Lake Titicaca… (sorry the pix aren't exactly in order)
To get to Lake Titicaca we first biked at about 14000 ft high over this awesome pass (see pix). It was an UNBELIEVABLY fun bike ride with great views and great weather. It ended with us taking a van ride to Puno on Lake Titicaca drinking wine and singing "We are the Champions" and Born to Be Wild". When we got to Puno we had a fabulous dinner (Claire tried guinea pig and I forgot my camera… DUMB) and danced to a great local band in the restaurant.
The next day we ventured out on Lake Titicaca leaving behind Puno and algae to go to these INCREDIBLE islands… first Tachile which was PARADISE and then Amantani to where we had our home stays.
Tachile has 400 families and NO foreigners, no crime, a completely sharing society (they work on a rotation system with everyone sharing in the work and profits) which was STUNNINGLY beautiful with incredibly nice people on it. People who are born there have the chance to leave but rarely chose to (oldest was 102 years old). Comments from my notes were; beautiful, simple homes, farming, weaving, blue sky day, lake is gorgeous, sole of shoe hinges, arches made without cement, no cars or roads.
Amantani is where we met our "mama’s" who took care of us on our home stays. We played soccer with the locals, hiked up to see the sunset and after dinner they dressed us up in their traditional clothes and took us dancing with dueling bands. It was awesome and they made sure we all felt included in their festivities.
The following day we kayaked all over Lake Titicaca and had an unbelievable lunch at this home of this family that was so impressively artistic and full of craftsmanship and pride. BEST TROUT EVER. I really liked the husband and wife so much. They were just wonderful people who did everything for the education of their 2 children.
After that we went by boat to one of the most bizarre places I have ever seen. It was called Uros and consisted of many "man-made" islands (too hard to explain in writing how they make them out of peat moss and reeds but they showed us with a model while we were sitting there). There are 8-12 families per island and about 1400 inhabitants overall. The islands are about 50 square meters and are spongy and move with the waves… and people have lived on them for 800 years (with the average lifespan of 70 years I would go insane living on 50 square meters…). The only thing on the islands that was inorganic was the solar panel!!! It was surreal.
The trip was unbelievable and Peru is spectacularly beautiful and the people very nice (forgot to show you Lima which will come later). I would love to go back one day! See below for some other comments I sent back while I was there… Feel free to write, call or visit so I can explain more in person.
More emails: went on a bike ride yesterday... it was FANTASTIC... lots of fun downhill... some straight against the wind at 14,000 ft that got us winded and minor uphill with GREAT scenery and a train... pix will be fun to share with you... off kayaking to islands today for home stay and getting dressed up in traditional clothes and learning traditional dances... fun... ALSO had an awesome dinner last night with great music... Peruvian man multitasking on guitar and traditional pipes
Emails re Lake Titicaca: i´m back from an incredible several days on lake Titicaca... so many stories to tell you all about... found a place i would consider paradise and then another place that was the oddest thing i have ever seen in my life... truly it was spectacular...
To get to Lake Titicaca we first biked at about 14000 ft high over this awesome pass (see pix). It was an UNBELIEVABLY fun bike ride with great views and great weather. It ended with us taking a van ride to Puno on Lake Titicaca drinking wine and singing "We are the Champions" and Born to Be Wild". When we got to Puno we had a fabulous dinner (Claire tried guinea pig and I forgot my camera… DUMB) and danced to a great local band in the restaurant.
The next day we ventured out on Lake Titicaca leaving behind Puno and algae to go to these INCREDIBLE islands… first Tachile which was PARADISE and then Amantani to where we had our home stays.
Tachile has 400 families and NO foreigners, no crime, a completely sharing society (they work on a rotation system with everyone sharing in the work and profits) which was STUNNINGLY beautiful with incredibly nice people on it. People who are born there have the chance to leave but rarely chose to (oldest was 102 years old). Comments from my notes were; beautiful, simple homes, farming, weaving, blue sky day, lake is gorgeous, sole of shoe hinges, arches made without cement, no cars or roads.
Amantani is where we met our "mama’s" who took care of us on our home stays. We played soccer with the locals, hiked up to see the sunset and after dinner they dressed us up in their traditional clothes and took us dancing with dueling bands. It was awesome and they made sure we all felt included in their festivities.
The following day we kayaked all over Lake Titicaca and had an unbelievable lunch at this home of this family that was so impressively artistic and full of craftsmanship and pride. BEST TROUT EVER. I really liked the husband and wife so much. They were just wonderful people who did everything for the education of their 2 children.
After that we went by boat to one of the most bizarre places I have ever seen. It was called Uros and consisted of many "man-made" islands (too hard to explain in writing how they make them out of peat moss and reeds but they showed us with a model while we were sitting there). There are 8-12 families per island and about 1400 inhabitants overall. The islands are about 50 square meters and are spongy and move with the waves… and people have lived on them for 800 years (with the average lifespan of 70 years I would go insane living on 50 square meters…). The only thing on the islands that was inorganic was the solar panel!!! It was surreal.
The trip was unbelievable and Peru is spectacularly beautiful and the people very nice (forgot to show you Lima which will come later). I would love to go back one day! See below for some other comments I sent back while I was there… Feel free to write, call or visit so I can explain more in person.
More emails: went on a bike ride yesterday... it was FANTASTIC... lots of fun downhill... some straight against the wind at 14,000 ft that got us winded and minor uphill with GREAT scenery and a train... pix will be fun to share with you... off kayaking to islands today for home stay and getting dressed up in traditional clothes and learning traditional dances... fun... ALSO had an awesome dinner last night with great music... Peruvian man multitasking on guitar and traditional pipes
Emails re Lake Titicaca: i´m back from an incredible several days on lake Titicaca... so many stories to tell you all about... found a place i would consider paradise and then another place that was the oddest thing i have ever seen in my life... truly it was spectacular...
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