25.11. - 26.11.10

Floating Islands & Isla Tanquile on Lake Titicaca /Puno

On Thursday, 25.11.10 I finally left my homestay family in Arequipa after four weeks. I was very sad to say "Adios" to Vicky, Randy, Kevin and the nice housekeeper Johanna. Just before I left Vicky handed me a farewell present…..a lucky bean which is called ….I attached it straight away to my mobile so it would be robbed again. Thanks a mill to all of you! I had a great time living and sharing the house with you.

At 7.30am I took the bus (Titicaca-Bolivia Express) from Arequipa to Puno. 6 hours later we arrived in Puno at the LAKE TITICACA. Thomas, a German friend of mine, recommended the hostal "The Walk on Inn" close to the Plaza de Armas. After I have checked in I went straight back to the town centre as I was quite hungry. I found a nice "cevicheria" where I had a very nice fish soup.

Puno is the gateway for LAKE TITICACA'S Islands and with a population of 118.000 inhabitants and all the tourists a quite buzzling town. I went to two tour operators and ask for a day trip to the ISLA FLOTANAS (floating islands of the Uros) and ISLA TAQUILE.

On Friday, 26.11.10 at 6.40am I was picked up by the tour bus and dropped off at the port with another 20 tourists. At 7.30am we left the port with a motor boat. During the 30 Minute boat ride the tour guide provided us with plenty of information on the Lake and the main Islands of Peru e.g. ISLAS DE UROS, ISLA TAQUILE AND ISLA AMANTANI.

When we arrived at the ISLA FLOTANTES (Islas de Uros) I was quite shocked. The unique floating islands -around 52 in all- have become quite commercialized….but still very interesting to see. The islands are built using layers of the buoyant reeds that grow in the shallows of Lake Titicaca. After our tour guide told us about the live on these islands we could wonder around for an hour, take photos and buy handicrafts made by the Uros people. One of the Uros ladies dragged me into her reed house and dressed me with their traditional clothes. Oh Jesus…..I looked so ridiculous but it was fun! Check out the photos on my album!

From the "Islas de Uros" the boat trip took two hours to the ISLA TANQUILE. Most of the tourist slept but I met a very nice couple from Stuttgart in Germany and another interesting German lady who is now living in Paraguay. From the port of the Isla Tanquile we walked up to the top of the island to the "Plaza Municipal" from where we had absolutely stunning views over to Lake and to the ISLA DE SOL on the Bolivian site.

Again we were surrounded by loads of tourists and local people who wanted to sell their handicrafts. From the plaza we walked up even a bit higher to a local family who were running a tiny restaurant. We were offered some seats on their outside terrace with an incredible view on the lake. The set meal was "trucha a la plancha" (grilled trout) which must have been just caught from the lake as it was incredible tasty and fresh.

On the 2 ½ hour trip back I was chatting to the young 26 year old Peruvian captain who told me that he was growing up on the Isla de Taquile. It was very interesting and I had the chance to brush up my Spanish a bit!