Pushing Pesos: Floating Islands and Lake Titikaka, PUNO PERU

Firstly, apologies for the late posting of our blog. Since arriving in Peru 3 weeks ago we have been travelling at a fast pace with no room to write. So 3 weeks ago we left Bolivia to enter Peru. It was a sad good bye as the 6 weeks we spent in Bolivia were great.

We left La Paz early in the morning to head to Puno. The main attraction in Puno is Lake Titicaca which is the largest navigable lake in the world. The original plan was to visit the lake on the Bolivian side which is situated on Copacabana, however, due to a road block this was not possible. The road block had lasted for 2 weeks and rumours at it that the locals had caused it as a type of protest but we were never quite sure as the story changed several times. We were told we could get a bus to a near by town but we would need to walk about an hour till we arrived in Copacabana. Judging by the size of our bags we thought better of it and decided to head straight to Puno.

After 9 hours on a bus, a luxury bus may I add ( it even had a toilet on it) we arrived in Puno. We travelled with 2 French girls that we had met in La Paz and walked round the town with them. First impressions were that Puno was a nice little town, nice restaurants lined its high street and straight away we felt we were in a more developed country then Bolivia. We all wanted to try Cuy which is a Peruvian speciality (thats Guinea Pig to me and you) but the restaurant we ended up choosing didnt have it so I went for another speciality called Ceviche. Ceviche is fish eaten raw, it is dressed with lemon sauce which is ment to cook the fish although theres not escaping that your chewing on something raw. The initial taste was nice but after a while it became overwhelming and quite sickly, my advise is to order this to share, not as a main meal.

Ceviche

Puno is situated on Lake Titicaca but to see the lake in its vastness you could take a tour around the islands. Puno also boast of a unique floating island community which we were keen to see so we booked a 2 day tour to see the islands and stay over night with a local family. So we set off and the first stop was the floating reed islands where people called the "Uros" have lived for generations. They created the islands by bundling dried totora reeds together and in time create the islands themselves. Each island houses around 10 families, we had a chance to visit one floating island and meet the residents. We met one woman who invited us to see her small house (also made out of reeves). Her hut had a single light and a double bed which housed her husband and 3 children. She was only 20 years old. See picture below of the islands.

Singer busking for tips before we set off on our tour

Our tour guide- not the most chatty man

Michael on the top deck, heading to the islands

First sight of the floating islands

The reeds bundled together

The womans hut she shares with her children

Reed life

Everything on the islands is made of reeds

One of the Uro people living on the island

After the reed islands we were taken to another island (this time on land) where we would meet our guest family. We met our host and he walked us back to his house where we would sleep the night. He only spoke Spanish but luckily the French girls were quite good so we managed to converse well. He told us that he relys greatly on tourism to survive and he hopes that one day his children will live off the island and make better lives for themselves. Now having been to Bolivia it was clear that these people were no where near being poor, they had lovely built house around green pastures. They lacked material things that we westiners see as necessity but they had spacious rooms and a nice gardens, perfect for a simple life. It was evident that they lived well enough and were happy.

After meeting the family, his wife and two children, we were given time to explore the island. We walked up a hill and watched the sun go down over Lake Titicaca and the views where spectacular. It was like looking over a sea, or an ocean, certainly not a lake. Once the sun had gone we ate dinner at the family home, a simple dinner of vegetables ploughed from the land. After dinner we were invited to dress in the traditional dress wear which was alot of fun. It consist if 3 skirts on top of each other, certainly not fetching for a womans waist but very colourful and all hand made. Michael wore a kind of poncho that was also beautifully embroided, ready for our night on the town we headed to the party the locals had put on. The daughter of out host family took us to the local town hall where all the other bright eyed dazed travellers gathered, not quite sure what to expect looking out of place with our garments. But soon the music started and shyness passed, we all dance hand in hand to "La la bamba" and other latino songs, copying the local dancing. After 2 beers we were zonked, we blamed the altitude and went to bed at 10pm, how rock and roll.

Going to the house with our host

The live stock in our homes

Home sweet home

Carbs, carbs and more carbs

Michael playing football with the son of our host family

On the way to watch the sun set

At the top

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Me, michael and French girls

Fanny Jam

The band

Trying not to smile, Local style

The next day we left our host and went to Taquila island were we walked around the island. There we had a lunch of trout which was amazing, we were looking forward to all the fish Peru had to offer. Once we left the island we headed back to Puno where we left immediately for a bus to the next stop Arequipa.