Lake Titicaca - Birthplace of the potato
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2007
1
18
48
Trip End
Dec 24, 2007
Puno,
Peru
Monday, August 27, 2007
Most of the things I did here were potato related so I won't go into too much detail. One interesting fact about Lake Titicaca though. If someone falls into the lake it is traditional not to save them, but to let them drown as an offering to the gods. Apparently they lose an average of four fishermen per year who could have been saved.
On the first day we went on a tour to the floating islands made of reeds. They are quite impressive
Red Potatoes
. To get between the island we took a boat made of reeds. I should have known that this was not going to be a successful trip when one of the passengers asked:"What is the boat called?"
"Titanic" repled the guide - there was no trace of humour.
There were 3 things that annoyed me about the trip. The 3rd most annoying thing was the guide's little kid who took advantage of a captive market by launching into song. At least I assume the noises emanating from hime were supposed to be songs. First in Kechua (the local dialect) then Spanish, French, English (twinkle, twinkle, little star), Japanese and German. It was awful. I didn't give him any money.
Second most annoying was the French kid who spent the journey ripping reeds from the bottom of the boat and throwing them overboard. Just as I was thinking that he had gone far enough for "Titanic" to be appropriate, he switched his attention to my shoelaces. I resisted the temptation to kick him.
Big Potatoes
But the most annoying thing was the French kid's "weirdy-beardy" father. He didn't control his kid at all, he spent the journey dashing up and down the fragile boat taking photos of the islands, the singing kid, dead sheep in the water - whatever really. It did give rise to one amusing moment though. At the end of the trip he announced:
"Tonight I will be giving a slide show of all the photos from my trip so far. You are all invited". Cue silence while the other passengers examined their shoes.
Yesterday, after lunch, we crossed into Bolivia and went to the "Isla del Sol" (Island of the Sun). The ferry crossing was really rough. Even after I lent over the side and offered my lunch to the gods, the conditions didn't improve. The guy driving the boat didn't care though. He steered the whole way using only one foot, despite the lake being rough and some of the gaps between the rocks leaving him only feet to spare.
The island itself was lovely, but very hilly and a bit too much for me. I had to pay a small child to carry my bag up to the hotel. He must have resented this because he explained how the shower worked in the bathroom. When I followed his instructions the next day, I suffered a massive electric shock. Hopefully my hair will grow back.
Next we have a few days in La Paz - the highest capital city in the world.
