Sunday, September 9, 2012
Today we headed for the airport and our flight to Juliaca which is the nearest airport to Puno. What a change in scenery! The hills are bare and dry -- reminded us all of Kamloops. The houses are very basic and unfinished -- found out the reason for that. They don't have to pay taxes until the houses are finished. One hundred thousand people live here and one of the few nice buildings is a new modern looking university. Later on we passed a small village with stone fences -- no mortar, just piled up.
After an hour or so, we arrived in Puno on Lake Titicaca. Puno is a large city scattered on the dry hills above the lake. Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in the world above 2000 m. On the far side is Bolivia. Puno is at 3830 m and the highest place we will sleep on this trip.It is warm during the day when in the sun but quickly chills in the shade. In the evening we need fleece and jackets. We walked to lunch. I really like the way our tour guide Gabriella takes us places instead of letting us flounder on our own. We pay for our own meals but nice to know where to go. I had quinoa soup (full of stuff -- chicken, potato, veggies) and a quinoa dessert (much like tapioca). Rob and Samara had chicken soup which had a whole piece of chicken in it. Warren bailed and had something ordinary as some foods bother him.
After lunch we went back to the hotel and played cards. The altiitude is OK as long as we don't exert ourselves. For supper we went to a BBQ chicken place. Delicious, small amounts and cheap. Then we did a bit of looking around the local supermarket which seemed to have everything except sunglasses. Samara broke hers the first day and Rob didn't bring any. But they managed to find shops with some. It's vital that we protect our skin and eyes as we can burn quickly as this elevation and so close to the equator.
Here is a note for Shannon who likes heavy blankets-- here they are very heavy -- thick and made of wool. One has to wake up to turn over and if you try to sleep on your back, your toes get bent downwards! But we are certainly not cold at night.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Today was fascinating! We were picked up in the morning by bike taxis. We sat in front, in twos, and were pedaled down to the waterfront, about 10 to 12 blocks. It was quite exciting as cars and vans came quite close plus we crossed some very rough railway tracks. We got to the dock where we all bought gifts for our families -- toilet paper, fruit, oil, pasta, sugar, etc. We were not allowed to bring candy for the kids as tooth care is a concern.
We got on our boat along with another 5 Gadventurers (all seemed to be from Australia and had already done the Inca Trail). Our first stop was the Uros Islands which are floating. Each island is about 100 to 150 x 75 feet. They are made by cutting very large pieces of underwater soil which has the Totara reed's root system in it. Eight pieces make up the base of an island. They would tow these to the new spot and tie them together plus anchor them to the bottom. In time the roots grow into each other and anchor the whole thing together. On top they put layers and layers of the reeds. It takes a year to make one and they last about 40 to 50 years. You can only make one if you were born on a floating island. The houses are made of reeds and are moveable. They refresh the top every 15 to 20 days. The cooking area is either kept very wet or they lay down a stone. Fuel is dried reeds or kerosene. There are 165 of these floating islands and they elect a mayor. They have an elementary school and a health center. But, sadly, as the years go by, more and more move to the mainland and may just come out to the islands during the day to sell their crafts. They feed themselves by fishing, hunting birds (with a gun) and gathering bird eggs. Some have solar panels. We had a good history lesson then were dressed up in the local clothes. Samara's hat was different from mine as she is unmarried. Of course they had crafts to sell and S and I did buy some things.
Next was a stop on the island of Taquile. It took several hours to ge there. We then had practice for the hike by a 20 minute climb up stone steps to the restaurant. The boys had no trouble but Samara and I were winded. Lunch was delicious. Warren and I had rainbow trout and Samara and Rob had omelet. It certainly is cheap to eat here. We all had soup and tea as well and it came to about $10 each. Then we looked in at the weaving co-operative. The men weave (very, very fine) and the women spin. They have traditional dress which they wear each day. If a man is wearing a knitted "toque" with white on it, he is unmarried. The hats have a long top which folds and hangs down one side of the head. They wear a vest and a colorful waistband. In addition is a small woven pouch full of coco leaves. The women wear black shawls over their heads and colorful (often red) blouses which indicates that they are married. A light colored blouse is for the unmarried. Works very well, especially since the women are very, very shy.
Next was our destination for the night at a village on Amatani. It is a peninsula of the mainland. The soil is red (iron) and the hills dry but the rainy season doesn't start until October. It will green up then and they will plant their crops. Our first activity was to play soccer with the locals. It was a rousing game that we won but Rob said "they were toying with us". I was amazed at how Warren and Rob could run around at that elevation. Next we were all dressed up. Samara and I had 4 skirts (no wonder the women all look fat!), a jacket, a white scarf which went over one shoulder and a bowler type hat. The boys had colorful ponchos, woven belt and hats with a wide brim. We all had a string of pom poms on our right wrists. Next we watched the locals dance after which it was our turn. As well as doing a simple step and twisting from side to side, we had to fling the pom poms around. After that our local family joined us. Grandpa was pushed aside by his granddaughter and another girl and did they twirl about. We were supposed to be holding hands but it was difficult as they were moving targets. And they showed us up with the skirt twirling. We could see their underskirts but S and I failed that test. By this time it was very dark so our headlamps were used to negotiate the narrow paths up to our "parent's" home.
Our home was interesting. There was a separate section made for the homestay guests which had nice beds and a private bathroom. We were shown to our room and the two kids (girl-5 and boy-7) helped us take off all those layers that Grandpa had put on earlier. (By the way, I wasn't cold anymore with all those layers on top of my fleece and jacket!) The little girl was quite precocious. She insisted on undoing all the buttons and ties which meant I had to be down on my knees. She wanted to hang up Samara's hat but insisted that she had to be lifted up to do it -- no way was S going to do it! Next was supper of soup followed by rice and a medly of veggies done in some sort of sauce. Very good. All this was cooked over a small wood stove that was introduced to the village by a foreign aid agency to get away from smoke filled kitchens. Hard to describe but made of clay and very efficient. We then headed for bed to let the family get on with their normal routine. Now, the blankets -- 5 heavy wool ones plus an extra at the bottom of the bed. It was even heavier than when in Puno.They have electricity for lights only.
Breakfast was at 7:30 but we heard the family up at 5:15. It would be Dad and Mom probably with the kids getting up later. Breakfast was delicious deep fried bread which puffed up leaving a hole in the middle. We ate it with jam. Also had a boiled egg and tea. The kids went off to school and we then "helped" take the sheep down to their enclosure near the water. We started out with our mother (who was 30) but she started talking to someone. We kept following the sheep (15 of them) as they seemed to know where they were going. It was quite funny as we had no idea of the destination and mother was no where in sight. Well, she eventually came puffing across a field, turned them all around and herded them into their enclosure. We were talking to another couple and they had to stake their sheep. Were shown how to tie them but their Dad had to redo it all. We must be such a nuisance! Before we did that we had peeled spuds and carrots and shelled peas for the soup. This was cooking nicely while we were occupied with the sheep. Next we helped with dishes. She scrubbed them with soap in cold water. They get rinsed then put in a bowl to airdry. After that there was nothing to do so we walked a bit then sat in the sun. The chicks were entertaining. It is a beautiful spot with the blue, blue water below. The houses are all made of adobe bricks them make themselves. Warren and Rob had the job of turning them over so they could dry some more. These are made in the dry season then used for building later. Andrew had the hardest job. He helped his father take these large heavy adobe bricks up in a wheelbarrow with father pushing and Andrew pulling with a rope. He was worked too hard in my and his wife's opinion. He's not one of the young ones either. At 11:15 we had our lunch -- quinoa soup with a potato in it, a plate with 3 potatoes (they are small), three Okra, sliced tomato and deepfried fresh cheese!!! This was followed by a cup of barley tea. We then caught the boat back to Puno, a 2 1/2 hour ride.
That's the highlights. It's 10 pm so no time to insert pictures. Will try tomorrow after we get to Cuzco. It is a 7 hour bus ride.