Uros Islands – Floating Islands On Lake Titikaka

At over 3800m is the highest navigable lake in the world, der Titikaka See. Divided into Peru and Bolivia The lake is on the Altiplano, this is a huge plateau between the Andes. We stayed here two nights in the city of Puno, whose houses along pull on the sloping banks of Lake Titicaca.
The bus trip from Arequipa Puno lasted almost 7 hours and I looked all the time stretched out of the window at nothing of the beautiful scenery to miss. The was very barren and dry, But despite, or perhaps because of this very impressive. In part, were right next to the road steep rock walls, then again wide flat areas with small bushes, wir provision betrayed- and llamas at the roadside and snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Before we reached Puno we drove through the city of Juliaca. The atmosphere was kind of odd. From the tarred main road many gravel roads went from. Everything looked very dusty and gray. Most of the houses were not built and unrendered. At street corners women stood with small market stalls, selling fruit and vegetables, between drove bicycle taxis and tuk-tuks. When we arrived in Puno we realized already just after getting off the bus how thin the air was up here. The luggage was then the same again harder. But the owner of Pacha hostels waited fortunately already at the bus station to greet us even in German. He has taught himself and he said it is really pretty good. Arrived in our room, we secured equal a small heater, because at night it was really cold here. Before we went to bed we still tried some delicious Peruvian specialties: Wreath-nahm Alpaka Steak mit Quinoa (also called rice Peru) and I had trout from Lake Titicaca. As an aperitif, it was the national drink Pisco Sour (a cocktail of grape brandy, Limettensaft, Sugar syrup and protein).

After the first night in Puno we took a tour to the floating reed islands “Uros Islands”. These are located approximately. 30 minutes by boat. The Islas Uros are unique in the world. People have previously had the idea to escape from the Incas, to build floating islands made of reeds on Lake Titicaca, to bring so in safety. Today, there are about 40 islands.
The women with their long, black, braids and in their colorful, flared skirts welcomed us very friendly equal. When we put the first foot on the bottom reed, It was slightly awkward, as the ground is quite soft. It was very impressive to see how people live here. Everything takes place on the floating reed island from. There is also a primary school and small corner shops. The houses and boats are built of reeds. But a closer look behind the houses we saw a couple of motor boats. The technological progress is of course also catchment.
Our guide and the leader of the small island showed us, like the floating islands are built from reeds. Thus, an island believes that 25 years. Furthermore, you can also eat the reeds and we tried of course. Then we went another round on a traditional reed boat. The women had meanwhile spread your souvenirs on the ground and they tried to turn us her goods. Much of it looked but not made yourself ... The visit to the Islas Uros was very touristy, but there is no way around this exceptional living environment meet.
Then we drove on and reached after 2,5 hours, the island of Taquile. Here we walked uphill to the marketplace and realized pretty in this effort, the height. So we went slowly, slowly, otherwise one comes right out of breath. The men on Taquile wear homespun caps. Depending on the color and pattern reveal this, whether the men are single or married. The women have a black cloth as a head covering with Püschel at the ends: large Püschel mean single and small, that they are married. Before a man and a woman marry in Taquile, they must live together 3 years and the man must weave, can cook and wash. Die Frauen haben es gut hier 🙂 Unser Guide erzählte uns, that the men can weave better here than women. 2005 started its weaving even on the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Once a couple is married, there is no way back. Divorces are here that is not possible!
On the square in front of the church just played a couple of kids and we saw, that even the little girls wear even the typical colorful wide skidding. We walked further on the island along, always with a view to the Lake Titicaca and could see the typical terraced fields, where grown, among other things quinoa and potatoes. The view of the lake was beautiful, it almost looked like the sea, because he is so huge in size. Small houses were scattered on the slopes between the fields and occasionally we encountered women, die each Souvenirs anboten. For lunch there was again delicious trout and a little traditional musical entertainment. Then we went by boat back to Puno, always the sunset.
The next morning we headed to the bus in the direction of Bolivia…