Lake Titicaca (Puno)

It’s a early morning wake-up to get ready for our 7 hour bus ride to Puno from Cusco, on the shore of lake Titicaca (pronounced Titihaha).

Fortunately, the double decker bus is set up like an airplane’s business class seat which are wide, each with its own TV screen (although all in Spanish) and USB ports to charge our devices.

There are no meals served and no stops (except for the bus driver who apparently had a craving for cheese sold by the roadside), therefore everyone had to shop the night before and stock up on their lunch items to bring onboard. All except our bus driver who stops by the side of the road to buy some cheese from these women!

Finally, we start to descend a winding switchback road, and Lake Titicaca appears along with the city of Puno.

Lake Titicaca is over 8,000 sq kilometres is size and is the highest navigable lake in the world. A large part of the population depends on the fishing industry. Early in the 1940s, rainbow trout from Canada was introduced and has become the dominant fish species at the detriment of the native fish, however, people are not complaining as the trout provides so much to their economy is is delicious as a ceviche.

Puno, which lies about 380km southeast of Cusco still has a high elevation of 3826 metres (12,549 feet). After we drop off our bags at the hotel, we quickly go for an orientation tour of downtown Puno. The Plaza Mayor is already decorated for the annual Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria, a most important festival in their calendar after Christmas. The festival last a few weeks with the penultimate moment occurring on February 2nd.

The next morning, Andrès, our G Adventure CEO, surprises us all with a bicycle taxi ride to the harbour where we will board a boat for our tour of Lake Titicaca. it’s raining lightly but we don’t care. It’s an exhilarating race to see who will get there first, with lots of screaming and laughter as we race down the streets darting traffic and each other.

The boat is set up like a bus with large comfy seats.

Our first stop is at the Uros Islands, man made islands built out of totora (reeds) by the Peruvian natives. These floating islands have a lifespan of decades however, every year, new reeds are placed on top. The houses themselves must be rebuilt every few years.

We meet the elder who explains to us how they hunt and fish. Much of the food is made into jerky and then rehydrated in water later. The women create all kinds of crafts for sale such as table cloths, runners, hats and scarves etc…

They load us all on their man made reed boat for a leisure gondola type ride around the island where we can see the fish pen and our “gondolier” shows us how they cut the reeds out of the water and also how they eat the root which looks very much like a leek.

We then say goodbye to the clan and head off for another 1.5 hour boat ride to Taquile Island where we will have our lunch. We are not prepared when we disembark that a long climb is ahead of us. The altitude is still high so walking up steep hills require many stops again to catch your breath.

As we reach the plateau, there is a plaza where the locals express their welcome with a dance and invite us to join them.

Then we’re off again with a few more steep steps to reach our final destination. The view from our outdoor lunch patio is reminiscent of a Greek postcard. Tall trees, red roofs, flowers and greenery below our blue and white canopy and azure water below. We are served a whole baked rainbow trout with rice and vegetables. It all goes down well with a glass of cold beer

Our guide for the day, Jorge, invites of the women to show us the various meaning behind their hats and how it is the men who do the knitting in their community. Young boys start learning to knit around 8 years old. They must knit a hat where the stitches are so tightly close to each other that when water is poured in the hat, none escapes. The woman also explains how they create shampoo from one of the plants on the island. This natural shampoo is used for washing sheep and llama wool as well as their hair.

We must now make our way back to the boat which is anchored on the opposite side of the island. The trek down is just as hard as coming up. It is uneven stone steps and at times steep. It requires more attention holding on to walls or wooden handrails when available. But the view is still stunning. Taquile has many stone arches that lend to a picture perfect postcard.