Thanks for coming back for more! Our bus got into Puno, Peru around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. After some pizza we hit the sack for our early morning on Saturday. We went right down to the ferry dock with our new guide Marina and saw this beautiful sunrise over lake Titicaca.
Here's a map to follow along.
Our first stop were the islands of Los Uros. These are pretty unique--they're constructed by their inhabitants and float on the lake. Everyone refers to them as Las Islas Flotantes--the floating islands.
On Los Uros we had a great explanation of the Aymara culture that has occupied the lake since Incan times. This is the lake viewed "upside down" (with North pointing down). Can you see a puma chasing a rabbit? The condor, puma, and snake represent the sky, earth, and underworld in every culture we encountered on our trip and there is great respect for each realm.
This is Marina explaining how the islands are constructed. They use a very long (up to 4 meters) reed for everything. They grind it up to create the earth-like base of the islands (which provides most of the floating support), pile them on top to create a moisture barrier, and construct their houses out of them. They even eat the stalk which is packed with calcium. You could tell--these folks had the whitest teeth I've ever seen.
After our informative talk we were each ushered into a hut and dressed in traditional garb. We then each made purchases from the handmade items they had for sale. Ryan got a traditional Peruvian hat and wore it almost every minute of the rest of our trip. I got some cool tapestries depicting the different protective gods of the Aymara culture.
We left Los Uros for a long ferry ride to Amantani island. This is a much less-visited island on the lake because it's so far out. I really wanted to stay with a family on the island but we didn't have the time. We did learn lots about the lifestyle on the island and eat lunch at a family's house though. What a great experience.
The women do a lot of the farm work. That's a baby on her back.
We gave the farming a shot too. It was hard work, the ground was tough.
On the ferry back to Puno we were treated to a spectacular sunset over the lake.
After mass, at our hostel's suggestion, we went to a traditional Peruvian restaurant called La Catedral. They had a band playing regional music complete with dancers. We even got up and danced a number with them. It was a blast!
Oh, also, the food. Peruvian food is delicious, especially the chicken. I don't know what they do to it but it's fantastic.
We had another early morning on Sunday so we got up to watch the sunrise over the lake. Stunning.
Sunday was spent winding our way by bus to Cusco where we started our trek. We had 4 tourist stops on the way. This was the highest point, around 4300 meters. The mountain had a beautiful glacier wedged back in there.
Stop number two was an Inca temple used to worship the creator of the sun and earth. The Incas really knew there stuff when it came to natural light. They constructed their houses so the sun passes right down the center isle on the Summer solstice.
After a lunch stop, we stopped at our final place, a Jesuit-built 1600s church. It was beautiful inside--everything is plated in gold--but no photos were allowed.
We had about 10 seconds to capture the Incan entrance to Cusco. Everything the Incas built was impressive. They only ruled for about 100 years in their prime, but they made quite the impression in that time.
We decided we had to try Cuy while we were in Preu (that's guinea pig). It wasn't bad, but there were a lot of bones that were difficult to navigate. I think we would all agree that the drinks and our other entrees kicked the pants off the cuy.
This is what's left of the Incan temple I mentioned above. They used circular support columns which is unique to the Inca. The standing wall is very impressive. They built it to withstand serious earthquake and weather damage and thus far it's doing pretty well.
We arrived in the city of Cusco around 5:30. We spent the evening having a great dinner and enjoying each other's company. This was our last night with Sarah before we hit the trail so in addition to packing for our hike we took some time to walk around the plazas and snap some pictures. Check out this cathedral--the Spanish did a lot of terrible things during the conquest but they sure did build some beautiful churches.
This takes us up until we started our trek to Machu Picchu. Come back tomorrow to read about the hike!
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