लाके तितिकाचा एंड थे फ्लोअतिंग इस्लान्ड्स ऑफ़ उरोस

I am a weary traveller right now after more than 9 hours of travelling via boat and hiking today. We are in the small town of Puno next to Lake Titicaca and just arrived back from a two day journey around the lake. We started off bright and early for a boat trip to the floating islands of Uros. We arrived to find that we had to jump up and down when we got onto these floating islands. When we arrived the ground was soft and cushy and we sank a bit in places. We found out that the island were floating on the floating mud that the reeds grew out of. They took reeds and piled them on criss-crossing more and more of them on top of one another every 17 days to keep the island afloat. It appears that everything on the island is made of these reeds. On the island we got to see some exotic birds sqwuak at us and kites made out of garbage bags. The people are very resourceful. They use solar power hooked up to car batteries for power! Who would have thought?

After we left the mystical isle of Los Uros we took a 3 hour tour (and made it unlike the loveable Gilligan) all the way to the isle of Amantani. When we arrived, tired from our sea legs (lake legs?), our host Maribelle was there in traditional garb to greet us. We walked up innumerable stairs to find a quaint two story hacienda with breathtaking views of the lake. Maribelle is the sweet 18-year-old daughter of the family and Valentin and Margarita are her gracious parents. We made our way upstairs for some rest and relaxtion before our epic hike to the Templo de Pachatata. We played cards for a while and finally got to eat lunch after our 2-hour card game. Everything was from the land and very delicious. For lunch we had a delectable Peruvian soup made with papas (potatoes), zanahorias (carrots) and quinoa (a Peruvian grain). We learned that there are more than 400 types of potatoes native to Peru but Holland is the master in technology for potatoes. A random fact!

After our lunch we made our way up to El Templo at the top of the island. Our tour guide Alan gave us some menta (mint leaves) to smell and help with the altitudea nd told us to walk slowly. Once we had the mint leave we thought we were invincible so of course (the athletes we are ;o)) we were 500 yards in front of our group in no time. When we got close to the top Natasha challenged us to a race to the top. Of course Noel obliged while I laughed and after 100 feet they were both about to fall over. I looked at one of the ladies peddling her hats and gloves and just had to roll my eyes and say ¨LOCOS¨. But of course, not to be outdone I started jogging up too! Phewwwwww! I´m winded just thinking about it.

When we arrived at the top, we had to walk around the closed temple three times and make a wish after we were finished. I think it might be a ploy to get us to buy from the all the vendors because the first time you pass by you think that´s a cool beanie, the second time you think that really is a great beanie, and the third time you just have to buy the beanie! Pretty clever marketing especially if your wish was to get a new beanie (which I didn´t btw). I did, however, buy a little anklet from a little girl named Estefanie when we got to the top. I figured I needed one, she was the best sales child I have come across, and I needed an award for making up this grueling mountain.

After we made it down we had a hearty tipico cena (typical dinner) with fresh vegetables and grain. They barely eat any meat there because they eat what the land provides them. If they eat their pet chicken (named Idie..awww) they no longer have a pet chicken. After dinner, Maribelle dressed us in her traditional dress and took us to a fiesta in the local rec center. Tash was a bit under the weather so stayed in to sleep so Noel and I went dressed in to the nines to our fiesta. Maribelle lead us to a deserted lot with no light to be found. She was confused so she said she´d be back in 5 minutes AND LEFT US IN THE DARK! We just hung out like typical Peruvians until another family came by and mistook us for locals! Nice!

Finally we made it to the rec room and found that there were no musicians because they had all gone back to the mainland of Puno. We waited around in our traditional garb sitting against the walls just like a junior high dance. We got a bit bored so we started having camera wars across the room. Finally they fashioned together a band with two local boys: one banging on the drum and the other on the Peruvian flute. As soon as the music began the room transformed into a variatable managerie of dance. We all held hand and made bridges for people to ¨gracefully dance under¨. We were having a blast. Finally, the real band showed up and the place went wild-- running around the room with hands clasped, going forward, being yanked back and then the circle started going the other way. What a hoot! After all was said and done we made our way back to the house. It had been lightning-ing all night but as soon as we closed the door to our room the sky opened up and it started pouring with all its might. I could see the tarp above us moving but no rain ever came through. Amazing! The Peruvians are amazing at drainage to say the least! We were slowly lulled to sleep by the amazing storm only to be woken up bright and early for desayuno (breakfast) and bon voyage.

We were off to the next island of Tequile where we went on another amazing and grueling hike around the entire island. We made it to the Plaza Mayor (every pueblo has one) and got to hang out for a bit and look around. We learned some interesting facts about the Peruvian traditional garb such as the ejercito (police) wear rainbow hats! I´m not sure if I can take a guy in a rainbow hat seriously! Also,married women are only allowed to wear red on top and black skirts while their single counterparts can wear whatever colors they want. Talk about a slave to marriage! Also, the married men have blue on the end of their caps (which look like night-night caps) and unmarried men don´t. After all this we hiked a bit more only to find our lunch was overlooking the most spectacular crystal blue view of Lake Titicaca. We sat across from some fellow travellers from España and got to speak with the Andalucian lisp all through lunch and the boat ride. It made me miss Spain but also made me happy about where I was because after all any where you go, that´s where you are. We are on our way to have dinner with some friends from Germany (also from the tour) and we´re running late. So, I must say Ciao for now mis amigos! Que vayan bien. Me voy a escribir mas muy muy pronto! Hasta luego!