Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca was another memorable once in a lifetime experience. We spent three days visiting its iconic sights. This included time with the Uros people on their famous floating reed islands and an overnight stop on the tranquil island of Taquile. 

The reed islands were extraordinary. More than a thousand people still live on an archipelago of 60 artificial islands floating in the reed marshes near Puno. Our tour visited one of these remarkable structures while on our way to Taquile. The image below (that I’ve pulled from the web) gives you a good feel for this remarkable archipelago.

As we glided into the reeds, I was surprised to see how close the islands were to Puno. As you can see below, the city’s hillside suburbs were always visible in the distance. It's incredible to think that the Uros have maintained their unique lifestyle for hundreds of years less than 5km from a major urban centre. 

After weaving through reedy channels, we eventually "docked" at an island the Uros had converted into a tourism venture. Here we met some of the locals and experienced their aquatic culture first-hand. This included lessons on building and maintaining a floating island. 

The islanders continually harvest and dry reeds to sustain their remarkable islands. As the bottom layer of reeds rots, they replenish the island’s surface with a fresh layer once or twice a month. Over time, these layers descend until they eventually become the island’s new base layer. 

The Uros harvest reeds from the bed of the lake using a long underwater scythe-like tool. The reeds are then stacked and left to dry for a month or so. As a result, every island is dotted with conical stacks of drying vegetation. We saw them everywhere we went.

The larger islands house about ten families, while smaller ones, only about thirty meters wide, house only two or three families. The island we visited had a small watch tower, plus a dozen or so structures. The tower offered a superb elevated view of the island. Naturally, I had to climb it. 

We also took a short ride in a traditional reed boat. They’re surprisingly sturdy, built from tightly bound “logs” of dried reeds. At one point, Garry and I were each handed an oar and invited to propel our boat silently across the lake. Yes, it was classic tourist gimmick.

Garry also bought a couple of cushion covers from the locals. You can see him scrutinising a final selection in the image above. We eventually bought two of the grey designs you can see. These now take pride of place, along with cushion covers from South Africa, on our leather sofas at home.

However, while the Uros island visit was fascinating, it did feel a little engineered at times. This made the island of Taquile, our next port of call, all the more special. The people of Taquile are reserved and friendly folk. They've preserved many of their traditional culture and customs despite the daily visits of up to 800 tourists, and have done so without morphing into some formulaic tourist version of reality.

The women wear large flowing skirts and brightly coloured shawls, while the men wear white shirts and black trousers with large, home-weaved cummerbunds. The men’s costume is topped off with a large, floppy ‘Santa’ hat. Different colours denote single and married men. At times you feel as if the entire island is preparing for an endless black-tie event. Dress smartly folks, we're at 4000 metres.

We climbed to the summit of the island on our first night and watched the sun go down. At 4000 metres, you think you're above the fray. However, as the sun sinks, it drops behind Andean mountain peaks lying beyond the horizon. At this moment, spectacular black shadows streak across the sky. We saw this phenomenon repeated one evening while in the Amazon, almost 4000 feet closer to sea level.

From Taquile, we returned to Puno where the town's annual street festival was in full swing. Our final evening was filled with a riot of colour and sound as thousands of people participated in a stunning street parade. The cavalcade included drummers and musicians, women in ornate swirling skirts and men in dramatic flowing capes.

This festive crowd snaked through town for several hours, slowly passing down one narrow central city street after another.  By chance, the parade route included a laneway outside the restaurant we'd chosen for dinner. As we dined, our group rose from the table, again and again, to stop and watch the incredible spectacle glide by outside.

The costumes were bright, loud, hand-sewn garments. Everyone, young and old, male and female, rotated and swirled through the cobblestone streets singing and dancing in time to flamboyant, local music blaring from trucks and houses. The entire evening was a stand out highlight during our time in Peru.

Join us on our next stop as we visit the heart of Inca territory.

Chasing condors

I must admit that Peru proved to be a far more spectacular destination than expected. Aside from the more popular experience, Machu Picchu and like, we encountered many more memorable locations. Take, for example, Arequipa, our first destination beyond Lima. We knew that Arequipa would be magical the moment we stepped out of the plane. We were greeted by a series of stunning snow-capped volcanoes, including Chachani over 6000 metres high and El Misti a perfectly conical mountain.

Arequipa is about 2300 above sea level. You notice the attitude immediately. Garry and I took several days to acclimatise but managed to avoid any serious altitude sickness. However, at least four of our group took to their beds with nausea and headaches. Ultimately the only time either of us really noticed the altitude was during a brief stop on a 4000 metre mountain pass we traversed a few days later. I felt a little light-headed and the simple act of stepping down off the bus left me short of breath.

Arequipa is a truly beautiful town, centred around a picture-perfect central plaza, dissected by a fast-running stream in a gully, and framed by a towering mountain in the distance.  The city is home to approximately 700,000 people, making it Peru's second most populated city.  It's also known as the nation's legal capital, as Peru's constitutional court is based here.  

Arequipa's strategic location at the crossroads of the colonial silver trade route and that of the post-independence wool trade route has seen it progressively develop as an administrative, commercial, and industrial hub. As a result, the town's colonial centre is home to an array of imposing colonial buildings and churches.

Aside from exploring the town's colonial buildings and markets, we also took a day trip to Colca Canyon. This stunning location is 3191 metres at its deepest point (deeper than the Grand Canyon). The road leading through the area traverses a valley tiered with ancient Inca agricultural terraces, many still in use today. At the valley's deepest and narrowest point, we stopped for several hours at the Mirador Cruz del Cóndor lookout to watch condors soar on the morning thermal currents.

On our way back to Arequipa, we stopped briefly in Maca. This small canyon village, sitting at 3,262 metres, is known for the Iglesia de Santa Ana de Maca, an incredibly photogenic whitewashed church. The present building was built after a fire in 1759 destroyed an earlier structure. It was recently restored after an earthquake damaged it in 1991. As you see above, I took time out to get up close and personal with a few of the friendly locals.

Our day trip also served up another cool milestone. We drove over the Patapampa Pass, which at 4,879 metres (16,007 feet) was the highest elevation we experienced while in South America. We stopped briefly at the summit to savour the moment.  

Thousands of travellers before us had stopped here, each participating in a ritual that involves the stacking of stones into teetering piles. We saw dozens of them scattered across the landscape.  Yes - Garry and I added a stone of our own.

Here is where I experienced the light-headedness I mentioned earlier.  However, the thinning air doesn't seem to hinder the locals. We encountered more than one farmer and their Alpaca traffic jam over the course of the day.

Our last full day in Arequipa was spent wandering the streets of Monasterio Santa Catalina, a colourful old convent in the centre of town. The photos we took here are truly stunning. We also took time to visit the town's famous Ice Maiden, a frozen Inca human sacrifice that was discovered nearby in 1995. From Arequipa we drove to Lake Titicaca, stopping to watch wild Vicunas (a rare type of Llama) and tour the crumbling funeral towers of Sillustani.

Rather than trying to dazzle you with my own words, I'll let Wikipedia outline Sillustani's history. 

The complex is a pre-Inca cemetery on the shores of Lake Umayo, approximately 30km west of Puno. The tombs, built above ground in tower-like structures called chullpas, are the vestiges of the Quila people, an ethnic group that was conquered by the Inca Empire in the 15th Century.

These stone structures housed the remains of complete family groups, although historians believe they were probably limited to nobility. Over time many of the tombs have been dynamited by grave robbers, while others were left unfinished. However, despite this desecration, you can still see the incredible precision and workmanship that went into their construction.

I'll finish this post with our first glimpse of Lake Titicaca as we drove into Puno. The lake looked awesome in the late afternoon sun. In the distance, we could see its famous reed banks and beyond lay the island of Taquile, our next destination. In the final photo, you'll see we also caught a glimpse of Cristo Blanco, an all-white statue of Christ blessing the township below.

Our adventure in Peru continues here.