Lake Titicaca II-- Island tour

We got up early for our tour of the islands (and after having slept for like 12hrs!) and we were pretty excited about the boat ride on the lake, and the islands, staying with a family, etc...

I think on this one the pictures speak for themselves, so I'll shut up and post pictures... :)



The boat ride was pretty nice, and we meet a quite french family with 2 kids, and became good friends... :)



Uros is the first island, which is actually an artificial floating island, built with roots and reeds that they cut and cover the blocks of roots to make a "floor." Out of the same reeds, they build their houses, boats, and they even eat them! The entire island must be around 300sq. meters, and these people live here, year round...


After Uros, we went to Amantani, one of the biggest islands on the lake, and where we would be hosted by a local family and spend the night.


That's our home in Amantani, with our host Carmen...



That afternoon we hiked to the top of the mountain, to the Pacha Mama temple (or ruins actually) and watched the sunset... beautiful!


And that's our dinner... it wasn't the culinary experience of my life, but it was Ok... A soup made with quinoa and other vegetables, which included Oca, a potato-looking thing that will be mentioned later... :)


That evening after dinner, they had prepared a party for us, with folkloric dances, and they actually dressed us up with their colorful traditional outfits... we danced like crazy, and went home exhausted, only to get up early the next morning and head to Taquile.


Taquile was pretty, but kind of a disappointment actually. It was a tourist trap, with everything geared towards the tourists, and the prices reflecting that (5 soles, or almost 2 dollars for a bar of chocolate, which should cost 1 sol at the most!!) But since it was our last stop, after lunch we headed back to Puno, and couldn't wait to make our way to Colors, for desert and coffee again... :)

Next stop: Cuzco and Macchu Picchu!!