Floating islands and then Guinea pig for dinner
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2005
1
36
126
Trip End
May 26, 2008
Puno,
Peru
Friday, July 14, 2006
Adam (my Israeli travel buddy) and I took yet another long bus, cruising past Lake Titicaca and ended up in a place called Puno. Its famous for its reed islands.
We took a tour of the floating reed islands which were amazing. They are built from reeds that line the shores of the lake. The reeds are piled on top of each other and the result is a 1 meter thick floating island made of reeds. The locals, called Uros built complete villages on these floating islands, initially to escape the invading Incans and live a peaceful and tranquil life. Now they are invaded with hundreds of tourists a day, snapping photos and marveling at their cold, floating existence. The reeds are extremely versatile and the roots form a major part of their diet.
That night, we wasted no time and ate Guinea Pig for dinner.
Deep fried guinea pig at that! Complete with little guinea pig ears, little claws, big front guinea pig teeth and even little guinea pig deep fried eyes. It tasted like a mix between chicken and duck and apparently is a delicacy, with Peru being the worlds biggest supplier of guinea pigs for dinner, but the appearance of the poor little guy, butterflied down the middle and spread onto the plate made him all but impossible to eat. After the initial few mouthfuls, we couldn't bring ourselves to finish him off. So we covered I'm with a serviette and asked for him to be carted away. The restaurant staff thought it was hilarious, watching our shocked antics from a distance and coming to the rescue when we couldn't look anymore.
I spent 2 nights in Puno and left for Arequipa the next day.
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Random Notes
1.00 Australia Dollar = 2.44539 Peru Nuevos Soles
