While we were in Puno, Vince and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out on Lake Titicaca. We arranged a full day of boat travel to two different islands. The first was called Uros. They are a group of islands closest to the land that are floating. Ancient people built these islands using the abundant reeds that grow in the lake at least 6 ft. tall. They would tie their roots together under the water and then layer the reeds to make a surface above water. They used to rebuild the islands every 3 years due to rotting reeds and weak ropes, however, with more modern supplies they are able to go longer. They also were known to eat the reeds along with a diet high in fish. We got to try them during our tour and were pleasantly surprised. They taste and have a similar consistency to celery. These people made everything from these reeds....houses, beds, outdoor kitchens, and boats. We took a short ride on one of the boats and they gave Vince a turn at rowing. Once we were back on "floating" land, we boarded our tour boat again and were off to the island of Taquille. It was about a 2 hour boat ride that could have been about 25 minutes...but we were on Peruvian time and they must have been trying to stretch every last bit of gas and took it at about 6-10 miles per hour. We agreed that we could have run faster than this boat was going! The island of Taquille has an interesting infrastructure. It is very male centered. The guys are in charge of everything...down to the textiles they make. The main job of the women is to prepare the thread used by the men to weave it into hats, bags, belts, and scarves. To tell you the truth, these textiles were the ugliest we've seen...but that’s just my opinion! The view of Lake Titicaca from the top of the giant hill we were told to climb were amazing. The lake seems to go on forever. We could see hints of the Bolivian coastline in the distance but it seemed really far away. The sun was shining at that point so the water looked extra blue. We hiked a bit more and then were back on the boat for a 3 hour ride back to Puno. We were able to ride on the roof of the boat the whole way so we caught some rays and watched an amazing storm roll through the city of Puno in the distance. The clouds were so dark in contrast to the sun we had above us and at one point there was a rainbow that formed in the clouds. It was a nice end to a relaxing and educational day!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Weekend in Puno
This last weekend we had quite the time visiting Puno and Lake Titicaca! There was a festival celebrating the Virgin of Candelaria so tons of Peruvians travelled there to help the town celebrate. The Peruvians are almost all "Catholics" however, only because the Spanish took them over years ago and made them convert. So, this festival has developed into more of a spoof on the Spaniards and also a living history of the relationship between the Spanish conquistadors and the native Peruvians. Everyone, and that's not an exaggeration, dresses up in crazy costumes for about 2 weeks. Each costume represents something in the story and also shows where they are from. These people take this so seriously! They only had one scheduled parade while we were there, but every single day there were group after group parading up and down every street with full-on bands, costumes, and coordinated dances for our entertainment. The young were dressed in small replicas of their older participants' costumes and the old were adorned in colorful fabrics and masks that can only be described by looking at our pictures. Most of the older women and men were drunk by 8:00 am so they gave us a pretty good show. Steve and Lucy, our friends that traveled with us, and Vince and I had this wonderful breakfast at Incabar. We sat in their bay window and had the best seats in the house because the parade went right by as we ate. It was quite the scene! We also climbed up to this giant condor statue that overlooks the city. The condor, puma, and snake are icons that are very meaningful to the Peruvian people so you see them everywhere. The hike took about 30 minutes but was, again, straight uphill. We did it with Steve and Lucy, and Azita and John, other friends who came with us from the UK. We all felt pretty good after the climb and enjoyed a nice dinner of alpaca to celebrate.
While we were in Puno, Vince and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out on Lake Titicaca. We arranged a full day of boat travel to two different islands. The first was called Uros. They are a group of islands closest to the land that are floating. Ancient people built these islands using the abundant reeds that grow in the lake at least 6 ft. tall. They would tie their roots together under the water and then layer the reeds to make a surface above water. They used to rebuild the islands every 3 years due to rotting reeds and weak ropes, however, with more modern supplies they are able to go longer. They also were known to eat the reeds along with a diet high in fish. We got to try them during our tour and were pleasantly surprised. They taste and have a similar consistency to celery. These people made everything from these reeds....houses, beds, outdoor kitchens, and boats. We took a short ride on one of the boats and they gave Vince a turn at rowing. Once we were back on "floating" land, we boarded our tour boat again and were off to the island of Taquille. It was about a 2 hour boat ride that could have been about 25 minutes...but we were on Peruvian time and they must have been trying to stretch every last bit of gas and took it at about 6-10 miles per hour. We agreed that we could have run faster than this boat was going! The island of Taquille has an interesting infrastructure. It is very male centered. The guys are in charge of everything...down to the textiles they make. The main job of the women is to prepare the thread used by the men to weave it into hats, bags, belts, and scarves. To tell you the truth, these textiles were the ugliest we've seen...but that’s just my opinion! The view of Lake Titicaca from the top of the giant hill we were told to climb were amazing. The lake seems to go on forever. We could see hints of the Bolivian coastline in the distance but it seemed really far away. The sun was shining at that point so the water looked extra blue. We hiked a bit more and then were back on the boat for a 3 hour ride back to Puno. We were able to ride on the roof of the boat the whole way so we caught some rays and watched an amazing storm roll through the city of Puno in the distance. The clouds were so dark in contrast to the sun we had above us and at one point there was a rainbow that formed in the clouds. It was a nice end to a relaxing and educational day!
While we were in Puno, Vince and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out on Lake Titicaca. We arranged a full day of boat travel to two different islands. The first was called Uros. They are a group of islands closest to the land that are floating. Ancient people built these islands using the abundant reeds that grow in the lake at least 6 ft. tall. They would tie their roots together under the water and then layer the reeds to make a surface above water. They used to rebuild the islands every 3 years due to rotting reeds and weak ropes, however, with more modern supplies they are able to go longer. They also were known to eat the reeds along with a diet high in fish. We got to try them during our tour and were pleasantly surprised. They taste and have a similar consistency to celery. These people made everything from these reeds....houses, beds, outdoor kitchens, and boats. We took a short ride on one of the boats and they gave Vince a turn at rowing. Once we were back on "floating" land, we boarded our tour boat again and were off to the island of Taquille. It was about a 2 hour boat ride that could have been about 25 minutes...but we were on Peruvian time and they must have been trying to stretch every last bit of gas and took it at about 6-10 miles per hour. We agreed that we could have run faster than this boat was going! The island of Taquille has an interesting infrastructure. It is very male centered. The guys are in charge of everything...down to the textiles they make. The main job of the women is to prepare the thread used by the men to weave it into hats, bags, belts, and scarves. To tell you the truth, these textiles were the ugliest we've seen...but that’s just my opinion! The view of Lake Titicaca from the top of the giant hill we were told to climb were amazing. The lake seems to go on forever. We could see hints of the Bolivian coastline in the distance but it seemed really far away. The sun was shining at that point so the water looked extra blue. We hiked a bit more and then were back on the boat for a 3 hour ride back to Puno. We were able to ride on the roof of the boat the whole way so we caught some rays and watched an amazing storm roll through the city of Puno in the distance. The clouds were so dark in contrast to the sun we had above us and at one point there was a rainbow that formed in the clouds. It was a nice end to a relaxing and educational day!
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