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Our tour operator for the Titicaca Lake, All Ways Travel picked us up at 6:40am. We caught a boat from Puno's main port. There was probably about 20 of us and our main concern was that it may turn out to be a very touristic trip and the islands we were to visit will be packed with visitors. Our guide Joseph spoke very good English and gave us an excellent introduction and later on a plethora of information about the visited islands, their people, traditions and everyday life. I feel we have been lucky so far with our guides as it makes a whole lot of difference!
The boat cut smoothly the surface of the Lago Titicaca. Titicaca apparently means "the rock of the puna", I have to say I havent checked it so I assume it is true. It was the most sacred body of water in the Inca empire. The lake is located at 3856m a.s.l. which makes it the highest navigatable lake in the world. It has a surface area of over 80,000sqm and is the second largest lake in South America.
The first islands we have visited were the famous floating reed islands of Uros people. The Uros community lives over 40 reed islands maintained by continually adding freshly cut reeds to the top surfaces of the islands while the bottoms slowly deconpose. Uros people fled onto the lake about 500 years ago trying to escape Inca and Collas tribes. An estimated number of 400 Uros people are part of this floating community. They live in reed huts and travel in reed boats - built the same way as centuries ago. They don't speak Quechua, the language of the Incas but their own language called Ayamara.
Once we got off the boatwe were sat on a semicircle reed seat and the guide introduced the island leader and together they demonstrated for us the process of making a reed island. The reeds grow only at the shallow parts of the lake at 0.5-1.0m deep. Uros join the reed areas sections with stakes and ropes, then arrange cut reeds on the top in layers, criss-crossing. Then they build their huts on the island surface. Maintenance of the islands is frequent, every 20 days a new layer of reed is distributed. The huts require maintenance also with the roof being replaced every few months. Uros peopel drink the lake water, however they need to travel further to catch it and then bring back to the island. The main industry here is fishing, tourism and sale of the reeds. For that money they can buy on the land potatoes, quinea or rice. They eat a lot of fish of course. Most famous is trucha trout, which with Julianne we had a pleasure to taste for dinner day earlier in Puno's Mojsa restaurant (flushed with chicha morada and pre-emptied with cheese and garlic bread baked in the restaurant's oven).
The Uros people can also eat the reeds, peeled like bananas. The guide warned us though not to try as our European stomachs are not yet ready for it and it will result in a rapid rush to the toilet.
After the presentation Uros women started setting up the stalls with reed and wool artefacts and textiles displaying their own designs. Best thing about buying here was that the money will entirely go towards the community and will be equally shared by the leader between the Uros people. However we were warned: you need to bargain hard as the women sellers will definitely be!
We also were invited to have a bit of interraction time with the locals and were invited to their huts and to ask them questions. The lady whose hut I visited said she has three kids who are studying but are coming to the island at the weekends to help with the island maintenance. She also asked for our names and where we are from.
For a bargain price of 10 soles (approx. GBP 2.50) we had a quiet relaxing reed boat ride to the adjacent larger reed island. It is quite remarkable how relaxing a boat ride can be with no loud motor pushing it forward. The next island were supposed to be more commercial, however I only noticed a few more stalls, like...total of 7, with gifts to buy and a reed bar. There was actually nothing commercial about it! We were free to take photos of the locals and huggle for the souvenir price - unlike the next, natural island of Taquile we were just about to head to. There we should respect the privacy of the people by not taking their pictures without their consent or be prepared to pay for it and also when buying pay the exact price as the price dispalyed. Also do not give children sweets.
The boat trip to Taquile from the reed islands took over 2 hours. Taquile is a place with no roads, hotels or restaurants. Only way to stay there overnight is to stay with a local family. The island is covered with beautiful landscapes and archeological ruins. It has an outstanding textile industry and hence has been proclaimed a new Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.
We climbed up a steep hill (no steps here :) !) to get to the main plaza on the top. There we were given time to explore a picture gallery and a community shop. The shop had local peoples crafts, mainly wooly: lama, alpaca or sheep hats, head bands, gloves and their traditional vests. No huggling here. This is where my hat comes from.
From here we followed for lunch to the local restaurant with a stunning view of the lake and the blue sky literally blending into each other. The menu was set but that was fine by me: quinoa soup with bread, hot salsa, trout with rice and fries. Before the dinner Joseph introduced us to a part of the local culture: men wearing red and white hats are single, red hats - are married, colourful hat - leaders. Women wearing bright colours are single, more toned colours - married. Also their black shaul with a pompons would indicate if they are married (dirty!) or single (bright and new). Black skirt and red vest would indicate an important woman. The way/side the boys would wear their hat's pompon would also indicate their maritial status. They woulsd get engaged extremely early at the age of 14-16, however first before getting married they would live together with the girl for as long as 1 to 3 years. Joseph also showed us belts that the girl would weave for the groom within their time together 1-3 years. One of them is a calendar with 12 repeating images for the 12 months of activities. The other is a family belt illustrating activities only known to the couple. All in all it was areally interesting lesson.
After lunch we descended back to the boat. All boats have to rush back to Puno latest at 4pm as the wind becomes stronger in the afternoon and evening and the waves get quite big. Most people fell asleep during the 2.5 hours return journey to Puno. So did I.
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