We are now in Puno, the folklore capital of Peru on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It is a modern town with nice resturants and bars. A well earned drink was in order last night after a rather cold homestay the night before. And the hot shower this morning was perfect!
DID YOU KNOW?
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, 3,820m above sea level. It is big! 165k long, 60k wide. Has 50 islands on it and boarders Peru and Bolivia. We could hardly see Bolivia as was so far in the distance.
We were told that we would be picked up in a Limousine and taken in style to catch our boat across the lake. Hmmm well was not a Limousine but was great fun! We raced to the lake shore in a putput or is it a patpat, anyway the two person carriages.
Racing to the shore
The crossing was very smooth
Our boat
Our boat was a nice boat, lots of space to chill, but was about 3hours so a little nap was in order, and of course I took some photos.
An island we passed
A local fisherman
Solar panels on the roof
Our first stop was a trek around Isla Taquile, up lots of steps. The main source of income here is tourism. There are about 2,500 people in the Taquilenos community (lots of in breeding). They had recently had installed solar panels to generate electricty.
Traditional dress
The views were great! Sun shinning still and all very happy. The men wear a traditional dress as shown above. The person on the right is a fat American tourist that did not seem to want to move so had to include in my photo. (Yes I know we have fat people in Britain)
Traditional food Al Fresco
Had a great lunch of freshly caught fish from the lake Al Fresco. I had to eat some of my soup first, just to be polite. I know I may have said this before butI really don't like soup but the Peruvians seem to.
Steps to our boat
There were a lot of steps down to our boat. Then we set off for another hour or two to Llachon for our second homestay. We all brought lots of warm clothes incase it was cold like last time. The homestays are new to this community and they welcomed us with open arms into their homes. They are a good source of income for the community and Intrepid like to support local communities and preserve the traditional way of life.
Our homestay house
We stayed with a young couple Rolando and Roxana and their son Luis Mario. Sophie, Kirsty and I stayed with the family in the two rooms on the left. They were basic but warm and we had a bathroom with a shower, but decided to wait for a hot one in the hotel the next day. We arrived, dropped our bags in our rooms then helped with the family chores.
9 one day old piglets and sow
First we had to move the 1 day old piglets and sow from the pig pen in the top field to the bottom field. I was handed a big sack and had to put (gently) 5 piglets in it. Well I was not really sure at the time what we were gunna do with them, I was just hoping we were not taking them to be killed. You never know could have been on the menu for the evening. So after a 5 mins walk with 5 squawking piglets (all were very scared) we put them back with their mother in a larger pen. Thank goodness we were killing them :-). Then we shelled a load of beans and peeled loads of potatoes and carrots. Sophie and Kirsty did alot more than me. Looked like we had done their peeling for the rest of the week.
Ohh and I forgot, we were wearing traditional dress, which keep us warm. Not sure that the hat really suited me.
Do I look silly?
So here we are again dressed up in traditional costumes. Lots of detail in the embroidery. In the photo above are: Top row : Me, Dairmaid, Rowan and Jani, Bottom row: Colette, Kirsty and Sophie. Being single Kirsty, Sophie and I had the same style hats, they were long at the back like 'Wee Willy Winky'. Colette and Jani had very ornate style hats and Jani had a great jacket, the boys had funny hats.
After dinner, which was cooked outside in a dung fuelled stove, we went to the main man in the community´s house for a celebration. We danced most of the night around the campfire. We were all a bit tired but did not decline our hosts offers to dance. I was shattered, my host family asked me to dance practically every dance but suppose it was keeping me fit.
Dancing all-night
This picture is a bit smokey from the campfire.
The campfire kept us warm
All of us at the end of the evening
Then it was off to bed, not hot toddies but we did have hot water bottles. I showed Rolando and Roxana my star chart as with no light polution there were so many stars in the sky, beautiful, could even see the milky way.
WEDNESDAY MORNING
I slept well. After helping with the breakfast we went on a nice walk around the area.
Arch and the lake
I like arches, something special about them, almost walking into another land.
Having a rest
A local fisherman
Cows roam around freely
Ohh and so do the bulls. Weather was great again.
Going for a paddle
The water looked lovely and clear, but was very cold. Rowan was the first to go paddling and went in deeper than everyone else.
Locals sewing potatoes
They harvest the land for food for themselves and to sell. As a community they will sew the fields together and share the harvest.
Fishing nets on the lake
Then after our walk it was back to our homestays to play beach volleyball.
Beach volleyball
It was all very competitive. Our tour guide Cecilia and Rowan (PE instructor) were on my team and were both out to win! The locals were really good. My team won! but only just. Then it was time for lunch and saying our thanks and goodbyes.
Our host family
They gave us all pink flower necklaces which were really nice.
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