Date of Entry: October 29th 2015
Date of Writing: November 21st 2015 Kultur Berlin Guesthouse, Tarija, Bolivia.
After spending a while in Cusco not doing much touristy stuff, choosing instead to write, eat, and play lots and lots of Ping Pong at Kilombo Hostel I finally get my act together and get on a midday bus to Puno about 8 hours away on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
I check in at first to Hostal Virgin Nieves on Avenida Del Puerto where I spent two days very sick with Sara just a few weeks before, this time, even though I’m still mildly iffy, I’m committed to making it to Taquile island.
I wake up the next morning very early and head out into a truly bustling fruit and veggie market which fills the street leading down to the port just a few blocks away. As I get to the port around 7 am I’m immediately greeted by lots of eager tour operators looking to sell me passage on one of their boats. I end up going with one leaving about 20 minutes later. It costs 25 Soles plus 16 in island entry fees, and includes the trip back to Puno either on the same day or the next day, which is what I’m originally planning, until I realize there’s only afternoon departures which sadly means I can’t spend the night on Taquile without forfeiting a night of reserved accommodation in La Paz. Oh well. The trip includes a stop at the Uros floating islands, which I’ve heard countless bad things about, but decided since they are on the way It’s worth finding out for myself.
The boat ride, is immensely beautiful as I’ve come to expect from Lake Titicaca and our guide is actually incredibly informative telling us all about the history of the lake including how the common pronunciation is slightly incorrect, and the meaning of the real name “Titihaha” means stone puma, largely because some people claim the lake is shaped like a puma hunting a rabbit.
After about 20 minutes we reach the reeds and the beginnings of a long set of tourist traps, but the pleasant kind. The Uros people have maintained their status as peaceful people throughout history and have been living on these man made floating islands for hundreds of years. They were conquered and enslaved by the incas and as such lost their traditional language about 500 years ago, but still live by some of the ancient customs, including living on the floating islands, which are set up in two long lines, facing each other, each small island serving as the home for 10-20 people on average.
There’s lots of tour boats motoring into this surprisingly large reed complex and to spread out the tourism, each boat lands on a different little island, the people of each island actively standing at the edge of their floating home and calling to the boats with open arms.
We quickly motor up to one small islands where we are met warmly by 5 women dressed in bright traditional clothing, a few playful kids who run around the small island without a care in the world, and the island’s chief, one of several men who live on the island. We’re quickly invited to sit on some makeshift benches as the leader of the island stands before us and begins to explain all about lake Titicaca and the islands,as well as his people’s history and then explains how they build the islands and passes around a reed for us to bite into (Yes they’re also food). The fact that the guide then translates everything to english makes the entire thing a little draining for me, since I understand both languages, still there’s lots of fascinating information, and when I find some good enough internet I’ll upload the video.
Once the explanation is done, it’s back to the main purpose of the visit: commerce. I’m reminded of the tours in turkey where half the stops are akin to sponsored content online, framed as a tourist site, but really just a sales pitch. The Uros people are skilled artesian workers and they make most of their living hawking there wares to tourists, and they’re good hustlers too. As we break up from the circle one of the older women approaches me and pulls me over to her carefully set up crafts. I explain that I can’t really afford to bring anything with me space wise but still walk away having bought a pretty enough necklace for 5 soles. After that I’m more careful not to get too quickly drawn in, though some of the wall hanging are beautiful and I wish I had the space to carry them for the next 18 months or so.
Once the shopping is done we then climb aboard their traditional boat (each island has one) and get taken for a ride over to the capital island, which even has a functioning radio station showing how the Uros people have adapted and changed some things for the modern age. (I even spotted some solar panels on some of the islands!) The boat ride is scenic and pretty enough though the 10 soles extra cost could have been mentioned before the day tour began. Still, the money going to the families makes the 4 CAD worth paying. Plus we also get a friendly goodbye from the ladies of the island in three different languages, and i also manage to win another necklace for correctly guessing the current depth of the water at 16 meters.
We land on the main island and get yet another chance to buy more artisan crafts, I instead spend the 15 minutes snapping more photographs of the very photogenic children and playing with an island cat I find crawling out of the house. there’s kittens too, but I get only brief glimpses.
Eventually it’s time to get back on our original motorized tour boat and hurry away from the Uros islands as still more tourists arrive, heading for our final destination and the reason for my joining this tour, Taquile Island. Still Uros was better than I expected, a definite tourist trap, but to me at least it felt nothing like a human zoo and the people seemed genuinely content to earn their living through this form of tourism. As we leave the reeds behind we pass lots of aquatic birds and a few Uros settlements separated from the main drag. The further we get out onto the incredible lake Titicaca, the more impressive the scenery gets.
Most of the tourists stay hidden from the sun down below but for me the electric skies fuelled by the andes Altitude are too much to pass up on and I’m joined by one of the few people I can say has cooler shoes than mine we’re when I first designed them. Don’t believe me? Take a look. (and yes this would have been a creepy photo to be caught taking)
and here’s mine though they are now long removed from such glory.
As I drift off in the warm sun, lathered up with a lot of sunscreen to keep from burning to badly, we arrive in Taquile just over 2 hours journey from Puno, and as I climb off our boat, one of many arriving all at once, I’m amazed by the sky, mostly brilliant blue, with dramatic white lines cutting across it. We also meet a large group of school children from Cusco in their region’s traditional clothing which is bright, sparkly, and all around awesome.
Once on the island our long walk up the winding stone path to the main city of Taquile begins, but before we all separate to go at our own pace in the altitude, our guide gives us a little information about the island. To this day there is no police force on the island, which until the late 1970’s remained very isolated from the rest of the world as before the villagers pooled their money and bought a motorboat, it was a 3day trip by read boat to get to Puno. The people are peaceful and all decisions are made after debating amongst themselves. The women in Taquile do most of the farming work while the men focus more on knitting and sewing. The clothing of people in Taquile tells you a lot, the colour of their belts and or pompom’s on their local hats can tell you whether they are married or single, happy or sad, and so much more. To learn more about the people of Taquile check out this great article.
The path up is very difficult for those out of shape like me, but it’s made much easier by the incredible views all around me, as anytime I need to stop for breath I just snap a few more photos, of the lake, island and incredible sky.
The stone archways as seen in one of the photos above mark the dividing lines between different communities on the island, not just as dramatic photo props.
Out of breath I make it to the top of the island and the main city, stumbling out into the main square doubled over and sucking wind, but very happy to be here. The Cusco kids are gathered for a photo together so I snap one or two before getting the bad news from my guide that tomorrow there are only afternoon boats back to town, which means I’l have to change my plan of spending the night on the island, as I need to get to La Paz on the morrow with a hostel booked. (Planning ahead is almost always stupid for backpackers with any decent length of trip)
The last few stragglers of the group join us in the square (Yeah I wasn’t last!) and we get a little more information about the local people, learning that Taquilean Culture places the men first. the women must walk behind their husbands or fathers in the streets, they must always sit below the level of the men and they must let the men do most of the talking. We also meet our restaurant owner for the day, a young man who tells us that sure the men may seem in charge, but you should understand everything they say in important meanings is what their wives tell them to say back in the privacy of their own home.
He then leads us away from the square and towards the other side of the island and his home/restaurant while we all settle down for a tasty lunch, though costs are a little inflated at 20 soles. The options are omelette or trout from titicaca and I wisely go trout, which is rich and delicious, and so thick it almost tastes like salmon.
I also spot something that seems immensely out of place on this traditional island, but in this globalized world I can’t really muster much surprise. I’ll be this wasn’t here when my dad visited about 30-35 years ago.
Everyone finished with their meal we continue along the path away from town passing lots of kids selling handmade bracelets, usually for one sol each. Now that I’m not ffocused on climbing the hill I can take a look and end up buying a few from this adorable brother and sister combo.
The people of Taquile have a rule the tour guide enforces, probably a good thing since they have a lot of tourists visiting their island everyday, and I’d imagine the nearby island of Amantani has the same rule, since most tourists not only visit but spend a night there in a home stay when opting to do a 2 day 1 night tour of the lake. That rule is simple, don’t take pictures of the children without asking permission, a good way to do this is to buy a bracelet and these two we’re happy with my purchase of 5 so they allowed me the above picture. As we continue along the path down to the other side of the island where are boat will be waiting for us we pass through more stone archways and lots more little salesmen and women. I remember I bought some pencil crayons before coming when I thought I’d be spending the night, and so pull them out and buy one more bracelet, adding the pencil crayons as a gift to a little boy who seems immensely grateful, but is already on to the next sale before I can think to ask to take a picture.
As we reach the bottom of the steps (which are arduous even going down, and we definitely went up the right side of the island) I see a little beach like harbour with some boisterous Aussies skipping rocks. They agree to make room for me as I peel down to my boxers and run into the cold embrace of lake Titicaca. Having already swum on the Bolivian side, there was never another choice to be made. It’s cold but pleasant and after a few minutes I climb out and back on to my boat, proud to see a single brave frenchman following my example and wading into the water.
I take my place up on the roof of the boat, doing my best to shield key areas from the terrifying sun (seriously cover up at this altitude and don’t be stingy with the sunscreen) relishing the cool breezes and incredible views as we embark on the 2 hour ride back to Puno.
There I head back to Virgin de Nieves only to find the hotel is full, but they send me up the street a block towards the centre to find Hostal Manzano, where I get a clean and comfy dorm for 25 soles with good wifi and a super friendly staff making it the best place I can recommend to stay in Puno. As often happens on my last night in a place I find the best restaurant yet enjoying a stunningly high quality pizza at Pizza e Pasta (be careful the trip advisor map is wrong, its on the same street but right near parque de pinos) before heading back for a goodnights sleep. tomorrow I leave Peru for what should be the last time of this trip, it’s been an incredible country to explore and expect a top 10 sometime in the near future. Tomorrow it’s back to Bolivia’s half capital city: La Paz.
