Lake Titicaca, Puno and......
Trip Start
Aug 28, 2004
1
57
65
Trip End
Aug 2005
Puno, the coldest place on earth right now!!,
Peru
Thursday, June 2, 2005
In addition to seeing the floating islands of "Uros" we actually stayed with families on the more permanent ones, "Amantan and Taquile! and that was quite fun, even if it was a tad touristy too. The visitors bring in quite a bit of revenue and it is only 20 or so of the total islands on the Lake, that actually choose to allow visitors onto their islands to stay
Boat on the Lake
. As our guide stated, nothing stays the same forever and even humans evolve also. The Indian population (which ahs been proven that they do evolve from the polynesian community) may well wear western jeans and clothing (although most of the people seem to wear there indigenans dress even when working in the fields) but their way of life continues and their beliefs are still there too. They look to Pachamama¨ (Mother Earth) to provide the land and water for their lifestyle....The whole belief system and how they make offerings is really interesting all round. We even braved another climb (one of many!) to the most worshipped place on the locals island, to watch the beautiful sunset.In the evening we were made to dress in the local dress, the women in big heavy skirts and embroidered blouses, with shawls on heads (not dissimilar dress to other mountainous regions around the world) and the men in big poncho´s complete with big pointy hat (all hand knitted by the locals, each one tells a story about the wearer and their occupation, single/married, fisherman/farmer etc...). Just to feel utterly ridiculous!! and then join in the local dances of the community, it was a great way of getting to know our families, breaking the ice, and really tiring with the thin air!! Wow they are pretty energetic and it´s a great way of keeping warm too. The locals only speak Quechua and so only small amounts of spanish can be spoken at any time. On our very dark return to the family home, we watched the stars in the sky
Boating on Lake Titicaca
. Which was just so amazing as there is not electricity at this time on the islands if at all ever, and the stars shine so brightly against the midnight blue of the sky. It reminded me of the african skies at night, we could even see the ¨Southern cross¨ and the Milky way¨, WOW!It´s such a tranquil experience and the way of life here simple but contented, we were glad to have been a part of it for a short space of time (see pics and you´ll agree we think). Moving onwards to more southerly places...........
First we had to stay in Puno on the lakes edge with a touristy feel.
We unfortunately or fortunately met Helen a young aussie who had just been mugged a few minutes before by three guys who had taken everything.
The police i must say were great and after giving her $20 dollars we saw her safely to her hotel. Her phone call home to mum must have been fun.
