After a large evening meal yesterday I fancied quite an early night. However, the downside of having gotten used to four or five hours sleep was that a 21:00 bedtime had me wide awake by 03:00, listening to the rain pounding onto the corrugated plastic sheet roof next to the room. A couple of hours of unsuccessful snoozing later I got up properly, packed, and went to investigate what turned out to be a lovely breakfast of cereal (with hot milk - oops!), fresh fruits, bread, jam and scrambled egg. We had been given the option of scrambled egg with "yam" or "cheese". Yam being one of my least favourite vegetables I promptly chose cheese. When the eggs arrived I was pretty disgruntled to find that "yam" actually meant very tasty looking ham!
Our transfer picked us up at 08:00 and we were soon at Puno's dock. It being cloudy and quite chilly we were glad to board a comfy boat with three couples, one from Belgium, one from England and one from Colombia. The boat powered off at a leisurely pace and due to the shallow nature of Lake Titicaca near Puno we found ourselves in a navigation channel, lined either side by reeds. Although man made the reeds created a very natural atmosphere, with plenty of birds enjoying the environment too.
Before long I could see our destination - a collection of Uros Islands. These islands are made solely from reeds, and float on the surface of what is the highest navigable lake in the world. The Uros people first created the islands to escape the socio-political situation on the mainland and still remain as a unique community today. Their main income now is from tourism, which made the islands a little cliche, but in my opinion they still provided a good insight into an ancient way of living.
Stepping our onto the island I could feel it move beneath my feet, and we were soon shepherded onto reed seats to learn about the construction of the islands. We were then invited to try a local delicacy - reed - which didn't taste of all that much, before being welcomed to have a look inside the homes as well as at the many items that they sell to tourists. The bright colours of the woven fabrics here are delightful, and add a great character to the people and their homes.
Leaving the islands, our next stop was the Capachica peninsula - and more specifically an area called Llachon. This was a pleasant one and a half hour's boat journey on from the islands, most of which I spent on the roof of the boat enjoying the watching the lake activities and acquiring a fair bit of wind-burn..
Alighting onto a stone jetty I was greeted by Felix, whose family were to be our hosts for the night. An exhausting five minute walk up the coast (Felix is clearly much more acclimatised to the altitude than I am!) and I arrived at "Casa de Felix", a gorgeous collection of small traditional buildings - including one for eating and a room for us for the night. Rose plants climbed up and around the buildings and terrace, which itself overlooked the lake, providing stunning views.
Lunch was soon served - vegetable soup followed by trout, rice and potatoes - after which we set off on a walk up to Karuspata, a stone cross monument we had spotted from the boat. The designated path was surprisingly well laid and would have made for an easy and very pretty climb had it not been for the altitude. I appear to really struggle with this, as just twenty steps up had my heart pounding in my chest and me unable to speak coherently. "Slowly slowly" were the words on my head, and in this manner we made it to the top (some 300 m up from Casa de Felix) to enjoy views of Amantani and Taquille Islands (the destinations for the rest of our Uros boat companions) as well as the terrace-farmed peninsula we were on.
The way down was much easier, and we took a gradual descent that captured lots of quaint houses and the town of Llachon itself. The houses here - unlike Puno's four-storey concrete frames - are generally single storey mud brick construction, with reed roofs protected by corrogated sheets. They generally look much more loved, and we saw many locals tending the land and animals.
Completing the loop back to where we were staying, we were dismayed to find there were still three hours until dinner. I wrapped up (despite being very hot whilst hiking, as soon as you stand still here it can get pretty cold) and took my book and some tea to a seat with great views of the lake. I was soon joined by a French couple called Nonce and Aneila (incorrect spellings), fresh (and chilly) back from their Uros trip and we exchanged thoughts on that trip and more. They appear to be doing our trip in reverse (minus Bolivia) and have hopefully given us some useful advice for our future travels.
Sitting down to dinner (finally) I was acutely aware that everyone else here was French. Our boat driver had told us this may be the case - but I've no idea why! It was fairly confusing having to listen and translate conversations in French, whilst speaking Spanish to Felix's family and English amongst ourselves. If only languages came naturally to me...
Dinner was more soup (very much enjoyed given the temperature) followed by chicken, vegetables and rice. So far I have not found the local food very interesting - the meat or fish is not seasoned and rice and vegetables make a very plain accompaniment, especially as I don't actually like rice! Pudding doesn't seem to be a thing here either so I may have to stock up on some sweet snacks.
After dinner everyone headed to bed - this being at around 20:30 was to the detriment of a good night's sleep. I really need to train myself to sleep for nine or more hours it seems!
Our transfer picked us up at 08:00 and we were soon at Puno's dock. It being cloudy and quite chilly we were glad to board a comfy boat with three couples, one from Belgium, one from England and one from Colombia. The boat powered off at a leisurely pace and due to the shallow nature of Lake Titicaca near Puno we found ourselves in a navigation channel, lined either side by reeds. Although man made the reeds created a very natural atmosphere, with plenty of birds enjoying the environment too.
Before long I could see our destination - a collection of Uros Islands. These islands are made solely from reeds, and float on the surface of what is the highest navigable lake in the world. The Uros people first created the islands to escape the socio-political situation on the mainland and still remain as a unique community today. Their main income now is from tourism, which made the islands a little cliche, but in my opinion they still provided a good insight into an ancient way of living.
Stepping our onto the island I could feel it move beneath my feet, and we were soon shepherded onto reed seats to learn about the construction of the islands. We were then invited to try a local delicacy - reed - which didn't taste of all that much, before being welcomed to have a look inside the homes as well as at the many items that they sell to tourists. The bright colours of the woven fabrics here are delightful, and add a great character to the people and their homes.
Leaving the islands, our next stop was the Capachica peninsula - and more specifically an area called Llachon. This was a pleasant one and a half hour's boat journey on from the islands, most of which I spent on the roof of the boat enjoying the watching the lake activities and acquiring a fair bit of wind-burn..
Alighting onto a stone jetty I was greeted by Felix, whose family were to be our hosts for the night. An exhausting five minute walk up the coast (Felix is clearly much more acclimatised to the altitude than I am!) and I arrived at "Casa de Felix", a gorgeous collection of small traditional buildings - including one for eating and a room for us for the night. Rose plants climbed up and around the buildings and terrace, which itself overlooked the lake, providing stunning views.
Lunch was soon served - vegetable soup followed by trout, rice and potatoes - after which we set off on a walk up to Karuspata, a stone cross monument we had spotted from the boat. The designated path was surprisingly well laid and would have made for an easy and very pretty climb had it not been for the altitude. I appear to really struggle with this, as just twenty steps up had my heart pounding in my chest and me unable to speak coherently. "Slowly slowly" were the words on my head, and in this manner we made it to the top (some 300 m up from Casa de Felix) to enjoy views of Amantani and Taquille Islands (the destinations for the rest of our Uros boat companions) as well as the terrace-farmed peninsula we were on.
The way down was much easier, and we took a gradual descent that captured lots of quaint houses and the town of Llachon itself. The houses here - unlike Puno's four-storey concrete frames - are generally single storey mud brick construction, with reed roofs protected by corrogated sheets. They generally look much more loved, and we saw many locals tending the land and animals.
Completing the loop back to where we were staying, we were dismayed to find there were still three hours until dinner. I wrapped up (despite being very hot whilst hiking, as soon as you stand still here it can get pretty cold) and took my book and some tea to a seat with great views of the lake. I was soon joined by a French couple called Nonce and Aneila (incorrect spellings), fresh (and chilly) back from their Uros trip and we exchanged thoughts on that trip and more. They appear to be doing our trip in reverse (minus Bolivia) and have hopefully given us some useful advice for our future travels.
Sitting down to dinner (finally) I was acutely aware that everyone else here was French. Our boat driver had told us this may be the case - but I've no idea why! It was fairly confusing having to listen and translate conversations in French, whilst speaking Spanish to Felix's family and English amongst ourselves. If only languages came naturally to me...
Dinner was more soup (very much enjoyed given the temperature) followed by chicken, vegetables and rice. So far I have not found the local food very interesting - the meat or fish is not seasoned and rice and vegetables make a very plain accompaniment, especially as I don't actually like rice! Pudding doesn't seem to be a thing here either so I may have to stock up on some sweet snacks.
After dinner everyone headed to bed - this being at around 20:30 was to the detriment of a good night's sleep. I really need to train myself to sleep for nine or more hours it seems!
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