Island(s) in the Sun

Even though I´m still at Lake Titicaca, greetings from Puno, Peru! Just like Lake Tahoe, the borderline between Bolivia and Peru runs down the middle of the lake. The indigenous folks are the same on both sides of the lake but the similarity ends there. I definitely feel like I´ve left a third world country and entered maybe a "second" world country. The infrastructure here in Peru is more advanced. My hotel room is genuinely, spotlessly clean. How refreshing! How nice! Although I must admit I´m paying handsomely for it: $11 a night, instead of the $2.50 a night I spent a few days ago in Copacabana, Bolivia.

When I arrived here at the bus station, I had no idea whether it was 1 km. or 10 km. to the center of town where the hotels are. My map simply showed an arrow pointing off the map indicating the bus station was somewhere off the map. I walked out of the bus station intent on simply marching into town, with my heavy backpack, regardless of the distance. The taxi drivers pestered me to have them drive me. I turned them down. There are car taxis, there are moto-taxis where a cab is attached to the back end of a motorcycle, and, last but not least, there are pedi-taxis. These are bicycles with a cab in the front looking like something out of Hong Kong. After I walked about 2 to 3 blocks, I realized there were no street signs whatever and that, wherever I was, it was well off my map.

About that time, an old man (my age?) pedalled up in his pedi-taxi and asked if I wanted a ride. I told him the name of a hotel near the city center that I found in the guidebook. He said 60 cents, so I said okay. It turned out to be about 2 miles away. At times, the streets were pretty steep uphill and the poor guy had to get off and push. I realized I never would have made it all the way to the hotel with my backpack at this 12,000 ft. elevation without a number of rest stops. This poor guy just kept pedaling away, but I could hear him gasping and grunting behind me. When we finally arrived, he was obviously exhausted. Who wouldn´t be??!! I gave him 30 cents extra. Gee, what a big spender I am. I felt terrible for this poor guy. I just don´t think humans should be beasts of burden. At any rate, when I leave for the bus station on Saturday, I´m going to take one of those moto-taxis!

There are two very big tribes of indigenous people, the Aymara (of which Bolibian Pres. Evo Morales is a member) and the Quechua. However there are dozens of other small tribes as well. One of these is the Uros.

Centuries ago, the Uros figured out they were too small in numbers to defend their property from the marauding bigger tribes. So, they simply walked away from their land and built floating islands of of the reeds that grow thickly on the shoreline. They piled reeds upon reeds and tied them all together. Nowadays, there are 2,000 people (!) still living on these floating islands. They survive by fishing and of course by selling junk to tourists. To keep the islands from actually floating away, they tie them down to the lake floor with lines. Over time, the reeds at the bottom of the island begin to rot, so the islanders just keep adding reeds to the top. If you´re friends with another family, you join your islands together. If you decide to part ways, you do exactly that. The biggest island contains a school, post office, lots of souvenir shops, and even a "hotel" of sorts where you can spend the night inside a reed hut on one of the reed islands. There´s no running water and no electricity. Everyone agrees to pee and poop on one side of the island and drink the water out of the other side. Hmmmmm....

When I stepped off the tour boat, there were about 30 of us. The island was gushy wet reeds that sank a little bit like a sponge when you walked. We all sat on reed logs in a semi-circle to meet the chief who explained how the islands were made. At the end of the talk everyone had a wet bottom. Regrettably, he said the kids go to high school in town and experience such luxuries as cable tv, video games, the internet, etc., and to no one´s surprise, they don´t want to return to a floating island. So, says the chief, the islands are about one generation away from extinction.

Tomorrow, I´m off to Cusco! Caiao!