Considering I’m not really a morning person, I think I’ve done well to last the distance for all these incredibly early starts (we often have to be up at 5am if not earlier) and long busy days. As it’s mid winter here, it’s freezing cold, except for about 4 hours during the day, but Puno is where we have felt the coldest yet. It’s a bit of a dump as cities go, lots of rubbish lying around as usual, and all the houses are only half built because until a house is completely finished, the owner does not have to pay tax. A cunning but very unsightly plan. But we were in Puno mainly to go out on Lake Titicaca and visit the floating Uros islands made of reeds, of which there are 87 in total, so still well worth the visit.
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m (12,506 ft) above sea level and we were there during the coldest month of the year. 60% of the lake is in Peru, the other 40% in Bolivia. We set off in the freezing cold at 7am two by two in 12 “cabs” pedalled by one man on a bicycle, which was a bit hair-raising due to the seriously scary drivers on the road. By the time we got to the harbour I practically had to peel my lips off my teeth, due to being frozen there in mid-smile by the arctic wind.
We then boarded our boat to the first island, called Amanacer Titino, where there are only enough houses for 18 people, and we were given a demonstration on how the reed islands and houses are made, which was really interesting. The islanders usually speak Quechuan or Aymara, both ancient Inca languages, although they speak Spanish when there’s a tourist around and a sale to be made, of yet more Peruvian nick-nacks. I didn’t ask what they do with their sewage, I didn’t really want to know.
There is a leader on each island who keeps the peace, but they say that if you have had a really major disagreement with one of your fellow reed-islanders, then you are liable to find your piece of island and house sawn off and set afloat in the night…. A bit later we were taken on a short boat trip on a boat made of reeds, with a gondolier at the back, which was very restful and, as there was no wind, the reflections were pretty amazing. One of the floating islands we went past was the school that all the island children go to. The women are huge – after all, there are only so many times you can walk round a very small floating island to get some cardio exercise before you fall off it. Anyway it was really interesting and colourful but very touristy.
We spent the whole day on the lake and visited the less touristy side of the more southern island of Taquile (which is not a floating reed island), where we did a hike and then had lunch of quinoa soup and grilled trout at the only restaurant. Rainbow trout were introduced into the lake and are farmed there too. That night a few of the group went off to have something non Peruvian for dinner and ended up in a place called Machu Pizzas (yes really), but we declined and had an early night in preparation for a 12 hour day to get to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, where we are staying for two nights before we go to one of the main highlights of the tour, Machu Picchu. Woohoo, can’t wait!
2 Frosty Tops Do South America 