Lake Titicaca adventures

And so we have now returned to Lima after our Lake Titicaca adventures. The nine-hour bus trip up from Cuzco to Puno was somewhat uneventful though we did stop at some colonial villages and pre-Inca sites that many visitors do not usually get to see. The only other entertainment for our fellow passengers was me getting stuck in the bus loo and banging on the door to be rescued.

Just as Pagan is, for me, one of the most magical of all man-made “wonders”, so Lake Titicaca is now on my top list of natural creations. The huge expanse of blue water set against the snow-covered Bolivian Andes is truly breath taking, if you will forgive the platitude.

Our 21st wedding anniversary was spent on the first day of kayaking and so matrimonial chivalry demanded that Sharon & I took a tandem kayak. The paddling exercise itself was only OK (fast river kayaking beats sea or lake kayaking any day in my opinion) but the setting was clearly unbeatable. At the end of the first day we felt that we had had enough exercise but the following morning, we were ready for more.

Our first home-stay was on the Llachon peninsula. The island where we spent the second night at was Amantani http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Intikawan_Amantani.jpg/800px-Intikawan_Amantani.jpg and the third night was on Taquile http://www.comollegarperu.com/segundaparte/fotosgrandsur/Isla%20Taquile%20-%20Puno.jpg

The Quechua or Aymara families with whom we stayed were so gentle and gracious and had a wonderful sense of humor. They still practice their fishing and farming, practice a working system of community socialism and wear traditional dress. They are relatively untouched by overt tourism though it is inevitably becoming an important source of income. http://www.prato.linux.it/~lmasetti/antiwarsongs/img/upl/quechua.jpg and http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/383488327_943b69acd1.jpg?v=0

The home-stays way exceeded our expectations. We had heard or read stories of visitors getting horrendously sick, of earthen floors, no plumbing whatsoever etc. While there was indeed no electricity in some communities and certainly no hot water, all the places we stayed were quite delightful and the food provided was always delicious. Of course the lack of electricity offered stargazing that was unparalleled. It really is odd that so many people in the developed world have never actually seen the Milky Way in its true glory.

On the last day we were privileged to visit one of the remote reed floating islands. There are several dozen and the bigger ones near Puno have been turned into shameful Disney-like travesties. We went to a small, very distant island that was very special. The Uros families moved offshore as far back as the 12th century to escape mainland marauders and live on islands constructed of reeds that have reed houses on them and are serviced by reed boats. http://www.jonasspillmann.ch/gallery/peru/uros.jpg and http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/SSPOD/SuperStock_1269-605~Reed-Boat-Uros-Islands-Lake-Titicaca-Peru-Posters.jpg Of course you will immediately be struck by the hypocrisy of what I have just written. Our own visit no doubt contributed one more small step towards the remote islands following the sad fate of their larger cousins.

I again, sadly, provided the last entertainment for the group. As I was tempting Pepe, a supposedly friendly Alpaca (close cousin of the llama) with a corn stalk, he turned to me with a contemptuous expression, gave one horrendous snort and blew the chewed-up contents of his mouth all over my face. I had forgotten that the llama family is also distantly related to the camels so I should have known better.

We left early this morning for the flight to Lima; braving stone road blocks in the road to the airport created by today’s Puno strikers. Tomorrow is a general strike across the country so I am not sure how we will be affected. Other than our culinary tour tomorrow (if it happens), this trip is drawing to its close. It’s the first so-called “adventure” tour that we have done and we certainly enjoyed the diversity of activities, the rain forest expeditions, the mountain biking, the Inca trail hike and the kayaking. I suppose while we are still relatively young and in good health, it’s a fine way to go.

Dave and Becky made it back to the US and are now in Austin so Dave can get his medical issues sorted out. Sharon had a near-catastrophe yesterday when her banjo got lost ….. she had hauled it all over the Peruvian Andes only to see it disappear on the final leg of the trip. Turned up she had left it on the bus and it was recovered. When we get back, out focus will immediately turn to sorting out the house and moving out so the blog’s activities will take on a very mundane character but might still be a good way for you to follow what’s going on in our lives, if you are so-inclined.