Lake Titicaca ... different world
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
1
89
122
Trip End
Dec 17, 2008
Puno,
Peru
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Puno 11
. The accomodation for the trip is with local families on Amantani who take in the tourists ... there are no hostels on the island so this is the only and rather interesting option. It was another early start with a 7.30 am pick up from my hostel and transfer to the harbour where I boarded the boat ... after seemingly some confusion amongst the tour guides which boat I was on was resolved. Once again as per Cuzco I have to report that Lake Titicaca is pretty touristy ... there are many boats all following the similar route to the same set of islands. Lake Titicaca is very large 190km by 80km , the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at 3800m altitiude and is "owned" by Peru and Bolivia on either side and the lake is split into different sections. Our first stop was the "Floating Islands of Uros" - a group of 40 artifical islands which are made of totora reeds ... indeed also the houses are made of reeds , the watchtowers are made of reeds , the boats are made of reeds and the people eat the reeds. We were given some to try ... was rather wet and tasteless ... but , with respect , given the large size of many of the locals they must be quite fattening I think. We had a fascinating explanation of the islands from the tour guide and a man who was the president of this particular island community - all the islands have presidents and then there is apparently an overall president of all the communities on the floating islands. They showed us how the islands are constructed using the root of the reed as a solid foundation , then many layers of reeds on top and finally the islands are pegged down to stop them floating away
Puno 1
. The population of the islands has expanded rapidly in recent years (maybe at least in part due to the stream of tourist income on offer) and the people are called "Aymara". They do some hunting and fishing (trout,catfish,kingfish) but the income from the tourist boats is now the key income source to maintain their way of life ... there were a number of stalls on the island we visited selling souvenirs for the tourist with something of a hard sell. For 10 soles extra we were taken for a ride on one of their reed boats - it was actually surprisingly stable given the number of tourists who were on board . There were two local kids who were on the boat aswell trying to tout pictures and trying to get tips for singing songs , actually quite impressively , in about seven different languages - the English song was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Although there are so many boats visiting different floating islands nearby its a bit of a tourist circus it was still fascinating nonetheless to visit these islands and see their traditional and rather different way of life. After the floating islands we had a long cruise for about three hours to reach our next destination which was the island of Amantani where we disembarked and were allocated to the local women who would be our hosts. Together with a nice Spanish couple , Jose Luis and Eva , I was allocated to a lady called "Rufina" who took us on the 20 minute walk or so to reach her family house. The house was actually pretty large (think it needed to be as Rufina told us she had eleven children) - my room had three double beds in it just for me , the Spanish couple said theirs was the same and there were two other little doors next to us upstairs that presumably had more beds
Puno 2
. Rufina said she didnt get enough visitors ... most likely because the tour groups are allocated around many members of the community to try and benefit as many as possible I think. Amantani is quite a small island , only about 6 square miles , but there are 4000 people living here ... far more than the few hundred or so I was expecting ... and they are dotted around various different communities. After we were shown to our rooms we had some lunch at the house - vegetable soup and a plate of rice,potatoes & cheese followed by "tea" (water with sprigs/leaves .. not quite your PG Tips). Then we walked back to the tiny main square to meet all the others from the boat for our afternoon walk up to the top of one of the islands peaks , called "Pachamama" (The Andean "Mother Earth") , where we enjoyed magnificent views over the island and Lake Titicaca , aswell as watching a very nice sunset before walking back down. Thankfully Rufinas husband was waiting in the plaza to escort us back to the house for dinner ... we had been earlier wondering how we would find our way there ... hard enough to find in the daylight but practically impossible in the dark when all of us had forgotten to bring our torches . Amantani really is a different world , even compared to mainland Peru , let alone back home in England .. there are no cars , no hostels , only a few basic little shops and Spanish is not the first language as the people speak Quechua. There are street lights on the island but at night they were not lit and we we enquired to our hosts as to why ..
Puno 3
. apparently they used to work but now havent worked for over ten years !! There is a generator on the island which powers the electric but it stopped working ... seemed a bit unclear why but I later heard it is something to do with rising fuel prices. The houses thus also have no electricity , which came as a surprise ... in the evening when we got back to the house in the dark I flicked the lightswitch in my room (there is a light switch and a light bulb in the bedrooms) nothing happened ... so I went outside and told my host there was no light ... she said "si , si" and came up the stairs .. me expecting she was bringing a replacement lightbulb ... to present me with a box of matches and a large candle. It was actually quite cool , for one night , to live by cosy candlelight in my room. Dinner was more soup , rice and vegetables .. actually quite tasty given how basic the ingredients were or maybe rather I was just famished ... since the Inca Trail and being sick in Arequipa my appetite has , even by my usual gluttonous standards , become really unusually large - I just seem to want to eat all the time. In the evening we had an invitation to "traditional dancing" in a nearby community hall ... the host families dress up us tourists in local gear (for me this meant a poncho and Peruvian hat) and then we were taken to the hall where a little band was playing traditional Andean style music. Our hosts then co-erced us into "traditional dancing" - basically they lead us and we prance around following , before then as each "dance" reaches its climax , everyone holds hands in a big group and almost runs around the room faster and faster
Puno 4
. We played willing and it was actually a laugh but after about an hour or so , when we were told by the tour guide if we were tired it was OK to ask our hosts to take us back to the house , most people made a sharp exit move for the door. Slept pretty soundly back at the house from about 9.30pm until 5.30am , when I was rudely awakened by next doors loudly braying donkey ... the house and their way of life was "rustic" to say the least .. lots of sheep out the back , various donkeys & horses , the bathroom a tin shed out the back of the house (we had bed pans under our beds) , no electricity , cooking over an open fire and so on. In the morning after a breakfast of pancakes and bread we said our thank yous and goodbyes to the host family , took some photos and headed for the harbour to catch the boat to Taquile , our next island , which is a long , narrow shape and has a population of around 3000 people . It was about an hour or so to cruise to Taquile and when we arrived we enjoyed a very scenic walk along a stone path which led up from the harbour and along the edge of the island for about another hour until we reached the main square. The plaza had a little church , town hall , shops and restaurants aswell as one of those little signposts with placards saying how far and which direction it is to various cities around the world ... the London plate seemed worn away & illegible but Paris was 10 100km so I was roughly that far away from home. We spent some time in the plaza - there was a local photo exhibition which was interesting and you could climb up onto the roof of one of the buildings in the square for some great views over the island and the lake
Puno 5
. Then we had a very nice lunch of "trucha" (trout) before the restaurant owners also gave a little talk about the traditional garments and products of the island ... Taquile is famous for its weaving. We walked maybe 30 mins or so back to the boat which was now at a different harbour and then cruised for about 3 hours back to Puno. Overall I was very pleased with the tour and my experience of the magical Lake Titicaca ... another highlight of South America to add to my ever growing list ! Looking forward , originally I had planned to go from Puno to Copacabana which is on the Bolivian side of the lake but now I have changed my mind & decided to head straight to the capital of Bolivia , La Paz , tomorrow morning ... as great as the lake was , I think I have seen the highlights now after these last two days so I dont think I need more lake time .... there are so many other places to go / things to do ! 
