Lake Titicaca is the second largest lake in South America (3,232 mi²) and the highest navigable lake in the world (12,507 feet). It is 118 miles long and bordered by Peru and Bolivia. It is also known for its colors. Between the sky and the lake, we saw some of the most blues we’ve seen.
Interestingly, Lake Titicaca reminded me quite a bit of Lake Superior. They are both big and cold. They are both bordered by two different countries. Both have islands. And both have mountains (or mountain-like in the case of Superior) on the coasts.
Having said this, Lake Superior, to my knowledge, does not have a floating city on it.
We got up early at our hostel in Puno to board our boat. The first day we went to the floating city of Uros and to Amantani Island. The second day we went to Taquile Island.
There were several interesting customs that were shared by all three islands. They are all fairly unique cultures in dress and custom, however, these things struck us:
- Couples live together for two years before marriage. If they don’t like it, they split prior to marriage. Most couples end up marrying. There is virtually no divorce.
- The islands are divided into communities. A rotation system is in place to determine which community each tour will visit, which restaurant they will eat in, and which boat they will ride in.
- Even though this is the second largest tourist mecca in Peru (behind Cusco/Machu Picchu), the peoples of these islands have found a way to use tourism to fund the survival of their cultures. They have essentially built living museums.
Uros
Centuries ago the people of Uros moved out onto islands they build out of totora reeds to escape oppression by Incas and previous cultures. They thought living on the lake better than slavery in the mines I guess.
It was interesting to see the solar panels that the government has provided as part of a larger program to ensure electricity to all the towns of Peru. It costs the average user about 10 nuevo soles per month (less than 3 dollars).
They did a fairly sophisticated shtick with us, assigning one of the women of the community to every few people in the tour for a view of their home. We were then brought to their table of native crafts, by which point everyone felt somewhat obligated to buy something. We rode one of the reed boats across to the main town island. Then headed out to Amantani.
Amantani
It was about 2.5 hours out to Amantani. We were greeted by a group of local people. Our guide divided us up and assigned us to a host. Our group consisted of Ellen and me, along with Graciela, a mexican woman from La Paz. She is a marine biologist specializing in sea turtles, and had come to Peru for a conference. Olga was our host.
We walked up quite a ways to Olga’s home. We had kind of been expecting a dirt floor. We were delighted by a beautiful room with windows on three sides looking out onto the lake. Olga and her daughters made us lunch of Quinoa soup (delicious), fried cheese, potatoes, and of course rice.
We relaxed, had dinner, and dressed up in local garb for the fiesta. Ellen and I lasted about 15 minutes before returning to our room and going to bed.
My headlamp finally paid off, as there weren’t many lights on the island. What there are are solar powered.
Taquile
The next day we had an early breakfast and took a one hour ride to Taquile. We walked up to near the top of the island. This is not easy at this altitude when we were both suffering from altitude sickness. We drank mate de coca, ate coca candies, and used a local remedy that consisted of an oil that contains eucalyptus, muno, coca, and several other herbs.
At the main plaza, in one of ten communities on the island, we had a lecture on the local economy, customs, and textiles. Interestingly, the women spin and dye the yarn. They spin walking, sitting, talking, pretty much all of the time. The men do the knitting and weaving. The boys start when they are five.
There are no police on the island. It is run based on Inca law – be productive, don’t lie, don’t steal. Every several years new authorities are elected to enforce these laws.
After another ten minute walk up, we arrived at our assigned restaurant. It looked out over the water with a beautiful view.
Our guide explained the local dress. The shawls are used differently based on marital status. The men’s hats are divided into unmarried, married, and authority groups. The first has a white band and flops over to either the right (you have problems) or the left (you are happy). The married hat is all red with patterns, and also floppy. The authority hats are more traditional hats of many bright colors, ear flaps, and tassels. The married men also wear colorful tasseled bags in which they carry their coca leaves. When they great each other, they offer a handful of leaves.
After lunch we were able to walk down 541 steps to the boat for the trip back. Our skipper, an authority based on his hat, offered to take a bunch of locals to Puno. There were too many, and we were able to witness the community authorities in action to resolve the problem. Eventually we took off.
Cool, Steve and Ellen. This sounds similar – but more highly developed in a controlled way that retains the local culture, than when we visited in both 1985 and 2001. It’s very good to see local cultures “take charge” of tourism and work together to see the benefits spread across the community, without destroying it. We never saw such a house as you describe, but that sounds like they’ve been able to invest in what is important to them. The only other such place I can recall from our travels was the Kuna indians on the San Blas islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama http://sanblas-islands.com/kuna-indians/
You guys are having awesome adventures. Thanks for sharing with us vicarious travelers!!
This whole trip has been such unbelievable colors everywhere you go. Is the industrial world going to be monotonous grey when you get there?