Th Uros Islands

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From Copacabana I caught the bus over the border to Puno. No dramas in immigration but our bus decided to break down on the other side of the border and we had to join another bus. Unfortunately, they miscalculated the numbers and, me being the last person, I was left without a seat. Inventive souls those Peruvians, solved this problem by puttiing a wooden kids seat in the isle, right at the front. This gained a lot of laughter and, once again, I became the subject of many photo's.

The following morning I went to visit the floating reed islands of Puno. The 'Uros' people of Lake Titicaca live on these islands formed from compacted beds of totora reeds that are constantly topped up. It's a rather odd experience walking on the islands because the reeds move underneath your feet (think, the top floor of Diva bar towards the end of the night). The reeds are also used to construct huts and boats (it's all about reeds here on Uros). It's believed that the people originally took to the reed islands in an effort to isolate themselves from the Incas.

Nowadays, the Uros people try and scratch out a living by trying their hardest to pedal handicrafts to Australian tourists.

I left Puno in less time that it takes to say, "wow, that's a whole lotta reeds", and headed on to Cusco.

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Photos

Uros
A hut and some reeds.

Uros
Some huts, some reeds and some water

Uros
Some boats, some reeds and some water.

Uros
A hut, some reeds and some pots.