Glimpses of Titicaca and its people...

Well, today I am really tired. I have a headache and I am rambling in my finest form yet. I have faithfully drank many a cup of mate de coca, and chewed its medicinal leaves, and well, the altitude has really not affected me in the last 4 days. However the accumulated tiredness of having to blog late at night and awake early on chilly mornings has had its toll.

Today was spectacular. I am aware that I have used so many grand adjectives in my blogs that they sound monotonous, but really, most every day has been spectacular. We hopped on a small ferry boat and ended upon the Uros islands, that placidly floated on the roots of the marvelous totora reed. How mind-boggling to think that these people really do live on floating plots of reed.

We had a unique chance to dress in the traditional attire of these warm and friendly reed island dwellers. Marital status is defined by the coquetry of women and color of the pom-poms that they tie to their two long braids of hair. Older and wiser married women wear black rimmed hats, and display a duller and less vivacious clothing. I was in shock when i realized that however rudimentary the dwellings of these amicable Aymara speaking people were, by each one of them there was a solar panel!

Our bus-boat later took us to the island of Taquile. We ascended an impressive amount of stone steps, to the top of the island; and please consider that for us this was indeed an impressive feat, for the top of the island caressed the 4,000 meter mark. Here after coming back to our selves, and our relatively normal breathing pattern, we beheld the panorama of the highest lake in the world unfolding below us. The hues of blue merged with the distant mountains, and the near transparent waters of the lake lazily licked the rocky shore of Taquile Island. The melancholic beauty of this place was interrupted by small sad-faced girls asking desperately to buy their bracelets. The people here as well wore socially significant clothing. The unmarried or widowed men wore long red chullos with a wide white band at the top. Married men wore the same hats but of a solid red colour. Infants wore brightly colored baby's hats. Outside of the nagging of the sad-faced girl the entire community seemed entirely oblivious to the tourists that we were. They chit-chatted and busied themselves with their everyday tasks.


As a conclusion to this trip I will give you a few last glimpses. As we sat on a top floor of a warm restaurant in Puno, the rain outside started to pelt the roofs with violence. Hail had begun to bounce from the sky onto the surroundings. The following day, exhausted and frozen to the bone, but fascinated with what I had seen earlier, I watched lazily the recent layer of snow on the hillsides around Puno, as the bus rolled by. What a conclusion to such a trip of dramatic scenery, charming people and mystifying cultural remains of the unforgettable people of the Tahuantinsuyo. I hope you have enjoyed our humble ramblings.


-Konrad