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We didn't get any sleep as the festivities were going throughout the night - drums, brass bands and fireworks. :(
I took an early walk around the main plaza to take some photos of the carnival.
We then took cycle taxis down to the dock and a 1 hour boat ride to the reed islands on Lake Titicaca. The one we stopped on was called 'La Isla Los Uros Tata Inti'.
We were greeted with a song, a handshake and a kiss. I couldn't believe how squishy the floor of the reed island was!! We were given a demonstration on how the islands are made by tying together old reed he's that have turned to cork and they layer reeds on the top.
We looked in their homes and they were basic but nice. The whole family slept int the same room and they had electricity in their huts. We tried the reeds which they ate and saw they had brought stones to cook on. They were larger people as they can't do a lot of exercise on a small feed island, they had darker skin due to the lake reflecting the sun, they were very happy and only spoke Quechua.
We then took their reed boat over to the next island where I got my passport stamped for 1 sole.
We then began our 3 hour boat journey into Lake Titicac to Alamanti Island.
We arrived to be greeted by our host families and were paired off accordingly. A 35 min walk up the bill with a big bad of fruit at 4000 meters altitude required a few stops along the way.
Our family lived close to the football pitch and had separate buildings for sleeping, cooking and of course the toilet. Their land was covered in crops.
Our family consisted of:
Mama - Magdelena
Papa - Frosier
Daughter - Fransica (25)
Granddaughter - Lizbeth (14)
We gave them our gifts of fruit and rice which they seemed well pleased with!
We ate a late lunch that started with soup and main was Rice, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and fried cheese. Conversation was hard as they all spoke Quechua apart from Lizbeth who spoke Spanish. So the word 'Yusparagasunki' was regularly used which means thank you. We then went to watch a football match - gringos verses locals. We lost 2-1 which isn't bad considering the altitude!
We then took a 1km hike up to the highest point of the island for the views and there was a place of worship there to Pacha Muma (norther earth). There's was t a good sunset as there were clouds but we did see Bolivia!
We walked down and had a 30 minute rest in our 3 bedroom room. Score joining our family for dinner. It had got very cold by then so the hot soup and food was much welcomed. We did a little better at convo with Lizbeth as she had an English Spanish dictionary.
Fransica then dressed us up in local clothes (which were very heavy) and we wen tithe village dance just as it started hailing!
The hall was simple with no decorations and on the stage was a 4 piece band and a table selling beer, coke and water. Each dance lasted 15 mins so we were not only quite warm by then but also pretty tired! There weren't 'dance moves' so to speak but it meant that everyone could join in! Grant e en did some poi!
A quick walk back in the rain meant we were in bed by 10.
The night was peacefully apart from heavy rain and I woke once to the metal roof creaking as it got cold (4 degrees!)
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