7-13
Took a boat to the floating islands of Uros, and visited 2 of the islands. The people that live on these islands gather these huge chuncks of these floating soil type things. They carve them into blocks, tie them together and then put reeds on top of them. When they do this, they created a floating island, and one that can last for 25 years or more. Their entire community from houses to kitchens to little gardens are on the floating islands. They mainly eat eggs collected from water birds, the waterbirds themselves, fish they farm in the middle of the islands, and the root part of reeds. Must be a crazy life to live on a floating island. We met the president of one of the islands we visited and she showed us around. We then took a ride on what they call their mercedes benz boat, which is a fancy paddled boat used mainly for weddings (and tourists). I then took a boat to the non-floating island of Tequille. Had a fresh trout lunch there with the group, and then they and all the rest of the tours took off. I had a homestay there, so I was going to be staying over night, and as soon as the tours all left at 2, I was the only person of non-incan descent on the island.
The family I stayed with was SO incredibly nice. It was a guy named Celso and his girlfriend and their 5 year-old son. Celso took me out to some pre-incan ruins and told me all about the island. I then took a hike up to the highest point on the island, pachamama where I checked out some more ruins and watched the sunset over lake titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m(12,500ft)). From the island you could see Bolivia and Bolivia's Cordillera Real where I had climbed Huayna Potosi.
The island is heavily terraced for agriculture with a lot of pre-incan terracing. It is very quiet and peaceful because there are no cars or roads (just stone paths), no dogs, no generators, and no electricity. The people here live on about 8 usd per month, but this is not bc they are completely poor but bc they grow everything that they need and trade for the rest. The island is famous for its knitters and weavers. The men knit and women weave. The men are always walking around with their knitting project around their neck as they knit and women rolling up spools of yarn. They wear distinct clothes on the island with the men looking like they are a mix between spanish bullfighting and what a waiter would wear at a very fancy arabic restaurant. They also wear knitted hats that are famous. If the hat is all red, it means the man is married. If the it is red on top and white on the bottom, he is single. They don't wear rings here, just the hats. The hat looks a lot like a Santa hat in shape and size, except the ball at the end is usually very multicolored
I had a tasty dinner (by candlelight of course since there was no electricity) at the homestay and worked on a puzzle with their little guy. Had tea from this awesome plant that smells and tastes so much like a very strong mint, but it doesnt look like it is in the mint family at all. It was nice to have the island all to myself (in terms of tourists as it gets crazy packed from 12 to 2 when the packaged tourists come) with just the villagers going about their daily life in much the same way they have been for a long, long time.
7-14
In the morning I hiked to the other side of the island to a nice golden beach. Only one there of course. I went for a nice cold swim in Lake Titicaca, but it was refreshing as the sun was hot and warm when I got out. Had another fantastic trout lunch before taking a boat back to Puno.
Back in Puno I visited the main Plazas and churches before it got dark and then had some tasty food: cow heart, cow intestine, peruvian chinese, cactus fruit, pizza and icecream. All so cheap and all so tasty!
Took a boat to the floating islands of Uros, and visited 2 of the islands. The people that live on these islands gather these huge chuncks of these floating soil type things. They carve them into blocks, tie them together and then put reeds on top of them. When they do this, they created a floating island, and one that can last for 25 years or more. Their entire community from houses to kitchens to little gardens are on the floating islands. They mainly eat eggs collected from water birds, the waterbirds themselves, fish they farm in the middle of the islands, and the root part of reeds. Must be a crazy life to live on a floating island. We met the president of one of the islands we visited and she showed us around. We then took a ride on what they call their mercedes benz boat, which is a fancy paddled boat used mainly for weddings (and tourists). I then took a boat to the non-floating island of Tequille. Had a fresh trout lunch there with the group, and then they and all the rest of the tours took off. I had a homestay there, so I was going to be staying over night, and as soon as the tours all left at 2, I was the only person of non-incan descent on the island.
The family I stayed with was SO incredibly nice. It was a guy named Celso and his girlfriend and their 5 year-old son. Celso took me out to some pre-incan ruins and told me all about the island. I then took a hike up to the highest point on the island, pachamama where I checked out some more ruins and watched the sunset over lake titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m(12,500ft)). From the island you could see Bolivia and Bolivia's Cordillera Real where I had climbed Huayna Potosi.
The island is heavily terraced for agriculture with a lot of pre-incan terracing. It is very quiet and peaceful because there are no cars or roads (just stone paths), no dogs, no generators, and no electricity. The people here live on about 8 usd per month, but this is not bc they are completely poor but bc they grow everything that they need and trade for the rest. The island is famous for its knitters and weavers. The men knit and women weave. The men are always walking around with their knitting project around their neck as they knit and women rolling up spools of yarn. They wear distinct clothes on the island with the men looking like they are a mix between spanish bullfighting and what a waiter would wear at a very fancy arabic restaurant. They also wear knitted hats that are famous. If the hat is all red, it means the man is married. If the it is red on top and white on the bottom, he is single. They don't wear rings here, just the hats. The hat looks a lot like a Santa hat in shape and size, except the ball at the end is usually very multicolored
I had a tasty dinner (by candlelight of course since there was no electricity) at the homestay and worked on a puzzle with their little guy. Had tea from this awesome plant that smells and tastes so much like a very strong mint, but it doesnt look like it is in the mint family at all. It was nice to have the island all to myself (in terms of tourists as it gets crazy packed from 12 to 2 when the packaged tourists come) with just the villagers going about their daily life in much the same way they have been for a long, long time.
7-14
In the morning I hiked to the other side of the island to a nice golden beach. Only one there of course. I went for a nice cold swim in Lake Titicaca, but it was refreshing as the sun was hot and warm when I got out. Had another fantastic trout lunch before taking a boat back to Puno.
Back in Puno I visited the main Plazas and churches before it got dark and then had some tasty food: cow heart, cow intestine, peruvian chinese, cactus fruit, pizza and icecream. All so cheap and all so tasty!
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