revert to sign language. He has 4 kids, but that’s about all I managed to learn. He made a lot of effort to make sure I had enough food, and that I was happy with what they made. After dinner I got to meet one of his daughters who spoke a little English, but was very shy so we didn’t manage to talk much. I gave them some presents for his kids and his daughter who was 11 was very excited by these.
In the morning I headed off for another hike, before spending sometime in the main square watching the locals. In the early afternoon it was time
to head to the harbour and get my boat back to Puno.
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Li
non-member comment
Knitting
So, did your adopted family teach you to knit too? Again, fab photos :-)