Taquile, Puno and Sillustani

Trip Start Jan 26, 2000
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Trip End Jun 14, 2000


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Saturday, May 27, 2000

The next day we were on our way to Puno and Peru. It was a beautiful 4 hour bus journey passing along the lake shore and watching the Peruvians working hard in their colourful fields. Our arrival in Peru was made easy by our bus conductor who had a hotel and a tour arranged for us the next day before we'd even left the bus! Puno, the town, was a hole, but it was a good place to catch up on e-mail and wander round the Saturday market.
The next day, 28th June, was election day in Peru. The first election had been declared null and void due to irregularities so we were a bit concerned that country wide strikes of violence would occur.
We started our tour by catching a boat to the island of Uros. There were actually floating islands made entirely out of reeds, basically by layering reeds on top of each other until there are enough to hold the weight of the houses and people without sinking. A very touristy (and smelly) place but it was certainly a unique attraction.
After a short stopover on the islands and another ride on a reed boat we continued on the 3 hour trip to the island of Taquile. Here we climbed about 1000 steps before arriving at a lovely hill top restaurant. After lunch I was introduced to a family who I was going to spend the night with. My family were quiet and shy and I spent my time wandering around the main village and surrounding hillside.
The people of Taquile were very friendly and they had lots of unusual customs, the men walked around all day knitting and they all wore hats. There were two types of hats, one for married men and one for single men! The island itself was extremely beautiful with stone houses, pathways and superb agricultural terracing. To add to this, as with Isla Del Sol, there was the deep blue Lake Titicaca with the immense mountains in the distance.
Back in Puno I also visited the interesting structures of Sillustani, there were huge funeral towers called chullpas. These circular and square towers made back in the 12 century were up to 12m high and made of huge blocks of stone. It was a pleasant afternoon, not only for the towers but for their beautiful bleak location on top of a hill with rich blue lakes down in the valleys.
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