Puno, Peru

Went out on Lake Titicaca in Puno. This is the largest lake in South America and the largest body of water at the highest altitude. The lake resides in both Peru and Bolvia.

There are many islands on this lake and we started by visiting the Uros Floating Islands. There are 48 of the floating islands which are made of the layers of the plentiful reeds that grow in the lake. An interesting fact is that the base of the reeds are a good source of calcium. The reeds are used to build the islands, as well as for the walls and roofs of the homes, and the boats used to go out on the lake. It's a lot of work to maintain the these islands, fresh reeds have to be constantly added. The islands are somewhat anchored down but during a heavy rain they may move around a bit.

The local Uros Indians that live on the islands invite tourist into their homes so we can see how they live. Some just come out to the islands during the day to try and sell their handmade crafts to the tourist, but live on the mainland.

For a fee you could take a quick trip on the lake in one of the many reed boats. Even though it was a sunny day it was still a bit chilly on the islands. This didn't stop the barefooted children from playing and interacting with the tourist.

It was a 3 hour boat ride from the floating islands to Amantani Island where we would spend the night in a local home. Unfortunately the olive and cheese pizza meal from the nightbefore did not sit well with me and so I did not get to enjoy the experince as much as I would have liked.

The house was much more modern that I thought it would be. There was even a solar panel on the roof as well as internet hook-up. Bacon the son of one of the daughter's was wearing a Pittsburg Steelers sweatshirt. I later learned that the house was that of the mayor of Amantani.

Lunch consisted of Quinoa soup and potatoes. I was informed that in Peru they grow over 2000 different varities of potatoes (there are 3000 different kinds in the world).

After a good nights sleep we were off to Taquile island. It was a good 40 minute walk from were the boat dropped us of to the main plaza. Luckily we did not take the route that would have had us walking up 500+ steps, we did take this route to get back down to the boat. Both routes had beautiful views of the lake.

As we made our away to a local house to learn about the local customs and to have lunch a group of men passed us wearing very colorful hats. We were told they were the leaders of the island and they were headed to a festival.

At the local house we were told about the different color hats that men would wear depending on whether they were single or married. The married men also wore a belt around there waist to signify that they were married. The men often travel to the mainland alone and the belt lets the local ladies know that the man is already spoken for.

It is custom on the island that if a couple wants to get married they would live with the parents of either person for about 6 months. If things went well during this time then they would be allowed to marry, if not they would break up. If they got pregnant during this time then the wedding was a done deal.

Once married a wife may give her husband a little bag (a man bag if you will) that is used to carry the coca leaves. When men great each other it is not with hand shake, but rather with a offering of some of the coca leaves. Also if one is late to a meeting they must offer everyone else in the meeting some of their coca leaves. Coca leaves are a very important part of the Peruvian culture, not just to help prevent Soroche.

A very interesting and informative couple of days on both the islands.

We visited the chullpas at Sillustani. These are large tombs that the Colla tribe and Incas used to bury the dead. Only the privileged members were put in these tombs. The Colla tribe were the first to use the site and the Incas respected them some much that they too used the site. The Colla tombs were much smaller and used smaller natural stones, while the Inca tombs were much larger and the stones were polished.

When the privileged died they were buried in such a way to prepare them for their next life. This meant that their slaves and their famlies would be put to death and buried with this person. Talk about incentive to keep your boss healthly and happy. If the wife was still alive then she did not have to die, they got get a new wife in the next life.

One of the tallest chullpas was slightly damaged during a lightning storm and so a lighting rod has been installed at the sight to prevent this from happening again.

Here are Sillustani I saw my first wild guinea pigs, they were a bit uglier than the ones I'm used to seeing, but still not enough that I would want to eat them on a regular basis.