Lake Titicaca on Good Friday

Friday, March 26, 2016, WTRD 77 
We are up at 5:00 and down to breakfast by 5:45.  Two of the original folks who ate the guinea pig are feeling better today, eating a light breakfast.  One of them is staying in bed today. Two others who were up all night are down for breakfast with the intent on going come hell or high water.

Today we tour Lake Titicaca by slow motor boat stopping off to visit the floating islands.  

Six rivers flow into the lake, one out of the lake in Bolivia.  The water comes from the mountains, but originally was a part of the sea.  Lake water contains 1 gm of salt per liter which is not good for the people, animals, for the crops.  They depend on rainwater, and this year because of El Nino, there is little water and the crops have suffered.

A young woman and her baby are looking for a ride out to the islands.

Reeds are thick around the shore line.  Our boat traverses through a cleared water path until we reach more open water on Lake Titicaca and reach the floating islands.

Floating Family Village

Local Village Mama Welcomes Us 

Our first stop: The Uros originally built the islands from many layers of totora reeds that grow in the lake's shallows to isolate themselves from the rival tribes.  Their are 90 floating islands and 2200 residents.  The main president of the islands today is a Mama.  The reeds that grow in the brackish waters of Lake Titicaca provide the basic building materials for the floating villages.

Children learn early the value and importance of the reeds.

Our boat driver wears a traditional hat...person of importance.

Our Mama delights in dressing us in indigenous clothing.

And No!  Those aren't Blue Boobies.  They are hair ties, but I don't have long hair, so our hostess put the tassels in front!

We went to a local family's floating island and were given an opportunity to visit with them and see a demonstration of how the reeds from the lake are used to make the Island. The reed islands are built by layering  reed upon read.  As the reeds closest to the water begin to rot, more layers are added on top. These reeds are used for making everything on the islands, including the boats which can last up to 12 months.  The islands themselves last about 30 months before the family must build a new island.  The elementary school and a small hospital are on its own islands. High school students attend school on the main land.  These are very high maintenance homes.

The men are off the island today cutting reeds, fishing, and perhaps working onshore.  The Mamas stay at home feathering the nest with reeds, handicrafts, and entertaining visitors.

This little reed boat is a replica of the original houseboats the people lived on before island building.

A single light in the one room reed hut is solar powered.

The Mamas sing to us, sell us their handicrafts, and take us for a paddle on their reed boat.

The little girls are particularly cute.  I teach them how to use the camera, and they have fun taking pictures and looking at the ones I took of them.

The older girl captures a nice photo of Diane.

This was a highlight of our trip so far for us.  We bought a few souvenirs and nearly depleted our sol kitty.  Because several of our fellow travelers are not up to a big lunch, we weren't too worried about saving much for our lunch.

It will take us 2.5 hours to cross from the floating islands to the first island where we will do some walking.  The lake is quite vast, and the Bolivian border runs halfway through the lake.  Even 2.5 hours off shore, we will have only gone offshore a relatively short distance given the length of the lake.  Many of the group are taking the time to nap and recuperate as we cross the gentle waters.  Russ is fast asleep.

Origianlly our itinerary was to  visit the Taquile Island, where knitting is strictly a male domain and women do the spinning. This is a great place to pick up some high quality, locally knitted goods. To reach the main part of the island there is a an uphill trek (approx 1 hour) with great views of the lake. There will also be an optional lunch consisting of a basic set meal where you can taste the nutritious quinua soup and enjoy a muna tea (Andean mint tea).A descent of approx 500 steps brings us back to the boat which will take us all the way back to Puno (approx 3 hours).

But given the weariness of most of our group, our guides have made some adjustments to our itinerary.  We only take a short walk about 15 minutes up a trail to a lookout from a part of the island that has no steps.  From here we can see the snow capped mountains of Bolivia.  

After a brief rest and photo taking, 

Little girl playing in the rocks.

we walk back down and stop at a restaurant where we hear an explanation about the male domain of knitting and are shown some of the traditional hats

 of single and marrid men, and marriage belts that have the brides hair woven into them by the bride's mama.

It is the tradition here for 2 year trial marriages before the wedding.  After 2 years the couple decides to marry or not.  There is no divorce here, so if the couple is not compatible it's time to call it quits.

During the trial marriage, the man knits the hat he will wear as a married man.   If the couple decides to wed, the father of the bride makes the final decision by scrutinizing the knitting skills of the groom's hat.  Every stitch is inspected and in the end taken down to the lake to see if the hat woven by the groom can hold water.  If not, the wedding is off.

Customs around the world are so fascinating.

Only 4 of us opt for lunch, 3 quinoa vegetable soups, and one take away grilled trout.  The rest of the group are still queazy in the presence of food and head back to the boat.  We are all back on the boat two hours ahead of schedule and heading for the mainland.

I think it is siesta time.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's on Lake Titicaca, Peru

Onward to Puna on the Shores of Lake Titicaca

Thursday, March 25, 2016, WTRD 76

Tucked away in between the many small villages around Puno are the ruins of Sillustani. These ruined towers are set on a beautiful peninsula near Lake Umayo, built by a pre­Inca civilisation hundreds of years ago. The Sillustani Indians built several 'chullpas', funeral towers. Each tower would have contained the remains of noble men, buried together with offerings to secure their comfortable passage into the next life.

Today is another long day in the mini-bus as we travel from Arequipa to Puna on the shores of Lake Titicaca.  Again we pass by towns that are very poor and through a changing countryside from dry to and brown to that of brown mixed with highland greens.  We travel upward today.  

The curse of the Guinea Pig!
The start of the day has not been healthy for the guinea pig eaters, all three are experiencing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, others are feeling a bit off, but not sure why...maybe altitude sickness or something they ate.

I'm feeling well enough for the moment having given away my cold to Russ. But given our last bout of something in Patagonia, it's a bit like waiting for a bomb to drop.  We keep taking our altitude sickness pills, but some of the group are not taking them and they don't feel well.

We pass by some guanaco playing in the dunes.

About 13,000 feet!

We make a few more pit stops than usual so that those not feeling well can get outside, take photos of the countryside, and arrive at a Sillustani Indian Complex, started 200 years BC and having gone through many changes, from their own migration too the area and their farming practices of terraces and lakeside irrigation, to conquerers of another tribe from Bolivia who were more interested in changing the landscape of the land to bury their dead, to the Incas who continued to bury dead, and now has reverted back to the hybrid indigenous who benefit from many tourists who visit the complex.

Before hiking to the top of the burial ground in the complex, we pick up our lcal gide Franz and stop at a local farm house that is now both a farm house and a lunch room.  The father wears a chef hat in a nice clean kitchen.

The mother and daughter serve the food.  Some of the group is just eating the starter of vegetable quinoa soup because of their upset stomachs.  The soup is excellent.  Russ and I both have grilled chicken, rice, and cooked vegetables.

After lunch, we buy a little hat for our next grand-baby that Mama Isabel has knit from alpaca wool.

We take photos of some of the farm animals including the guinea pigs.  Franz says that perhaps it was not a good idea to eat guinea pigs and meat in restaurants in Arequipa during holy week as meat is not eaten.  Perhaps, the meat we ate the restaurant was old.

From the farm house we drive a few kilometers to the cemetary.  Two of the 10 stay on the bus, while 3 of us that feel well, and 5 others who are marginally well hike up to the top of the hill with Franz.  

He explains the round tombs that were started in the ground and grew upward over the years.  By the time the Inca's arrived, the tombs were already high above the ground.  The Incas built stairs up to the grave  yard and perfected the tombs with refined Lego like blocks that locked together in circular towers, narrower at the base and wider at the top.

Today we can say that we walked on the steps of the Incas.

Male and Female Fitted Blocks used by the Incas

Dead bodies were treated with herbs and mints to keep them from attracting insects, placed in a fetal position (the way they came into the world), and wrapped in lama and alpaca leather and buried in a circular rock tomb.  The Indigenous believed in reincarnation and wanted to keep the body whole with all of its organs, unlike Egyptian mummies.

This was an interesting stop, but has become quite the tourist center.  This little girl was posing for photos with her baby alpaca. Our guide told us later that paying children was not a good idea because they would think they could make a living from their behavior and not go to school.

By the time we left the complex, the sun had set.  We drove the rest of the way, another hour and half to Puna, in the dusk and dark, arriving at 7:00 pm at our hotel.  Four of us ate light dinners, the rest went straight to their rooms to rest and take care of their ailments.  

Tomorrow will be a full day starting at 5:30 with breakfast, 6:30 to the Port of Puna, and the rest of the day on the lake visiting islands.  We'll have to see how the day develops based on the health of the group.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's on the Shores of Lake Titicaca