LAKE TITICACA
post by scott
We were both sad to leave beautiful Cusco. These feeling of regret deepened when at the bus station we were bumped onto a different bus with tickets half the value as what we had bought. There were some wicked smells floating around and a complete lack of a/c or ventilations so the trip was less than memorable.
Puno is a small border town sitting on the edge of Lake Titicaca which was our destination. Driving in all the building were brick, monotone and unfinished with metal rods poking out the top. Superficially it is a damn ugly town but thankfully has the lakeshore to give it a bit of lustre. Straight after arriving I was struck down with one of the worst cases of manflu in recorded history and was bedbound for the entire following day. Allana had caught a regular cold (probably from that petrie dish of a bus) but was as usual a trooper and went downstairs to pick up delicious alpaca kebabs, gigantic corn and plastic bags of tea from the street for me. The situation was not helped by fairly high alitude here (~3900m and makes it onto wikipaedias list of worlds highest towns) which made walking up the 4 flights of stairs to our room a serious ordeal. I now know what its like to get puffed just from eating.. |
UROS ISLANDS
Today we decided to hit the lake. First of all was a stroll down through the markets where old ladies with huge peticoats and bowlers hats clung to their sheep for the slaughter. Around the lakeshore we were lucky enough to see wild guinea pigs poking their heads out from the rock walls - although these guys were not as big as those bred for restaurants,
as well as ducks getting frisky amongst the green slime coating the water.
The boat we got on took us out to the famous Uros floating islands.
Back in the day, the Incas were being real domineering jerks around these parts, so as a means to escape and live in peaceful solitude the Uros Islanders banded together some of the bouyant reeds which are prolific around the lake and floated away to start a new life in the middle of Titicaca, unmolested by marauding land dwellers. The islands are a real engineering marvel, with about 3m of reeds in different levels of decay supporting homes, restaurants and schools above. You can see and feel the ground wobbling underneath you as you walk like a frog on a lillypad. They have to replenish the reeds from the top every three months, as the bottom layer continuously rots and falls away into the water. The islands are also anchored by long ropes driven from all corners of the islands down into the dark lake. Rather than one large reed island as we imagined there would be, there are 42 small islands, each supporting between 3 to 5 families. We also got a ride on one of their traditional reed boats.
On the way home we wandered through the street markets and Dad you will be happy to know i picked up a pair of dirt cheap hiking
boots and some socks - probably should have got them before Salkantay
though.. There were also plenty of chickens, turkeys, overweight rabbits, ducks, kittens and dogs. Puppies were being sold for the bargain basement price of $1.20. Later that night we caught the local screening (spanish dubbed) of Iron Man 3, enjoyed with popcorn and gigantic cups of hicha morada - a peruvian drink made from purple corn.
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Our final day in Puno we had planned to visit one of the other islands on Lake Titicaca but were both still feeling less than 100% so we took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and chill out around town. Today we payed more for a single cappucino in the town centre (9 soles or $3.50) than for a two course lunch for both of us at a little family restaurant (7 soles or $2.50) - Incredible!
Anyway tomorrow we are leaving for the Amazon and we are both hanging out to be back at good old sea level! |