19th Another early start, had to be ready for 7.30am bus which took us to the Bolivian - Peru boarder. The drive was slow up and out of the creater La Paz is in. It was a 2 hour journey to the shore of lake Titicaca where we had to disembark so the bus could travel across on a barge and we caught a small boat. We drove past many small towns and rural communities. We stopped for lunch at a small town on the lake where we spent our last remaining bolivianos. We transferred to a mini bus that took us to the boarder. The boarder crossing was very easy. We swapped onto a coach that was Inca class on the Peruvian side. We arrived in Puno at around 4pm. We went for a walk to the main street and bumped into Simon and Liz, so joined them for a beer/coffee & baileys before dinner with the group at a chinese restaraunt where we shared a meal (which we could not finish) for 10 pesos. (2.76 Pesos to $1US)20th Love these early starts. Picked up by cyclos for our trip down to the harbour at 8am. We boarded our boat at around 8.30 after having bought some provisions for our host family. We then set of to Taquile Island. The people of the island have managed to maintain their way of life, living off the land and from the lake, much to the displeasure of the Peruvian government. They do not trust modern medicine and still use Shamen when they have any ills. We had 1 1/2 hours to wander the island and take photos before meeting in the main square for lunch.. We had lunch of quinoa and vegetable soup and grilled trout with rice and chips for $15 Pesos. Excellent meal. We then set off to the peninsula where we had our home stay. When we arrived a delegation met us at the jetty. We were walked up to the school followed by a band playing drums and recorders. We were split up into twos and threes to go to different families. We stayed with a family with three children, one boy and two girls. Went back to the school yard where the locals challenged us to a game of football. David thought we were a good chance (because most of us have played football/soccer before) but even at 7 on our side to 5 on theirs they thrashed us over 10 to 5.David in orange running after the ball. We were given local traditional garments to wear to a party the locals put on for us. We had a fantastic time first watching the adults,then the little kids and then everyone joining in the dancing.Made it to bed at around 10.30pm.
21st Catriona helped to make breakfast of fried bread, my efforts were pretty dismal at first. David helped out by looking after the toddler who is just learning to walk and didn't want to be left alone.Back at the boat by 8am and off to the floating Uros Islands.When we arrived the women of the island we visited gave us a demonstration of how the islands are created and how they batter for food etc on the mainland. We were shown inside their houses and given the opportunity to purchase some of their wears. Before we left we were taken on a trip on one of thier reed boats around thier little island and past their trout farm. It was alot of fun. We arrived back in Puno around 12pm where it was back to the hotel for a shower and then off to the internet place to update the blog once more.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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