I'm including posts from the 24th and 25th in this one as we had no wifi on the 24th.
24/1 8.46pm
So firstly, HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY! By the time I post this it'll be the 26th in Aus. This is the fifth one in a row I've been away for! Next year I'll definitely be home though.
Our girls' night in last night was great, caught up on some tv shows and had a fairly early night.
This morning we caught these strange little bicycle operated vehicles to the port. We got in a small boat and met our guide, Lewis. We then sailed for 10-15 minutes to the famous floating islands of Lake Titicaca called Uros. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at an altitude of 3812m. Probably why my stomach still feels awful and so do many of my tour mates', your digestion is stuffed up in this high altitude. Also having headaches due to less oxygen too.
The lake is 165km long at its longest point, 63km at its widest and has a total area of 8450km squared. 60% of the lake is in Peru and 40% in Bolivia. The deepest part is 284m and there are 87 islands in the floating island community with a population of 800.
Our first stop was at a small island where a few families (25 people in total) lived. All the floating islands are made up of 2m thick of reeds on top of roots and mud that are joined together with sticks and vine. Quite amazing really! A well made island can last 40-50 years if constructed properly, but the reeds all need to be maintained very often anyway. Large logs and sticks are used as anchors to ensure the islands don't float away (this particular one was only at 18m deep).
We were all given a brief talk about the islands and boats made of reeds, and I had one of those strange moments where two of your holidays collide again. Our guide mentioned the Kontiki expedition where a Norwegian explorer set out from South America to reach Easter Island on a reed boat. I went to the Kontiki Museum in Oslo last June and remember reading about the floating islands at the time. Weird!
We were all taken to separate houses by local women and shown the inside. The one we saw would've been 5m x 5m and all of them were made of reeds. Then they let us dress up in their clothes!! It was so interesting seeing how these people live. They live in such close proximity all the time with no power. They travel to Puno by boat for supplies. Carla told us that all the women have bloated bellies because they drink the lake water and have bacteria etc as a result.
The next island we went to was called Taquile, a three hour boat journey away. At this stage, Courtney had gone back to Puno with Carla because her stomach was so bad, and Rachel and I had had dizziness and stabbing pains all day. So the big hill we had to walk up for lunch was not our friend! But we made it, and enjoyed a gorgeous view with lunch which was soup, then trout with rice and veggies. I pushed through the tummy ache and ate it anyway because it was so good!
Then Lewis, our guide, gave us a talk about the local culture. Boy can he talk!! We learned that all the men in the Aymara culture wear hats to indicate their marital status. A half red, half white hat means they are unmarried. If the tassel is to the right it means they are single, if to the left near their heart they have a girlfriend. An all red hat means they're married.
After lunch we went to a knitting shop and I bought two bracelets. Then we walked 45 minutes to another port on the island to meet our boat. The weather was stunning!
The next boat ride was an hour to Luquina, a small community where we are doing a homestay. We were greeted with a band following us who led us to the local school. Here we met our hosts, mine and Rachel's are Fernando and Yrene and their two children. None of them speak English!!
We joined some local boys for a soccer match (I tried, had one shot and a few kicks) and then dressed up in local costume for a dance. It was heavy and had a corset type belt. That paired with the altitude (and post soccer!) meant I got out of breath very easily during the dance. Recently it's been worse than on the inca trail, a bit higher I guess. My heart is going nuts and my lungs feel like they're being squeezed. Oh well, push on.
After making a fool of ourselves dancing, we all went our separate ways to our homestay. In Asia last year both homestays saw us having dinner as a group, but tonight we all separated. The house is much nicer than the ones we had in Asia, they have power and running water!
Rach and I were treated to a delicious meal. Quinoa soup followed by potatoes and other veggies and rice, seasoned with a yummy sauce. My tummy is ok for now but poor Rach isn't doing too well. We ate our dinner, had some coca tea (good for altitude sickness and tummies) and then helped with the dishes (don't fall over, dad!). Their little girl helped too, she's 9. Funny how none of us speak the same language yet we still seemed to find out some information and get by ok!!
Now it's 9pm and we're hoping an early night will cure us both.
25/1 2.47pm
Hi again!
This morning we were woken up by a donkey of all things! We lay in bed a while, I'm feeling a bit better but poor Rach was up most of the night. She seems a bit better now though.
We had breakfast, fried bread and tea. Then we spent the next couple of hours feeling awkward because we weren't sure what we were meant to be doing. So we helped with the dishes and then followed the children around haha. Their names were Laura (9) and Christian (6) and they were so so cute. We helped them herd the sheep and then later feed them. Then we played soccer, skipped and made origami shapes. Christian showed me how to make a fish! I kept one for my scrapbook. Again, we didn't speak the same language but we had fun and got by. I think it was my favourite homestay I've ever done. I'd previously done one in Laos and one in Vietnam. This one was more personal because it was just the two of us! It was really interesting helping out and seeing how they lived.
Then we had lunch and it was time to get back on the boat. It took about 1.5 hours to get back to Puno. If we thought there was nothing to do here before, there's literally nothing to do here on a Sunday when everything is closed! So I've just had a nice shower, now we are chilling out a bit and soon Rach and I are going to go for a walk.
Tonight we are having an Australia Day dinner and drinks, and tomorrow we head to Bolivia! The wifi may be crap there because it's an even poorer country than Peru, but I will do my very best to post each day.
I've had a wonderful three weeks full of adventure, challenges and excitement in Peru, can't wait to continue in Bolivia - country number 38 for me!!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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