Hello from the highest altitude lake in the world! I am currently at a homestay in Lago Titicaca. Without Wifi, of course (or electricity, or running water for that matter), so I’ll post this when I get back to dry land.
Today we arrived in Puno a few hours behind schedule, due to our bus being delayed by the flooding in Lima and the central coast. Most of the people on the Peru Hop bus are staying in Puno and down a day tour on Lake Titicaca, but I thought it could be an interesting experience to stay on an island on the lake. Some people I met in Arequipa mentioned an amazing experience they had at a lodge here, but it was all full (and very expensive) when I tried to book it, so I found a somewhat random alternative on hotels.com: Titikala Uros.
I booked my stay online, but the lodge doesn’t have a website or email address, so I had my hotel in Arequipa call them to figure out the details. I wasn’t quite sure it would work out, but here I am! I waited around in Puno for a while until Hernan, who seems to be running the show, came to pick me up and take me to the island. On the way to the boat, we walked through a huge street market. Once a week, on Saturdays, lots of people come from islands and villages to do their shopping in the streets of Puno. You can buy shoes, school supplies, food, and even chickens! (I did not buy any chickens)
After our brief stroll through town, we got into a small motor boat for a very chilly ~20 minute ride to Uros, accompanied by an English-speaking guide/native of the islands (I forgot her name, but I think it was something like Sintra). The Uros islands are manmade with reeds that grow in Lake Titicaca. There are about 90 (I think) small islands, with a few families living in small huts on each one. The little island I’m staying on is called Santa Maria, and I think it's one mainly for tourist purposes.
I am a little confused about how this experience is supposed to be working- I think the family was supposed to be here when I arrived, but there was an important meeting of some kind in Puno for the islanders, so it was just Hernan, Sintra and myself when we got here. Sintra suited me up in some traditional clothes, which are in fact very warm, and then Hernan took me on a kayak ride around some of the islands. The lake was really peaceful and it was an interesting way to see things!
How do I look?
Kayaking buddies
When we got back, it was dark, and the solar-powered electricity was not working! So I helped Sintra, mostly in the dark, cut up some things for dinner. Sintra told me that the lodge was created to help the local families earn money, and they rotate which family tourists stay with when they visit. So when the “family” arrived back, I was a little confused as to whether they always live on this island, or just come here to visit with tourists. I may never know! I also put family in quotations, because there are two older women and one middle aged man, and I don’t think they are related to one another. So maybe it’s just a random group of locals assembled to entertain me?
Anyhow, once the family arrived, Sintra and Hernan left, so it was me, my lousy Spanish and three islanders! The Uros people mostly speak a local language called Aymara, but they also speak some Spanish. I exhausted all my Spanish pretty quickly and they didn’t really ask me many questions, so dinner was a little awkward. It feels kind of like I’ve paid some people to hang out with me/to intrude on their lives. They also served me so much rice and french fries at dinner and I felt like I had to eat it all even though it was way too much food! Carbo loading continues!
Home sweet hut (taken the next morning when it was less cold)
So now I am in my room: a small but nice hut, and it is FREEZING. I’m wearing two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweater, jacket, and another jacket, and a hat, and have 3 blankets on me. I am also strategizing how I’m going to wash my face using only bottled water.
I realize I probably sound kind of negative about the experience, but temperature and awkwardness aside, it is really interesting to actually see more close up how people live on the islands and to have the opportunity to observe some of their day to day. I think if I were to do it again, I would have organized my plan a little earlier so I could stay at a homestay that’s a bit more established and well recommended. But for now I am going to enjoy living/freezing like a local.
Back on dry land now- the next day I woke up, and enjoyed a huge amount of bread for breakfast (seriously, I can't eat any more bread). Then, the tourist boats started rolling in! That made me really glad that I visited the islands in the evening and stayed overnight to experience them in a much more peaceful way.
Craft stands set up for visitors
I hoped aboard their boat in Uros, and we sailed about 2 hours to Isla Taquile, which is natural (not man-made like Uros) and where the people still practice a very traditional lifestyle. We snapped some photos at the beach and then walked about 40 minutes to a part of the island where people live.
Textiles are huge in Taquile, and these crafts were recognized by UNESCO in 2005. The men all do knitting, and the women weaving, and they have different hats and clothing to indicate whether you're married or single. Their weaving is really beautiful, intricate and colorful- you can see some of it in this photo, where they're doing some traditional music and dance.
Following the explanation, we had some tasty lunch of fresh trout from the lake, and then headed back to our boat for the trip back to Puno, during which I took a great nap.
Views from Taquile
Overall I thought the islands were a worthwhile stop on the way to Cusco- and now I can say I've been to Lake Titicaca, the highest, and most ridiculously named lake in the world!