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Now there's a look girls?? and how about those accessories, slouch socks and sandals, love it Clod! I obviously learnt alot during my two years at M&S! Well yesterday evening I wrote a lovely long blog all about my two days on Lake titacca to accompany the photos,very happily pressed next and the whole thing dissappeared. Istead of screaming and throwing a fit I thought right, Shut down and start again tomorow.
First of all thank you all so much for your birthday greetings. I spent the morning crossing the border into bolivia. I got chatting to another lone travellor next to me on the bus, a colombian guy Andres. We had the same plans so ended up taking a boat together for the afternoon out to see the Isla del Sol. In true south american style he paid 15bolivanos while I paid 20 for no apparent reason. We were suppose to have a hour and half there. We left 20mins late, arriving at 3.15 to be told the boat was leaving again at 4!!We hiked up a couple of steps to take some photos and headed back for 4. We got chatting to three brasilians on the way back, they are randomly travelling together so we are all meeting later for drinks! That seems to be the way things go!
Well, the islands on Lake Titacca on the pervian side turned out to be a real cultural experience. A few facts to set the scene. Lake Titacca is the largest and highest navigable lake in the world. You have to keep reminding yourself when you are out in it that it's not the sea. It is dividied between Peru and Bolivian, 60% Peru and 40% to Bolivia. I was asking an englissh guy on the boat a while ago if he knew how that came back about. He seem to think that Peru get what they want when it comes to all agreements so sorry no answer as to how it was spilt. I joined an overnight tour leaving from Puno on Tuesday morning.
We headed first to the floating islannds of Uros, a collection of about 22 in total. As you can see almost everything on the island is made from a kind of straw and things have not evolved much from the ancestors. The designs of the boats and houses have just become alittle more eloborate. One thought did stay with me as our guide explained. Like the Incas and their ancestors they believe in the Gods of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Everything we need comes and it provided for by them so how could we not. However at weekends they will happily attend any church, whichever is accessible. They believe that essentially we all believe we are going the same direction and so why get into the finer details of what exact faith we belong to. It's kind of a nice peaceful way of looking at it I suupose.
Afterwards to headed north for 3 hours to the island of Amiranti. In reality the island wasnt that far but my god was the motor slow!! It was like arriving at irish college. More steps of course! and all our host mothers were lined up to greet us. We were paired off and set off up the hill. Our Home for the night was modest but each had our own room even if we did have a potty under the bed! It might of been slightly awkard squatting in front of someone you don't know. Some of the other girls laughed the following morning about how they were 'bonded'. That's one way of putting it I suppose! Our mother quickly went about preparing lunch. a knife, a pot and lots of veggies from the garden was all it took to prepare a bowl of delicious soup. As you can see from the photos the kitchen was basic but as Vivian and I commented afterwards it made us think of how many of the gagnets and machines we gather and deem essential you can really live without.About 90% i reckon! Life is hard for our 'host mum'. She is left raising 4 kids while her husband is gone to Lima to get some extra cash to pay for schooling. She never stopped. As soon as lunch was finished she took out her knitted, not a minute going to waste.
At 4 we met up with the group to take a walk up to see the Temple of the Sun. The tradition is that you walk around it three times to greet the gods from above, the gods from this world and the dead from below. I stroll around , thought of you all and prayed that god from whatever world would look out for you, protect you and guide you on this journey through life. It turned out to be a beautiful evening so we sat , watched the sun and admired the beautiful landscape below. It was one of the few places that distinctly reminded me of home.Have a look at the photos and see what you think.
After dinner the real fun started. Our host mother dressed us up as you can see from the marvellous creation I am modelling.Girls, i tell you, its worse than a corset. You have two skirts on, heavy enough to warn off any sort of kidney infection and then a belt strapped tighly around you. God forbid you might actually want to breath!! Dressed we head down to the local hall. Such like an Irish cheile, it was so funny! Boys to one side, girls to another! The music started and I got invited by an ancient local onto the floor and the dancing began. We soon figured out that our host mother loved to dance. She never left us sitting for long and point blank refused to go home on numerous occasions. We were there until the bitter end. Towards to the end of the night to add alittle extra entertainment value and having met some more irish girls , we got everyone lined up to do some Irish dancing. It was quite the scene with me shouting in spanish uno, dos, tres in, uno dos tres out! In and out we went and finished laughing!!
Yesterday morning we woke to the rain pleating off the tin roofs above us. Trekked down in our rain gear and ponchos so a seige of witches descended onto the boat again. We headed for the three island of Tequile but to be honest there wasnt much to see there. Maybe we were feeling the effects of being wet or maybe it was that we found ourselved at 10.30am having lunch that set a different tone. One little story did catch our attention. Our guide explained as we waited for food about the different hats the local guys wear depending on whether they are single or not. In addition their pom poms hangs left or right depending on whether their heart has been taken. The hopeless romantics amongst us sighed as she explained how they move their pom poms over to the left when someone captures their attention. The girls likewise wear shawls with big bright poms. Apparently they walk flirting swinging their pom poms from side to side. Who needs text messages when you have pom poms!!
My hands are still feeling numb even after all this typing. Time for a shower to warm me up!
Lots of love from the ageing travellor!! XXX
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