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The first little piggie built his house out of straw...
We took a bus from Arequipa to Puno, which went via Juliaca. We had saved 3 soles each on the ticket by getting the worst bus at the bus station. Luggage was piled up dangerously on the roof, and threatening to tip over the rickety bus at any moment. The journey was suprisingly comfortable but there was a large delay in Juliaca as all the luggage was removed from the roof. This 30 minutes almost led to a kulak revolt. They started shouting and banging so we kept our heads below the parapet and remained calm. The shouting seemed to work and we were soon on the move again.Â
We arrived at Puno and were met, as usual, by a kulak trying to sell us a hotel. This happened to be the hotel we wanted to go to and so we let her guide us but she tried to make us buy our bus tickets through her agency. Knowing that the tickets are cheaper when bought direct we refused and went to buy them straight away in the bus station. We didn?t go to our planned hotel, as we decided it was too expensive so we went to Hospedaje Illampu. Here we had a clean two-bedded room with a hot-water ensuite. For once we had no trouble with the hot water and it was plentiful at any time of day. The only dodgy moment was that the woman who brought us to the hotel didn?t seem to work there but told us to pay her as we had a good price. We certainly had got a price lower than that advertised but being of the untrusting sort we demanded a receipt. We still feel uneasy about this transaction.Â
Puno town is larger than either of us expected and is at a height of 3828m.a.s.l. This altitude gave Charlie a very bad night of sleep, i.e. no sleep and both were exhausted walking around the streets. We decided not to take it easy and just ignore the effects. The town borders the shore of Lake Titicaca and it was from here that we took a trip out onto the lake. Â
Our first day of snacking was most disappointing. We found three vegetarian restaurants but all were closed, it turned out that they all shut on a Saturday. We were suprised to find one of them open very early on a Sunday morning.  Kulaks....... We did find and excellent cafe that served the best hot chocolate so far and had delectable cakes. This was returned to frequently although disappointed us with being closed on Sunday.Â
Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, at 3,812 m (12,507 feet) above sea level. Located in the Altiplano high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia, at 16°S 69°W, Titicaca has an average depth of 107 m, and a maximum depth of 281 m. The western part of the lake belongs to the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.
More than 25 rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.
Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano. It is drained by the Desaguadero River, which flows south through Bolivia to Lake Poopó. This accounts for less than five percent of the lake's water loss, however, the rest is caused by evaporation as a result of the strong winds and sunlight at this altitude.Â
So many thanks to Wikipedia once more for reducing our typing.Â
We walked to the lake shore in Puno avoiding the constant harassment from bicycle taxis. At the lake shore were many artesanal market shops where some trading, bartaring and harassment fun was had by all. Also in this area was a bus that had paint on the windows informing the travellers that it was a museum about the wildlife of the lake and only cost 50 cents (6 pence) to get in. We were very pleased with a bus full of stuffed birds and fish, which also remided us of the caravan!
To try and use up the days we had in Puno we wandered around part of the lake to get to a ship. We walked for several hundred meters down te middle of the railway line. Luckily there was no frequent service.
The Yavari is a ship commissioned (along with the Yapura) by the Peruvian government in 1861 for use on Lake Titicaca and built by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd in London. It is named after the Yavari Rivers located in the Loreto Region of Peru, bordering the Amazonas State (Brazil).
It was built in 2,766 pieces, each weighing no more than what a mule could carry, due to the fact that no railroad existed at the time between the Pacific coast and Puno, where it was to be assembled. The transportation through Peru took 6 years, due to the extreme conditions and various unexpected delays, and the steamboat was finally launched in 1870. The 60-horsepower steam engine was fed with dried llama dung.
After a hundred years of service, the boat was in a poor condition, but it was recovered and restored in the 1990s. Today, it is moored in Puno, and hosts a museum and a bar.Â
Another Wikipedia great. Slightly wrong this time though ? Bar, Bar, there was no bar when we visited ? slight bitterness.Â
We had a guided tour in Spanish and watched a video in English. The boat was moored off a luxury hotel so we took full use of the toilet facilities. They even had toilet paper in them, and toilet seats ? Lisa was pleased. We enjoyed the visit here but the recommended voluntary contribution was $5, we couldn?t afford that but luckily the guide wasn?t looking as we put a couple of coins in the box.Â
Islas Flotantes (Uros) and TaquileÂ
At 6.45 we were waiting downstairs in the hotel reception for our tour guide to pick us up. We had booked a day trip to visit two floating islands and one regular island on Lake Titicaca. The lady that took us to the hotel tried to sell us a package tour, but we found it cheaper elsewhere in town. She was very upset when we had told her we had booked it with someone else, and said that she would have given us a discount as well. Charlie pointed out that she should have done that in the first place and not tried to rip us off. She is no longer our friend.Â
Right on time, our tour guide turned up. She looked a little sheepish, as she had banged on our door the previous morning at 6.45am because she had got the dates wrong. But we decided not to punish her because she was very apologetic. We got bundled into a taxi with a man and a woman (who later became known as ?our friend? and Sebastian).Â
We arrived at the dock and saw all the boats knocking into each other into the green covered waters at the edge of the lake. Even though the boats had motors, they were navigated using large sticks and many crashes were witnessed. At first it was just the four of us on the boat (which had reclining bus seats inside) but we were soon joined by a very large VERY ANNOYING Australian family. Who we ignored for the whole day.Â
The boat set off and we arrived at our first destination, one of the floating islands made entirely out of reeds. All the buildings were made out of reeds as well, and the boats too (which were very grand designs, looking like viking battleships with big dragon heads at the front). Nerw reeds have to be added every 20 days to the top of the island, as it disintergrates from the bottom. We looked around and climbed a rickety old watch tower (also made out of reeds). The islanders even have electricity, each house has a solar panel on a post outside. At one point, one of the islanders lifted up a flap in the middle of the island to reveal a hole that went right through to the water. The island, we were told, is 2m thick and sits on 20m of water.Â
While looking around the island, we were fed some reeds (the same ones used for building) and they tasted a bit like celery. There was also a crazy heron that kept flapping its wings and squaking (see video). Charlie tried to scare it but then it just kept following him around and pecking at his shoes. So he ran away.Â
The local people then gave us a ride to another floating island in one of their reed boats, a 2 storey vikingesque affair. Two men rowed while we looked on. As we sailed away, the lcal women stood at the edge of the island and sang ?row your boat? at us in hideously off key voices. It was very sinister (see video).Â
We arrived at the next island, which had a ?lodge?, i.e. a straw hut with a matress in it. But it was clean at least! This island had a small shop, post office and restaurant. All made out of and floating on reeds. Bizarre!Â
Soon we were back on our original boat, heading out for a 2.5 hour ride across Lake Titicaca to reach the island of Taquile (not floating!). During this trip, Charlie and Lisa went to sit on the roof of the boat to escape the Australians and were joined by ?our friend?, a nice human rights lawyer from Denmark who liked it when Charlie described the Australians as ?highly excitable?. We chatted with her for the whole journey. Lisa liked her because even though she was old (44) she still had bleached blonde hair. She was travelling with a random man she had met named Sebastian, but he was from Poland and looked very ill so we didn't like him.Â
We arrived at Taquile, and raced to the top, taking in the amazing views. Such a pretty island! The rest of the group went for lunch, but Charlie and Lisa wandered around the island instead, eating rolls. ?Our friend? and her friend Sebastian couldn't bear the thought of having lunch with the group, so they went off by themselves as well. Respect!Â
Eventually we met up with the group again and trekked to the other side of the island where our boat had moved to (which included trekking down 500+ steps, much to Lisa's horror!). Â
On the way back in the boat, we lay down on the soft seats outside, but soon had to move inside because it was freezing. We eventually reached home and said a said goodbye to our ?new friend? and a not so sad goodbye to Sebastian (and the Australians).
Knicker theftÂ
The first loss of clothing at a laundry took place in Puno. The laundry (Lavaclin) lost 2 pairs of Lisa?s knickers and 1 pair of walking socks. The socks had a large monetary value (7 pounds a pair) and the knickers were emotionally important as they were bought in Panama and had monkeys on! Lisa would like to start a charity fund to buy some more socks and monkey knickers. Lisa went to see if they still had the items but the woman spoken to was very rude. She insisted that everyone else?s laundry was complete and so was mine!!! Lisa tried to explain in broken spanish that she was wrong but there was no getting any sense out of this kulak, so Lisa thanked her for her help (they understand sarcasm) and stormed out.Â
On the last full day in Puno we hired a lovely double swan necked peddalo and boated around a sectioned off part of Lake Titicaca. We had 30 minutes but the novelty wore off after about two minutes. We played with the eutrophicated water (lots of green stuff, for the non-biologists) and tried to destroy the plants. We were surprised by how much of the water is affected by this, caused by fertiliser run-off, this must be affecting the populations of fish and thus the livelihoods of most of the inhabitants in this area. This thought was soon thrown out of our minds as we went for lunch.
Final thoughts: A nice enough town that we quite enjoyed staying in. Consistent hot water in hotel is always a bonus! Loved the day trip. Lisa sad that knickers stolen.Â
Mark out of 10 = 7
Next time... Copacabana (Bolivia)
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