The Last of Our Peru Adventures Or So We Thought!!

Cusco to Puno
For an extra $10 we decided to take a guided bus tour from Cusco to Puno. There were 4 stops along the way rather than just busing straight away for eight hours.

The first stop was visiting an ornate church which was located in a very small town. It was loaded with gold and local artist renditions of heaven and hell and all sorts of other Biblical stories. What continues to amaze us is how an indigenous twist is woven into much of the religion and rituals. Secondly we spent about half an hour wandering around a set of ruins that is about half way between the two cities. It was an ideal spot for store houses as the geography and crops were very different in each direction. They`d take fruit and veggies from Cusco and swap them with the dried meat coming from Puno. There were over 120 circular storehouses, most were dilapidated and falling into disrepair. A massive temple dominates the site. The original middle wall would have stood at 16m. The weathered wall now stand an impressive 12m. On both sides of the wall circular support beam remnants still stood.

After a simple but nutritious buffet lunch we stopped at the highest point of our journey. I`m pretty sure that most people spent more time looking at souvenirs than the snow capped mountain. It felt sort of lame after seeing and climbing mountains that were higher. The last stop of the day was a small museum that unfortunately was being visited by all the other groups we`d been leap frogging as we drove. There were 8 tour buses from 3 different companies trying to file through. The museum had some neat stone artifacts and a great calendar showing the South American civilization timeline in comparison to other world civilizations.

When we arrived at the bus station we met the right guy with all the connections. He was soft spoken and polite. We got a discount on the room where we stayed that night and the taxi ride to our destination was thrown in for free. He set up our tour and bus tickets for the next day. It was service with a smile.

The Floating Reed Islands
You may have heard of the famous Lake Titicaca. It is the highest navigable freshwater lake in the world. Our tour guide proudly told us all sorts of random information, even leaving out some details trying to bait us to come back for the more extensive afternoon adventure. The collection of small islands is referred to as Islas de Uros. They are all made by hand and can be moved at any time. Who knew?

The process begins with cutting huge floating bricks (about 2" squared) from reeds roots and soil. Pegs are added to one corner of each brick and then they are all tied together. When the community has decided where they want to live they some how weigh it down. It is secured in one spot by the reeds growing up around the edges or by being tied to other close by islands. Reeds which are laid criss cross over the bricks are collected from about 3 km away. This ensures that they are the best quality one. As the reeds dry or decompose they just keep adding more. The reed layers become as thick as the blocks. The reeds are used to make boats, houses, mats and used to start their fires with. We even had to try eating the fleshy end. It wasn't bad

Life here is very communal. The people are very used to tourists and make their livelihood trying to sell handicrafts. Some of the islands have trout ponds. The locals seemed very eager to please and were willing to invite you into their houses, which were very simple with very little furniture. For example the house we visited had 4 people sleeping on the reeds. It did have a small TV powered by a solar panel ( given to them by the government.) They cooked on open air fire pits or small stoves. On this particular island one lady cooked for all the 30 others who lived on the island as well. The oldest person in the community was 100 years old. Our guide told us they only have basic health care on one of the islands. She attributed the limited resources to the peaceful island living where there's no stress and no one gets sick. There is one outhouse of stone and reeds tucked in a back corner. If used properly it`s not supposed to go into the water but is burned some how. They are only a short boat ride from the mainland ( 30 minutes) so that is where they get most of their supplies.

It was an interesting thing to experience but certainly not for everyone. Limited space and very tight quarters meaning you don't have a lot of time and space of your own. But life is full of surprises and uncertainties. It is a tradition that has been carried on for many years. Here is a great example of mixing new and old together. As we boarded a handmade boat the women performed a good bye song. It ended with "hasta las vista baby." I couldn`t help but smile. I don`t think they came up with that on their own!