Day 5/6 - Puno & Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca, despite having a name you want to giggle at, is the highest navigable lake in the world (I am going to ace Trivial Pursuit now). It is also has beautiful scenery, floating islands, and is one of the most beautiful places we visited on our trip to Peru.
To get to Lake Titicaca, we had to get to the closest city, Puno (which is not very pretty, kinda industrial). After a rest in Cusco (and unfortunately tempermental hot water at the hotel), we woke up early and boarded the Inca Express - a bus service which goes from Cusco to Puno, with stops along the way (see right for Ariel posing in the ruins).
At the first rest stop on our journey, I ran into Little Bo Peep with her Alpaca....
I also took an opportunity to pose with my own Alpaca at another rest stop on the 6-7 hr trip (at the time I didn't know it was an Alpaca but have sinced learned the difference between an Alpaca, Llama, and Vecuna). I think this picture is very cute but I feel that the Alpaca is stealing my thunder.
We reached Puno just before dinnertime, checked into our hotel (this one had hot water thank goodness - but you had to let the water run for a bit), and had a nice pizza dinner nearby our hotel. I was expecting Puno to be freezing cold but luckily it wasn't that bad. Puno is at a higher altitude than even Cusco so when the sun goes down it gets a bit chilly. There is not much to do in Puno so we had an early night so we could get up early for our day tour on Lake Titicaca. There were two options for a tour: slow boat or fast boat. The slow boat would take 3 hours each way to get to the main attractions (the islands) whereas the fast boat would get us there in 1 hour... but cost 3 times as much. After much deliberation, we opted for the fast boat. It turned out to be a smart move...
We got up early and met Sulima, our tour guide, at our hotel. Turns out we were getting a private tour of Lake Titicaca and its islands. Yes, they knew we were VIPs and we finally were getting the VIP treatment (either that, or no one else was dumb enough to pay 3x more for the fast boat).
First stop, Uros Islands.These floating islands made of reeds on lake Titicaca actually are inhabited by about 1000 people. They do everything on the islands, including cooking and even watching TV thanks to solar panels. Here is a great picture of Ariel that gives you a sense of the islands.
Here is another of a woman making food on the island, with our cool 'fast boat' in the background. It also gives a good sense of how the island is made entirely of reeds.One of the women on the island was telling us about her family. She had 6 or 7 daughters who all were married.... except for one, and then pointed to a 15 yr old girl nearby. Then she winked at us. We got a little scared and stopped talking to that woman.
I also decided it was time for me to show my 'butchness' and pose with the gun that they use to scare flamingos. Behind me in this picture is a house that one family lives in. It really was amazing walking around on these islands of reeds.
We then were given a ride in a reed boat (paddled by the 15 year old single girl and her dad). It was really relaxing going along the lake in this boat. The women on the island sang songs to us including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is relaly cute since they don't speak English and unlikely know the meaning of the song.
After spending about 1 hour on Uros, we sped off to our next destination, Taquile island. The boat was great on the water, and the three of us sat in the back of the boat getting wind in our hair (and of course, a necessary sun tan).
Taquile island is a more conventional island (e.g. not floating island made of reeds) and allowed us to really appreciate the beauty of Lake Titicaca. We got off the boat and walked up some steep stairs in order to get a beautiful view of the Lake. It really looked so blue and relaxing that day-- here is a photo that almost looks like it could be art.
Of course, THIS piece of art is even nicer since I am in it :)
We had a nice lunch of trout and homemade soup on the island, made for us by a family who live on the island (and of course run a tourist restaurant). The lunch was delicious. Here is a picture of the host family..... Take special note of grandma on the right.
After lunch, they brought out some instruments and started a dance to celebrate the harvest. Then after this, they asked us to join in. It was actually pretty fun to dance with the family. Here is a picture of me dancing with the cutest little kid. Afterwards I danced with grandma who really gave me a run for my money in the dancing department.
After the dance, I started thinking that if Brangelina can adopt a child maybe I could too. Here is a cute pic of me with my newly adopted Peruvian son.... He kinda looks a bit terrified of me, the gringo.
Being on Lake Titicaca was a really great experience. It was relaxing and fun, and had beautiful scenery. We made our way back to the boat and took a few more pictures of the tranquil water.
We took our fast boat back to Puno (only took 1 hour to get there) and I couldn't help taking this great photo of the harbour. I love this picture...
Back in Puno, we spent our last evening catching up on email, blogging, and taking a ride in a bicycle cab driven by an 11-year old boy. He really had no idea where he was going but it was a great way to see the city.
We rested up for the next day as we were taking another bus... this time to my favourite city in Peru, Arequipa!!!Miguelito
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