Joanne and Valerie in Peru: The Islands of Lake Titikaka

I am writing this from Cusco. Just so you know, rainy season is upon us. It is pouring outside. But we are safe and dry in our super fancy hostel!

When last we spoke, Val and I were in Puno. I should go back a bit and mention that I started taking some altitude sickness pills the day we left for Puno, as a preventative measure. Unfortunately, they caused more side effects than they prevented any problems. To put it delicately, I had an upset tummy (if I wanted to put it indelicately, I would say I put the Poo in Puno, but that would be TMI). So, when we bought our tour (not a tour!), I was a bit worried about spending hours on a boat. Luckily, all was cleared up (out? TMI again?) by morning. Perhaps not luck, my friend Carolyn from work had given me some shady Peruvian Imodium pills she had left over from her 'tummy troubles' when she visited.

Anyway, we met our captain on the dock for our 8am departure. I should have known this was going to be challenging when we had to scramble over four boats to get to our boat. My back is better but still not great.

The water was calm and the lake was beautiful

There were very few tourists on our boat. First stop, the floating islands of Uros. These islands are built from reeds and people live on them. They subsist (at least traditionally) on fish and grebe. We saw quite a few plucked grebes around.

We all sat in a circle and a man told us the history of the floating islands. Each tour boat goes to a different cluster of families. It was all very rehearsed and unnatural. I wonder if this society would still exist if not for the hordes of tourists arriving everyday. Tourists can visit Uros for an hour for just s/10 so it is busy.

Some things going on while we listened to our lesson

A woman sewing

A little boy making a toy out of a wash basin

These two soaking wet cats.

After our little lesson, a girl came over and told us to come with her. Perhaps she invited us but we didn't seem to have a choice so I am sticking with 'told'. We went into her reed hut and sat down. Then we all just kind of stared at each other. We asked some awkward questions, I took a picture of her and then we were allowed to leave. The only thing to do was look at the stuff they had for sale

I like this picture

Then onto their reed boat to go a few family clusters down where we met our boat. Grubby kids sang for soles on the boat. I just wanted to give them a good wash and a decent meal. Val dared to use the bathroom at the next stop. Very brave!

After an hour on Uros, we headed for Amantani Island, 2 and a half hours away. The scenery was amazing although I did eventually fall asleep for a bit. Something about the rocking of the boat and the hum of the engines makes it impossible to stay awake. Again, I was obsessed with clouds.

Amantani Island from a distance

We could see Amantani coming forever. It is a mountain rising out of the sea (lake but it seems like a sea it is so big).

The thing about mountains, is that you can only go up from the bottom. When we booked our tour (not a tour!), our captain said he would arrange our overnight stay with a host family.

We read some reviews before we left. We read things like 'we got a cot and a candle' and 'it was rustic' so we were prepared for a less than comfortable situation. Plus, when we asked what to give to our host family as a thank you gift, captain said to bring rice, oil and fruit because the islanders don't have access. This set a certain expectation of what we would encounter.

The boat docked, and the passengers were handed off to waiting locals. Val and I and a German woman went with the only man waiting. The rest of the crowd went with women who were all dressed in traditional outfits. No photo op with our guy!

We started up the hill, up, up, up... UP! At least the islanders put in a 'paved' path a few years ago, which I assume made the walk easier. But the thin air, and the pack (smaller but still heavy with oil, rice and mangoes), it was a climb.

It seems I never took a proper picture of Sr. Gonzalo and
his wife, Jenny.

I think I mentioned last time that Val and I paid a bit extra for a private bathroom. I realized later that this may have guaranteed a bit better room. But I was not expecting what we got. Our family, the Gonzalos, had built a special section on their house with three rooms, each with separate bathrooms, a lovely balcony and total privacy. It was the nicest room we had stayed in yet during our time in Peru. And they were building a second addition with four more rooms! I felt a bit silly giving them oil and rice but they were very nice.

Our room came with three (!) meals, lunch as we arrived, dinner and then breakfast the next morning. We went up to our rooms, settled in for a bit and then met in the kitchen where Jenny had made us lunch of fresh trout, rice and two kinds of potatoes (not to mention the cream of quinoa soup to start). The fish was delicious. There was way too much food. This was consistent with every meal Jenny made. I was glad to see she wrapped up our leftovers, I would have felt really guilty if at least the chickens didn't get what we didn't finish.

After lunch, we went on the hike to the top of the mountain. Ha, we made it half way and decided we had a nice enough view, thank you very much. The trail just kept going through fields and fields of potato farms. I had no idea potato plants were so lovely. White and purple and pink flowers.

Lots of pictures from our walk. Literally every single person on the island has a plot on the mountain. And they are all picturesque. It was hard not to take a picture of every one of them as they went about their lives.

The path through the village.

The Plaza del Armas

Resting on our ascent

We got back from our walk around 5 o'clock and had dinner at 7. Cream of corn soup with garlic bread followed by a plate of carbohydrates, potatoes, rice and fried bread. Again, so much food. Early to bed and early up for a pancake breakfast. To the boat for 7:30 to head to Taquile Island.

Taquile is famous for it's knitting men. Apparently it is the only place in Peru where the men knit. It is also just a giant upward stone path. 45 minute walk (maybe an hour for us laggards) to the Plaza. Someone told Val it was 550 steps but it felt like 5 thousand. Some photos from the hill. Lots of cows and sheep on this island.

We finally made it to the Plaza and found the knitting men! I bought myself a scarf and I may have bought thank you gifts for C&J for cat/house sitting.

The Plaza