I´m down at reception for 6.30am. There myself and an American lad who´s going on the trip meet a girl who will takes to our boat down in the port. There´s about 20 on this boat. When everybody is accounted for we set off into the lake.
We follow a clear channel of open water through an immense bed of reeds. First stop are the Uros Islands, a few kms into the lake. The Uros are artificial floating islands contructed from Blocks of turf and layers of reeds which are anchored to the lake bed which is 17m deep at this point. Each block of turf is about 1.5m thick. A further 50cm of reeds laid down in alternating layers creates a fairly stable, if spongy platform. A further 50cm of reeds is added where the villagers construct their huts which helps to reduce humidity within the living space. Arthritis is a problem for many older inhabitants. Every 2 weeks a fresh layer is added to the surface.
There are around 40 floating islands in this part of the lake. The people have been living here for about 150yrs. Previously their ancestors lived on house boats. It is said these people, whose native tongue is Aymara and Quechua, fled to the lake to escape the Incas and later the Conquistadores.
The Uros remain hidden amongst the reed beds until we are quite close to them. Suddenly a wide channel opens up and the islands, with their yellow reed huts, come into view. There are many boats coming from Puno. Each makes for a different island. The villagers in their colourful dress wave cheerfully and shout greetings as a boat moors alongside. We clamber onto the island and our guide gives us an explanation on how the islands are constructed, the lifestyle of the villagers etc. Its strange to feel the lake undulating beneath you as you pad around the island. The surface is quite soft and spongy. The islanders have to rely on the mainland for much of their staple foodstuffs. From the lake they can eat the whites of the reeds. They hunt wild fowl. From their own hens they get fresh eggs. They fish in the lake and also farm their own trout within specially constructed pools within the island. On the mainland they barter for potatoes, rice, quinoa and vegetables.
Afterwards the president of the island, a portly, pleasant woman officially welcomes us to her island with a short speech in Quechua. We´re then allowed 20-25 mins to look around the place, in other words.... to run riot. A group of American women in their 50´s rampage around the island storming in and out of the huts snapping shots. Two women fight over a kid whom both wish to pose for a photo with. The child is eventually auctioned off to the highest bidder, a portly woman from Cambridge, Ohio who hauls the child away for the much sought after photo. In face of a full onslaught by these large, well-fed conquistador women the short, wiry menfolk of the island, noted for the skills in hunting wild fowl, beat a fretful retreat. There´s no escaping these strange women however, whose appetites haven´t nearly been sated. The auld guys are all coralled into one corner of the island. Its a bloody massacre as women go on a snapping frenzy, posing victoriously with their trophy islandmen under their arms.
As we left the island we had the opportunity to sail over to a neighbouring island, for a small fee, of course. I went along for the novelty of it and we were picked up by our own boat 10mins later on an island across the channel. From the Uros it was a 2hr trip to Isla Taquile, a large island out near the centre of the lake. During storms waves of up to 5-6m can generate on the open water. Today the water was choppy at worst. I don´t think this boat would have survived much over 2m.
Isla Taquile has been declared a world Heritage site due to the survival of the island´s traditional culture and the handcrafts the islanders produce. There´s a population of 2,000 scattered in small farsteads around the island´s single village. From the harbour at which we dock there is a 20min hike up to the village plaza, high up on a ridge. At this altitude (3,800m) and in the heat of the day the going is slow. By all appearances the islanders must do quite well out here as most of the houses look very decent. On the hike up and, particularly, in the plaza young island girls in black shawls try to sell trimkets to any one and everyone. And they are very persistent about it. A group of isalndmen in traditional dress of white shirts, dark trousers and bright, handknit hats wait in the plaza. They will serve as waiters later in the restaurants as all the tour groups sit down to meals. Our group too eats in a restaurant just off the plaza. We are seated outdoors and its quite idyllic if a little touristy for me. I´d have preferred longer touring the island than sitting eating. We have soup and trout from the lake and, afterwards, peppermint tea. Everythng is prepared fresh as there are no refrigerators on the island.
Returning to the boat we hike about 2 miles across the island to another small harbour where our boat picks us up. The island is beautiful. A little like the Aran islands with its stone walls and small agricultural plots. Its anidyllic stroll. I chat to a lively Korean couple who are travelling around the world. The wife is a very bubbly personality who always comes to me when she wants a photo of herself taken. Following the patths we come across groups of kids playing. One of the children, a girl of 10-11yrs has left her shawl on the ground and I have to do a double take when I see her wearing a Coventry city top. Of all the places in South America to see somebody wearing a Cov top. Out here in a small community out in the middle of one of the worlds highest lakes at almost 4,000m high.
A toddler beside this girl is the first to see our group approaching. This child, barely able to speak, jumps up and waddles over to us holding one finger up and chattering "Foto, un sole. Foto, un sole!!". He barely understands what he´s saying but he has the lingo and he knows what one sole looks like too!!
We leave the island and have a relaxing 3hr trip back to Puno and the mainland. The weather holds good until we reach the hostel. Thats it for me in Peru. I leave tomorrow morning for Copcabana in Bolivia. Its been a short month in Peru and I´ll miss it. Its a fascinating country. The only thing left for me to do is once again stroll around Puno. Taking in the evening bustle, the sounds of people and traffic, to breathe the smells of the street, stalls and cafes and try to remeber those wonderful experiences of Peru which I am about to leave behind.
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