June 1 - Monday, Puno & Lake Tikikaka

Lake Tikikaka is South America´s second highest lake, and the highest lake of its size in the world. Imagine...
Met our guide, Miguel, at 7:15 a.m., who accompanied us by taxi to the wharf, where we boarded a 20-passenger speedboat. Purchased coloured pencils and pens on the dock beforehand, to hand out to children on the islands. The islanders do no wish tourists to give their children candy, so - coloured pencils and pens it is! (Most of the children were attending school, so I did not get the chance to pass these on!)

Many boats are in dock, as this is low season for tourists. We consider ourselves fortunate to be in Peru at this time, for as of June 15, the real tourist season begins once more. And, apparently, it is usually a busy one! Don´t know what will happen this year, due to the economic crash and the flu scare...

Met our group - 8 tourists in all, 2 guides, and one other couple who hailed from Spain.
We first visited Islas Flotas, the floating islands. This group of islands are nests of tortura reeds, whose roots have broken loose from the bottom of the lake. The people keep the living areas high and dry, by continually adding cut tortura reeds to the top. This has the effect of burying the reed houses, so the inhabitants have to ´lift´their homes, and add reeds underneath them. As these houses are extremely light, (it takes 4 ment to lift them), they are then placed on a new reed platform.

Inhabitants cling to a very traditional way of life. They describe their lives as living between heaven and earth - such a beautiful concept. The people are extremely well organized in a touristic sense. As one enters the islands, tourist boats reach a central point, and are ´sent´to a certain island, for that day. This ensures that all islands have the opportunity to entertain and ´sell´to tourists. The fruits of tourism are evenly distributed throughout the many little villages, each one sitting on a separate little island. Uros, was the name of the island we were sent to, and the people of the Aymara tribe, consider themselves to be the oldest people on earth!

Once we docked, Miguel explained how the islands are built and maintained. He described the Aymara´s culture and the reasons they try to follow the old Inca traditions. Ladies and men presented their wares, mostly textile crafts, which were extremely well designed. Miguel explained the construction of the tortura reed boats, which are very strong, and to me are similar to the gondolas of Venice.

The meeting place houses schools and is supported by the Seventh Day Adventist congregation.

Two women, mother and daughter, invited us into their home and showed us the inside of their reed house. Very small, dry, clean, and all the furniture is made of reeds. They even have a TV... (not made of reeds!), and lighting due to solar energy they produce. Daylight is 12 hours long 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Interesting...

Bruce became claustrophobic, so we managed to get outdoors, then the ´sell´to the tourists was on. I did purchase a small necklace and a small piece of their specialized textile work. (In the meantime, I thought I had lost my wallet, so everyone went on the search. The island people are very honest, no police force is in existance here - ever. I found my wallet - had mistakenly placed it in another pocket. Foolish me - I certainly apologized to everyone. )

Being the oldest tourists in the group, and I will say, the most adventurous, we took the oportunity to visit the next island by riding in a tortura boat. No one else was open to this adventure, which really was extremely safe. The boat is propelled by a single oar at the stern, managed by a boatman. Halfways across, the blade of the oar broke away, so we had very little oar surface. Sailing was slow... we finally met up with our tour passengers on the other island.

This next floating island had a selection of flamingoes, guinea pigs - which have their own little residences, and a trout farm. Note to all future travelers to these islands... do not eat the trout. They are farmed amongst the reeds, and therefore the grassy taste!

We saw island men in the process of building a reed boat, then we sailed for another hour to the next island - Taquile, where the people speak Quechua, the original Inca language. We are now at the highest altitude on the lake. Miguel, our guide, tries to make sure that we are using sunblock, for the sun´s rays are a killer. He prefers to use SPF 100 when he can get it, but finds this stuff very expensive.

The lake is a deep blue in colour, just like the sky. Before landing on Taquile, we took photos of the snow-tipped mountain ranges of Bolivia - we are that close. The senery is spectacular! Half Lake Titikaka belongs to Bolivia.

Docking at Taquile, we walked uphill, observing the terraced lands, learning about the healing properties of plants, and finally made it to our destination. We were breathless! (Initially, Migual did not think that Bruce and I could do this climb, but the Spanish couple assured him we could, as they knew we had walked the Camino to Santiago. It´s interesting what people think of us because of our age!)

Breathless, we reached a family homestead with quite a few huts. We learned about Taquile´s special community-based culture, their strong beliefs in honesty: discovered that marred men were red toques which they knit, and the single men wear white and red hats, the white indicating that their lives are still incomplete. The local custom regarding marriage is that a couple can live together for 3 years before deciding whether or not to marry. In this manner, they get used to one another, and find out whether or not they can stay together for a lifetime. But, if the woman gets pregnant, she has to marry her partner - no choice now!

We were introduced to their farming, potatoes, of all shapes and sizes, dried for winter, and the livestock are llamas, donkeys and cows. All is carried on the backs of these animals, except for the cows of course. We were treated to a meal of quinoa soup and trout, and drank muni tea - then the dancing began, as the men and women demonstrated their traditional dances. I was up dancing with them, and believe me I was breathless! Do not really know how I managed this at all...

The long walk up the rest of the mountain was ahead of us. We saw the main village, simply constructed and designed, the meeting place for the elders, their shops, where they trade goods with other islanders, and admired the beautiful green farm plots below. We then walked down the other side of the island, all 536 steps - Miguel was my ´stick´as we continued to descend. His help was most appreciated. Then to the wharf, meeting fellow tourists, talking about our new learning experiences which opened our eyes to a world we did not know existed.

The boat ride back was long - 1.5 hours. Had a short nap, but the scenery was too beautiful to be missed. This definitely was the best tour we have been on so far.

Once át home´, Bruce had quite the nap. We had to go to the pharmacy to acquire additional altitude pills, as he was suffering, and we did not have a large enough supply of our own.

Visited All-Ways Travel for our tour for the next day, and the bus tour to Cusco - then had a pizza for dinner. So many pizza shops, you would swear we were in Italy! Had a great night´s sleep - again, with the room heater on of course!